Dave spoke this morning on the subject of joy, taking as his text Isaiah 35:1-10. As Christmas draws nearer, our attitudes may vary: some may be excited; others apprehensive or even fearful about the prospect of the season. Many people endure Christmas rather than enjoy it, but Christians have every reason to be joyful, because this is the time when we see God’s plans fulfilled, when we celebrate His intervention in human history and understand that this means we can embrace eternal life even though we do not deserve it. Many people may ask what we have to smile about and the devil certainly challenges us when we are joyful, but God is able to give us His joy. As Isaiah says, sorrow and sighing will flee away as God’s joy fills our lives.
For many people, life is empty. Christmas is simply seen as the holiday shopping season, a period lasting from Black Friday through to Boxing Day sales, but gifts cannot fill the emptiness in our lives. Our world is fearful, just as the Israelites were fearful of invasion and exile (having feeble hands and weak knees.) Jesus came into the world to show us what God is like. He came not with pomp or majesty, but as a baby in an ordinary family, born into poverty. He cared enough to come into our world and His coming makes all the difference. Isaiah writes poetically of the beautiful cedar trees of Lebanon and the fertile mountains of Carmel and wild flowers of Sharon as symbols of the flourishing growth and joy that God can make in our everyday lives.
At Christmas, we sing that ‘the Lord is come.‘ We sing because Jesus, God with us, is here with us and that gives us something to smile about.
