The Arrival - Advent Joy

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Luke 2:8-12

Lately, I’m pondering how my definition of “Christmas joy” has changed during my lifetime.  As a little girl, “joy” was lying under the tree watching colored lights sparkle on tinsel.  The thrill and mystery of presents with my name on them made me feel special, thought of, and loved.  Yes, there was baby Jesus in the manger, who died for my sins, but childhood joy is largely circumstantial; it depended upon the tree, the lights, family, and a gift with my name on it.  

As a young mom, “Christmas joy” was seeing our kids experience Christmas: watching them play angels, shepherds, or sheep in the Christmas Eve program at church, looking at lights, caroling, and observing the excitement on their faces as they opened presents- gifts with their names on them, meant to show our love and thoughts for them.  Christmas joy was telling them about Jesus: God who came to this earth as a baby (at Christmas) to die for our sins as the Passover Lamb and come out of the tomb alive (at Easter). This “joy” was more focused on my blessings and Christ, but it was still primarily vicarious in nature.

I’ve gotten older, and Christmas is an odd dichotomy of spiritual vs material: At times, true Christmas joy gasps for breath beneath the nagging, heavy, nearly overwhelming weight of “get’er done:” get the art commissions finished, the lights up, the tree cut and decorated, the Christmas letter written, cards sent, gifts bought or made, food made and delivered… I feel a bit like Ebenezer Scrooge complaining about the commercialism -the business and the busyness that celebrating our Savior has become- “Bah, humbug!”  Note: I find it no accident that “Ebenezer” means “stone of help,” a rock that reminds you of WHAT GOD DID FOR YOU.   If obligations and the blatant consumerism of December can diminish my Christmas joy, then my joy is contingent on circumstances, LIKE WHEN I WAS SIX!   The real joy of this and every season, a Christian’s simple, yet profound JOY of Christ in every single day, is this:

God sent His only Son, Jesus, Second Person of the Trinity, as a baby, to live sinlessly on this earth, to eat with sinners and to touch the “untouchable,” cleansing, healing, teaching His truth, His ways and God’s loving thoughts toward us; then Jesus willingly died as the Only Perfect Sacrifice to pay our sin debt in full.  He defeated death by exiting the tomb and ascending to the Father, so that by faith we can live with His JOY and God’s Holy Spirit in our hearts every day, transforming us from the inside out to be more like Him.  And one day we can be with Him in His Kingdom for eternity.
 
God the Father did this for us because He loves us that much!  The Old Testament points toward this joy- the gift of Jesus Messiah, only vaguely symbolized by our giving of presents.  If we seek Him, repent, and accept His grace and presence, we’ll possess the gift that Jesus’s perfect blood bought: God’s forgiveness and His Holy Spirit in us -resulting in unconditional, unexplainable, unassailable JOY, no matter the season or the current state of this temporary world.