The Weary World Rejoices

I am a Christmas music junkie. I love it! From driving up and down the road and listening to the radio to preparing for the church’s Christmas cantata, the silly and sacred songs take me back to my childhood while helping prepare my soul for the glory of Christmas.

This year has been a little different, though, for various reasons. I have not listened to as much of it as I typically do. Some of it is due to the usual craziness of the season. Some of it is due to adjusting to a new normal as life with a toddler and the energy that requires. Some of it is due to the unrest we experience in the world. I suppose I could sum up my feelings with one word: weary.

Confession is good for the soul, right? I lament about weariness every year about this time. With all of the fun and frivolity of the season, it seems I do not take the time to ponder the power of Christmas until after  the services conclude, Christmas dinner is consumed, the gifts are unwrapped, and I don my cap to settle in for a long winter’s nap. Is this something you can relate to?

Christmas really shouldn’t be this way. We follow Advent to help us intentionally prepare for Christmas, focusing on hope, peace, love, and joy.  And through that, we remember the truth in the midst of this season – Christmas began with weariness.

There was oppression. There was violence. There was fear. God’s people were yearning for a savior. Even creation itself was moaning for deliverance from the hopelessness of sin. And then that one holy night, the light from the Christmas star, the presence of God’s glory, and the songs from the heavenly host broke into our weariness to proclaim that from then forward, history was divided in two with this message:

“’Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!’” (Luke 2.10-14, NKJV)

That was good news then, and it is good news still! And it reminds me of the line from the Christmas carol,  O Holy Night, “The thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.”

Tomorrow as we gather for Christmas Eve worship, we will once again visit the exclamation point of the account when God broke into our history to usher in the hope of eternity. Sure, weariness remains from fatigue, fear, and anxiety, but the message of Christmas isn’t one of survival, but thriving thanks to the presence of God in our lives.

Are you weary today?

Are you looking for a reason to rejoice?

If so, you can rest assured that the truth we proclaim is timeless, meaning it’s just as applicable today as it was some 2,000 years ago: for God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, so whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have life everlasting (John 3.16).

Regardless of how you find this Christmas, I hope you will come and rejoice with us in worship as we celebrate the birth of the Christ child. The world was chaotic and dangerous then, just as it is today. So if you’re feeling weary, know you’ll be in good company. Come anyway. Let’s sing together. Pray together. Light candles together. Share Holy Communion together. And spread the good news of Christmas once again. Together.

Christmas. God’s perpetual glory that makes even our weary world rejoice. Today, just as it has for 2,000 years!