Christmas is a time filled with giving and sharing. Those who can, gather their families and friends close to them and obtain warmth from these encounters. It has also become a time of commerce and over-indulgence in our hedonistic inclinations.
I have been listening to and singing Christmas music and am struck by songs such as O Holy Night, Silent Night, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, Joy To The World and Handel’s Messiah. The lyrics and melodies draw me closer to the origins of Christmas; particularly the scriptural passages found in Isaiah 25: 6, where God, through the prophet, promises to “prepare for all peoples a banquet of rich food, a banquet of fine wines, of food rich and juicy, of fine strained wines”.
In Isaiah 30:5, there is a recognition of the people’s circumstances, saying: “Everyone has been disappointed by a people who cannot help, who bring neither aid not profit, only disappointment and confusion”. Later, in 30:19-21, “When the Lord has given you the bread of suffering and the water of distress, He who is your teacher will hide no longer and you will see your teacher with your own eyes. Your ears will hear the words behind you, ‘this is the way, keep to it’, whether you turn right or left.”
Isaiah uttered these prophecies nearly 740 years before the first Christmas. Then as now, there are people in dire circumstances and looking for help in the wrong places and placing hope on those who cannot deliver. More than 2 000 years ago, God indeed became visible to us and eons of prophecies were fulfilled. The Word was made flesh.
Somehow though, I feel that today, as on that first Christmas, most of the world either missed or misunderstood this occasion for rejoicing. We seem preoccupied with worst case scenarios and look to creatures of God for our comfort and salvation. We seem not to recognize that “the bread of suffering and water of distress” is there for our instruction.
The angels of the Lord brought their glad tidings to those who had the heart and ears for it; those who were longing for the Saviour that God promised. Not just the materially impoverished, but those who yearned for spiritual nourishment as well.
This year in Barbados, the Christmas season has come with news of job losses, reductions in salaries and benefits and the prospect of a long, hard journey to a destination that is unclear. Yet I feel this is a time for joy. Joy because every day we can wake up and get up, it is another redemptive opportunity to disconnect ourselves from unwholesome distractions and get closer to the purpose for which we are created. Joy because God has given us everything necessary to prosper. He has gone to great lengths to get our attention and the instructions should be written on our hearts and minds.
Let’s take the time to reflect, through songs and scripture, all that we have been given.
This is “the day God dresses his people’s wound and heals the scars of the blows they have received.” (Is 30:29) Let us be glad and rejoice in it.
I want to share this message of hope and joy with you. I hope you will do the same with others.
God bless.