Joy to the World, The Lord HAS COME!
“Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today… Luke 2:10
I think the best moment of the Grinch that stole Christmas is the climax. The Grinch has succeeded in stealing all the Christmasy things from every house and waits to hear the wails of sorrow from his perch on Mount Crumpet. Instead,
“Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small,
Was singing! Without any presents at all!
He HADN'T stopped Christmas from coming!
IT CAME!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!
We may not be living a Courier and Ives Christmas scene this Christmas, with all the challenges of the past year personally and globally. We may have had to make disappointing decisions to cancel or postpone gatherings - I know our family has. But, this hasn’t stopped Christmas from coming. Here we are; it’s Christmas morning. It came.
It came because HE CAME.
Christmas is powerful year after year because we gather around Jesus - Lord of heaven and earth, who chose to come to us - not once, a long time ago. But he became one with us and is with us now - every moment - the good and the challenging. Somehow or other, he comes, just the same.
To me it is a testament to the power of Jesus coming to us that even our non-Christian world, even an atheist like Dr. Seuss, recognizes the unstoppable power of Jesus at work in Christmas. God breaks into history. God breaks into our story and it becomes His Story.
God is once and for all, Emmanuel - God with us. Jesus comes to us — and nothing can stop him.
Today is the perfect time for us to invite him into our lives for the first or umpteenth time. “Jesus, be with me. Right here. Right now. I need your joy and presence in my life and my situations. Whatever seems in the way, please come. Overcome my doubts, fears, disappointments.”
And now is the perfect time to invite Jesus into your story. May we hold before him our past year, our successes and struggles, may we hold our family and our loved ones and invite him to come. As he came to the shepherds, to the town of Bethlehem, to a time in history, to Mary and Joseph - a family. Jesus come into our neighbourhood, our time and it’s challenges, our families.
Paul wrote, in 2 Corinthians 6:2, For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the “right time” is now.
So this Christmas day, whatever your celebrations look like - may you be blessed. May you stop and hear the angels sing of his coming. May you stop and welcome his spirit to fill not only your day but your heart and your lives. May you stop and receive his salvation - the salvation he came to offer each of us. Today is the just the right time. He is come.
Joy to your world.
Written by Rev Drew Maxwell