What Can the Christmas Message Teach Us this Year?

/ Phill

2020 has not turned out like anyone expected when the new year began. First COVID. Then lockdowns and isolation. Meetings cancelled. Remote meetings. People lost jobs. Students missed school and social contact. Friends and loved ones succumbed to death without even the opportunity to gather and mourn together.

The Year that Was

As a result, there has been increase depression, drug use, and even suicide. There have been many disappointments. Many news stories have provoked fear and anxiety.

People question, should we just cancel the rest of 2020 and hope 2021 is better? Now we are in the Christmas season. Even that does not feel normal. People wearing masks. Many stores and restaurants with restrictions, or even closed.

Three words/themes come to mind

  1. JOY – carols ring out the message of joy and hope. They invoke celebration. How can that be? This year brought so much death, isolation, cancelled plans, disappointment, and fear?
  2. FEAR NOT – every time the angels announce the glorious birth of Jesus, the Christ child, they begin with the words “Fear not.” Certainly, the appearance of a celestial being was a shock that would create a sense of fear. The messenger’s first words were always those of comfort meant to dispel fear. The events of this past year have also brought much consternation and fear as well. Can the message “fear not” also apply to us in a year such as this?
  3. IMMANUEL – the angel told Joseph the child Mary will bear shall be called Immanuel.
    “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
        and they shall call his name Immanuel”
    The name Immanuel means “God with us” in Hebrew.

Amid chaos, hurt and fear we are reminded that God is with us. When we internalize this truth then the earlier two phrases also make sense. God’s presence dispels fear. With God at our side, we have no need for fear. He is in control, even when things feel out of control. With that confidence we experience His peace, and our hearts are filled with Joy.

Joy to the World

So, let us give full-throated voice to those glorious Christmas carols that celebrate God’s greatest gift to the world. To God Be the Glory.

May you experience His presence, and the peace and joy God promises this holiday season, and throughout the year.

Shalom

By Phill Sandahl