I confess that I was not planning to write anything particularly long or profound this morning. Indeed, “Merry Christmas” was the bulk of my planned message. The Lord, it seems, had other plans, though I make no claims on its profundity.
I shared in a recent post about the need to celebrate with as much cheer as we have. Because, for many, the joy of Christmas is mixed with tears. And I found myself considering this anew on Christmas Eve, for reasons that are not mine to share.
The song the universe sings
But as we come to Christmas day, and as much as we all want to celebrate with a full heart, we do so as those who are weary and in need of rest. As people who long for comfort. And when our hearts are in that place, it is difficult to pause, because we do sometimes wonder if God even cares. But pause we must. Because when we pause we are able to see the hope we cling to—to marvel at the hope of which the universe sings.
The hope that comes to us in the incarnation.
I was reminded of this once again in a sermon from Charles Spurgeon, “The First Christmas Carol.” There he said:
But sing, sing, oh universe, till thou hast exhausted thyself, thou canst not afford a song so sweet as the song of Incarnation. Though creation may be a majestic organ of praise, it cannot reach the compass of the golden canticle—Incarnation! There is more in that than in creation, more melody in Jesus in the manger, than there is in worlds on worlds rolling their grandeur round the throne of the Most High. Pause Christian, and consider this a minute. See how every attribute is here magnified. Lo! what wisdom is here. God becomes man that God may be just, and the justifier of the ungodly. Lo! what power, for where is power so great as when it concealeth power? What power, that Godhead should unrobe itself and become man! Behold, what love is thus revealed to us when Jesus becomes a man.
Sing the song of God’s love revealed to us
“What love is thus revealed to us” in the incarnation—when Jesus became a man. This is the beauty of Christmas, the song the universe sings and invites us to join in its chorus. It is the song we need when we are weary and heavy-laden. When we are so burdened by sorrow we truly do wonder if God cares. Because God does, and the incarnation is the proof.
“This is the way God loves us: he gave his one and only son so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). To bear our burdens, and to live as one of us, sympathizing with us in our weakness. That is the good news all of us struggling today need. The love God revealed to us in Jesus’ coming into to the world. And with whatever power your voice can muster—whether full power or the faintest whisper—I pray you will pause and join in the chorus.
Photo by Anna Popović on Unsplash
