At Christmas - Filled With Joy

"Today's Devotion" For December 14, 2005

Read: Luke 1:39-45; Psalm 47

AT CHRISTMAS - FILLED WITH JOY

"As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy." (Lk. 1:44)

Yesterday afternoon I spent some time with my personal pastoral counselor and coach. I was a little late arriving but he was still in another session. No sooner did he come out of his office to converse with his receptionist than she told him there was a call he had to take. It was an emergency and he spent some time on the phone with a woman in deep distress. As we sat down to visit he of course apologized for keeping me waiting, explaining that since right before Thanksgiving he had been under a constant barrage of distressed, depressed people, including those who had lost loved ones in the past year and are facing their first Holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas) without them. In addition, because of the strain of the season and the demands on their time, pastors, their wives, and children are also experiencing similarly difficult times.

From personal experience I can certainly understand the challenges he's been facing at this time of the year as a pastoral counselor and personal coach. Certainly, it begs the question as to the strength and health of his own mental, emotional, and spiritual resources at a time where others are taxing him in their times of crises. When I was a parish pastor it wasn't at all unusual for people to feel more depressed and alone at Christmas, especially if a loved one, particularly a spouse, had gone to be with Jesus during the previous year. The additional stress of counseling and caring for such persons during such a hectic time of the secular year, much less the Church Year, often left me with little or no personal resources left to take care of myself and enjoy the solemn feast of Christmas.

Yet, this time of year - Christmas - is intended by God's grace, mercy, and love, to be a time of celebration and joy. Our marvelous and gracious God comes to us again and again every day through His Word and Spirit and reminds us that He loves us and forgives us of all our sins in Jesus. While this blessing of God is ours each day as we remember our Baptisms and live in His Word, at Christmas we have a special time to remember His gracious redemption and be filled with joy in celebration of the Word becoming flesh and living among us (Jn. 1:14). How precious are these days in preparation for Jesus' birthday celebration! How important it is in our preparation to be filled with joy rather than frustration, sadness, depression, and despair!

Elizabeth's words to Mary upon her visit to her older cousin are very powerful, because they remind us that God doesn't leave us to our own devices. He knows the struggles and challenges that face us every day, and no less so during times of the year, such as Christmas, when the challenges to our lives of faith are assailed on all sides by the world around us. So we have great joy and comfort, peace and courage from Elizabeth's revelation that her baby, soon to be born and named John (later John the Baptist), was filled with the Holy Spirit and leaped in her womb for joy as he heard Mary, the mother of our Lord, approaching. If the Holy Spirit can bring joy to the heart of an unborn child how much more isn't He able to bring joy into our hearts no matter how harsh the circumstances we face? If the Holy Spirit can bring joy to the heart of an unborn child, how much more can't we rejoice that God loves us and holds us in the very palm of His hand?

At Christmas we don't need to be depressed, despairing, hurried, hassled, frustrated, or sad, even if some of us are facing our first celebration in years without our loved ones by our side. Rather, we can give thanks be filled with joy in the Lord because the redemption that came that first Christmas not only fills our hearts and lives, but is the full and never ending experience of our loved ones who have died in the Lord and are now in His presence forever. As they are singing with the heavenly choir of angels and saints, so also does the Holy Spirit fill us to sing along with them with our hearts and voices while we yet live on the earth. We, too, like the baby in Elizabeth's womb, leap for joy as we are filled by God's Word and Spirit and freed from the burden of Sin and the fear of Death by the love of Christ our Savior and Lord. At Christmas, being filled with joy is a reality for all of us when we turn all the "baggage" of the season and our lives over to Him who loves and gave Himself for us - our newborn King and Savior Jesus.

Prayer: Father, all too often I find that the joy that ought to permeate my life because I'm Your forgiven child in Jesus is nowhere to be found. This becomes especially true for me and many others at Christmas, when Your love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness become all too obvious in the solemn feast and celebration of Jesus' birth. In Him, You became flesh to live among people so that we might truly know Your love and You might save us from Sin, Death, and Satan. Yet, the very even, the Word becoming flesh, which ought to bring me great peace and joy often gets lost because of Sin's effect on my life and the world. Father, I pray that You would send Your Spirit upon me and all people in abundant measure during this season, that the power of Your Good News of salvation and forgiveness of sins in Christ might fill me and the world with joy and peace. Help me to be filled with such joy that I may be an unflinching and unfailing witness for the solemn feast of Christmas. In Jesus' precious and most holy name I pray. Amen.
***********************

--Pastor Boeck

Copyright (c) 2005 Rev. Richard J. Boeck, Jr. All rights reserved.