Joy to the World!

Joy to the World (Isaac Watts, 1719)

Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room, And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing, And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing.

This song oozes with joyful praise rooted in Psalm 98.  But what is “joy”?  It’s so much more than mere thrills or pleasure or momentary happiness:  joy a deep peace in God’s love and a confident wonder at his majesty.  Now this coming of God into his world to reign as King demands a response:  prepare him room; enthrone him, exalt him!

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns! Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

What’s all this about fields, floods, rocks, and hills?  Psalm 98:7-8, like Psalm 19:1 (“The heavens declare the glory of God”), tells us nature is programed to spotlight its brilliant, magnificent Maker.  And when we worship God, in a sense all creation echoes our praise.

No more let sins and sorrows grow, Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found, Far as, far as, the curse is found.

Here we harken back to Genesis 3 and God’s curse upon sinful humanity and on nature itself.  We sing with hope for the day when sin will be no more, and the curse resulting from it (e.g., sorrows, thorns) will be undone, and death itself will be abolished.

He rules the world with truth and grace, And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness, And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love, And wonders, wonders, of His love.

The certainty of God’s final victory exudes from this stanza:  every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil 2:9-11).  God’s reign unites grace and truth, love and righteousness—the theological balance here is exquisite.  But in the end, Isaac Watts just can’t resist repeating the wonders, wonders, wonders, wonders, wonders, wonders of Christmas love!

.

Ideas About and From the Manger

Food for thought from Ross Douthat in the New York Times.
.

Visual Christmas Story

This video from the Skit Guys tells the Great Story at a swift pace.  Watch and wonder.  "Come, thou long-expected Jesus!"
.

Christmas Contentment

 
It’s especially fitting at Christmas time to reflect on Pastor Jeremiah Burroughs’s 1648 book, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment.  “Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God’s wise and fatherly disposal in every condition” (p. 19—note “every”).

There’s a “mystery of contentment” (ch. 2):  “It may be said of one who is contented in a Christian way that he is the most contented man in the world, and yet the most unsatis­fied man in the world; these two together must needs be mysterious” (p. 42).  “Mark, here lies the mystery of it, A little in the world will content a Christian for his passage, but all the world, and ten thousand times more, will not content a Christian for his portion” (p. 43).

This “passage/portion” distinction is really crucial.  It's like the interplay of Philippians 3 and Philippians 4:  in ch. 3 Paul is all restlessness and striving—discontent because he can’t get enough of Jesus (so he “presses on” to know Christ more fully); but in ch. 4 Paul is restful, at peace, non-anxious, joyful in the Lord, and content whether he has plenty or faces poverty.  The key is choosing your pleasures wisely: “If God gave you not only earth but heaven, that you should rule over sun, moon and stars, and have the rule over the highest of the sons of men, it would not be enough to satisfy you, unless you had God himself” (p. 43).

As for trusting God with your situation in life, Burroughs says this:  “Here lies the bottom and root of all con­tentment, when there is an evenness and proportion between our hearts and our circumstances” (p. 46).  Thus a believing heart thinks this way:  “The Lord has been pleased to bring down my circumstances; now if the Lord brings down my heart and makes it equal to my circum­stances, then I am well enough” (p. 46).

How do you calm your fretful heart?  “I know nothing more effec­tive for quieting a Christian soul and getting contentment than this, setting your heart to work in the duties of the immediate circum­stances that you are now in, and taking heed of your thoughts about other conditions as a mere temptation.”  Say to yourself:  “Well, though I am in a low position, yet I am serving the counsels of God in those circumstances where I am; it is the counsel of God that has brought me into these circumstances that I am in, and I desire to serve the counsel of God in these circumstances” (p. 52). 

Burroughs also says it more briefly:  “He has all things who has him that has all things” (p. 68).  “Many think, O if I had what another man has, how happily and comfortably should I live!  But if you are a Christian, whatever your condition, you have enough within yourself” (p. 78).  When “if only” beckons, sin is lurking very close by—beware!

“My brethren, the reason why you have not got contentment in the things of the world is not because you have not got enough of them—that is not the reason—but the reason is, because they are not proportionable to that immortal soul of yours that is capable of God himself”(p. 91).  That’s a 17th century way to say:  this world’s trinkets will never satisfy your heart’s deep longings.  There’s a God-shaped void in your soul and nothing can fill it but the all-satisfying and eternally magnificent Lord of glory himself (Gen. 1:27; Eccl. 3:11).

Burroughs sees this life as a voyage, and at Christmas this is vital:  “When you are at sea, though you have not as many things as you have at home, you are not troubled at it:  you are contented.  Why?  Because you are at sea” (p. 94).  “Thus it should be with us in this world, for the truth is, we are all in this world but as seafaring men, tossed up and down on the waves of the sea of this world, and our haven is Heaven; here we are travelling, and our home is a distant home in another world” (p. 95).

Wealth burdens the traveler four ways:  1) trouble (in one’s family and one’s dealings with others); 2) danger (“the sweet of prosperity invites the Devil and temptation”); 3) duty (of those given much God requires much); and 4) account (we’re all stewards, and those with great wealth have a great account to give to God) (pp. 103-107).

We must know three things about “God’s ways”:  1) “God’s ordinary course is that his people in this world should be in an afflicted condi­tion” (p. 115).  2) “Usually when God intends the greatest mercy to any of his people he brings them into the lowest condition” (p. 116).  3) “It is the way of God to work by contraries, to turn the greatest evil into the greatest good” (p. 117). 

And thus, “There is no work which God has made—the sun, moon, stars and all the world—in which so much of the glory of God appears as in a man who lives quietly in the midst of adversity” (pp. 122-23).  Does the glory of God shine in your life this Christmas?

. 

The Light of the World

Jesus said, “I have come into the world as light, so that whoever be­lieves in me may not remain in darkness” (John 12:46).  Think what this means.

It means, for one thing, that the world is a dark place.  Of course, many will object:  “How can you say we live in darkness?  We have antibiotics, smart phones, great restaurants, plasma TVs, pizza delivery, Facebook, and Lasik surgery, not to mention vast stores of knowledge through the world’s great libraries and online sources.”


But the manifestations of darkness today are widespread and deeply disturbing—like human trafficking, endemic corruption in developing countries, hoarding of wealth by many of the privileged, sectarian violence, global terrorism, greed-driven markets and businesses, exploitation of children, money laundering, treating sex like entertainment, breach of trust through family breakdown, rampant loneliness in crowded urban centers, predatory lending, disloyalty in the workplace, etc., just to name a few.  Darkness.


Join me in asking the Lord to help all of us see and celebrate the True Light this Christmas and not be caught up in all the dissatisfying glitter.


Jesus, “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world” (John 1:9).  Jesus himself says, “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). 


Christmas, of course, is drenched in light.  We think of shining stars and radiant angelic choirs bursting over the night sky.  But the brightest light of all shone not on the manger but from it.  The classic worship carols pick this up:  Baby Jesus is the “everlasting Light” beaming into Bethlehem’s dark streets.  “God with man is now residing; Yonder shines the infant Light.”  “Light of light descend­eth” from heaven’s noon-day glory.  We see the “Son of God, love’s pure Light.”  “Radiant beams” come from Jesus’ “holy face.”  Christ is “God of God, Light of Light.”  


And so, let's join the “Herald Angels” in praise this Christmas Day:  “Hail, the Sun of Righteousness!”  

.

The Host of Heaven

Andreas turned his head as the door shot open, and in burst his friend, Seth, panting and out of breath. “I flew home as fast as I could,” he said. “The whole place is stirring with amazement, everyone dashing about. Did you hear the news?”

Andreas answered, “What news?”

“What news? Ah, that’s just it: what news! We should have expected it, I suppose, but the King has caught us off guard again—this time with the most shocking plan. You won’t believe it.”

“Try me,” insisted Andreas.

Seth paused, caught his breath, and began to relay the report announced by the Herald Angels from all their posts in the heavenly realms: His Majesty, the Great Lord of all, the very Son of God—King of creation, Eternal Word, Ruler over all principalities and powers, Master of the universe, Commander of all kings and princes and prime ministers and presidents on earth, the Eternal “I Am” … HE has announced that he will LEAVE HIS THRONE. It’s unbelievable.”

“Leave his throne?! Don’t be ridiculous. God is God, and the Son is at his right hand evermore and evermore—Amen. Seth, have you been dreaming?”

“Well, I’m as shocked as you are,” he replied, “but I assure you it’s no dream. Who would dream up something like THIS? All the angel leagues are in a stir, and if you look into the faces of the company chiefs you can tell they’re serious—it’s for real.”

But Andreas replied, “What’s for real—what will the Great One do? Leave his throne and withdraw his light from all the heights of heaven? Impossible.”

“Let me go on,” Seth insisted. “There’s more—all about the creatures made in the Creator’s likeness. It seems the image-bearers have reached an appointed time. They have failed repeatedly to submit to His Majesty and rest in his reign, and so finally he has said that it is time. Time to deal with the rebels, time to settle accounts with those humans.”

“Sounds ominous,” Andreas said. “Do you think he’ll wipe them out. Like when our ancestors rebelled; God did not spare them but sent them to the gloomy dungeons to await final judgment” (2 Peter 2:4).

“That’s just the problem—or the irony of it all. The tone of the announcement is not doom and gloom. The Master Plan is full of hope—somehow… I don’t know how…”

Andreas pressed his friend, “Seth, do you think this has something to do with the Great Concealment? You know, the mystery that is always kept behind closed doors for all of us angels. I think it’s the only secret that stands in God’s Heaven. Do you remember how eons ago, when the grand Archangel Gabriel inquired about the Master’s future plans, and he was denied? Angels have always longed to look into the mysterious, ingenious plot of Almighty, but this one episode is concealed (1 Peter 1:12). Something about ‘condescension,’ I think.”

Seth paused to ponder. It was quiet for a few minutes as the two considered what weighty events were unfolding before them there in the corridors of heaven. Then they were interrupted as a diving squad of the Seraphim blared trumpets just outside their quarters. Seth and Andreas scurried to the ledge.

There before them, streaming from the windows and doors of all the mansions of heaven were myriads of myriads, and countless scores of angels in regal flight, all in full dress and perfect formation, all clearly more serious AND excited than they had ever been before. It was a display to take your breath away—so much so that Andreas and Seth almost forgot to do what destiny demanded: to join the streaming companies winging through the corridors of heaven, and to enter into the eternal song of praise: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” They sang out like never before. And as they flew, they glanced about with wonder and curiosity. What was going to happen?

A moment later word came to all the commanders across the vast expanse of heaven, and instantly each of them called their followers to silent attention. Andreas and Seth joined the countless host of heaven lining the sides of the vast interior atrium. Above them hovering in perfect attention was the Guardian Corps, the legion of angelic forces who sustain God’s people day and night. Across the great open space and up about a dozen levels were the Cherubim, who never rest and always look upon the Master. Above the Cherubim stood the Twenty-Four Elders, and to their left were the mysterious four living creatures. On yet another level there were the saints in white robes—the martyrs, bowed in adoration. They were surrounded by the choral brigade and those who blew the trumpets. Further up and further in, near the center of the dome of heaven, were suspended before the Almighty the numberless band of infants, all in perfect praise. And out in the midst of the open expanse was a display like never before from the Seraphim, the mighty six-winged creatures who flew back and forth before the staring faces of millions of angels of every description, and as they had always done the Seraphim called out to one another, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord almighty. The whole earth is full of his glory!” (Isa 6:3).

And then they stopped. All at once, as if with no direction, and there was perfect silence again. It was at this moment, as Andreas and Seth and a million others looked up, that the unimaginable took place. The King of kings and Sovereign Son of God, arose, stepped away from his throne, and began to lower himself before the ranks of heaven, moving downward, down past the infants, down beside the martyrs, down before the Cherubim, down in front of the Elders and the Guardians and all the countless array of angels. Down the Son went, down to the very floor of heaven, down to a door that had been locked and sealed since the beginning of time. And there the Son of God stood, below all the host of heaven, his throne now completely out of view.

It was then, while every eye was riveted on him and every ear attentive, that the Son began to speak. Andreas and Seth craned their necks to look and listen. And what they heard was this:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… The Son goes as light into darkness… I am the light of the world… I am the light that goes into a dark world… The Son goes to seek and to save the lost… I go into the world not to condemn but to save… Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends… The Son goes not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many…”

Seth and Andreas gasped. Heaven’s corridors shuddered.

The Lord continued, “The Son goes into the world to save sinners. This is love, that the Father sends his Son to atone for the sins of his people.” Then he paused, and shouted, “And the Word became flesh.”

At that, Jesus took the key—a key that had been kept by the Father from all eternity—and with it he opened the only passage to the world. Unlatching the door and lifting it to the side, the Son of God stood at the precipice of humiliation. Then he looked up and saw the Father’s face beaming with approval. He glanced to every side, around and above, and as he did the host of heaven broke out in thundering applause. Finally he looked down. And he leapt. And there was Christmas.

“Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence”

Let all mortal flesh keep silence,

And with fear and trembling stand;

Ponder nothing earthly minded,

For with blessing in His hand,

Christ our God to earth descendeth,

Our full homage to demand.

King of kings, yet born of Mary,

As of old on earth He stood,

Lord of lords, in human vesture,

In the body and the blood;

He will give to all the faithful

His own self for heavenly food.

Rank on rank the host of heaven

Spreads its vanguard on the way,

As the Light of light descendeth

From the realms of endless day,

That the powers of hell may vanish

As the darkness clears away.

At His feet the six wingèd seraph,

Cherubim with sleepless eye,

Veil their faces to the presence,

As with ceaseless voice they cry:

Alleluia, Alleluia

Alleluia, Lord Most High!

(Liturgy of St. James, 4th cent.; Trans. by Gerard Moultrie, 1864; Public Domain)

.