Diane remarked the other day how the singing of certain Christmas carols has changed for her over the years. That they are much more meaningful now she is so aware of what lies behind the words. To which, I wholeheartedly agreed.

This morning we joined a couple of hundred other people and a fabulous worship band in raising our voices to the perennial favorite, Joy to the World.

I had no sooner sat down than I was called to write about such a thing.

Now, I have written pretty extensively about joy. And, I’ve written about things that both bring us joy and things that stand in the way of bringing us joy. But, joy to the world is a somewhat different kettle of fish.

For, we probably rarely think of a thing like joy to the world. I don’t think I’m going out on a limb to think we’d be surprised by headlines that shout, “THE WORLD REJOICES!”

To take this one step further, I doubt many people would say, “This world is doing just great!” Or, “The world is in fine shape indeed.” Maybe we’d be closer to the mark if we reflected that some people might say, “In the big picture, the world is doing ok, I guess.”

On the other hand, many people would join up with those saying the world is hurting or, at a minimum, things are just plain messed up. A far cry from joy to the world.

But (and I’m going to split hairs here), part of the problem is in the prepositions. There’s a difference between Joy of the World and Joy to the World.

Let’s face it. Unless we’re sitting inside some fantastic fortress, substantially walled off from all suffering, where we are provided our every desire, things are messy. (Of course, such an imaginary place is a complete fiction because everyone suffers in one way or another.)

And, if we are truly attuned to our surroundings, whether immediate or distant, we can find plenty to decry. Of course, it is oxymoronic to rejoice in and decry the same things.

Which brings me back to the point of the song.

Of course, this being Christmas and me being a follower of Jesus, it’s only fitting that I unpack it in that light.

But, before I actually get to the song, I want to loop in another thing. Let’s briefly examine a well known passage from the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 2:4-14.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

On the one hand, the modern person might well scoff at this as a trite little fairy tale. A baby in a manger, shepherds and angels, and so forth. On the other hand, what if it’s true?

This last week, I wrote about angels and a thing called the heavenly host. What if they are real and what Luke described actually took place? What if this heavenly being swathed in blinding light appeared out of nowhere to some poor souls on a rural hillside, shocking them to the core, and said (in effect): “Relax! I’ve come to give you the best news of all! And, this news will cause great joy everywhere! As promised, the savior of mankind has arrived! It’s actually happening right now and you’re the first to see!” Then, to ratchet things up to maximum intensity, the full heavenly host appear, singing “Glory to God!” “And, on earth, peace to those on whom his favor rests!”

Now, I happen to believe this really happened, a belief that will place me in the eyes of some (even those who may know me pretty well) as more than a little misguided. As in, “Well, Brad has a lot going for him. He’s actually a pretty smart and nice guy but he drank the Kool-aid and he’s welcome to believe what he wants but I’m not going to fall for any of that heavenly host showing up out of nowhere to herald the birth of the Savior of the World stuff.”

I don’t blame them.

But, the point of this piece is that this event, if true, actually has to be the cause of great rejoicing. Because God is God and worthy of all praise. Because God arrives in the flesh to bring peace to those on whom his favor rests. In other words, Joy and Peace to those who love him.

We’ll come back to that in a minute. But first, there is no mention of the world rejoicing. For the world is littered with people who reject God for all sorts of reasons. Much of the world (that is the human part of it) is far more interested in serving self rather than God for, among other reasons, serving God is a tough thing to wrap one’s head around. But, when we flip certain notions of God upside down, arriving especially at the notion that God came to life here in order to serve us, then we may open a window into why there’s cause for rejoicing. And, why there’s a promise of peace to those whom he looks upon with favor. (Caveat: It would be a mistake to conflate favor with love as God’s love is completely unconditional while favor … itself an interesting concept … arrives with surrender. But that’s a whole other story!)

No, the joy to the world, the reason for rejoicing (which is the expression of joy) is that things will be put to rights. Theologically, this means that the brokenness within is now available to be redeemed and that all of creation is available to be restored. Once again, I completely recognize that this makes no sense or is even an affront to the senses of those who find themselves at odd with the Christian story. If received as a fairy tale, the above passage from Luke is but a two dimensional abstraction that is, at best, of no actual consequence and, at worst, a bad diversion from reality.

The shepherds were given a front row seat into the glory of the heavenly realm. Their immediate fears would have given way to utter astonishment. As the fabric of all of creation, earthly and heavenly, momentarily became whole … as the birth of God in the most backwater location in the most backwater part of the world reset the axis of all things, the meaning of the moment was unavoidable. Hope burst forth as a thousand suns. Peace became ultimately possible. Love would eventually reign. Light would cast aside the darkness. Truth would reign supreme.

If none of this true, Christmas is just another celebration of no ultimate importance. If it is true and accepted fully, then most assuredly, hearts will soar when singing the following words.

Joy to the world, the Lord has 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

 

Joy to the World, 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

 

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

 

Indeed.

The Christian story began long, long before that unique night in Bethlehem. But, it always pointed to that night and everything that followed. For which I, and others of a like mind, find cause for great rejoicing. Yes: Joy to the World!

Merry Christmas