A Weary World Rejoices
Whether Christmas is your favorite holiday or not, we can all agree that there is something special about the holiday season, which approaches with cold temperatures and frigid wind each year. There is something undeniably impactful about receiving warmth and redeeming light during the darkest month of the year.
It may just be coincidence, or maybe the storyteller of a God we have, but with the birth of our Savior comes a new year, renewed hope, and the desire to change, all the while gazing toward the light that is to come, the redemption that is to be had. We see this in heavily discounted gym memberships proposed on January 1st, the countless resolutions and goals set for the new year, the desire for more, and the desire for better. The season of Christmas, the birth of our King, prompts something in our hearts every year; the redemption of darkness Jesus offers never gets old, and the hope of a new year of Him at work sparks rejoicing.
At this point in my life, I’ve heard the “Christmas Story” a million times. Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem, Joseph’s ancestral hometown, to obey the order of the current Roman Emperor to conduct a census. There was no room for them at the local inn, causing them to not only stay the night in a rank shepherd's hut but also birth a child and lay Him in a feeding trough. There was nothing glamorous about the entrance of our Redeemer, so why do we expect our own lives to be?
This Christmas season, as I was at a Christmas Eve church service, the story of the birth of Christ was unfolded, and a few songs of worship were sung, and I couldn’t help but remember the lyrics that remind us “a weary world rejoices.” As the rest of the church continued to sing “O Holy Night,” my mind kept circling that phrase, and after what felt like an impossibly difficult year for myself and so many, I felt seen by the Lord. It was personal. And shouldn’t it always be?
Maybe the most recent elections didn’t go how you wanted, or maybe they did; perhaps you got a pay cut, or your favorite news outlet reminds you of another death, another shooting, another war update; maybe your heart feels heavy; how would you not be weary? Our circumstances are hardly glamorous, and neither were Christ’s on Earth, but amidst the dark twists and turns of our lives on Earth, there is a greater glory upon which to fix our gaze. What if moving out of this Christmas season and into 2025, we longed to see the glory of Christ come and behold His glory in the here and now? A weary world rejoices not because of an opportunity to accomplish a New Year’s resolution but because Jesus paid a debt we could never pay for ourselves in the most brutal ways so that we could dwell in the perfection of His glory for all of eternity.
Instead of tossing around the phrase “new year, new me”, why don’t we shift our gaze off of ourselves and enter this new year remembering who our God is? What if instead, we were quick to say “New year, same God”, reminding ourselves and others of His ultimate sovereignty? Doesn’t that sound refreshing? We can lay down the weariness found in self-improvement and look to a God who never changes because He doesn’t need to. He alone is perfect; may we love Him and let Him change us through our relationship with the one who lived apart from sin, died a death we deserve, and rose again. There is no one like our God.
In this new year, I pray that the birth, death, and resurrection become personal to you. You would no longer be apathetic or numb to the reality and depth of Jesus’ love for you. O come let us adore Him, Church, and may our weary hearts rejoice.
