And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field
Keeping watch over their flock by night
And an angel of the Lord appeared to them
And the glory of the Lord shone around them
And they were filled with great fear
And the angel said to them,
“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy
That will be for all the people.”
Joy
Christmas is supposed to be about joy
The angels brought glad tidings of great joy
But if we look at the original Christmas narrative
We have to wonder…what does God really have to be joyful about?
His son, his perfect son, his prized possession
Is leaving his Father’s immediate presence
Embarking on a mission that would end in death
And yet here God is sending the whole heavenly choir to sing
“JOY TO THE WORLD!”
How could a good God possibly be happy about the loss of his son?
I thought you were love, God!
Did you not love your own son?
No, just the opposite
God realized that temporarily losing his one son
Was the start of an adoption process
To bring back his countless children he loved so much
See, we once were part of God’s original family
Created for perfect unity with him
There was no condemnation
There was no shame
Only perfect harmony with our Father
But just like a rebellious teenager
We turned against our Father, and went our own way
Leaving our family behind
We had no choice but to sell ourselves as slaves to our desires
Soon we became shackled by chains of pride
Chains of shame
Chains of fear
We were enemies of our Father
Waging war against him
And there was no hope of reconciliation
…until Christmas night
I can tell you why God couldn't contain his joy on that silent night
The angel chorus signaled the initialization of the greatest rescue plan in history
Out of the overflow of his love
God released his Son to the world
Which released us from the chains that held us captive
The supernatural birth of God's son to a teenage virgin
Was an invitation to God's enemies to return to him as children
How could God not overflow with joy?!
Christmas is the greatest family reunion of all time
Enemies return as heirs
The lost are found and brought home
The hopeless receive the gift of assured hope
And the unloved are filled to overflowing with lasting love
So fear not!
This is the good news of great joy that will be for all people
For God loved the world so much
That he sent his only son to bring us home
Christmas
Is
Love
Spoken Word written by Caleb and Ashley Fruhling.