~ Rorate Coeli ~
Readings: Deuteronomy 18:15-19 | Philippians 4:4-7 | Luke 1:39-56
Text: Philippians 4:4-7
No doubt this week, we will be hearing the phrase, “Merry Christmas.” Take a moment to think about it: Is this a statement or a command? I mean, what should you do when there’s nothing to be merry about? When Christmas comes along, and it’s the first one without a parent, a son? When it’s a time of dread because you’re straddling the line between warring factions of family?
All this guilt enters in when we hear of words of St. Paul: “4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.” Somehow, rejoice has come to mean “act happy.” Squeeze joy out of your stone-cold heart and put on a happy face for the sake of those around you (even those your brothers and sisters in Christ in Church!).
Yet, when there that assumption that you “should be happy,” it only makes your sorrow sting that much more. The death anniversaries and divorces are only a harsh reminder that your Christmas season does not live up to the ideal sold to you by Hallmark and Madison Avenue ad agencies. There’s real danger here, because something is fake and deep down we know it: either we act fake for the sake of the season, or the religion is fake because it can’t make us feel happy in our woe.
Now it’s entirely true that joy is something deeper than happiness. The Apostle Paul bidding us to rejoice is not the same as Bobby McFerrin advising us, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” Joy is sturdier because it has deeper roots than the green grass of our fleeting emotions. And this rooting comes from what’s connected to the command, Rejoice: “Rejoice in the Lord always.”
In the Lord. There is only fleeting joy to be had outside of the Lord, as the Psalmist says, “You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.” (Psalm 4:7) That is a joy that comes and goes with circumstances. But “in the Lord” is crucial because He is a Lord who acts for the good of His people. We are able to rejoice because He is a God who comes to us, our Immanuel (God with us). He came to Mary, low as she was. He came to those who were burdened by their sin, weighed down by disease, and run ragged by death. The Lord is at hand is no trite phrase; it is the very center of a Christian’s life, because we are in Christ.
We need Him to be at hand because we also have so much else that’s barging in on us. Anxiety gives us a brain that can’t but focus on what is out of our control and portends disaster. We need Him at hand because the devil is always around, with his lying and murdering day and night and he will not let us have any peace. We need Christ at hand when death threatens us. When you can’t, by force of will, shut these things off, Christ comes to be at hand. Hear these promises of God—more certain than death or taxes—that Jesus Christ is born our brother and He ascended with “all authority in heaven and on earth.” This is the one who draws near to His people.
What we need when our hearts are troubled and our days are lousy and dark is the Gospel of our Lord to guard our hearts and minds. Even in the midst of all the tribulation, you have been baptized into Christ. You call on Him as Lord and God as your Father. His death and resurrection are here for you in your Baptism every day. His very Body and Blood given and shed for you are upon this altar today.
So because of this, be reasonable. Just as your outlook changes when a windfall changes your situation, you’ve been given the truth: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away” (Luke 21:33). The power of sin and the sting of death? They have no claim on you. Jesus claims you now, and He can with a Word summon you back to Himself. So what’s left to be anxious about? What’s left to drive you to uncertainty and panic? “The Lord is at hand.”
Anxiety is a dead end. Panic is a bunch of bluster without any resolution. But prayer is a totally different outcome! Because we have a Lord who is at hand, He is where our fears and uncertainties need to be aimed. With prayer and supplication means asking Him and sometimes even begging for His help. This doesn’t mean that He’s uncaring and has to be convinced. It means that He will always, 100% come through for you. Yet, the way that He does will cause us to grow in faith. This will lead us to gratitude when we see all that He has done and can do!
So what if the Christmas season is laced with these expectations? Whether or not it feels merry or miserable, the Lord is at hand to save and bless. He is here with His compassion and His might to save. He has come, as we celebrate this season, as “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) That’s what is supposed to be celebrated at Christmas. Everything else can be taken away, so long as we have our Lord at hand to save.
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
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