December 22
“God rest you merry, gentlemen.”
And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Cor. 3:18 NIV.
Christmas will be here in a couple of days. Often, the Christmas season exposes the hopelessness that many feel due to loneliness and loss. With the long nights and financial stress, it can be a tough time of year for many people.
Who hasn't struggled through dark seasons? Everyone deals with grief and sorrow at times. The English Carol, "God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen", reminds us Christ the Savior was born on Christmas Day. Also known as "Tidings of Comfort and Joy," the carol gained popularity in the mid-18th century and appeared in Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. When Scrooge heard the opening lines, he had no patience for the song:
God rest you merry gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
Remember Christ our Savior
Was born on Christmas Day
To save us from Satan’s pow’r
When we were gone astray
Do you tend toward discouragement? There is comfort and joy. Do you experience seasonal depression? There is comfort and joy. Do you feel marginalized? There is comfort and joy. Are you burdened, or do you experience guilt? There is comfort and joy. "Tidings of comfort and joy" are found in Christ the Savior. "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). There is hope in this broken world. We can find comfort and joy in a broken world:
Oh, tidings of comfort and joy
Comfort and joy
Oh, tidings of comfort and joy
The Christmas message is that God can forgive and comfort the weak and the desperate. He can forgive and comfort the discouraged and the despairing. He has forgiven sinners like me. He will forgive you if you turn to the Savior and his death and resurrection for your sin in faith. There is hope for a ruined humanity—hope of forgiveness, hope of peace with God, hope of glory—because the Son became a servant and was born in a stable so that thirty years later he might hang on a cross for you and me. It is the most wonderful message the world has ever heard or will hear.
“God rest you merry, gentlemen.”