The stillness of God is seen on that quiet night 2000 years ago when Jesus was born. In a small barn, out of the way of everyone, the Light of the world came as a little baby. For a very short moment, the skies erupted with angelic praise. I can hear the conversation now. Gabriel: “Can’t we just sing for a moment? It won’t take long. How can we remain quiet? Let us be seen and heard and I promise we’ll get it right!” God: “OK, but just for a minute.” Think about it. They didn’t sing long enough for the residents of Bethlehem to hear or come out of their houses. The choir was in their backyard, but the shepherds were the only ones who heard. But the sheer joy of the angels was enough to compel them to that holy barn.
What drew the wise men from the east? Was it a billboard announcing the birth of the Messiah? How about a megaphone attached to the hump of a camel? Nope. Just one single, very quiet star. If you weren’t looking for it, you’d miss it. But they were waiting…and watching. Their journey from the East—probably months—was guided by a star. As any ancient astronomer will tell you, this star wasn’t ordinary. In fact, they’d waited for generations for its appearance. Its light packed so much joy, these men couldn’t contain themselves! In response, they loaded very expensive gifts in their caravan to offer to King Jesus.
What caused Simeon and Anna to weep in the Temple? Was it a sermon or a powerful song? Not at all. Just a small, unpretentious baby. But they knew this was more than an ordinary baby. The Spirit of God moved them both to worship this child and they did so with explosive joy.
What caused fetus baby John to leap in Elizabeth’s belly at the sound of Mary’s voice? It wasn’t a loud noise or a strong vibration. The simple voice of that Hebrew teen raised joy in a six month fetus in the womb of an aged woman.
Joy. Such a simple and profound word. If you’ve experienced it, you know exactly what I’m talking about. If you’ve never experienced the thrill of a wooden roller coaster, the exhilaration of racing a car, or the beauty of the skies at 40k feet, I can’t explain it to you. You must experience it for yourself. If you’ve never tasted Dora King’s angel food cake, no words will help you understand how sweet and fluffy it is. You just have to bite into it to know. If you’ve never worn a cashmere sweater and felt the thinness, softness and warmth all at once, I can’t describe it. Wool-like doesn’t work. “It’s like wearing air” comes close, but does that make sense? Not at all. Joy is something that must be experienced first-hand.
Christmas is overflowing with joy. It’s around every corner and in every other conversation. Every gift is pregnant with it. Houses decorated with light proclaim it. More than that, worship songs are pregnant with joy. The Word shouts it for anyone who’s listening to hear. Will you see/hear/taste joy this year? Don’t miss it!
If God is the source of joy and He offers it freely to those who know Him, it only stands to reason, we will miss joy all together if we do not seek the Lord this Christmas. I can promise in the hurricane of this season, you will miss joy if you aren’t looking for Jesus. Find Him in the Word. Find Him in worship. Meet Him in prayer. Then you will see and hear Him everywhere! Really. It’s not difficult to taste joy. It’s no harder than standing in line for a roller coaster or taking a bite of cake. Take the bite this year and experience Jesus.