Where do we find Christmas cheer each year? Is it in the faces of love-ones gathered around the table or gifts under the Christmas tree? Is it in decorative lights shining through the falling snow or the still creche in front a church with windows glowing? Maybe it’s a hot cup of cocoa and the face of Santa and his reindeer emerging from a myriad of puzzle pieces placed through the patient and careful study of cardboard shapes. Yes, these things can bring us cheer each holiday season.
But what about Christmas in the time of a pandemic? Where can we find deep joy and abundant cheer in such times when the lights and toys of Christmas fade from the overwhelming losses impacting our lives and the world? That can always be found in meditating on the character and attributes of God. He is the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).
Take grace, for instance. That is one of the most awe-inspiring and humbling attributes of our great God. Grace is undeserved favor. Only the most egotistical among us could proclaim that they do not need grace. When each of us looks honestly at ourselves and our neighbors, we have to come to terms with the reality that God’s grace is what is saving us right now. What, but God’s grace, can imbue us with hope and joy in the face of our sin, the kinds of illnesses that consume life and thriving? What, but God’s grace, fills us with hope in the middle of trying economic and political times? What, but God’s grace, gives us the will to go on and flourish despite desperate events? Yes, God’s grace is something that we all need to lean into right now and especially during Christmas 2020.
But, do you know what? We need to do more than just lean into God’s grace. We need to celebrate it—celebrate it as never before! Now this is not the kind of faulty celebration that says, “There, but by the grace of God, go I.” That is a selfish and cruel statement of judgment that declares that somehow God chose that individual specially to avoid poverty, mental illness, disease or some other kind of tragedy. Because, just like Job, godly people can suffer as much as the ungodly. The difference is really that the godly realize and celebrate not their luck at avoiding tragedy, but that they serve a gracious God whose character lives above all human experience, abides despite the world spinning madly on, and whose love and mercy are never-ending. This is who we can celebrate this Christmas. The great carols of Christmas can ring truer because they declare the God we serve and love! Let’s fight back the fear and desperation with praise.
There is a great Psalm that leads us into this joyous fight. In Psalm 103, a Psalm of David, the multi-faceted nature of God’s character is celebrated in a jubilant manner. The Wycliffe Bible Commentary captures the nature of this Psalm by reflecting that it is “untouched by sorrow, complaint, or sadness.”[i] David, who was profoundly acquainted with the failings and weaknesses of humanity, breaks out in song to our great God. I would like to challenge you to read this out loud right now. I have added emphasis to the words that demonstrate God’s graciousness to those who follow him. Take a moment to dwell on each one of those.
Psalm 103
Of David
1 Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the people of Israel:
8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
15 The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting
the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children—
18 with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.
19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over all.
20 Praise the Lord, you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his bidding,
who obey his word.
21 Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.
22 Praise the Lord, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
Daniel Powers wrote: “Instead of emphasizing the remorse and guilt of human sinfulness, however, the psalmist proclaims God’s gracious compassion and love that are expressed in God’s forgiveness. Indeed, God’s steadfast love is so much greater and longer lasting than God’s anger toward sin, and it is this abounding love that provides the foundation and hope of forgiveness for sinners. One of God’s greatest attributes that coincides with God’s stunning holiness is God’s steadfast mercy and love that refuses to abandon God’s people, even when they might stumble and fall into sin.” [ii] Is your heart hearing this? God has not abandoned you! Rejoice!
As we watch the reports of people in intensive care units and the characterizations that they are alone, we must call to mind that those who love Him are blessed by His presence wherever they are. Right there in that hospital room, Jesus is standing by, touching them and helping them. Can you see him standing with one strengthening hand on the shoulder of the patient and the other on the shoulder of the nurse or doctor? Can you envision the work of the Holy Spirit buoying up the weary teacher who balances raising his or her own children with teaching online? Can you see the work of the Father to provide for the hungry through the hands and feet of people who work in food distribution centers and those who donate to keep those supplies in stock? How about the grace of God helping the truck drivers and pilots racing across the country, and the essential workers gaining courage through the presence of God as they go to work? Do you know what it is like to feel the comforting presence of the Holy Spirit when a loved one has died? He is still doing that around the world right now. We praise you, oh God, for your marvelous and abundant grace! Daniel Powers continues by writing, “God’s merciful and loving character staggers the imagination . . . Even though God expects godly behavior, God also understands the frailty of His children. Our only hope lies in the depth and patience of God’s fatherly compassion . . . The stunning contrast of God’s everlasting mercy with humanity’s frail and transient existence makes clear that human vulnerability and brevity still remain in God’s embrace.” [iii]
The Psalmist is so deliberate in going through a great catalog of God’s mercies. And then he does something incredible. He calls on the angels to praise God even more! It’s not as if they were not praising him already, but he has to voice his participation in that great assembly. I can almost see them turning to him and smiling, “Ah, you know now why we sing!”
There is another reality in this joyous fight. If we remain silent and unthoughtful about God’s demonstrations of grace, the darkness wins. Matthew Henry wrote that “if we do not give thanks for them, we do forget them.”[iv] Not only does this pull us into a joyful celebration, but it demonstrates to those who are lost in their sin that there is Someone far greater in whom they can find satisfaction and peace for their weary and troubled souls. Can you see Him walking among the lost of the world, offering His hand as a way up and out? Can you hear His voice calling out over the wilds to those who refuse to listen? Maybe our songs of Christmas, falling so very short of the songs of the angels, can help to guide someone to God’s grace this Christmas.
Matthew Henry gives us a challenge this Christmas.
“He began with Bless the Lord, O my soul! and, when he had penned and sung this excellent hymn to his honour, he does not say, Now, all my soul! thou has blessed the Lord, sit down, and rest, but, Bless the Lord, O my soul! yet more and more. When we have done ever so much in the service of God, yet still we muster up ourselves to do more. God’s praise is a subject that will never be exhausted, and therefore we must never think this work done till we come to heaven, where it will be forever in the doing.”[v]
Amen
M.R. Hyde
Copyright 2020
