CONTAGIOUS JOY
Isaiah 62:6-12; Luke 2:1-20
Christmas Day, Sunday December 25, 2022
The Rev. Dr. Ritva H. Williams
How do we find joy in troubled times? Both of today’s scripture readings seek to answer this question.
The prophet Isaiah speaks to people who have lived through some very dark times. They have experienced the terrible trauma of seeing their city go up in flames, and trying to eke a living in the midst of the rubble. Now the city is being rebuilt, but the work is slow, and made even slower by seemingly endless setbacks and obstacles. Isaiah declares his intention of devoting himself to persistent prayer until Jerusalem arises again in all its glory. He will personally nag God to fulfill God’s promises. The prophet then reminds the people that God’s promise of salvation is in fact being fulfilled even as he speaks. Soon and very soon, they will be celebrating in a city that is safe and secure, gathering in God’s holy place to eat the bread and drink the wine they have labored to produce. The experience of redemption, restoration, and salvation will be the source of their joy. In our reading from Isaiah, this joy is promised soon but it’s not here yet.
Our Gospel lesson has a similar theme but with a different ending. Our Christmas celebrations overshadow the troubled times hinted at in the story.
In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered, This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own town to be registered.
In the ancient world, everyone knew that an imperial census was inevitably the first step in transferring resources — property, goods and wealth — from conquered peoples to their imperial overlords. This did not bode well for the peasants of Judea, Galilee, and Samaria whose rents, taxes, and tithes already represented more than half of what they produced. The poor were about to get poorer.
Joseph has no choice but to register for Caesar’s census, which means traveling 90 miles on foot from Nazareth to Bethlehem with his pregnant fiancee. She got to ride a donkey. Because there is no place for them at the inn or in any guest room in the village, Mary gives birth in a stable.Her newborn sleeps in a feeding trough. None of that makes for a very pretty story. Yet the birth of this child out of wedlock in a smelly old barn is a cause for all heaven to break out in great joy.
But first, we are introduced to a group of shepherds living (living, not camping) in the fields where they keep watch over their flocks at night. They are humble, lowly people, labeled unclean because of their semi-nomadic lives. It is to these folks that God sends first a herald angel, and then an entire heavenly host with trumpets and song. After telling the terrified shepherds not to be afraid, the angels deliver their message: I am bring you good news of great joy for all people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. … you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth lying in a manger … Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace to God’s people.
Most of us do not recognize the challenge to the Emperor Augustus that is hidden in the angel’s message, but Luke’s first audience certainly did. They would have recognized the inscriptions carved in stone declaring that birth of the God Emperor Augustus was the beginning of the good news for all people, as he had been sent by Providence as a Savior to usher in a new era of peace and prosperity.
The point of the angels’ message is that Jesus, heir of David, is a different kind of king altogether. His birth announcement is delivered to shepherds in the middle of the night. Without coercion, his peace will come to those who accept his teaching and follow God. His work will be known not through self-serving monuments and inscriptions, but through relationships. His cohort is made up of poor laborers and women. His work will be among the poor, the outcast, the impaired, and the exploited. He will remember the forgotten and bring them into his community. (Jillian Engelhardt, 2022, workingpreacher.org)
I’m quite certain that the shepherds got it. It no doubt helped that the good news was accompanied by an angelic light show, rousing music from angel choirs, and so much joy that they had to go and see for themselves. Naturally, they came away from the experience filled with laughter and happiness and they shared their story with anyone who would listen. The joy of the angels was contagious, and the joy of the shepherds was contagious. This was news that had to be shared.
I have attempted to share some of that joy with you through artwork. Beginning from the left: the Philippine nativity scene depicting a joyful holy family —- even Baby Jesus is laughing. Br Mickey McGrath’s “Gift of Christmas” showing a smiling Mary handing the Christ Child to a delighted shepherd as his family, the sheep and even the sheep dog look on with wonder and delight. Dinah Roe Kendall’s Nativity depicts rowdy shepherds bursting into the stable sheep and all. The Peruvian nativity just glows with peace and contentment on the part of the Holy Family, the shepherds, the sheep, donkey and llama, and even the star as it beams brightly down from the skies. Last but not least, there is the sheer exuberance of this nativity scene from Thailand where the Christ Child is visited by women and children riding water buffalo!
The Christmas story invites us to share God’s joy and delight, perhaps especially in troubled times. Here are a few ways to get into the spirit. Take seriously the message revealed in Christ’s birth that God is not distant and removed, but is embodied within the whole universe and all of its creatures, including us. Jesus is the model that shows us that God is inseparably connected with God’s creation and is present in every particle of it. This means that everything is sacred, and everything offers us an opportunity to encounter and experience God. This sacredness is the doorway to the Divine Pleasure that God seeks to share with us. Open ourselves to experience the sacredness in pleasure, joy, play, laughter, and celebration. It’s no coincidence that the festival celebrating the incarnation of Christ is one of the most joyful, pleasurable, and fun times of the year. Be more intentional about creating pleasure, joy, play, fun, and celebration in your life and spirituality. Play and laughter are serious business—they are healing, liberating, restorative, and connecting forces in our lives and when we lose ourselves in them, we are made whole, we connect more deeply with one another, and we experience the sacredness of love for ourselves, God, others, and the world. And so we do well to make nurturing pleasure a regular and consistent spiritual practice. Nothing heals us, lifts our spirits, soothes our souls, and restores our hope like an experience of deep pleasure or a good, long belly-laugh!
Please pray with me:
God, you have found so much pleasure in sharing beauty and wonder with us, in creating things that would fill us with joy. Thank you for your gifts of life and goodness revealed in the beauty around us and the love we share. May we seek what brings us joy, go after what fills our souls, search for the hidden pleasures in our every day lives. And may we find ways to bring goodness to those who feel lost in the dark, who no longer feel the effervescent joy that you so long to share with them. Amen.
