I sat this morning in church, beautifully decorated with greenery and miniature lights. Christmas trees flanked each side of the podium, adorned with gold and silver bulbs. The words ‘peace’, ‘love’ and ‘faith’ hung from the dark green limbs. Red poinsettias swathed in gold filmy fabric decorated the baptismal.
The rows in front of me held an array of attendees, including:
- An older woman in her 70s facing divorce after a cheating husband was exposed
- A young woman in her thirties coping with the loss of her long-awaited, stillborn child
- A family with young children who struggle to make ends meet every month
- A dear man who is recovering from his second hip surgery after months of pain
- One of my dearest friends, frail and thin after cancer surgery, chemo and radiation for the past several months
- Even our minister fights an ongoing battle with skin cancer evidence in the ugly scars on his neck
Some of those in the pews were experiencing a season of rejoicing:
- Parents with their grown children all home for the holiday
- Reunions of friends and families
- Improved health and loving marriages
- Retirement after years of toil
- Easing of financial constraints
All were worshipping God in the unity that is the body of Christ. We are ‘The Church.’ The sermon today highlighted one of His Holy Names: El Gibbor or ‘The Mighty God’; the Lord is our warrior, our champion. A mighty God who prevails and fights for his people. He whose strength is sufficient for us.
James 1:2-4 calls out for us to “consider it pure joy” when we face trials of many kinds, for the testing of our faith produces perseverance, which must finish its work in us to be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.
Despite the hardships of some individuals and the blessings of others, all faces held pure joy as they worshipped their Creator this cold, snowy morning as the calendar counts down to Christmas. Each season of life on this Earth brings joy and heartache, struggles and accomplishments, the hills and valleys of the human experience. Having God on our side to strengthen and lift us up when we feel we can stand no more is a divine revelation of the Lord’s goodness and mercy.
A season of struggle will be followed by a season of rest. He will not give us more than we can stand, but will offer a way out to stand up under our struggles. We need only be faithful and look forward to the everlasting joy that awaits all those who believe in Christ, in his miraculous conception and birth through to His conquering of death and sin on the cross. Faith paves the way to the glory of heaven.
‘Tis the season to find and worship the one true God who will fight for you, who sent His one and only Son to die for you by taking your sins and nailing them to the cross. ‘Tis the season to realize what the words of the Christmas hymn, ‘Mary, Did You Know’ truly mean:
Mary, did you know that your baby boy would one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you’ve delivered will soon deliver you
Mary, did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy will calm the storm with his hand?
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
When you kiss your little baby, you kiss the face of God
The blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dead will live again
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak the praises of the lamb!
Mary, did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy would one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy is Heaven’s perfect Lamb?
That sleeping child you’re holding is the great I am
C.R. Noble 