Tidings of comfort and joy?

Or portents of chaos and crowds?

’Tis the season once again when people rush around searching for the perfect present or that last minute gift, driving like jerks on jam-packed roadways, braving clamoring crowds in department stores, and getting almost all of their pre-New-Year’s-resolution exercise from third-digit phalangeal extensions. As they wander the hallowed halls of shopping malls, seasonal songs serenade them softly from speakers suspended overhead. These calming carols often go unheard, drowned in the cacophony of crazed consumers clashing over the latest and greatest toys and tech. It’s no wonder in the midst of this madness, that soothing sounds like Silent Night, and lilting lyrics such as “God rest ye merry gentlemen” would fall on deaf ears.

The time-honored tradition of giving gifts at this time of year is unlikely to terminate, nor should it. But merriment and mirth long ago gave way to mindlessness and mayhem. Is it possible that this is because most are so captivated by the commercialism as to lose sight of the lore that launched it?

Perhaps it would behoove us all to slow down and consider the wisdom in these words:

God rest ye merry gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
For Jesus Christ our Saviour
Was born on Christmas Day
To save us all from Satan's pow'r
When we were gone astray
O tidings of comfort and joy
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

From God our Heavenly Father
A blessed Angel came;
And unto certain shepherds
Brought tidings of the same,
How that in Bethlehem was born
The Son of God by Name.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

This poetic passage proclaims a particularly profound narrative. In addition to conveying consolation and concord, it expounds an event that should excite and exhilarate. It repeats the report heralded by angels to some Semitic shepherds overseeing their sheep long ago in a distant land. This miraculous message is one of hope, one of freedom, and one of joy.

Despite many disavowing the veracity of the angels’ announcement, this divine declaration is the basis for our ballyhoo. Christmas is not about the cash-back you’re earning on your credit cards. It’s not about the tremendous truckload of tidily-wrapped toys under the tree. It is about a gift, the greatest gift ever granted; the gift of God to His creation, to be emancipated from our enslavement to sin, and ushered into the commonwealth of the Creator.

That this statement of salvation was first to shepherds is intriguing and amusing, as Jesus is often referenced in terms they would understand, most notably by John the Baptist when he bore witness saying, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29b). The concept here hearkens back to the Jewish Passover in which lambs were sacrificed so God would pass over the Israelites’ homes when He went through Egypt to strike down all the firstborn and to set free the Hebrews from slavery (Exodus 12:1-32). It also alludes to the story of Abraham and Isaac in which God provided the lamb for their sacrificial offering (Genesis 22:1-19). In it as well is a depiction of the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur - Leviticus 16) in which a sacrifice was made to cover the sins of Israel. Thus the Son of God, who by nature is God Himself, the Savior of man, took on Himself the nature of that which He created, and became the sacrifice provided by God to spare us from a more hideous end.

In similar manner, He is likened to a Shepherd that leads His flock, and as such, is the door through which we can enter His Kingdom. As Scripture relates it:

So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

John 10:7-10

While many people posit a plethora of potential paths to paradise, Jesus Himself teaches otherwise - “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.’” (John 14:6).

One day, all will bow, recognize His sovereignty, and give praises to God (Romans 14:11), though for many that confession will come too late. The time is now to see your sinfulness and embrace the everlasting endowment given us by God. Then, and only then, can true “comfort and joy,” that expressed in this touching tune, be tasted. Therefore I beseech you, obey the closing lyrics of this classic carol, and:

Now to the Lord sing praises,
All you within this place,
And with true love and brotherhood
Each other now embrace;
This holy tide of Christmas
All other doth efface.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. - Luke 2:8-10