The Weary World Rejoices

I’m surprised how many people tell me that 2020 has made them tired.

After all, weren’t we supposed to have had lots of time off in ‘lockdown’?

But the truth is that with all of the uncertainty and stress of this year, it’s made it difficult to have good rest.

The good news is that even though we might be weary, we are invited to find rest in Jesus.

This Thursday night at our Christmas Eve carols our theme is ‘The Weary World Rejoices’… a line from the wonderful hymn, ‘O Holy Night’ that we plan to sing, together.

It is a wonderful phrase that captures the sense of relief that we can experience as we come to Jesus, who at the first Christmas, came to us.

But the relief from our weariness comes more than just rest: it comes from forgiveness and hope, as the original lyrics capture:

Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appear’d and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

As our world struggles through this pandemic, the light of the hope of the coming of the Lord shines even brighter.

In our weariness, we have the hope of the life that is to come, but more than that… we can have the certainty of our forgiveness and our right relationship with our creator, who loves us and gave himself for us.

That is the miracle of Christmas: that our judge would be our saviour… and that it came through his condescension into our world as a man who would die for his creatures.

Which means that the right response is genuine worship:

Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born;

Because of the first Christmas, the weary in our world who trust in Christ can finally rejoice because of the life he gives us through his death for us.

JODIE McNEILL

(Photo credit: Varvara via Flickr)