The lyrics of a well-known song tell us that this is the ‘most wonderful time of the year’. Yet for many, that isn’t always true.
Many of us carry heavy hearts. It can be difficult to find reasons for joy. Perhaps we are facing real and tangible challenges in our lives: struggles with employment, strained relationships, health concerns, or simply the daily frustrations of living in a broken world. For some, Christmas is a season of loneliness, marked by the absence of loved ones no longer with us. And this year, our hearts may feel that weight even more than usual, as we witness conflict, evil, and tragedy across the world, or as we continue to grieve the recent tragedy of the fire in Tai Po.
Finding joy at Christmas can be hard. Yet the beauty of the carols we sing year after year is that they reflect the truth and hope of the Bible. The joy found in our songs of worship is not rooted in naivety. It is a joy that acknowledges the real pain and hardship that permeates our fallen world. Scripture tells us that all creation is groaning.
heavenly hope that leads to boundless rejoicing
That is why so many carols speak of the darkness of night. The Bible doesn’t tell us explicitly whether Jesus was born during the day or at night, but the story is framed in the imagery of darkness and light. Key events take place at night: the star leading to Bethlehem shines against the blackness of the dark sky; the shepherds are visited by an angelic choir as they watch over their sheep by night.
We don’t know what the weather was like in Bethlehem when Jesus was born, yet our traditional carols often picture a ‘cold winter’s night’ where ‘In the bleak midwinter frosty wind made moan’. These images capture something deep and true about the human experience: the chill of a weary world longing for warmth and light.
But our carols direct us to the divine comfort that Christmas brings. In ‘O Holy Night’, we hear that ‘the weary world rejoices’. The weary world, filled with burdens and hearts brought down low, can find a heavenly hope that leads to boundless rejoicing. There is a ‘thrill of hope’ as chains are broken and as ‘from yonder breaks a new and glorious morn’.
The story of Christmas, retold through the carols, is the story of God’s comfort to a weary world. If you feel like an exhausted traveller, taking just one faltering step at a time, may you be reminded this Christmas that Jesus entered the gloom of this world to bring light, life, and lasting joy to all who seek him.
