I have a lot of my memories from childhood attached to Christmas. It is such an exciting time as a child to start decorating your home, making sweets you get to eat, seeing presents fill up the base of the tree, and spending time with family when almost everyone has a bit more joy than they do the rest of the year. Christmas time is EXTRA special.

Christmas is inhabited with joy. I'm also positive that Christmas cannot be described without joy. Christmas is a reminder of a hope we have and a promise of a future that is yet to come.

Christmas is a time where we as Christians celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ. Jesus was the bodily representation of joy, hope, and promise. 

As Jesus lay in the barn feeding trough as a baby, most Jews had no idea their Savior had come for them. In the view of an infant, joy was simple. Hope had a face. Maybe God could have given a grand entrance for Jesus and terrified everyone to make sure they knew who was coming. But sent as a baby, God had something else in mind. 

Of all the characters we read about in the birth story of Jesus, Mary had the most peculiar response to all she had seen:

Luke 2:19

"But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart."

If you blink, you might have missed this response when reading the story. As a dad, I feel like I almost know what Mary was feeling. Have you ever been part of a moment that is so good and wholesome that you just lean back in the moment, as if you were looking at a photo, and sit in the presence of what is happening? You're not rushed. You're just so overwhelmed with JOY in that moment that you can't help by soak everything up. You're treasuring what's in front of you as it's almost too good to be true.

That's the kind of joy we can receive everyday through Jesus' coming.

This Christmas, let's remember what it's like to have joy in the midst of life's journey. Christmas is the annual reminder to reset priorities and find true joy. The baby might be in the trough. There might not be adequate sleeping arrangements for everyone. You might have a stinky donkey or goat roaming around your personal space. You could have rumors flying around about your marriage and child situation. You might even be chased out of town by a murderous ruler. But in the middle of what's happening, take a breath, remember that Jesus is there, and soak in whatever treasured moments you have been gifted with witnessing. 

Smile today, friends. We have a reason to have joy.

-Pastor Austin