Christmas Eve – Jesus’ Three Gifts

Magnificent words of hope from God for people feeling hopeless, at the time…and maybe still?

People are isolated, angry, depressed and very anxious about their future, as well as surely very tempted to doubt God and where he is and what he is doing in the world and in their work, family and community life.

From the stern words of God naming the people’s wrongs: their unbelief, their unfair and unjust treatment of the vulnerable, their taking advantage of each other to get ahead, their clutching at straws of human design to fix their woes instead of trusting in the Lord’s given promises and presence to live well in his peace and power, these beautiful words of hope dawn in the dark night of the soul.

I pray they be dawn OF HOPE AND LOVE FOR YOU TODAY.

I don’t know your darkness and where you are walking at the moment. Is your walk one of anger or depression about the trouble in the world? Is it treading the way of unfairness or using others for your own gain? Is it depending way too much of people, yourself or things to keep ‘happy’?

And, is there a whiff of doubt; doubt of God’s involvement or will to help you, or sense of despair about so many thing this Christmas.

Maybe none of these are in your possession at the moment. Good for you! Good to take the smooth with the rough because there is plenty of ‘rough’ in life!

But for the people to whom these words of light and hope were spoken, the days were dark. The national future was bleak for a whole people. No one knew whether we were going to make it and remain anything like we have been or known.

I hear a lot of this kind of feeling in conversations with parents of young kids, parents of teenagers, teenagers, Uni students, young pastors, seniors, family and community connections.

There seems to be a general sort of ‘bleak’ outlook on many fronts, from rising interest rates, rising cost of the basics of living, those floods, China, the US political situation, war in Ukraine, war in the living room……

But friend, let any darkness be lit tonight! There’s joy here because the boy is here! There is hope and love and peace and joy right with us after all. Amazingly, Isiah had it way before it ever happened.

He speaks of three reasons for this present joy:

First, the yoke will be lifted.

The image of an animal wearing a heavy wooden uncomfortable yoke endlessly grinding out effort in a meaningless existence that just gives everything everyday to the oppressor who cares nothing of you or your people comes is described.

It is a good description of howe the people are: This is the people’s life at the time – they are under the thumb of foreign rule – the Assyrian ‘rod’ is all over them.

I wonder what ‘rod’ you are coping with? Health issues, mental health issues, relationship pain, career confusion, flood damage, a despair around what on earth the world is becoming and what will become of this nation and us as Christians in it …

But this boy begins the dismantling of that yoke all over you. Like the hammer blow on those 9-inch nails in his hands and feet, this God with us and for us smashed the metal pins that hold that yoke around your shoulders.

Joy begins…..

The yoke has been lifted. This Saviour, his light, brings liberation from all of that meaningless servitude. We are always free as far as our God is concerned. This boy will pay our debt, remove that yoke of slavery to self and people and things, and we will be his and he will be ours, no matter the politics or power or lack of.

Second: this battle will end well.

God makes the bold declaration, which is at logger heads with what is still currently being experienced by the people, that this long war will come to an end and a new age of peace will come for everyone. So much so that soldiers’ boots and blood-stained kit will be redundant and incinerated (Isaiah 9:5).

Friends, this man’s blood-stained feet and body would go on to do that for all the blood on our hands. He burns up your hasty and harsh judgements, our hurtful flaming-arrow-words and behaviour, our distrust and dismissal of his words of promise, our preference for living our way: any our disgrace is now paid for in HIS blood by his grace.

And so, this battle you’re in will end. This pain, this doubt, this fear, this grief and loss along with those mistakes are covered and will be covered by his perfectly given love.

Your uncleanness before God is washed by his baptismal flood. Your suffering will come to its end, and you will still you with him – in peace.

Finally, this good peace will last.

At the crescendo point of this song – this possible joy is all founded on this boy; this new human; this divinely sent person… will always be and so you can trust that his deep peace will last …

This is a peace that lasts in and beyond any politics, dictator, economic hardship, hurtful mistake or lost love …

This cuddly soft little baby in this famous shed who never seems to cry (‘no crying he makes’) is a direct challenge to all who want to rule over us and to anyone who wants to be the king of their own life.

He has “authority” or “dominion” upon his shoulders, – the opposite of that yoke we often have.

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