by Rev. Dr, Tim Verhey, December 2025

Joy to the World

Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room, And heav’n and nature sing,
And heav’n and nature sing, And heav’n, and heav’n, and nature sing.

I have been sitting in the manse, with a fire in the fireplace, watching the snow fall.  Stockings are hanging at the fireplace, garlands are on the mantle, and candles are in the windows. My favorite Christmas album, The New Young Messiah, is playing and Hot Chocolate is warming on the stove. My new dog, Mable, is laying by my feet, chewing on one of her toys, after we spent a long time outside as the snow gently fell and Mable romped in the newly fallen, powdery snow. It feels like Christmas. Sentimental memories of growing up in Michigan, where we always had a white Christmas (at least that’s how I remember it), run through my head.

Christmas is special. There is no doubt. It is a celebration of Emmanuel—“God with Us.” Nostalgic moments like the one I just described often give us an experience of God’s presence. It feels homey, comforting, and, somehow, profound. We often associate God’s presence with a calm, peaceful, pleasant experience. It is one of the reasons we are frustrated by the hustle and bustle, the anxious busyness that accompanies the season and drains some of the joy from the holiday.

But, if you read the birth narratives from Matthew and Luke, you don’t get the impression of a calm, peaceful, pleasant experience. Luke includes a tyrannical ruler making unreasonable demands, uncomfortable and dangerous travel, an overcrowded city with no place to stay, a pregnant woman giving birth under less than ideal circumstances, and the only people who seem to care are humble, (probably) smelly shepherds. Matthew is perhaps even more stressful. There are expensive presents from important visitors. But there is also scandal, flight from an assassination attempt, and the slaughter of innocent children.

The joy we experience this season is not the sentimental, homey, nostalgic joy we often associate with Christmas. It is the dangerous, frightening, troublesome joy that comes from the God breaking into a world opposed to God’s will and way. So, enjoy your family and friends, indulge in a little nostalgia and homey cheer this holiday.  But remember that the true joy of the season is something deeper and more dangerous—a world confronted by the gracious presence of the Son of God amidst the poor, the downtrodden, the marginalized, and the forgotten. WE do not find God in the places we expect or where we are comfortable. We find God in the places that are unexpected and uncomfortable. May God give you the courage this season to be truly joyful this Christmas!

Shalom,
Tim