Joy to the World!
“Glory to God in the highest
and on earth peace to those on whom
his favor rests” Luke 2:14Sometimes I wonder if God’s favor rests on me. I wonder if God’s favor rests on war torn regions or on innocents that are caught in the crossfire of powers beyond even their understanding. I wonder how we can proclaim Glory to God when we see the suffering we see. I wonder if there is any peace at all.Well, this is what I believe. I believe that this life is temporary and the the life of our spirit and our soul is eternal. I believe that God tells us that over and over again in the bible. He speaks of the kingdom that is to come and the kingdom that is at hand. He speaks of many mansions, he speaks of the banquets; of a place we cannot begin to imagine. He also speaks of the poor, Jesus reminds us that the poor are always with us. That you and I in many ways too are poor. But Jesus calls us, in the person hood that he lived to a Christian joy. Jesus called us to a confidence in the love of our Father, that is the root of our Christian joy. It is Christian joy because it comes from the promise fulfilled. Christ. So though we are surrounded by the reality of the turmoil of the world we can relate to the world through our joy, through the confidence in the love of God. We can be one spiritually through prayer with those who suffer in the here and now. We can try to make a difference to try to alleviate their pain and their suffering. We can bring Joy to the world. We can bring peace to our portion of the earth. We can be the ones on whom God’s favor rests.
