Advent and Christmas 2023

This Advent message from Commissioner Anthony Cotterill could be used within a worship service, as a devotional thought for a music rehearsal, or to share with volunteers before you start sorting presents.

God rest you merry, gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
Remember Christ our Saviour
Was born on Christmas Day;
To save us all from Satan's pow'r
When we were gone astray
O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy!
O tidings of comfort and joy

A modern-day paraphrase of the first few lines of this carol would sound something like this: God bless you and keep you, don’t be anxious or downcast. Remember Jesus has come to save us from evil. Yes, even when we have wandered! We can find comfort in the words of this message and rejoice in it.

What passage of Scripture is God wanting to show me to take on my Advent journey? How am I preparing for his coming? What does God’s comfort and joy look like for me today?

From God our heav’nly Father
A blessèd angel came;
And unto certain shepherds
Brought tidings of the same;
How that in Bethlehem was born
The Son of God by name
O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy!
O tidings of comfort and joy

It’s sobering to think that God sent Jesus into the world at just the right time. It wasn’t too early, it wasn’t too late. The Roman empire was ruthless, unjust and exploitative. Other rulers had been before that, but the announcement of Jesus’ coming and his imminent birth in Bethlehem was to change the course of history and to bring hope but also comfort to a suffering world.

In this season, how can we comfort others, with the comfort we have received? How does it make you feel knowing that despite all that is happening around us, God sees and God cares?

The shepherds at those tidings
Rejoicèd much in mind,
And left their flocks a-feeding
In tempest, storm and wind:
And went to Bethlehem straightway
The Son of God to find.
O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy!
O tidings of comfort and joy

The third Sunday in Advent is traditionally when we light the candle of joy. It’s also known as Gaudete Sunday, which is the Latin for ‘rejoice!’. Out in the fields, in the darkest of night, in Luke 2:8-20 we read about how the angels visited the shepherds and shared the good news about Jesus’s birth that would cause ‘great joy for all the people’ (v10). The ‘news outlets’ today, however, are not filled with such joy.

How are we trusting the good news of joy that Jesus brings? How are we sharing this good news? How can we find deep joy and rejoice amidst the trials of life?

And when they came to Bethlehem,
Where our dear Saviour lay,
They found him in a manger,
Where oxen feed on hay;
His Mother Mary kneeling down,
Unto the Lord did pray.
O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy!
O tidings of comfort and joy

It’s hard to imagine how Mary and Joseph felt as they contemplated their newborn baby, while also remembering the past few months. It had been a long time since Mary had declared ‘My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour’ (Luke 1:46,47) upon receiving the news she was pregnant. Since then, there had been angels, dreams, doubts, fears, excitement, public shame, scarcity, discomfort, long journeys…

How often are my life experiences based on worldly comforts or fleeting happiness? How can I find joy in the small things, and still give thanks?

Now to the Lord sing praises,
All you within this place,
And with true love and brotherhood
Each other now embrace;
This holy tide of Christmas
All other doth efface.
O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy!
O tidings of comfort and joy

Nothing compares to the love demonstrated in the words of John 1:14, as the Lord of heaven and earth would come to humanity in the form of a defenceless baby: ‘The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth’.

Look back on these past few weeks. What has God taught you about his comforting presence? What has he taught you about deep-rooted joy in him? How does Jesus’s birth, life and death reveal his love and purpose for the world?

While it may seem that we have come to the end of our journey of ‘Comfort and Joy’, another one is just beginning. In Matthew 2:1-12 we read of the arrival of the wise men in Bethlehem, marking their act of determination and perseverance in looking for Jesus. When they eventually saw the star over the place where he was, ‘they were overjoyed’ (v 10).

Reflecting on the end of one year while glimpsing the beginning of a new year, we too are encouraged to persevere in our walk of faith. As James 1:2-4 reminds us: ‘Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything’.

How can we continue to find comfort and joy outside of the twinkling lights, the familiar carols and the excitement of the Christmas presents? What does the perseverance of the wise men teach us about our own journey with Jesus?