Grace and peace to you as Christmas comes.
Isaiah continues to sing into this holy, amazing moment of Christ’s coming. “You shall be a royal diadem, a thing of beauty in the hand of our God.” Isaiah was singing toward the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Isaiah was singing toward our receiving Christ and becoming also beauty in the hands of God.
In Christmas, God comes to us in the tiny baby. The love and beauty and strength and possibility of God is contained in flesh, and so we sing “Joy to the world, the Lord is come.”We give thanks that we receive this gift and that we are lifted to more than we might ever be on our own, that we are loved, that we are embraced, that we are reconciled, and that we are restored. In this one who comes, God’s promises will be fulfilled even in us these many years later. This is a moment of beauty as candles light the darkness, as decorations illumine our homes. As we greet one another face to face or virtually, we carry the promise of God.
May your Christmas celebration be beautiful and bright, for God comes to illumine every darkness.
Joy to the world, the Lord is come.