Season of joy

Really, Target?

That's not even a little bit true.  That doesn't even sound true.  

Ask any owner of an Apple TV trying to watch a movie and getting the endless "connecting to Anynet device..." message.  

Ask any parent who has let their kid play iPad or watch cartoons before bed, and then told them to turn it off, whether technology gave their children abiding peace and grateful hearts of joy.

Ask my husband, who works long hours wrestling technology into submission, only to have a bug freeze up a week's worth of coding. 

Ask anyone who's ever used Siri.

Tech brings joy.   Good grief.

Never mind the fact that Target chose one of life's surest sources of frustration to associate with joy; what a grotesquely ugly distortion of even a worldly spirit of Christmas. 

What happened to sugarplums dancing in children's heads and sweet glowing faces in pajamas lighting up at the sight of stuffed stockings?


What happened to Christmas carols in nursing homes and Salvation Army bell ringers and giving your neighbors Christmas cookies?


Couldn't we at least associate something like that with joy?

Because, besides presents that don't bring us endless frustration, the non-materialistic aspects of the season at least sound like something that would bring us joy.

Isn't that closer to what the angel was referring to when he said, "Behold, I bring you good news of great joy"?

"Great news, people!  Hereafter, you're going to get every December the 25th off of work; you'll get to make your house smell like a fir tree; you'll get to make your kids' faces light up with presents and candy canes; and you might even get a new iPhone!"

And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God.

Not even close. 


Our worldly hopes for a Christmas with minimal bickering, kids who politely thank Grandma for socks, and enough eggnog to soothe life's bumps really isn't the point any more than Target's misguided and crass marketing campaign.

From the first day of John Piper's Advent devotional series:

First, meditate on the fact that we need a Savior.  Christmas is an indictment before it becomes a delight.  "Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11).  If you don't need a Savior, you don't need Christmas.  Christmas will not have its intended effect until we feel desperately the need for a Savior. 

Most of us over the age of eight realize that Christmas doesn't bring joy primarily because we get stuff. 

But colored lights are pretty, and gingerbread smells nice, and weeks of party preparation is exciting, and these things easily overshadow our adult hearts, don't they? 


Which is why Advent serves to counteract the tendencies of our busy hearts. 

To meditate on our need for a Savior.


To feel the darkness, and hopelessness, of a world without God.


To grieve, and understand more of the depth of, our sin that separates us from God.

And then, to hear the angel burst forth:  "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy... for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord!"

O tidings of comfort and joy,

Comfort and joy!

O tidings of comfort and joy!