The Gift of Anticipation

One of the most treasured qualities of the Christmas holiday is anticipation. The dictionary defines it as; expecting with confidence of fulfillment, excitement, waiting eagerly for something you know is going to happen.   As a child, I loved the Christmas season, and still do, especially the days following Thanksgiving in expectation of Christmas Day.  Dad would begin constructing his yard design of plywood carolers alongside a life size wooden nativity.  He would have lights and music outside so by-passers could take in the sights and sounds of the season from our front yard.  There wasn’t a neighborhood that didn’t share in the festivities of hanging lights on the house and over bushes.  Even our Jewish friends had a huge blue menorah on the lawn that had a new light burning every day during Hanukkah.  The city would dress up in its holiday suit of red, green and gold and lights would hang like jeweled necklaces from store windows and roof tops.  Christmas specials and cartoons on television added to the guarantee that this was a very special time of year.   I loved participating in the seemingly endless practices for the church Christmas pageant, which would climax with the anticipated bag of gumdrops, chocolate and a candy cane at the end of the performance. There’s an excitement that seems to build momentum with each Christmas program, concert, and party.   Even bell ringers in front of the grocery store herald the message that it’s time to share in the joy of giving.   I love the clinking sound of the coins being dropped into a bucket, followed by a hearty “God bless you and Merry Christmas,” from a pathetic, yet pleasant Santa look-a-like.  The world around us appears to reflect the belief that wonderful things are just around the corner.   Imagine the days before Jesus birth.  What an awesome sense of anticipation those days and years must have held for so many people who lived each moment awaiting the promised Messiah!  As Christians, we celebrate the fulfillment of that promise every day. But on December 25, we celebrate this amazing wonder with more reflection.  Think about it again… Jesus came over 2000 years ago, as a helpless, human baby, born in a stinky stable to a young teenage virgin, only to die a horrible death on a cross and rise again to life, in order to save the world!  This is an absurd and awesome reality!   But sadly for many, Christmas is a holiday commemorated by angry shopping, parties they have to attend, family get-togethers they abhor, and the only bright side is possibly a Christmas bonus. The next day, it’s over and there’s a slump back into life as usual.  But for the follower of Christ, the gift of anticipation continues!  Like those who waited thousands of years ago for the Messiah to come, we are waiting for Him to come AGAIN!  He promises in John 14:3 that He is busy preparing a place for us and one of these days, He’s coming back to get us so we can live in that place with Him.  That is something we eagerly look forward to!  Anticipation is truly a gift that makes singing “Joy to the World”, even more significant and meaningful. 

Connie McClellan-December 16, 2015

How Joy to the World became a carol...

No Christmas carol list would be complete without the exuberant celebration song, “Joy to the World.” This lively tune is easily memorized and simple to play on an instrument. But do you know the interesting story behind this well loved hymn?

Isaac Watts (1674-1748), author of around 750 songs, is commonly called “The Father of Hymns” due to his popularity as the first English hymn writer. A few of his most well-known songs still sung today include: Come ye that Love the Lord; When I Survey the Wondrous Cross; At the Cross; and the topic of today’s post, Joy to the World. Isaac Watts was a young man when hymns other than the Psalms were allowed to be sung in the Church of England. This gave way to Watts developing many beloved songs. Watts still based many of his songs on the Psalms, but he was especially interested in writing hymns based on the “Christian experience.”

Joy to the World was written in 1719 and based on Psalm 98:

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. Sing unto the LORD with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm. With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the LORD, the King. Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together. Before the LORD; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.

If you notice the lyrics of the song, Joy to the World, you will see nothing about shepherds, a manger, wise men, angels, or any other character or element that we normally associate with the Christmas story. The reason being that Isaac Watts did not write Joy to the World to be a Christmas song. The original theme of this song was the second coming of the Lord. Christmas won’t always be a joyful time, but when Jesus comes back, even the rocks will sing!

Over 100 years later, in 1839, Lowell Mason adapted and arranged this song into a melody many believe to have been written by Handel. In my research, however, I have not been able to establish when or why this hymn became associated with Christmas. Certainly we can look at the message in the song and see that it can be applied to Christ’s appearance as a babe in Bethlehem. We must prepare room for Him in our hearts and lives. This is a joyous occasion!

As you hear and sing this beloved carol this season, think about the words. Yes, they apply to the Christmas story in that the Lord is come! We should rejoice! But, let the lyrics all point you to the reason Jesus came: to save the world. Be ready because He is coming again! What a glorious day THAT will be when the whole earth celebrates His appearing!

   

Joy to the World

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

Joy to the world! the Saviour reigns;
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy

No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.