Do you ever let those special, undefinable, joyous moments you have in coaching and teaching escape your appreciation because you get caught up in the mundane? Let me encourage you to be observant this Christmas SEASON with a story from my experience.
We have a picture on our refrigerator. Actually, we have quite a few there. They are mostly of our grandkids and they get changed from school year to school year. The same kids---just more grown up. But, there is one picture that has remained the same for 18 years. I've always thought of it as a "precious" picture. Though I've looked at it hundreds of times, it is just recently that I've really "seen" it for the first time. I'll try to explain. It's Christmas eve in 1988. My wife, Arlene, and our granddaughter Chelsea, are caught in the act of sharing a special moment. They are looking at each other as if they are the only two enjoying the most wonderful secret. Chelsea has both her fists tucked under her chin, shoulders hunched, eyes sparkling as if her four and a half year old body can't contain the emotion of the moment. Arlene's mouth is wide as if saying "Oh, yes" to the best news or revelation a nonny and her granddaughter could ever share. Just in front of them are the two Christmas bears we had given to Chlesea and her twin, Cayton. Could the reaction have been to a surprise? Whatever it was, it was a joyous moment.
Dave Roper writes in his devotional book, Out of the Ordinary, "Joy is akin to humor, which, they tell me, is the sudden perception of an incongruity. A story takes an unexpected twist, jerks our minds around, and we laugh. A joke, in other words, is a 'surprise'." Maybe Arlene and Chelsea had just shared a joke and the "surprise" brought them joy. I have never asked Arlene what caused this wonderful moment because that was the last Christmas we were to share with Chelsea.* I've thought it best to let Arlene treasure that memory in her heart alone. I'm so glad we have a special picture of that Christmas. It is causing me to think of Christmas a bit differently. If what Roper said is true, then there is a joke about Christmas---maybe a number of jokes. I think of the angel Gabriel coming to Zechariah as told in Luke 1:13: "Fear not, Zechariah, for your prayer is heard and your wife, Elizabeth, shall bear you a son." Zech was surprised, and from what he said, he probably thought that it was a joke. As a result of his unbelief, he can't speak until after the baby is born. And what about when Gabriel appeared to Mary. He tells her in 1:31 the "good" news that she "will conceive and bear a son." This might have been a cruel joke to a teenage virgin Jewish girl, but Mary believed Gabriel's report. Later, when she went to Zechariah and Elizabeth's home and there were those wonderful words exchanged between the two women (1:41-56), I can just imagine a look on their faces was like that I've tried to tell about Arlene and Chelsea's...joy as they share their secret. What about the fear and surprise on the faces of the shepherds as the angels appeared to them on the hillside near Bethlehem? And what did the angel say (2:10)? "I bring you good tidings of GREAT JOY!" The shepherds praised God "with joy" and told everyone what they had seen and heard and people were astonished. Maybe they thought it was a joke because, just like many people today, God's way of doing things didn't fit their idea of how the Messiah or king should be born. The whole thing still confounds the "wise" of this world. But, for those of us who get the joke, we are surprised by joy. It is not happiness about some myth that sneaks up and surprises us, but soul shaking joy at the unspeakable truth revealed in Jesus. "Joy to the world, the Lord has come." Maybe that's what Arlene and Chelsea were sharing. Maybe the joy on Chelsea's face that Christmas eve years ago was to be an encouragement to me that the words of Jesus are true: John 16:22 "You have sorrow now, but I will see you again and then you will rejoice and no one can rob you of THAT JOY." I encourage you to let the great joy of Christmas surprise you during this season. I Peter 1:8 , "You love Him even though you have never seen Him. Though not seeing Him, you trust Him, and even now you rejoice with the INEXPRESSIBLE JOY that comes from Heaven itself." (* Chelsea died of cancer on September 13, 1989)
Have a surprisingly JOYOUS Christmas!
Coach Hitch
