JOY!
Oh, don't you just love the Christmas adverts! I wonder which is your favourite this year.
It was John Lewis who kicked off the festive season with their advert which was aired on 4th November which was a little earlier than expected! This year depicts a teenage boy who struggles to express his emotions for his dad and, instead, uses music as a way to connect with him. The strapline reads, "If you can't find the words, find the gift".
And who wouldn't love the idea that a romance between Joe Wilkinson and his 'dream date' Keira Knightly, could actually happen. Like Joe's friend we're more likely to think, well, good luck with that, mate! But in the end they 'ate happily ever after' thanks to Waitrose.
But my absolute favourite advert has to be Tesco because they have nailed the reality that, for some of us, the festive period is full of funny, chaotic, unscripted moments, without which, it simply wouldn't be Christmas!
Because. let's be honest, Christmas isn't just when the crackers appear, it's also when the cracks appear. It's the time of year when the gaping holes in our lives and relationships are most keenly felt. It's the time of year when isolation is notable, when families are stretched financially, when tensions are heightened and there is pressure to celebrate no matter what we are going through and how we are feeling.
Or maybe that's just me?!
But the truth is, for many of us, Christmas will be messy, because life is messy. We know that the love, peace, and hope that we long for won't be found under a Christmas tree. We know too that what we need this Christmas isn't really another visit from Santa. What we need is a Saviour.
That's why the Christmas story can bring us the JOY that we truly long for, as one of the bible writers, a guy called Luke, reminds us . . .
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for I bring you good news of great JOY that will be for all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.
Jesus had been spoken of by the prophets as a coming King, yet he was a King like no other.
He didn't come as other leaders have sporting palaces, wealth, and titles; rather he came in humility, grace and truth. He didn't come and sit in power on a golden throne; he came, instead, right into the mess and the brokenness of our world proclaiming good news for the poor, sight for the blind, release for prisoners and freedom for the oppressed. He was nothing that people had expected, yet everything they had hoped for. No wonder that the angels were singing! :)
And he is the reason why every person can know real JOY this festive season, the kind of JOY that will linger long after the Waitrose mince pies have been eaten. Because it's a JOY that endures and the perfect gift to take us into 2026.