I. Introduction

We often use the word joy or happiness when we wish those who have birthdays, anniversaries and important events in their lives. We do that because we want them to have a joyful time as they celebrate these events and milestones. We also find joy in sharing celebrations or supporting teams at sports events together. We feel joy when we are with people we love, especially during this festive time. To feel joy is so important for our overall well-being, because it is a deep inner feeling of peace and delight, which leads to feelings of gratitude and lightness of being, and makes us feel good. To feel joy, together with peace, and hope, which we focused on the last few weeks, helps us approach the world with contentment, strength, and hopefulness.

II. The Son of God, our Joy and our Salvation

In our passage in Luke, we see much joy at display. Mary is praising God in this powerful hymn, for enabling her, by the Holy Spirit, to conceive the Son of God, who would become the Saviour of the world. She was also joyful, because she was visiting Elizabeth, her relative, who too received the message from God that she would give birth to a child at her high age, and by the time Mary visited her, she was already six months pregnant. But the joy Mary felt had especially to do with the powerful work of God through her, a woman from lowly and modest circumstances, a poor family and community- choosing her to be the mother of the Saviour of the world. She also praises God, for what God had done for the people of Israel, delivering them from slavery in Egypt, but also leading them through the desert, and the same God is now doing this powerful work through her.

Her hymn then delivers a more powerful message, from a mother who understood why the poor and the hungry were suffering and trapped in their circumstances. She praised God for bringing down those in power from their thrones, through the might of God's arm, and lifted the humble, filled the hungry and sent the rich away, who looked down upon those in their humble state. Mary does not just speak about her own situation that has changed. No, she speaks for all people who find themselves in the state that she had been in, and she proclaims the mercy and grace of God who sees their circumstances and wants to change it for the better, so that their lives will be filled with joy and jubilation like hers and Elizabeth's. She sings a Song of God, the just One, the Peaceful One, the One who brings hope and joy and love to all people. The God who sees the intentions of the rulers who despise the people of God, oppress them and let them suffer in their poverty and hunger and lowliness, is the God whose Son will be born through this Mother, and who Himself will declare that He came to transform the circumstances of the poor the prisoners, the blind, the sick. He is not just the Child to be gazed upon and be adored, says David Garland and Clinton Arnold in their commentary on Luke, but He will be born to bring peace and hope and joy to all people, not just some.

III. Conclusion

The message of Christ's birth through His mother, the lowly one, is a message that must be conveyed to all the peoples of the world, to all communities, to the churches in the world, the leaders of the world, that Jesus was born to spread the Good News of God's justice and peace and joy for every person in this world. It is a message of transformation and hope that each day will be a better day than before. The joy we experience when we see our loved ones and when we accomplish something for ourselves, is the joy that every person in this world yearns for. The birth of Christ represents that hope and joy for every human being. Christ's birth wants the whole world, every child, every young person, every family, every community to experience the joy of salvation, as well as the joy of living life to the fullest, where we all will have access to the things that feed us, heal us, and bring us comfort in our lives. May we all once again reflect on the good and joyful message of Christ's birth, and may that message inspire positive change throughout the world today. May God help us to share this Good News and be part of a joyful transformation, as the Son of God came to create change and bring happiness to the world. Amen.