A Weary World Rejoices
Every time I get away from the five-kid-chaos of my home to try and get a coherent thought out for this article, tears just pour from my eyes. Doesn’t matter that I’m in a busy coffee shop, inches away from total strangers on every side. Tears. I’m sure these strangers want to comfort me somehow, but these aren’t tears needing comforted, or even wiped away. Like Mary’s song, these are tears of gratitude as “my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!" Apparently, my spirit knows zero social cues when it comes to the process of articulating truth about the humblest God through the life of Jesus.
This year's theme, “Lift Up,” is inspired from Mary's song in Luke 1, “He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things…” This reveals God’s heart and mission for the weary in the world.
During our dating and early marriage years, whenever I’d see Gregg in a hard moment, I would try to cheer him up by singing a Psalm-turned worship song that we learned in college. Loudly! In the most boisterous little kid voice while dancing around him waving my arms:
“Why so downcast oh your soul? Put your hope in God. Put your hope in God. Put your hope in Goooood. Ohhh why so downcast oh your soul? Put your hope in God and bless the LORD oh my soul. He’s the lifter of your countenance… He’s the lifter of your head, and you will never be ashaaaamed.”
Depending on his level of struggle, I would adjust my one man circus act accordingly. Sometimes he made me work really hard and I would have to dance more erratically and take my kid voice next level Disney ridiculous. Eventually, I’d win him over and his frown would turn upside-down and into laughter! He’d always wait until I finished the whole song though, so I’m now convinced it was half entertainment for him. God’s Word combined with my goofy ways have definitely proven to be a solid team for Gregg’s benefit.
The lifting up of our countenance is a very real need in this life. There are so many experiences that can keep our heads hung low, disappointed, confused, lost, broken, hopeless. Weary. Even for people of faith, it can be a battle to make the choice to lift up our eyes to the One from whom we find our help (Psalm 121:1).
The weary world rejoices because God is with us…
As one Broadway song describes, “death doesn’t discriminate between the sinner and the saint, it takes and it takes and it takes.” Neither does cancer, chronic illness, poverty, or trauma. But then there is Jesus (Yeshua), whose very name means “salvation.” It comes from the root ישע (the letters are yod-shin-‘ayin), meaning "to deliver, save, or rescue”.
I often think about the implications of this truth, especially when singing worship songs like “What a Beautiful Name it is." It undoes me every single time. The God of all creation could have chosen any name, with any meaning, to be known by as a human being. He chose to be known as one who lifts up, delivers, and saves. Jesus’ name, his reputation, his life, demonstrates what it was that God had already made known about himself:
Then the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey…And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression…He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you… (Exodus 3:7-10).
“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel which means “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). God joined creation and walked amongst us, demonstrating what it means to be a whole human being. From the announcement to the shepherds to the calling of fishermen and prostitutes, Jesus’ life is characterized by a consistent concern for the weary.
By God’s reputation and Jesus’ very name, we know that lifting up others is the heart of God’s ultimate mission, offering hope and “a way out” (a translation of the word exodus). What a powerful reality that whenever we call upon him, we are calling on him to lift us up amidst hardship, sorrow, stress, grief, confusion, and loneliness. He takes us from darkness to a place of safety, light, clarity, purpose and abundant life with Him. This is why he came the way he did and lived the life he lived.
“I have come that they may have life, and have it in abundance” (John 10:10). Because life without knowing him isn’t life at all, and life with him is having more than enough. Jesus is alive and at work with us wherever we go, giving us what we need, so that we can be people who follow in his example and lift up others as he did. The promise of his presence was the very last thing he communicated before he ascended, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Mathew 28:20).
The weary world rejoices because “no other god can save in this way”
Though we have the promise of God’s presence, we still live in a world with all the hurt and hell it can bring. We may be thrown into fires meant for our harm and even destruction, yet God is with us to save us amidst our suffering. When we live our lives in obedience to the LORD we can rest assured that he will show up for us, WITH us. Just like he was for those young men in Babylon, he’s that additional figure seen amidst the flames. He enters the suffering with us and is our ultimate protection through it all.
“So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace. Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?” They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.” He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.” Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace…They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them. Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. …for no other god can save in this way.” (Daniel 3:21-29)
The weary world rejoices because Jesus has overcome the world.
No matter how our lives unravel, Jesus can be trusted to be with us, and to save us. “Do not let your hearts be troubled for I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33). Because he IS the resurrection and the life, not even death gets the last word, not even death can separate us from his love (Romans 8:38). Holy Hallelujah! Since this is how he desires to be known by us, what should ever keep us from calling upon him? He is our everlasting hope! A weary world rejoices because He has overcome the world, and we no longer have to be overcome by it. In addition to Mary’s song, countless other verses can be found in the Bible concerning God lifting up those in need.
“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” (James 4:10)
"He raises the poor from the dust, He lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with nobles, And inherit a seat of honor; For the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, And He set the world on them. (1 Samuel 4:8)
But You, O LORD, are a shield about me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head. (Psalm 3:3)
The LORD raises up those who are bowed down; The LORD loves the righteous. (Psalm 146:8)
Who also brings me out from my enemies; You even lift me above those who rise up against me; You rescue me from the violent man. (2 Samuel 22:49)
So that He sets on high those who are lowly, And those who mourn are lifted to safety. (Job 5:11)
For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock. (Psalm 27:5)
What a humbling thought to know that God is actively at work in our lives and that we have an advocate in Jesus who died--more than that, who was raised to life—and is at the right hand of God interceding for us! (Romans 8:34). He is not some lofty king who sits indifferently, impassive from his comfy throne. Rather he hears the groans of the needy, he sees the plundering of the poor, he hears the cries, he sees the oppression and suffering and he responds. He saves. He joins us.
“Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise,’ says the LORD; ‘I will place him in the safety for which he longs.'” (Psalm 12:5)
The weary world rejoices because there is good news for the poor…
In Jesus, God gave us an exemplary life to model ours after - a contrasting way to live in the world, concerning ourselves with the needs of others, striving to prioritize the lifting up of those who are weary and suffer. When Jesus wasn’t among the poor and marginalized of society, he was teaching religious people that among the poor is where the kingdom of God is found. “Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God” (Luke 6:20).
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:14-18)
The same baby, born while his parents were forced to accommodate oppressive government sanction, denied a safe space to be born, took his first breath among animals, lain in their contaminated feeding trough, born to impoverished parents, out of wedlock, forced into refugee status in a neighboring country, born to a people in desperate need of being lifted up, raised in no name-Nazareth, grew up to be a man who stood in the synagogue proclaiming God’s favor and freedom for the very same people he had been raised among, that he had become. What incredibly good news for the poor and weary?! This is God with us. This is what lifting up others looks like.
Most believe only powerful people of money, status and abundant resources are able to Lift Up those in need. But our answer is found in Jesus who wasn’t any of those things, yet his entire life was characterized by lifting up the poor, sick, women, children, the blind, lame, and even the dead to life again (Matthew 11:4, 5). The weary world rejoices because there is good news for the poor, the prisoner, the lame, the oppressed, the humble, lowly, those who fear the LORD.
Micah 6:8 tells us what is required of us: to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly, with our God. Those last three words being the key to it all. I get slightly perturbed when I see this passage framed in a modern retail store. I have yet to see it printed with the last three words, “with our God.” Why would you leave out the most important part!? “With our God” is how we are even able to live out justice, love mercy and walk humbly. We aren’t meant to do it alone and he want’s to teach us what that means.
The weary world rejoices because God wants to give us rest
“Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30)
Jesus calls us to learn from him. He calls us to trade in our burdens, anxieties, and damage from the world for an easier, lighter burden. True rest in a tumultuous world can only be found by taking on Jesus’ burden, doing his work of lifting up others, acknowledging that our own rest is found in theirs. To disregard his burden and not participate with him is to accept a life of unrest. Remember the words of Mother Teresa: “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” The world is in fact weary because it has forgotten this truth - we belong to God and to each other.
“In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35)
If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)
I pray we can all live our lives more attuned to the weary in the world. As we follow Jesus, we too should be proclaiming the good news of God, that Jesus saves us, that God is with us, so we can join in Mary’s song rejoicing together because the weary are lifted up.
Jesus said it (and lived it) best: “it is more blessed to give than receive.” If we believe and live that truth more, how many more weary people can rejoice? How many more blessed people would be walking the earth? How can we who claim to be disciples of his teachings not also be characterized by our concern for the weary? Lifting up the countenance of others whenever we have opportunity should be our way, just as it was his, no matter how foolish we look. When we learn from Jesus and value what He values, God lifts from us the world’s impossible burdens and turns our mourning into dancing, our night into day, our heaviness into praise, our weariness into rejoicing!
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