I want to draw your attention to a line in a well-known Christmas carol: ‘Tis the season to be jolly, Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la! What if I don’t feel jolly?

What if instead of feeling jovial, I feel anxious, discouraged, depressed, stressed, and alone? What if I feel a mix emotions?

Out of all the things that are perhaps important to experience or feel in “the season,” is “jolly” really the most important or profitable? And no, I’m not the Grinch who stole Christmas! I’m not saying we shouldn’t feel jolly, I’m merely suggesting that it shouldn’t be a priority, nor an emotion that everyone will automatically experience, just because it’s “the season.”

Besides, when we’ve lost sight of the real reason for the season, what exactly is it that’s making us jolly? When we travel back in time, about 2000 years, we discover that while the participants in the original Christmas story, described for us in Luke 1:1-2:20 experienced joy, delight, rejoicing, amazement, peace, and praise, they were, at times, also afraid, greatly troubled, and even terrified.

It’s quite deep into that narrative, that we come across a verse about Mary, or Miriam (Hebrew), the mother of Jesus, just after a visit from the shepherds, which provides us with guidance of what might prove more valuable than just being jolly.

Luke 2:19 (NIV) — 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. What if we rewrote the line in the Christmas carol to read, “Tis the season to be thoughtful, pensive, reflective, introspective, contemplative”? I know it doesn’t rhyme with “holly,” but it undoubtedly holds more benefit. On Sunday, we’re going to start looking at the events surrounding the original Christmas story by turning to Luke 1. We’ll continue the journey over the succeeding 5 messages, and wrap things up on the 29th of December with two wonderful testimonies from a godly man and woman, called Simeon and Anna.