Joy to the World, ELW 267
Devotion
Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her king;
let ev'ry heart prepare him room
and heav'n and nature sing,
and heav'n and nature sing,
and heav'n, and heav'n and nature sing.
Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let all their songs employ,
while fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
repeat the sounding joy,
repeat the sounding joy,
repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
No more let sin and sorrow grow
nor thorns infest the ground;
he comes to make his blessings flow
far as the curse is found,
far as the curse is found,
far as, far as the curse is found.
He rules the world with truth and grace
and makes the nations prove
the glories of his righteousness
and wonders of his love,
and wonders of his love,
and wonders, wonders of his love.
When I was in grade school, my brother and I couldn't wait to sing "Joy to the World." Every time we came to the refrain, we used to stomp our feet to the rhythm:
"And heaven and nature sing" (stomp, stomp), "and heaven and nature sing" (stomp, stomp). Our parents would glare, our baby sister would laugh. It was great. Stomp, stomp, a kid's foot signaling the joy of Jesus' birth. We signaled the fun and laughter of the season, the excitement it cooked up in us. We loved the presents! The lights! Our family! The candles! The cookies! Why not? God fills this earth—the heavens and the earth— with so much pleasure and beauty that it's hard not to burst out laughing. The heavens and earth burst with laughter and with glee at the birth of our Lord. So do we.
Prayer
Your birth, dear Lord Jesus Christ, is our new birth. Thank you for this special place called earth where we can be filled and celebrate your life. Amen.