A Long December …
A long December and there's reason to believe
Maybe this year will be better than the last
I can't remember the last thing that you said as you were leavin'
Now the days go by so fast
So go the words to the first verse of "A Long December" by one of my all-time favourite bands Counting Crows. I was listening to this song the other day and decided to have a deeper look at the lyrics especially because that first verse more than likely captures how many of us are feeling
It hasn't just been a long December, though, it's been a long year; a long two years and I suspect all of us would've echoed the sentiments of lead singer Adam Duritz when he pines, "Maybe this year will be better than the last" particularly after last Christmas.'
But we find ourselves pining again don't we. And this last week, these last few days has left us feeling like it is "A long December". Maybe for you even before Omicron began circulating it felt like "a long December.
Duritz claims he wrote "A Long December" about his friend in hospital, but the song actually includes more references to a girl who might just be a memory. One of the fascinating lyrics goes: “I guess the winter makes you laugh a little slower / Makes you talk a little lower / about the things you could not show her.”
Winter in America has a different beauty and less sun-dappled than winter in Australia. It's perhaps less beautiful than the summer we get to enjoy in this beautiful corner of God's creation. I suspect that for those enduring a long winter in the Northern Hemisphere, those Christmas lights hanging from trees and malls can shine brighter than the sun.
Listening to the song again this week got me thinking about our December, about this season of Advent leading into Christmas. For there's much to be joyful about; excited about - it's that time of year isn't it? But ... then ...
The constant good cheer during this season can isolate the desolate, the talk of warmth and joy can send a deeper chill to those already out in the cold. You feel wrong in December; at Christmas if you feel weary or weighed down (temporarily or not) by life. It makes you laugh a little slower and talk a little lower.
If this is you, Isaiah 9 is for us. Look at whom the prophecy is addressed to:
But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light . . . (Isa. 9:1–2)
Gloom, anguish, darkness. An apt description of this region: this is where invading foreign armies would show up.
We tend to think Christmas is for children, or the sentimental. But Isaiah shows us it is for the broken. In other words, for all of us. God didn’t come to this world to congratulate the successful and high-five those who have their lives together. He came for those walking in darkness (or laughing a little slower)—they have seen a great light.
And what does this great light mean? Joy and freedom! And it comes, of all things, through a baby; one who is a Marvellous Saviour for the weary;
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be
upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counsellor,
Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isa. 9:6)
He is a Wonderful Counsellor whose wisdom, guidance, and teaching will be breathtaking. Indeed, those who first heard him said no one else spoke like him; his words have an effect no one else’s do. Those who follow and obey him, know that his counsel is truly wonderful. This coming year, let’s not allow a single day to pass where we don’t sit under his counsel.
He is the Mighty God; not a merely inspired man. He is no less than God himself. No wonder his counsel is beautiful. This is the God who made us and knows us better than we know ourselves. And he knows deeply what we most need this Christmas.
He is the Everlasting Father. The Scriptures unfold to show us this man is the eternal Son of the eternal Father, and yet he has father-like qualities himself. He cares for the helpless and strengthens the weak. Nowhere do we see this more clearly than in his death and resurrection for us. And these father-like qualities are everlasting. He will never grow tired of caring for us. Our weariness will never deplete him.
He is also the Prince of Peace. This baby will grow up to provide true and eternal peace between us and our God, a peace so potent it will work its way into all relationships and across all creation.
The prophet Isaiah goes on to describe how the cause of such a figure cannot fail (v. 7). His government and peace will only increase. The kingdom of Jesus Christ continues to grow, not shrink. All that’s left for us is to marvel at him. And to receive him. To us a son is given. And so we pray along with the carol,
O holy child of Bethlehem, descend to us we pray.
Cast out our sin and enter in; be born in us today.
If “A Long December” is about how the constant churn of this time of year can make you sad. The Christmas narrative is about the One who came as a light to the world that shines in the darkness and who is that "thrill of hope" that means "the weary world can rejoice". Jesus is He who brings us hope about what lies beyond this "Long December". I guess in one sense Christmas is both an acknowledgement that, yes, it’s okay to feel burdened right now and also that the God who came in the flesh to our world brings a joy that outlasts how we might be feeling because "He was like us in every way, yet was without sin". A simultaneous wallow and pep talk It may be “A Long December,” but as the carol, "O Holy Night" puts it:
" For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn".