Surprise, surprise! Perhaps you have planned a surprise Christmas present for your children, friend or family member. It maybe you have been given a “Secret Santa” gift and were surprised at what you were given (“Why on earth did they think I would like that!”). Surprises of any kind can be good or bad, but when they come, they remind us that we are not in control of everything and that life can take an unexpected turn.
The famous author of the Narnia stories, CS Lewis, wrote a book called “Surprised by Joy” in which he describes how he, a committed atheist, was overtaken by the love of God and became a Christian. Many of our churches are reporting new people coming through their doors asking questions about faith and finding life in the story of Jesus. All sorts of people, “surprised by joy”.
The first Christmas is full of ordinary people in ordinary places being “surprised by joy” and it often involves angels!
An angel appears to Mary and tells her that she will give birth to a son who will be the Saviour. She is “greatly troubled” by this news and asks, “How will this be?”.
On a hillside, shepherds are watching over their flocks when an angel choir appears. The shepherds are surprised (well, actually, “terrified”!). But the message of the angels is one of “great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour is born to you”.
Ordinary people overtaken by the love of God, surprised by joy.
There is much in the world that can seem joyless. The 24 hour news cycle is grim, our nation feels uneasy and divided and we face our own personal struggles. Perhaps there have been some unwelcome surprises this year – that diagnosis, that sudden redundancy, that relationship breakup.
But I wonder this Christmas whether we might be open to being surprised by joy as we hear again the Christmas story of a Saviour born to Mary and proclaimed by angels. In the darkness, a light shines and here is surprising good news of great joy that is for “all the people”.
Merry Christmas.
Rt Revd Matthew Parker, Bishop of Stafford
Hear the Christmas message in a church near you.