Sermon Tone Analysis

Season of Sadness

Have you ever noticed just how different people act during this time of year?

There are some who are typically unappealing the entire year who turn into the most wonderful people to be around.

And then there are people who are usually very delightful who start becoming sadder, removing themselves from people, and walk around with an attitude of glumness.

I’m sure i’m not the only one who notices this common trend, right?

Well, if you were not aware, there is something called seasonal depression.

Now, there are many theories as to what causes this thing called seasonal depression, but one that stands out is that...

“less sunlight during fall and winter leads to the brain making less serotonin, a chemical linked to brain pathways that regulate mood.

When nerve cell pathways in the brain that regulate mood don't function normally, the result can be feelings of depression, along with symptoms of fatigue and weight gain” (WEBMD).

Typically, those who are afflicted with this seasonal disorder experience fatigue, trouble concentrating, increased appetite, increased desire to be alone, a greater need for sleep, and weight gain.

Many who experience this would agree when I say that the winter months, especially the advent season, are more of a season of sadness rather than a season of gladness.

This seasonal sadness may be increased by many other factors other than a lack of light.

For some this time of year is financially difficult, as many try and buy as many presents as possible for as many people as possible.

Others may be experiencing their first Christmas and advent season without a loved one due to death or illness.

This time of year is also heavy with not only lay-offs from many different companies, but also an increase in motor vehicle accidents.

So, as you can see, this time of year is not always filled with joy and laughter from others.

And, if any of you have ever dealt with depression before, whether yourselves or friends or family, it can be especially difficult.

Collegiate Depression

Through my service in the military I was trained to be a Suicide Prevention Officer.

This training, along with my gift of discernment from God, helped me to notice different behavioral changes in people.

My first experience with this was in college.

I was living in Mansfield over the summer of 2016.

My friend and I would go to the gym together every single day, so we spent a lot of time with each other.

This allowed for me to have a pretty good idea of what his normal behavior was.

I started noticing some changes in him after he and his long-time girlfriend had broken up.

Which of course his sadness makes sense.

However, it seemed like his sadness could not be shaken after this.

Months went by and his sadness, his drinking, his removal from people, it all increased.

One evening specifically the Holy Spirit stirred within me.

I had just had a really good discussion with my friend about one of our classes and I felt this sudden urge to say, quite randomly might I add, “do you want to kill yourself?”

This seems like a very blunt question to ask, and it can be awkward to ask too, but I’m glad I did.

My friend looked at me with this befuddled look, paused for a moment, and said, “yes.”

I felt a feeling of relief, for my question wasn’t too far out there, but that moment of relief was quickly replaced with a feeling of grief.

My friend wanted to kill himself.

He told me about his plan.

He worked at the pool at the university and had many hours of being there alone and unchecked.

He knew what he wanted to do, how he was going to do it, and was simply lacking the “when.”

From here we discussed what was causing him to feel this way, and then we came up with an accountability plan.

I encouraged him to seek professional help, and I am happy to say that his depression is managed now and he seems to be doing a lot better.

Mary and Joseph

I share this story with you because I want you to understand just how deadly emotional distress can be.

Our bodies bend and break, cut and bleed, scar and deform.

These can, for the most part, be fixed and endured.

But, the anguish that one feels within, inside the heart and the mind, can often be so overbearing that no medicine can fix it, it seems to be impossible to cure.

And while I have talked about my friend in college suffering from depression, while I have talked about the overwhelming sadness that many feel during this season of suffering, I too need to mention that all of this can afflict any one at any time.

All of us are susceptible to emotional and mental distress, even Mary and Joseph were susceptible.

Imagine what sort of mental anguish Joseph felt when Mary told him that she was pregnant.

Joseph knew he was not the father, knew that he did not make this child, so he was probably very upset at this new.

While Mary told him what happened, I’m sure all he was able to hear was static as he thought about the love of this life being with another man.

Luckily, this anguish was resolved when an angel appeared to him in a dream and confirmed Mary’s statement.

Fast forward some time to their travels to Bethlehem.

Jospeh and a very pregnant Mary are travelling nearly 70-80 miles.

Not only would this journey be difficult under normal circumstances, but expand that difficulty when you add in pregnancy.

Also Samaria lay between Galilee and Judea which had Bethlehem in it.

There was much ill feeling between the Samaritans and the Jews.

Any lone traveler crossing from Galilee into Samaria would be at risk of not receiving any lodgings or any other type of assistance on the journey.

The family would have had to travel east, cross over into modern-day Jordan and then travel south on the eastern side of the Jordan River, before crossing back into Judea.

This makes the journey much longer.

(https://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/16081/from-where-does-the-tradition-come-that-mary-rode-on-a-donkey-to-bethlehem-prior)

Now take into consideration the sort of discomfort that Mary may have had.

This may be shocking, but as someone who has never been pregnant I can’t really say how uncomfortable pregnancy can be, but I can guess that it isn’t always the greatest feeling.

Even more irritating would have been their arrival into Bethlehem.

Now, it is commonly depicted that they went to an Inn and tried to stay there, but were turned away by the inn keeper.

However, our modern language and ill-understanding of Middle Eastern culture has created this idea in our minds.

When Luke uses the word “katalyma,” English Bibles translate that to the word “inn.”

A better translation, with regards to the culture and build of a home, would have been guest-room.

So, Mary and Joseph were not turned away by an inn keeper, nor was there no room in a hotel-like inn.

More than likely they went to one of Joseph’s relatives or friend’s homes in Bethlehem and the upper level of the home was filled, since everyone was travelling back to their hometowns for the census.

So, this meant that Mary and Joseph had to stay downstairs, in the area where the animals stayed.

So, you are roughly 9-months pregnant, travelled almost 80 miles over the course of many days, finally arrive to your husband’s hometown and you have to sleep in the smelly downstairs with the animals.

I don’t know about you, but that seems pretty stressful.

If you add all of those events and parts together, I would be shocked if Mary and Joseph didn’t have some level of stress and anxiety from all of this.

Our Own Sadness

How often do our lives replicate this series of events?

While not with the same context, maybe the same style.

What I mean is that our lives often seem to tumble out of control.

Everything is going well, and then all of a sudden everything seems to be crashing down around you and you just can’t seem to catch a break.

There are those moments where we seem to be completely isolated, desolate, alone.

There are times in our lives where all hope is gone.

And, we are not alone in these feelings.

These are not new to our human nature.

Listen to the words of

I do not know about you, but I do not see one ounce of joy in this psalm.

I see something that I can relate to though.

When I have those moments of doubt and shame, when I feel that God has left me, when everything around me is falling and failing.

In those moments when I look up to God and say “God, why do you forsake me” I look at this psalm and relate to the words shared here.

But, there is an answer for sorrow, for anxiety, for depravity.

Shared Joy

The answer comes to us just like it did Mary and Joseph.

All of those hectic moments added up, and finally Mary is giving birth.

While she writhes in anguish, while she worries about her baby, as she cries out in pain and agony…it all goes away.

All of the anxieties, all of the pressures, all of the worries, all of the problems, they vanish at the sound of a crying baby.

As soon as Jesus entered into the lives of Mary and Joseph, they found peace, but most importantly, they found joy.

So, when we have those moments, hours, days, weeks, months, years of constant anguish and suffering, we can find joy.

All we need to do is rely on Jesus.

I know it seems so much easier said than done, but our pain and anguish comes from our sin, our reliance on ourselves.

We can share the same joy that Mary and Joseph had by relying totally on the Christ Jesus.

We can lay aside our sadness, our tears, our anxieties, our depression, our mental and spiritual anguish, and feel the warm embrace of God made man, Jesus Christ.

He waits for us, with his arms open ready for embrace, and all we need to do is approach Him.

We have the answer to our problems, it is the same answer now as it was the night that Jesus was born.