During the Christmas holiday, merry means gift exchange to us, therefore we are happy.
But if I tell the story of Jesus’s life to a regular person. Imagine what they interpret the story. They would say: What a fool Jesus was. He could stay in the heaven, sending angels down to the earth to help those who prays to Him. and yet, he came down to the earth. Well, that is fine. He had gift, talent, he supposed to think about himself first. If I was him, I would get a advanced education, a job near family, with high pay and less stress. Moreover look at his life, there was a period, why did he not own or rent a place? He was a loser. And look at the end of his life. He was crucified on the cross. It is absolutely a tragic story. what a shame? There is no connection between Jesus' death and being merry.
What does “being merry” mean to us?
My understanding of Jesus life is this, God told us, no one can join in with Him in his kingdom, except those who believes in His son, Jesus’s death. God was well intentioned, He sent his son to the earth for a mission - be a scapegoat if I may use the term of secular world. In this regard, merry means we are thankful because God opened our eyes to see the hope; merry means we are happy because we were saved from sin, now we join in with Him.
Beyond being merry, every christian should face a calling. Jesus would say: I did this for you. what would you do for me? Count Zinzendorf stood up and led brethern movement among Moravian. The difficult part is ourselves.
I remembered in a Wednesday bible study, we studied the book of Luke, chapter 2, on the scene of pasture, a team of angels shout with joy (2:13). I asked a question: what would you respond the greeting on Monday? The morning greet could be phatic expression. Mark Yip said he did not feel push to preach gospel. He was honest, we must maintain this open environment. He did not push to spread the good news, because he did not experience love overflow from heart.
We could spread seeds to people around us. My testimony at this Christmas.
Your God is a crazy God.