Advent of Joy: The Right Response to Christmas

Introduction

When we speak of the joy of Christmas, what comes to your mind? For some of us, it might be the joy of seeing all the lights and decorations. Maybe its the joy of watching Christmas movies or sipping hot chocolate by the fire. Maybe its seeing all the brightly colored packages lying under the tree. It could be the idea of seeing family that we haven’t seen during the past year. While each of these things certainly are joy-filled, there is a joy that Christmas brings that is deeper and wider than any of these other things can bring.

Read Daniel 9:1-19

Daniel 9:1–19 (ESV)

In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.

Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, by bringing upon us a great calamity. For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem. As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. Therefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice. And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have made a name for yourself, as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly.

“O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us. Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.”

So to back up a little bit, in Daniel 7, we looked at a vision God had given to Daniel about four beasts which are four kingdoms. And we saw that the fourth beast, while it points forward to a kingdom, also points to the sinful rebellious hearts that are within each one of us that Christ has come to defeat and to free us from.

In Daniel 8, a couple years after Daniel 7, God gives Daniel a vision of a Ram and a Goat, which He specifically said points to the Persians and the Greeks. Much of it overlaps with the vision in chapter 7, even though there are some unique messages within this second vision. Daniel is being told that while the reign of the Babylonians is coming to an end, there are still more kingdoms coming, so the time of opposition and hardship is still going to continue on for some time. But God is showing Daniel that while the end may still be a ways off, the end is coming, so Daniel is to continue to press on and to have hope in the midst of hardship.

This brings us to where we pick up with Daniel in chapter 9 during the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede.

A. Daniel was reading from the book of Jeremiah, could be from Jeremiah 25:8-12 and Jeremiah 29:10-14

Jeremiah 25:8–12 (ESV)

“Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the Lord, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. Moreover, I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp. This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the Lord, making the land an everlasting waste.

In his reading, Daniel was being reminded of two things:

The reason for his people’s captivity in Babylon

The amount of time God declared for that captivity

Now, notice when this chapter is taking place. It is the first year of Darius, the Mede. Darius was the king who killed Belshazzar and took over Babylon for the Medes and the Persians. Daniel is beginning to see God’s prophetic words coming to pass.

Now if we assume Daniel was taken into captivity around 605 BC, and Darius became king in 539 BC, then we see that 66 years, give or take a couple years have passed. So we are not quite to the seventy years that Jeremiah has predicted, but we are getting close to that time. And we have seen the fall of Babylon to the Medes and Persians, just as God has told Daniel they would through his visions in chapters 7 & 8.

But look at what Daniel’s response is to the idea and the thought that God’s salvation is coming within the next few years.

Daniel is moved to confession and repentance

Daniel is being reminded of the reason for their captivity. Israel has sinned and rebelled against God and has broken her covenant with God.

Daniel recognizes God’s righteousness in dealing with His people because God promised through Moses in Deuteronomy that if they obeyed Him and kept His commandments, then He would bless them, but if they disobeyed His commandments, then they would be destroyed and sent into captivity.

God is entirely righteous for sending judgment upon His people and Daniel is fully acknowledging God’s goodness and righteousness in this act.

Daniel is confessing Israel’s sin as his own:

This is amazing, because as far as we have seen, Daniel has remained pretty righteous himself. It is rare to find a biblical character so steadfastly faithful to God’s commands as Daniel.

It would have been easy for him to tell God it wasn’t fair to send him and his friends into captivity when it was his parents and grandparents who committed the sin that led them there.

And yet, Daniel is identifying himself with his people. “We have sinned and done wrong,” “We have not listened to your prophets,” “to us belong open shame,” “we have rebelled against him and have not obeyed his voice.”

We could easily say, Daniel, you were not the one who sinned. What is Daniel doing?

He is acting as representative

He is also acknowledging his own sinfulness and rebellious heart

He has humbled himself before the Lord

This kills the self-righteousness that we might be tempted to have

He is acknowledging Romans 3:23

Romans 3:23 (ESV)

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

He is also saying with Paul, “I am the chief of sinners.”

Part of Daniel’s righteousness is his admitting that he is sinful and unrighteous. He refuses to trust in his own righteousness.

As Daniel is excitedly anticipating the salvation that is coming from God, he is also coming face to face with the reason why salvation is so greatly needed, and that is because of his sin and the sins of his people. So he is praying both for himself and for his people by acknowledging the sins of all.

Before experiencing the joy of salvation, Daniel knew he had to come face to face with his own sin as well as his people’s sin. To acknowledge the bad news that led them to this situation. Without this humility, it would be impossible for Daniel to experience the true joy of God’s salvation and restoration of his people. He would only experience bitterness and anger or he would experience a self-righteous attitude that God somehow owed him salvation. Nothing can rob us of the joy of salvation like self-righteousness.

I. Humble Yourself Before God

Like Daniel, as we enter into this Christmas season, we must seek to humble ourselves before God, if we are to experience the true joy of the season.

The joy God wants us to have does not come from lights and trees and brightly covered packages. True joy comes from experiencing the salvation that comes from God’s hand alone, and that requires that we know and acknowledge and confess with God that we are sinners.

Why is there a Christmas? For what reason did the Son of Man come to be born on this earth? Because of our sin!

John 1:1–5 (ESV)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

The Word was made flesh so He could shine the light in the darkness. The fact that we needed His light to shine reveals the truth that we have placed ourselves in darkness.

I love Christmas lights! One of my favorite Christmas traditions is going out with my family and driving around looking at Christmas lights. What makes them so beautiful? it is seeing the contrast of the colorful lights with the darkness that surrounds it.

As long as I think everything is alright and refuse to acknowledge the darkness of sin within myself, I am going to miss the beauty of the light that Christ has come to shine. If we do not acknowledge our sin and our need for Christ, we will miss the joy of seeing His light!

We have to be willing to admit that we ourselves are sinners and to confess our sins before God. But a part of that is even seeing the sin around us and confessing the sins of our community as part of our sin as well.

Have you ever considered who it was that first heard the good news of the Gospel story when Christ was born? It was the shepherds!

Luke 2:8–14 (ESV)

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Why would the shepherds be the first ones to hear? Why not King Herod or the Religious leaders? Because shepherds were the outcasts. They were typically seen as unclean sinners and forced to remain outside of the community were their sin couldn’t infect the rest. These men knew the terrible spiritual condition of their souls. They had no reason to pretend things were better than they actually were.

So God comes to them, because they knew the darkness of the world around them better than anyone. And because of that, they saw the joy that came with the birth of Christ more clearly than anyone!

II. Seek the Mercy of God

Next, we see that Daniel sought out the mercy of God. And what was his basis for doing so? The righteousness that led God to discipline His people is the same righteousness that will lead God to redeem and rescue His people.

Daniel 9:14 (ESV)

Therefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice.

Daniel 9:16–17 (ESV)

“O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us. Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate.

Look at Daniel’s prayer. He admits that it’s God’s righteousness that led to His discipline of His people. It was good and right for God to carry out punishment upon His people’s rebellion and wickedness. But now he is praying for mercy from God’s hand, why? Because of His righteousness as well. He knows that God is a saving and compassionate God who longs to rescue His people and to bring them back to Himself.

He is appealing to God’s promise to rescue His people from the words of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 29:10–14 (ESV)

“For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

Part of God’s righteous character is His promise keeping trustworthiness. God’s holiness demands that He punishes sin. But God’s righteousness demands that He acts rightly towards all people, including the promises that He has freely made to them.

His promise is that when His people seek Him, they will find Him and be restored by Him.

Going back to Luke, the angels gave the message to the shepherds that they would find a child wrapped in swaddling cloths as a sign that God had brought salvation to the world, for all people, including themselves.

What did the shepherds do next?

Luke 2:15–20 (ESV)

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

The shepherds took God up on His promise and went to go find this child and to receive the mercy and salvation He proclaimed to Him.

To experience the true joy of Christmas, we must first be willing to humble ourselves and to mourn over our sin and for the sins of our families and communities. To recognize that we are really no better than anyone else and to claim with Paul, “I am the chief of sinners.” But we do not remain in that state. We claim hold of the promise of 1 John 1:9

1 John 1:9 (ESV)

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

We come to experience the promise that Jesus even declares in the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:4

Matthew 5:4 (ESV)

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

When we humble ourselves and mourn over our sin and then seek the presence of God knowing it was His mercy and compassion that led Him to send His Son, we will experience the joy and the comfort from being cleansed and forgiven of all our sins, knowing that God in His righteousness has sent Christ to pay the penalty for our sins upon the cross.

If we can learn to respond to God’s righteousness in this way, we will become the most joyful people anyone has ever seen, and like the shepherds, we will be unable to help ourselves but to go out and glorify and praise God among our community for what He has done for us!

We will be the Christmas lights shining in the community of Socorro this Christmas season. Let’s light up the darkness with the joy of Christ this year!