The Joy of Christmas

Scripture reading; Luke 1:46b-55

Primary Sermon resource:

Cole, S. J. (2017). The Joy of Christmas, Christmas sermons, Galaxie Software.

The Joy of Christmas

Luke 2:10–11

I heard a story this week about a family, living during the great depression, who couldn’t afford anything except the bare necessities of life. One day the news came that a circus was coming to town. Tickets would cost a dollar.

The little boy came running home excited to tell the news to his father and try and get the money for a ticket. His father was so disappointed when he had to tell his son he couldn’t afford to give him a dollar, but he said if you work hard and scrape up whatever you can, I will make up the difference so you can go to the circus.

The boy was so excited he began to do whatever he could to earn money. Just a few days before the circus came to town, and with his father’s help the boy had earned a dollar. So, he ran off to town to buy a ticket for the show.

Finally, the day arrived, the circus came to town. The little boy grabbed his ticket and ran off to Main Street. He stood next to the curb by the road, watching as the circus parade went by.

He was thrilled as he watched the clowns, the elephants, and performers walking and waving to the people. A clown came dancing over to him and the little boy took out his ticket and put it in the clown’s hand. He eagerly watched as the rest of the parade passed through.

After the parade, the little boy ran home and told his father he had been to the circus, and how much fun he had. The father was surprised his son was home so early he asked him to describe the circus.

The boy told him about the parade that went down Main Street, and how he handed the clown his ticket. The father sadly looked at his son and took him in his arms, and said, I’m sorry son, you didn’t see the circus you only saw the parade.

I can’t help but think about how that little boy reminds me of so many people at Christmas. They see the lights, they sing the carols, they give and receive Christmas presents. They think they have experienced what Christmas is all about, but really all they have done is watch the parade.

They missed the main event. Because the real joy of Christmas comes by receiving God’s gift of a Savior, Christ the Lord.

The real joy of Christmas comes from having a relationship with God through Jesus Christ that changes your life forever. The real joy of Christmas comes from having peace and assurance in your heart that you have been saved and have a home waiting for you in heaven.

That is what we are going to talk about this morning we are going to talk about the real joy of Christmas. (Read Luke 2:10-11)

10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people.

11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Pray)

In our passage this morning we have the story of an angel coming to shepherds, out in a field, in the middle of the night and announcing the source of great Joy for all the world has arrived. The Savior has been born, Christ Jesus the Lord.

The word advent means arrival. Here at the church, we call the four weeks leading up to Christmas the advent season because, we are celebrating the arrival of Christ. Jesus was born into the world and became a man, the incarnate Son of God.

But we also don’t want to forget, we are celebrating the second advent. The promise of God, predicted by the prophets that, Christ will return one day and establish the kingdom of God on earth. What we learn from today’s passage is, receiving God’s gift of a Savior is the real joy of Christmas.

Now that doesn’t mean that if you don’t know Christ as your Lord and Savior that you cannot enjoy the holiday season. Of course, you can. This is the most wonderful time of the year. It is always good to gather with family and friends, to enjoy good food, and exchange Christmas gifts.

But I’m talking about something different, something deeper. A joy that comes from celebrating Christmas all year long. It is an abiding joy of knowing for certain, that things are right between you and God.

It is having peace in your heart knowing your hope is found in something beyond this world. It is the kind of complete and lasting joy that comes from receiving God’s gift of a Savior.

The first thing I want you to see is, The good news of Jesus brings great joy because, it is good news for sinners. Imagine for a moment how terrified the shepherds were out in the field that night.

They had been sitting in darkness and perhaps the only light they saw was the flickering flame that was keeping them warm. When suddenly, the sky lit up like it was noontime, and an angel appeared before them. It was enough to scare them to death, they were terrified.

The shepherds sitting in darkness are a picture of lost sinners in the world. They are walking in the valley of the shadow of death when like the angel, the glory of God breaks into their life and shines in the darkness. The only proper response to God in that moment is fear.

In the bible, even when Godly people came into the presence of the Lord, they were terrified. For example, when God appeared to Moses on Mount Sinia, the mountain shook, the lightning flashed, and a thick cloud of smoke descended. The people were so afraid they would not come near the mountain.

When Isaiah saw a vision of God he cried out, “Woe is me, I am ruined,” because he suddenly realized the depths of his sin. It should always strike fear into the heart of a sinner who is confronted by the glory of God.

I’m afraid in our culture, even in the church we don’t know anything about the fear of the Lord. We don’t talk very much about the impending judgment of the sinner.

We have pulled God down to our level and remade Him into an image we like, of One who tolerates sin and everyone is saved. We think that God’s judgment is reserved for the worst human beings: like murders, rapists, and terrorists.

We have elevated ourselves. We think that all people are good. We deserve God’s grace. We deserve to go to heaven; we have the right. We are entitled to it.

And as a result, we don’t understand what the bible teaches about the terrible wrath of God against sin. And the grave danger that threatens every person who lives without God. So, we don’t really appreciate the good news of a Savior coming into the world.

I think about it like this, if you were standing in line at the bank and I rushed in, grabbed you by the arm, tore your shirt, and dragged you out of the bank. You wouldn’t appreciate that very much. You might even become angry with me.

But if you realized there was a bank robbery getting ready to take place, or a terrorist threat against the bank, all a sudden you would be grateful. What is the difference? At first, there was no fear because you didn’t understand the danger you were in. Well, that is the condition of the world we live in.

The bible says, if you don’t Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are in incredible danger whether you realize it or not. In fact, you are in eternal danger because if you should die in your sin, you will stand before a holy God, without forgiveness and grace.

That’s what the author of the book of Hebrews teaches us in Hebrews 9:27, “It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.”

After we die, it is too late to repent. And no amount of good work or good intentions on our part will save us. So, just like the shepherds became terrified by the blinding light of the angel, we should be terrified by the thought of God’s holy presence.

It is against that background that the good news of Jesus coming into the world was the best news ever. Because it brought us the promise of eternal life. It brought us the promise of forgiveness for our sin.

So, the news of Jesus is truly, good news of great joy, because it is good news for sinners.

The good news of Jesus brings great joy because it’s true. I mean good news is only good news if it is true. If I said, “you won a million dollars,” you would be excited, but if I told you I was only kidding, you wouldn’t be too happy. Why? The news would be worthless.

Well, the news of Jesus Christ being born the Savior of the world is worthless, if it is not true. If it is just a legend that makes us feel good once a year at Christmas, let’s get rid of it, because it would be a story that offers us hope of an eternity that doesn’t exist.

But if it is true, it should change everything. It should change the way we think, act, and believe.

Well, Luke wants us to know this is true, and he makes that clear at the very beginning of his gospel. In Luke 1:3-4 he says, “it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught.”

You see, Luke wanted us to know he had investigated this. He had done thorough research before coming to any conclusions. Tradition has it that Lukes account of the birth of Christ came directly from the mouth of Mary.

And we believe that because Luke 2:19 says, “Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.” Luke could say that because he had a personal connection to Mary. He knew what she was going through in that moment.

To doubt the truth of Lukes writing is to question the integrity of Mary. A woman who was personally closer to this event than anyone else.

Also, we have the witness of the shepherds. They had no reason to make up the story of seeing the angels. They didn’t experience some kind of mass hallucination.

But Vs. 20 confirms that everything the shepherds heard, and saw were, “Just as it was told them.” But what was it they heard and saw?

A common couple with a newborn baby lying in a manger because they couldn’t afford a room. That’s not the kind of story you fabricate. If you were going to make up a story about the birth of a Savior, it would sound like a fairy tale.

It would sound like something you would find at the Magic Kingdom in Disney World, not a stable in Bethlehem. Instead, what we find here is straightforward reporting by eyewitnesses.

Now certainly, there are miracles taking place. There are angels appearing and virgins giving birth, but these things are reported in a matter-of-fact way. They are not being reported as fairy tales. So, unless you begin with the assumption that miracles can’t happen, we have no reason to doubt these are reliable eyewitnesses.

The truth of the birth of Christ was long established by Old Testament prophecy. Luke tells us in Vs. 11, Jesus was born in the city of David. Well, Micah 5:2 written 700 years before the birth of Christ speaks of Him being born in Bethlehem.

In Luke 1:67-79, Luke records the words of Zecheriah the high priest, telling us the prophecies of Isaiah coming true with the birth of John the Baptist.

In Luke 3:13-38 Jesus’ lineage is traced back through King David, because Jesus fulfilled God’s promise to David a thousand years before.

There was a Catholic friar, a man called Francis of Assisi who built the first manger scene in the year 1224. He built it because he wanted to get people to think of Jesus as a real person, historical figure, instead of a mysterious deity. Well, people today need to understand the message Francis was trying to get across. The Christian faith is based on historical truth.

We live in a culture that doesn’t believe in truth. We believe that your truth is your truth, and my truth is my truth, and if you want to be a Christian that’s fine for you, but it’s not for everyone.

But if Jesus was born in history to the virgin Mary, If He fulfilled the prophecies written hundreds of years before His birth, if His life, death, and resurrection has been verified by hundreds of reliable eyewitnesses, then no one can shrug that off as a nice story. No one can say, that is true for some and not for others.

The good news of Jesus brings great joy because it is true.

The good news of Jesus brings great Joy because it’s news of Christ the Lord. He is a unique person. He is the Christ. In the Greek the word “Christ” means the anointed one. In Hebrew it means the Messiah. Either way it speaks of just how unique Jesus is.

He is the anointed Prophet who preached the gospel. He is the anointed priest who offers sacrifice for sin. He is the anointed King who reigns over the world. And because He is the anointed one, He alone is able to reconcile us to God.

He is Christ the Lord. That word “Lord” is the same word is used to describe God the Father. That tells us this Jesus, born in Bethlehem, was God in the flesh. And that is important because if he were just a man, He couldn’t save us. But because He is God, He is a great enough sacrifice for the sin of the world.

He is also a man. He didn’t descend from the sky. He was conceived in the womb of Mary and went through all the stages of life like any other child, and because He is a man, He can represent all of man before God.

He alone can bear the sin of the human race. As God in the flesh Jesus Christ is the most unique person to ever live. And He is the only one qualified to be the Savior of the world.

The good news of Jesus brings great joy because He is Christ the Lord.

The good news of Jesus brings great joy because it is for all people. Notice the angel said this news wasn’t just for the shepherds but Vs. 10 says, “it’s for all people.” The good news of Jesus Christ was for Jew and Gentile alike. Just as Paul teaches us in Romans 10:13, “For whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

It is a historical fact that the gospel can transform the life of anyone who believes. There have been countless tribes of lost savages who have been converted by Christian missionaries.

I read a story of a skeptic who was in the South Sea islands and was mocking Christianity. When a local tribesmen told him that if a missionary had not brought them the gospel and if they didn’t believe in Jesus, they would have surely eaten him for dinner by now. Wherever it goes the gospel transforms hearts and changes minds.

If you know Jesus Christ today take Vs. 11 and put your name in it. “For today in the city of David there has been born for Phil a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” I pray you can say the same for yourself.

You see it’s important we understand that the good news of Jesus requires a response. Notice the shepherds didn’t hear this good news and sit around and talk about it. They responded with faith. They didn’t send a delegation to Jerusalem to get someone else’s opinion about it. No, they believed what the angel said, and they acted on it.

They left their sheep, and they went to Bethlehem to see for themselves what the Lord had done. And what did they see? A common couple from Nazareth who had a newborn baby lying in a manger. That is not exactly the way you would expect God to bring the Savior into the world.

But the shepherds saw this baby through eyes of faith. They heard the Word of God, they acted on what they heard, and they believed what they saw.

The same thing has to be true in your life. When God reveals Christ to you, you must respond with faith. Jesus might not be the kind of Savior you would expect. Of course, no one expected a Savior who would be born in a manger, die on a cross, and rise from the grave. But this Jesus-- is God’s Savior. He is the Savior revealed in the Bible. He is the Savior we must personally believe in.

What we learn from this passage is, receiving God’s gift of Jesus is the real joy of Christmas. My wife has a unique way of evaluating Christmas gifts. For Tammy the perfect gift is all about longevity. The gift has to be something you need, and something that will last a long time.

An example of a bad Christmas gift for Tammy would be tickets to a football game. Even if it were Lions playoff tickets or Michigan playing in the national championship, because that is an expensive gift you can only use one time.

As far as Tammy is concerned the perfect gift is something inexpensive, you need it, and you can use it for the rest of your life.

Well, God has offered us all the perfect gift in Jesus Christ. He is a gift that is free. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For we are saved by grace through faith, it is a gift from God not of works, so that no man may boast.” He is a gift that everyone needs. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” He is a gift that lasts forever. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that who ever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.”

The question is will you accept God’s perfect Christmas gift for your life? Because God’s gift of a Savior is the real joy of Christmas.