Advent wk 3: Joy

Well, we are in our third week of this season of / / Advent this week and so far we have spent time focusing on the / / Hope we find in Jesus through his coming to this earth, the incarnation, and we focused last week on the / / Peace we have in Christ.

Last week we read the story of the shepherds who were in their fields, minding their own business, and suddenly an angel was with them and scripture says the glory of the Lord surrounded them. That would be pretty spectacular, wouldn’t it? And of course, as is the usual case when an angel shows up, he has to tell them not to be afraid, because they are. This pretty much happens every time an angel shows up in scripture. And these shepherds are absolutely terrified.

Remember that song, I can only imagine?

Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel. Will I dance for you Jesus, or in awe of you be still.

Sounds like you’ll be absolutely terrified and an angel is going to have to tell you to pipe down.

I looked up the word, just to make sure it wasn’t some light thing and we just interpret it wrong, but nope, it means “that which strikes terror.”

And this isn’t even the only time this happens in this story.

If you remember a couple weeks ago we read from Luke 1 where the angel Gabriel is sent to Mary. He shows up and says, / / “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!”

Imagine that, out of nowhere, you have an angel in your bedroom.

Luke 1:29 says she was both / / confused and disturbed. The ESV uses the word troubled. What does Gabriel respond with? “Don’t be afraid…”

Now, this presents a problem. Mary and Joseph are betrothed, they are not married, which means there should be no babies yet. But Mary has accepted the charge to be the carrier of Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, so that the incarnation of God can happen, the divine become flesh. So now, even though they’ve done nothing wrong, this couple, Mary and Joseph, look quite wrong.

Joseph is an honorable man, Matthew tells us, and he doesn’t want to mess up Mary’s life, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a bit of self preservation in there as well, so he decides to quietly divorce her. That’s what the gospel of Matthew says. So you see the nature of this relationship. It’s more than just engaged to be married. Betrothed is more than engaged, but they also haven’t consummated the marriage yet. But under the law of Moses, if a wife was unfaithful, a husband could choose to divorce her without it being a sin.

There’s a lot going on here.

So, God sends an angel to Joseph, but this time it is in a dream. And in the dream this angel says, / / “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

Quick poll here. How many of you, if you get a dream like this, wake up and go, “Ok, sounds good. I will completely upend my life based on this dream I just had”?

I think this is such a powerful example of both God speaking to us, and our dreams being important. Who does that? Who takes a dream like that and just runs with it?

Well, Joseph does. Listen to this. Matthew 1:24-25, / / When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.

Ok, so now we can jump back into the story where we were at last week with the shepherds in the field and the angel showing up and them being terrified.

So, the angel says don’t be afraid - Because the reason he’s actually come is the very opposite of fear.

Now, remember where we’re at in the story. There’s a lot that’s been going on.

Mary went to be with Elizabeth after she found out she was pregnant. It’s possible in this time period is where Joseph wrestled with his feelings and came to grips with what was going on after being visited by an angel.

So we really have 6 months of the story unaccounted for. Luke tells us that the angel tells Mary that Elizabeth is in her sixth month. And then Mary goes to see her, and then it says she stayed with Mary for 3 months. So my assumption is she was there until Elizabeth gave birth and then headed home.

Then the next thing we have is that there’s a census called and Mary and Joseph travel to Bethlehem. Luke says that Mary goes with Joseph because she is betrothed to him, yes, they aren’t fully married yet, but this is in a time where engagement, or betrothal means a lot more than that. At that time a marriage consisted of two parts. First you would “purchase” your bride, meaning you are now engaged, or betrothed. Legally it’s binding. If you want to dissolve that, you have to file for divorce. But the girl stays living in her father’s house until the second ceremony where she would go to the house of her husband at that point and the marriage would be consummated.

But, because this census has been called, because she’s already legally his, Joseph would’ve had to go pick up Mary and bring her along with him. And we have to assume they are only betrothed at that point because that’s what Luke says, and Matthew says they didn’t “consummate” until she after she hag given birth to Jesus.

And thankfully Joseph has had a dream and has bought into the narrative. He’s on board with God’s plan. So they’re in Bethlehem, why? I mean, this is a complex story. Are they there simply because of a census? Sure, from the outside it seems that way, but what’s a theme we are seeing as we are going through this story this year? Galatians 4:4, / / But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman…

So yes, all of that is going on. BUT, they are in Bethlehem at the exact time they are supposed to be. And what happens at that moment, at the fullness of time…Mary goes into labor! So, let’s read a bit of what we read last week and go from there.

Luke 2:8-14, / / That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior - yes, the Messiah, the Lord - has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will ind a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others - the enemies of heaven - praising God and saying, “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

Alright, so last week we noted that / / when the coming of Jesus is proclaimed, there is a declaration of Peace, because the arrive of Jesus means the arrival of the Prince of Peace!

Well this week we want to focus on the actual proclamation the angel makes:

/ / “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior - yes, the Messiah, the Lord - has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!”

So, our focus today is on / / Joy. And more importantly, that through the incarnation of Christ, the birth of Jesus that we celebrate on Christmas, is part of God’s plan for humanity to experience Joy.

I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.

What’s the Good news? That Jesus has been born. And that is to bring great joy to who? ALL people.

We have to note that the angel is announcing this good news as something to be received by all people, not just Israel, but all people.

I want you to watch a video here and then we’ll discuss a few things. This is a video created by the bible project. They make an incredible number of videos that you can find on youtube under the name The Bible Project.

—VIDEO—

/ / Advent wk 3

I love those videos. They are well done, well thought out, well produced, and the content is great.

And I thought that just gave such a great overview of biblical joy that I wanted you to see it, and we are going to dig into a few of these thoughts now.

I was thinking this past week as we were watching The Santa Claus, yes, the 1994 classic with Tim Allen, still a great movie today, 29 years later. And I began to think of all the Christmas stories we tell. The Santa Claus, A Christmas Carol, every hallmark movie there is. They all seem to have very similar themes. And often a few of them. But the main one I seem to notice is that there is always a character, either the main one, the protagonist, or the opposite, the antagonist, the villain of some sort - and this character starts off as troubled, angry, disingenuous, maybe a straight up jerk, but through the spirit of Christmas and the magic of the season, they are transformed into a kind, loving, often generous and benevolent person. It’s a bit of Christmas Magic.

Another theme is sadness or despair is turned to hope and joy.

Another theme is tragedy that is turned around through the love and magic of Christmas.

It seems that Christmas has the power to change a bad story into a good story. An evil person into a good person. A troubled situation into a pleasant one. The problem is, as we all know, is that these stories often do that without even a mention of the real reason and power to transform lives.

If you only believe.. in Santa Claus…

If you will only forgive… and forget your past.

If you will give yourself to the magic of the season it can transform you.

Wrong, wrong and wrong.

The angels on the hillside had it right. / / “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior - yes, the Messiah, the Lord - has been born today in Bethlehem.”

But every story is the same. We recognize people go through it and need something to change their situation, and it’s not anything they can do, it’s got to come from some external source. Be that Santa Claus, the magic of the season, the ghosts of our past, present, and future, whatever it is, there has to be some external source that is the catalyst for change.

They aren’t wrong.

See, the other side of things that we think we can do all of this on our own. And we’re just as wrong there too. I can fix it. I can handle it. I can make it happen. I am woman, hear me roar. I’m a man’s man, I can do it on my own. This is a man’s world….

What I really like about that little video we watched is that it gave us a glimpse into the window of an ongoing and eternal story. The story of humanity from the very beginning when God said, “It is good…” to the very moment angels stood on that hillside saying, “This is gonna be good…”, and continues on to this very day in every heart that chooses to believe in this Messiah, born in Bethlehem.

The incarnation, God stepping into humanity through the birth of Jesus Christ, is good news that will bring great joy to ALL people.

So, four things this morning that we are able to lean into because of this cosmic event 2000 years ago.

/ / 1. The Simplicity of Joy

The first thing Tim Mackie says we need to take note of is that when God creates nature in the beginning, Genesis says starting on day three, And God saw that it was good. And then culminating at the end of day six, Genesis 1:31, / / Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!

good there means beautiful, bountiful, pleasing, among many other words.

But let’s just say it like this, / / What God makes brings great joy!

He quotes Psalm 104 that a good glass of wine can bring joy. But I want to read a bit more from that because I want to expand on this brief point that he made.

I want to read Psalm 104:10-24, but if you want this week go and read the whole thing, it’s really beautiful. Speaking of the Lord God, / / You make springs pour water into the ravines, so streams gush down from the mountains. They provide water for all the animals, and the wild donkeys quench their thirst. The birds nest beside the streams and sing among the branches of the trees. You send rain on the mountains from your heavenly home, and you fill the earth with the fruit of your labor. You cause grass to grow for the livestock and plants for people to use. You allow them to produce food from the earth - wine to make them glad, olive oil to soothe their skin, and bread to give them strength. The trees of the Lord are well cared for - the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. There the birds make their nests, and the storks make their homes in the cypresses. High in the mountains live the wild goats, and the rocks form a refuge for the hyraxes.

You made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to set. You send the darkness, and it becomes night, when all the forest animals prowl about. Then the young lions roar for their prey, stalking the food provided by God. At dawn they slink back into their dens to rest. Then people go off to their work, where they labor until evening.

O Lord, what a variety of things you have made.

So, think of God’s creation. Think of the Garden of Eden. Think of nature around us. Think of life itself.

What I want to suggest to you this morning, and I think clearly scripture shows us this. / / God created nature for us to enjoy. And we unfortunately live in such a fast paced, busy, concrete jungle that we can easily miss the beauty that God has given us, all around us, that is actually meant to bring us Joy.

Remember. God created it and said, it was all very good. It is meant to bring us pleasure.

Paul warns, don’t get drunk on wine, very good advice, but if you have no issues with wine, sit and enjoy a glass while watching the stars, or enjoying the evening breeze.

Proverbs says we shouldn’t join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, but also, enjoy that steak and potato meal, savor it, and receive joy.

Take a hike.

Go to the beach.

I think in all of this I want to give us this advice. Slow down. We need to find the simplicity of joy in this earth that God has created. Listen, there is enough stuff around us these days that can get us down, ruin our day, give us anxiety. We need to learn to slow down and enjoy the joy of the Lord in what He has created and given us.

I think we read this last week or the week before, Psalm 37:7 says, / / Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act.

We have to slow down sometimes. God did not create us for the rat race. That’s man’s idea. There is a simplicity of life that God wants us to enjoy.

/ / 2. Joy beyond this world

This has been a theme throughout this Advent season, that our expectation and our confident hope is not in an end that we will attain in this world, but it is in the eternity we will experience because of Christ’s finished work on the cross.

Romans 12:12 says, / / Rejoice in our confident hope.

Rejoice there means to be glad, to have joy.

There’s something to be said about allowing the reality of our eternal outcome to bring us immediate joy. Now, I saw this very real and very tangibly at my father-in-laws funeral. We were obviously sad, heart broken even, yet, within that deep sorrow and pain we had joy. There was laughter, not just because he was a funny guy and we have great stories, but because when you know the outcome, there can be joy in the midst of sorrow.

James 1:2-4 says, / / Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

Let’s take that in context here with what Paul encourages us with in Philippians 4:10-14 when he says whether he has or has not, he’s content. Why? Because through Christ he can do all things. He can conquer all troubles, trials, and sorrows.

Paul uses the word content, which in the greek means sufficient for one’s self, strong enough or processing enough to need no aid.

James says we’ll be complete, needing nothing.

This is in complete contrast to what the world says the Christmas season is all about.

From November 1st to January 1st we are inundated with sale after sale after sale, saying one thing loud and clear, “What you have is not enough.”

I am all about healthy consumerism, I think the way we have build our economy on the fact that anyone with grit and work ethic can succeed in this country is a great thing. But I also very much recognize that we’ve swung the pendulum so hard it’s likely to fall off the scale at some point.

Black Friday starts at the beginning of November, forget waiting until after thanksgiving.

Then we’ve got Cyber Monday, which became Cyber week.

Then we get into Christmas, and not just buy presents for those you love, but “Get yourself the present you really want before people let you down by getting you things you don’t want.”

Right up to the day of Christmas where we immediately go into, “Return that thing you didn’t want and get yourself what you really wanted - sale…”

How are we supposed to be content if all we ever see is the thing we don’t have that we want right in front of us?

Don’t get me wrong.

It’s not bad or wrong to have things you like.

It’s not bad or wrong to make lots of money.

It’s not bad or wrong or a sin to buy things with that money.

But to live in a perpetual state of longing for something we don’t have is exactly what the world wants, when our Creator wants us to live in a constant state of joy regardless of what we have or do not have based on the fact that HE is everything we need in this life and the next.

I’m trying really hard to remind myself of this these days. That there is more to life than stuff.

There is more to life than trying to keep up with the joneses. And that is in regards to doing things and buying things. I see some people who are in every club, every thing, doing everything they can and they are positively drained. It’s not lost on me that we have our daughter in two choirs and taekwondo along with all we do here and a school that takes 3 hours a day to have her at. I get it. Life can be incredibly busy. I think that’s why it is all that more important to lean into the first point I made of pursuing the simplicity of the Joy God has given us in this earth. There is joy in simplicity.

I can’t say anyone has ever got to the end of their lives and said, “My life was worth it because of all the things I bought.”

So in this second point of having joy because of our eternal hope, and maybe in the midst of trouble, I also want to bring in the idea that joy is not a thing we buy, or receive when we’ve bought enough stuff.

Psalm 4:6-7 says, / / Many people say, “Who will show us better times?” Let your face smile on us, Lord. You have given me greater joy than those who have abundant harvests of grain and new wine.

That is the cry of the world. We need better times to experience joy. We need more things. Yet, All the food, all the booze, and David has received greater joy in the Lord than in those things.

Yes, things can add to our being happy. We can definitely enjoy things. I don’t discount that.

I literally just said go enjoy a good steak and a glass of wine, so you have to hear me in this.

It’s what we pursuit and place our hope in receiving joy from that makes all the difference.

The simplicity of enjoying a good meal as something of an expression of God’s creation in the company of those you love is very different than that urge and desire to get to the fanciest restaurant so we’ll be satisfied with our status in life. I think y’all get the point.

/ / 3. Joy IN the Lord

Ultimately it comes down to where we actually get that joy from, doesn’t it?

We just read that, David said in Psalm 4, / / YOU have given me greater joy…

Psalm 16:11 says, (ESV) You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

In that verse there are three parts.

The path of life - our part, follow Jesus.

In God’s presence - ultimately we are completely reliant on him.

Pleasures forevermore - eternal position in Christ.

The NLT says it this way. / / You will show me the way to life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever. It kind of brings all of them in together.

Each of these points we’re seeing this morning all tie in together. The journey of joy in what God has created, but not relying on what he has created, or what we can do with what he’s created, pursuing riches, or things, but truly relying on who He is and his presence.

And even though there is a passive knowing and experiencing the joy of the Lord, there is an invitation to have a very present and experiential joy found in Him.

Romans 14:17 says, / / For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

In the greater context of that scripture he’s talking about not getting bent out of shape over what you eat, that you aren’t sinning by what you eat or don’t eat. There was some controversy in the Roman church because of the gentiles who had not lived by any laws or rules when it came to eating, and the Jewish Christians who were coming from a very strict ideology about eating. But there, right in the middle of this controversy Paul is laying it out there.

Listen, this is not about food, or drink. This is about living out who we are in Christ, and in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit we find goodness and peace and joy when we live in Him.

Paul would say to the church in Galatia that the fruit of the spirit, meaning, what grows from our being planted and rooted in Him, is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and so on.

We find Joy when we invest our lives into following Jesus and living in the presence of the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to do a deep work in us. Both because he leads us to life, but also because he is joyful and when we are with him that joy rubs off on us.

And so the supernatural part, walking WITH him - We’ve talked about this before, that we are being transformed, we are being made into the likeness of Christ, we are being made more like Him. Yes, that happens by our actions, of following His way, but ultimately, it happens by His power and His power alone.

Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3:6-7 that flesh can only reproduce flesh, but the Spirit is who gives birth to the spirit in us.

It makes sense then that David says God shows him the way of life, in this world, yet greater joy in His presence. We are human beings, living a spiritual life and moving toward a spiritual inheritance.

Think of it this way. We are walking toward our eternal hope of salvation, heaven, eternity, which is the place of his ultimate joy, while walking WITH him, who is full of joy, overflowing with joy and we experience that joy in Him, while he leads us on a path where points and moments and objects that bring joy are there - the nature, the food, the friendship, the moments.

Now, I also understand, sometimes it doesn’t feel like any of that is happening. We don’t feel like we have joy. What do we do then?

/ / 4. Rejoice before you have Joy

Our last point for this morning is that in our flesh we can position ourselves, or move toward the spiritual experience of Joy.

I’ll read this in both the ESV and the NLT to show something powerful here, but, Philippians 4:4, reading the ESV first says, / / Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.

Paul is making it clear, sometimes you need to rejoice. Sometimes you don’t feel joy, so you need to step up your game and rejoice anyway. Put your attention on God.

He will write just a couple verses later, (8-9)/ / Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me - everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

The NLT says vs 4 like this, / / Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again - rejoice!

So I would say to you this morning, that what Paul is saying, and what we really know to be true, is that in our human action, God meets us with a spiritual experience.

I choose to quiet myself down.

I choose to follow His ways.

I choose to rejoice.

I choose to take my eyes off the things that are troubling me, disappointing me, hurting me.

I choose to fix my thoughts on his truth, his grace, his mercy, the good, the pure, the right.

I choose to put into practice what I have learned from Scripture as the Jesus way of living.

And when I do those things, what happens? The God of peace will be with you.

And what happens when the God of peace is with us?

In his presence there is fullness of Joy.

Rejoice, and again, I say, rejoice! Pull yourself out of the funk you are in by focusing on God. Call yourself to a higher place.

When you feel yourself complaining, shut it down, focus on God.

When you feel yourself sinking, lean into Him.

I’m not saying deny reality, I’m saying in the presence of your reality, invite the presence of God.

This is what the angel said to the shepherds. Oh, get ready for it. We have good news that is going to be great joy for all people. What is that news? The king of the universe is being born into human flesh this very night. And his name is Emmanuel, which means God with us, and in his presence is the very fullness of all the joy you could ever imagine. Yup, in a baby. Because he’s God. Because he’s come to give us a hope that transcends this world. He’s come to give us a vision of a future that goes beyond the grave. He’s come to wipe every sin from us, so that we can have pure, unhindered connection with His Spirit who brings life, and joy, and peace, and hope, and love and so much more.