The Joy in Christmas
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
True story. There was a pastor who lived in and the early 1700’s that preached the good news of Jesus. He was a preacher and a poet and loved the study of God’s Word. He was overtaken by his time in the Psalms and specifically he was reading the 98th Psalm.
He specifically was engrossed in the text and moved by Psalms 98
A Psalm.
1 Oh, sing to the Lord a new song!
For He has done marvelous things;
His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory.
2 The Lord has made known His salvation;
His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations.
3 He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
4 Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth;
Break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises.
5 Sing to the Lord with the harp,
With the harp and the sound of a psalm,
6 With trumpets and the sound of a horn;
Shout joyfully before the Lord, the King.
7 Let the sea roar, and all its fullness,
The world and those who dwell in it;
8 Let the rivers clap their hands;
Let the hills be joyful together before the Lord,
9 For He is coming to judge the earth.
With righteousness He shall judge the world,
And the peoples with equity.
I imagine he was in his own quiet time studying the Word of God that he became so overwhelmed with the text. In that room I believe the Holy Spirit came over him and He was anointed of God that wrote what we know today as that great Christmas hymnal, “Joy to the World”. His name was Isaac Watts.
“Joy to the world, the Lord is come
Let Earth receive her King
Let every heart prepare Him room
And Heaven and nature sing
And Heaven and nature sing
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing”
May I add that I do not believe he was preparing a Christmas message. Psalm 98 is not a typical Christmas text. The question I have for you is how can a man have such joy in what could cal a typical day in the life of a man of God?
We want to discover this morning the joy of Christmas. Where and in whom can we find our joy?
Turn with me in your Bibles or look on the screen with me at:
Luke 2:10-11
Luke 2:10-11
Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Prayer
Message
Aren’t you glad that Isaac Watts wrote “Joy to the World?”
Aren’t you glad that Luke the physician in his gospel account anointed of the Lord offers us the promise of joy to all people?
Luke 2:10 “10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.”
“Which will be for all people”-that is the world which means us. Joy is available to everyone.
I focused this morning as a theme verse Luke 2:10-11, but note how many times in the Christmas story that Matthew and Luke referred to the gift of joy.
Story of Zacharias and Elizabeth and the birth of John the Baptist:
Luke 1:13–14 “13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.”
Luke 1:44 “44 For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.”
Matthew 2:10 “10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.”
The shepherds, Zacharias and Elizabeth and even John the Baptist before birth, and wise men, the magi would experience a new joy. And thext ultimately states that “joy will be for all people.”
Can you make that testimony today?
You know that beautiful excerpt text I read as our theme verse for our time together. It comes from the Shepherd account of the Christmas story:
Turn around and read this text.
Luke 2:8–14 (NKJV)
8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
14 “Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
We learn from our time this morning that firstly joy is for :
Joy is for the Weary & in Want
Joy is for the Weary & in Want
We read in the Christmas story overall that the Lord chose to record individuals and groups from different strata and different spheres of influence. In each of the accounts we read of people groups or individuals that were living life from different vantage points, different needs, different desires and wants, yet the commonality in everyone was they were hungry for joy.
In the focal verse account, in:
8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
Every time I read “in the same country” I am reminded that behind every door of every home are different needs, hardships, heart aches, highs, lows, wants, values, and each of us travel different journeys in life. Yet we all hunger for joy.
Dearly beloved, the reason we can’t sustain joy in and of ourselves are we are a broken people. When God created us in His image, we were wired as agents of peace, hope, joy and love, but when sin entered our lives we broke the relationship with Holy God. Being born of the adamic nature severed the perfected DNA strand of being born in the image of God. Sin robs us of our joy.
I’m not a sinner. I have never murdered anyone or stole from someone. Listen to what the Bible teaches:
James 2:10 “10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.”
Whether you have told a white lie, you have gossiped, or lusted in your heart the Scriptures state that if you have committed one sin, as it relates to God’s judgment, you are guilty of all the commandments.
This guilt of our past, the guilt of choices, the guilt of things we should have done or the guilt of the things we did do can be a noose around our psychic and us as spiritual beings. Guilt is such a debilitating anchor that can sink our emotional, mental and spiritual ships.
Oh, I realize that there are many here today that could say with ease all is well on planet earth. Marriage is great, the kids are doing well in school, life is good and you can sing with unction this morning,
“Hark the herald angels sing!”
Whatever harking is?
And then some of you might say that for whatever reason this Christmas is something to complete or get behind you. Maybe this morning you hope you can hang on to the financial seat of your pants.
And thus we create these pseudo joys if you will. I will call them manufactured joys. We manufacture joy through materialism. Things will make us happy. If we gain enough stuff we will have joy. Or Momentary joy, we create these flashes of moments that will bring joy. These destinations you go to at Christmas, the settings of Christmas and the lights, the decorations, the traditions, or the meals we eat. We all have the tradition of eating comfort food at Christmas.
We create comfort joy scenes and events but they are not lasting.
All of these events of Christmas can trump up a joy, these things can pick us up for Christmas, but listen, they all wain in the type of joy that is available to all of us.
Shepherds
There was a weariness of these shepherds. They were the lowest of social strata, they were the lowest of economic strata, and they lived very isolated lonesome lives. Shepherding was a 24/7/365 day a year job. By religious standards they had a mark against them. By Jewish standards they were considered unclean and were not able to go into the temple.
So much of Jewish life revolved around the temple and they could not go there.
Such a lonely, weary job. I remind you they were marked.
Do you have a mark on your life that you can not seem to get past?
Joy is for those of us that at some point in time or another have a mark on our lives. Amen.
Can you imagine when the angel addressed the shepherds on that night that it had to be fearful, but to know that an opportunity was available to have real joy excited these men.
They could live a life no longer enamored by the marks this life can place on us.
Zacharias and Elizabeth
in Luke 1:13–14 “13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.”
By outsiders looking, the people saw a well respected couple. They saw an engaged couple that gave of themselves religiously and had a great public record. They were pillars of the community and Zacharias was very engaged in Jewish life, He was an example for the people to follow because He was at the temple, He was at church every time the doors opened, “but”, we have to read that nasty word, “but” in verse 7. By all measures they had a great life, but. There was something amiss. There was a void. There was something they yearned for in life.
Listen to the account of Zacharias and Elizabeth:
5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years.
We would call them religious. They were well respected and as the Word of God states, “they were righteous”, not only were they righteous, but they were righteous before God. These were good people, but were not perfected people. They had wanted children for a long time.
Do you know for every one of us there is a “but” in the historicity of our lives. We do not live in a perfect world. We are not among perfect people or are we perfected in and of ourselves. There will always be the hiccups of this life. But we can have joy in the midst of the happenings of this life.
Happiness sways to an from based on the happenings in this life. Joy, real joy will stay with you regardless of the happenings in your life.
And God chooses on this occasion, the occasion that Zacharias lot was up to burn incense in the temple to fulfill his desire to have a child, but not just any child. A son that would be the precursor to the Messiah and “he would be that voice in the wilderness declaring the word of the Lord.”
Luke 1:25 “25 “Thus the Lord has dealt with me, in the days when He looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.””
For Zacharias and Elizabeth, not having children was a stigma. For Elizabeth it meant she did not fulfill her wifely duty, for Zacharias it meant no one would carry on his name. And yet, the Lord chose to take that mark away in their lives, but more importantly the life of Israel and for any who will receive the gift of joy.
John the Baptist that looked upon Jesus for the first time and said, “behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”
Joy is available in Jesus if you are weary or in want.
Joy is for the Wise & Worldly
Joy is for the Wise & Worldly
Joy is available when you have tried everything else, and yet you can not find joy.
The Wise men longed for joy.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.
1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”
The question must be asked, why did the Magi, or the wise men pursue the star? Why would it be that these men who were accomplished in every sense of the world standards would make such a long journey to visit a baby of such humble means? We know that they were of Median descent. They were accomplished in astrology and magic and by the gifts they brought had attained wealth, status, prestige in their lives. What did the babe of Bethlehem offer that they did not already have?
Oh dearly beloved, I believe there is deep message in the gifts they brought to Jesus that reveals why there is joy in the Jesus of Christmas.
Isaiah 60:6 “6 The multitude of camels shall cover your land, The dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; All those from Sheba shall come; They shall bring gold and incense, And they shall proclaim the praises of the Lord.”
They brought:
Gold-Gold is a standard of wealth, but it will not bring real warmth. Warmth of relationship. Money will not buy happiness dear church family and guests. Wealth will not attain reuniting with our Creator. Real wealth is being in right relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ.
Frankincense-was the perfume of the temple. The gift represented that they hungered for a joy expressed through Jesus, the One who is holy ,righteous, pure, and undefiled. We all want a life where righteousness prevails.
Myrrh-was the embalming agent. Myrrh prepared a dead corpse for burial. Oh dearly beloved, we can have joy in knowing that if we know Jesus, our future is secure.
1 Corinthians 15:55–57 “55 “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Joy is the Way of Jesus
Joy is the Way of Jesus
Luke 2:10–11 “Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
When the angel spoke that night to the shepherds in the field these words, do not fear, whether you have been searching for a long time and you are just weary from your life,
OR,
like Zacharias and Elizabeth, it may be by all measures you have everything but you are in want?
OR,
like the Wise men, by all levels of achievement you have arrived but something is still missing. The angels said do not fear.
I have good news. I bring you good news.” I have great news, I have gospel news.
I offer you news that will bring great joy if you accept and respond to the news I offer.
The news is for everyone. Whether you are as a shepherd and you are from the other side of the tracks, whether you are by all appearances a good family like Zacharias and Elizabeth, but your life is not whole. Whether you seemingly have everything as the Wise men, but still something is amiss. You can experience real joy today in Jesus.
Luke 2:11 “11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
Do you understand how we have Joy? We have joy in the One who gave joyfully.
Brother Luke, help me, what are you saying?
Have you ever stopped to consider that Jesus joyed in doing insacrificing His life on the cross for your sins that you may know real joy?
Hebrews 12:1–2 “1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Jesus was joyful in giving His life for You. How can we not have joy this Christmas?
You can know that joy this morning by accepting Christ as your Lord and Savior.
Luke 15:7 “7 I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.”
Let’s pray.