Good News Arrives

Good News That Brings Real Joy

12.24.23 [Luke 2:10-11] River of Life (The Nativity Of Our Lord)

Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to the men and women and children on whom God’s favor rests. Amen.

60 years ago, Andy Williams crooned about all the festive activities that make this season so special and memorable. Holiday greetings and gay happy meetings. Parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting, and caroling out in the snow. Lyrically, it’s not the most clever of all carols. He clunkily bent nouns like jingle bells and mistletoe into verbs like jingle-belling and mistletoeing so that the rhythm and the rhymes would work. And for some reason, Andy’s concept of Christmas includes scary ghost stories. But, even if you noticed those unique creative choices, it didn’t matter. It’s the soaring refrain that grabs a hold of a person’s spirit. It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

On this, the 60th anniversary of the release of It’s the Most Wonderful Time Of The Year, I expected to hear Andy and covers of this song a lot more than normal. You hear it every year nearly every where you go. But it almost seemed like this year I’ve heard it less than normal. Maybe it was just me. But maybe not. Maybe this year, people don’t really want to hear anyone telling them to be of good cheer. Perhaps, this year, it feels a little fake, a little forced to declare it’s the most wonderful time of the year.

Because even if it is, is that really something to brag about? If it’s the most wonderful time of a tough year, a down year, a bad year, do you really want to belt that out at the top of your lungs?

And maybe it’s been that for you. A tough year at home. A down year in the financial department. A bad year for your body, your mind, or your spirit. When you’ve been through a tough year, a down year, or a bad year the last thing you want to hear is someone screaming at you to be of good cheer, right? Someone just telling you to feel festive, that this is the hap-happiest season of all is about the last thing you need. What you need is a reason to rejoice, a break in all the bad, a glimmer of hope you can hold on to. That’s what tonight is.

Tonight isn’t about singing ourselves into some sentimental glow. Tonight isn’t about manufacturing some contrived sense of wonder or joy. Tonight isn’t about being happy for someone else or even about reminiscing about glories of your own Christmases long, long ago. Tonight is about real good news. That a Savior has been born for you.

He is your Messiah. And he is your Lord. He is the reason for your great joy.

It makes sense to us why that first Christmas was such good news to Mary and Joseph. This was the son that the angel Gabriel had announced to both of them. This was the son that God had given to both of them. This was Mary’s firstborn son. We understand her joy and excitement. Actually, we imagine it. Nowhere in Luke 2 does it say that Mary was joyful—though I think we could deduce that she was very joyful. Mary and Joseph’s reason for joy were one in the same with the shepherds and all the people on earth. Today, in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you. He is the Messiah, the Lord.

That’s the real good news that caused a great company of the heavenly host to leave the glories and burst out in praise. That’s the real good news that inspired shepherds to leave behind their sheep and journey throughout Bethlehem to find a baby lying in a manger. That’s the real good news that filled them with such joy that after they saw this baby wrapped in cloths lying in a manger, they told everyone they could what they had been told. That’s the real good news that stuck with them as they returned to their fields and their sheep, glorifying and praising God. A Savior has been born for you. He is your Messiah. He is your Lord.

That’s the real good news that we need, that will enable us to put all the tough things, the details that have us down, and the bad things back into their proper perspective. Jesus is our Messiah. And he is our Lord. Throughout the Old Testament God had been detailing what those names mean, the Messiah is God’s Chosen One. the Lord is God’s Sovereign One.

God chose to send his Son to be the Messiah, the perfect God-man who would stand in our place and redeem us. His life would be tough. He would experience ups and downs like any other person has. He would live through all kinds of bad as well. But it was more than that. He suffered for doing the right things in ways that you and I never have. He suffered for our doing the wrong things, so that you and I would never have to. It wasn’t just that Jesus walked a mile in our shoes. As our Messiah, Jesus made our sins his own. God chose him to be the sin-bearer, our Substitute. Being born as our Savior meant that he had to die as a criminal. Being born as our Savior meant that he had to suffer the pains of hell in our place. The good news that causes us great joy is that all the sins we have committed, all the guilt that clings to us, all the shame we carry around has been taken from us by this child. You do not have to be afraid. A Savior has been born for you. He is your Messiah.

And he is your Lord. This Jesus whose birth we celebrate tonight still lives and reigns. He is your Lord. As you Lord he is working in your world and in your life to keep you safe and saved, to keep you in his tender care. When there are tough things comes your way, he promises that he will never leave you or abandon you. When you have down moments and down years, he is there to pick you up with his powerful love. My grace is sufficient for you, he promises. When things are going from bad to worse and there doesn’t seem to be any end in sight, he assures you. Don’t be afraid. Nothing in all creation can separate you from my love. He is Sovereign over everything.

There may be times when you may wonder what your God is thinking or what your God is doing or why your God isn’t doing something else or something more. There may be moments when you are anxious or afraid or worried . Perhaps all three at the same time. Go back to Bethlehem and see how your Savior works in this world. It began simply, humbly. Wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger, a feed trough for animals. His path was filled with sadness and suffering. His friends abandoned him and his enemies executed him. Yet it did not end there. He rose from the dead so that we all might have peace, hope, and yes, joy. Our sins haunt us no more. Death has no power over us. And this baby who came down from heaven to redeem us has opened heaven for us all. That’s the good news that cause great joy for us all. Our Savior has been born. He is our Messiah and our Lord. Glory to God in the highest. Amen.