The Joy of Jesus' Birth

Call to Worship: 1 Samuel 2:1-2 // Prayer

Adoration: Father, we rejoice in you, because though we are weak, you have given us power over sin, death, and hell in Jesus; there is none holy but you; there is none besides you—no rock like you.

Confession: Yet though you have given us all things in Jesus, we confess that we have allowed the world to cloud our vision. We have allowed fear to displace faith and obedience in our hearts; we have allowed greed for more stuff to displace peace and worship. Father, forgive us, for we have sinned against you.

Thanksgiving: But with the eyes of faith, we see your Son, born in a stable, so that he might be the bread of life for us. We were hungry, but you have fed us with the Bread of Heaven. You have forgiven our sins, and made us into his younger brothers and sisters—your children forever.

Supplication: Father, because you have done this, may we walk in grace, holiness, and joy; for those suffering this season—for the many among us for whom Christmas brings as much or more pain than joy; for Jim Degeer and his family; and for many others—what can we say? We are so weak. We appeal directly to you: bring comfort to them—through us, in spite of us… bring comfort to them // for Hinson Baptist Church: that their love might abound… + Daniel Schreiner => lead pastor; hiring new staff pastor; care for missionaries working through personal hard times // for our brothers and sisters in France: may they know the hope to which you’ve called them, the riches of your glorious inheritance in them, and the immeasurable greatness... // we ask for your blessing on our Supreme Court justices: we ask for health for them + families, that you would steer their hearts toward justice, and that those of them who don’t know you would hear your gospel and believe // as we turn to Your Word… fill us with joy in our Savior’s birth.

Family Matters

Christmas Eve service 6:30

Benediction

Ephesians 6:23–24 ESV

Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.

Sermon

Read: Luke 1:39-56

Intro

There’s a lot of fake joy, this time of year. And it comes in a lot of flavors—always dressed in Pintrest-worthy holiday lights, of course.

There’s the lights-and-sounds kind of joy: if I can just get my house decorated to the point where it looks like a scene from a Christmas card, and then play the perfect mix of Christmas music in the background, then my heart will suddenly be filled with that illusive Christmas nostalgia and joy while I sip my hot coco.

Or, there’s the give-and-receive kind of joy: if I just get enough gifts, or good enough gifts, or if the gifts I give are are truly appreciated by my friends and family, then warm fuzzy feeling of Christmas will overflow my heart, and everything will be right.

Or, there’s the good-person kind of joy: everyone is going to be kind and generous, because after all it’s Christmas. I’m going to be a good person, and that will make me feel wonderful. Never mind the fact that I’ll go back to being a self-centered grouch the very next day.

But so, is the idea of any real joy at Christmas just an empty shell? It can be. Often, it is. But it doesn’t have to be.

If you follow the idea of Christmas to its roots, it really isn’t about any of those other things. It’s about something vastly more profound. Something that won’t melt away the day after Christmas, and that won’t go back into storage with all the lights and ornaments.

It’s about God, drawing near to the humble. It’s about God, showing mercy to his people through the birth of his Son. And that is something which is actually worthy of Joy: the nearness and the mercy of God in the birth of Christ.

The Joy of God’s Nearness to the Humble

**And this nearness and mercy appears in our Scripture passage this morning in an astonishing way**

[Nearness]

Now, the background is this. Mary, a Jewish peasant girl, had just been told by an angel from God that she would give birth to the Divine Savior. And right after that, she hurried to visit her cousin Elisabeth.

Maybe she planned to sit down with Elisabeth, and tell her all about this visit from the angel. But whatever the case, as soon as Elisabeth heard Mary’s voice, Elisabeth’s own baby, in her own womb, leapt for joy, and the Holy Spirit filled Elisabeth, and she began to bless Mary loudly and excitedly.

And then she said something which should stop us in our tracks. Look down at vs. 43—Elisabeth said:

Luke 1:43 ESV

And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

What is Elisabeth saying to Mary, here? Well, on the face of it, she feels that a visit from Mary is an undeserved privilege for her. Why exactly is that? Let’s take a moment to peel back a couple of layers here:

When Elisabeth said this to Mary—“And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”—she was borrowing some words from King David. Many centuries before Elisabeth, in 2 Samuel 6:9, King David had said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?”

The Ark of the Lord—also known as the Ark of the Covenant—was a gold-plated box set in the most holy place in the temple, where God would make his glory known to his people—where he would dwell with them.

Even though highest heaven cannot contain our God, yet he graciously treated this box as his throne and his dwelling place, in the temple.

And when King David had said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?”—he said it because he was afraid of God’s holy presence connected with the ark. But when the ark finally did come to him in Jerusalem, what did he do? He was filled with such joy that the ark of God would come to him, that he danced with all his might, and all Israel shouted for joy.

Why? Because the ark was a pretty box, covered in gold? No. Because the Lord had graciously tied his presence to the ark. They were rejoicing because there is no greater blessing than the presence of God.

Now, go back to Elisabeth’s statement: “And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” What’s she saying? Mary is now like the ark of the covenant. It was only a box made of wood, covered with common gold. Nothing about the ark was impressive to God. She is only a peasant girl, a regular human being. Nothing about her is impressive to God.

But now, he has made his dwelling in her—God incarnate now rests in her womb. Highest heaven cannot contain him; all life is upheld by the word of his power—and yet, for the salvation of Mary and Elisabeth and all of us, he is now cloistered within her, and her body sustains his life.

BTW: In this way, in a beautiful mystery, Mary is a type—a foreshadow, in God’s story—of the church: there is nothing impressive about us, and yet in God’s mercy, he has made his dwelling place among us.

But, this is why Elisabeth said what she said to Mary: in Mary’s visit, because her womb held God incarnate, it was not just Mary, but God himself who drew near to Elisabeth.

[Joy] And what did all this nearness of God cause? Joy. It’s everywhere in this passage:

First, verse 41 says that even the unborn baby in Elisabeth’s womb leapt for joy when Mary arrived.

And then, vs. 42 says that Elisabeth:

Luke 1:42 “…exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!”

You can see, there, that Elisabeth is speaking out of an overflow of Joy. What indescribable goodness, that God had drawn near to these two women, and to all his people. She knew it, and could not contain her joy.

And in just a moment, we’ll see the overflowing joy of Mary’s response to Elisabeth.

But I want to take a moment and draw your attention to something here. It’s helpful to remember passages like this, when someone tells you that the Bible has a low view of women. True, the Bible’s view of women is very different than the modern view. But not lower.

And I don’t mean to say that men can’t experience deep joy. We can, and we do, especially when we see the rich goodness of God in scriptures like this.

But this story is uniquely feminine, and the fellowship and joy of these two women is all the more glorious for it. True: in the next chapter, Elisabeth’s husband will erupt in joyful song. But not until after Mary’s song.

The Bible wisely recognizes the differences between men and women. But it does not demote women. And that’s not the main point of this passage, but I wanted you to see it.

But at the end of the day, this Joy over God’s nearness is for men, too. In fact, in one sense, it’s for everyone. But in another sense, it is not for everyone—the proud are excluded.

Consider Elisabeth. What was her attitude when the Mother of her Lord arrived? “Why is this granted to me?” I’m not worthy of this! And this sense of unworthiness was the very reason for her joy!

Do you see how completely opposite this is of where we think joy comes from? If someone is gloomy, we think, “she needs a self-esteem boost.” Well, if God didn’t exist, that would be true.

But if God does exist, then joy comes from him: from his nearness and mercy. NOT from thinking highly of ourselves. YOU do not deserve God’s nearness—you never have, and you never will. Neither did Mary or Elisabeth—but he freely gave it to them. And it was Elisabeth’s low estimation of herself that allowed her such deep joy in God

But here we are, on Christmas Eve in 2023. Have you been trying to whip up some happiness for yourself apart from God’s nearness in Christ? Whether you’ve been chasing self-esteem, or looking for happiness in all the external trimmings of Christmas, you won’t find it there.

Consider Mary. Elisabeth called her “blessed.” Why? Verse 45:

Luke 1:45 ESV

And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

So where did Mary’s blessedness come from? From her trust in God’s promise of salvation—from her faith that the Savior would be born from her womb.

But to have such a faith, you first have to humble yourself—to give up the idea of saving yourself. Then you may look to God with faith, as Mary did, and take joy in his promise of nearness and salvation.

So then, it is only the humble who can rejoice in God’s nearness in the birth of Christ.

The Joy of God’s Mercy for the Humble

**But, there is a second cause for joy in this passage: God’s mercy in the birth of Christ**

You can see this joy at the beginning of Mary’s song—vss. 46-47:

Luke 1:46–47 ESV

And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

Since this is right at the beginning of her song, it’s telling us that the whole song is an overflow of praise and joy

But what is the cause of Mary’s joy?

God’s Mercy. Look at vss. 48-50:

Luke 1:48–50 ESV

for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.

How did Mary think of herself? She was a person of “humble estate”—meaning, she was someone who lived a humiliated life—and not in a good way. This is talking about a life of poverty, hunger, and shame.

And this was Mary’s life, as one of God’s people—Israel—who were living in this humiliation. It was a humiliation caused, in one sense, by those who oppressed God’s people, such as the Roman Empire. But in a deeper sense, it was caused by the sin of God’s people—the ways in which, over the centuries from Moses to King David and all the way to Mary, they had despised God and broken his law.

And really, in a wider sense, this was not just Israel’s problem, the the whole world’s problem. We were created to delight in God, but instead, we have despised him and rejected his law

But what did God do for Mary anyway, in spite of her sin? Verse 48: “For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed”

What does that mean? Instead of the curse she deserved for her sin, Mary received a blessing that the world could never forget.

And in one sense, that blessing—to be the mother of incarnate God—was unique to Mary. But in another sense, that blessing—to receive mercy through the birth of Jesus—that belongs to all who believe.

And this mercy, as Elisabeth’s husband explains a few verses later, is,

Luke 1:77–79 “…the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death…”

Is that you? Do you live in the darkness of the curse and of your sin? There is only one light powerful enough to shine through that darkness—Jesus Christ. He comes with total forgiveness for every kind of person, every kind of sin, without exception.

He was born of Mary so that he might carry her curse on himself when he died on the cross, and by doing that, give her only blessing forever. And not only her, but all who believe.

And so, if you have not believed, this gospel says to you: be like Mary. Believe in the promised mercy of God.

And don’t just believe, but rejoice in this mercy, given to us in the birth of Christ

Now, I just said that this mercy is for every kind of person. Which means, this joy is for every kind of person. In one sense, that’s true. But in another sense, it isn’t, because this mercy is only for the humble

What does it say in verse 50? “His mercy is for those who fear him.”

God is a being of infinite beauty, un-exhaustible goodness, total power, perfect wisdom, immovable justice. To fear him is simply to recognise the reality of his perfect and infinite nature, and so to bow before him in utter humility, and worship him.

It’s just recognizing the truth about God.

And it is only those who humble themselves in this way, who can receive his mercy.

The trouble is, our hearts rage against the idea of humbling ourselves like this

We’d rather be rich, and proud of the fact that we got ourselves there

We’d rather be strong, so that we can imagine that we don’t need God

We’d rather be blessed with good things, and ignore the God who gave them to us

But problem is that the saving mercy of God and, so the true joy of Christmas belongs only to the humble—only to those who fear God

Listen to vss. 51-53:

Luke 1:51–53 ESV

He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.

Now, the point here isn’t that you need to have a small bank account to be saved. But does mean that, even if you happen to be rich, or mighty, or comfortable, you come to God in total humility, and say, “I need you, God. Come near, have mercy, and save me.”

And it is only with that kind of humility that you can rejoice in God’s mercy in the birth of Christ for your salvation.

Now, Kids, think about this with your presents.

You are probably very excited about the presents you’re going to get for Christmas.

But something’s going to happen: you’re going to open one present, and then another, and another—and finally, you’ll reach the end of your stack of presents, and there won’t be any more. You will have opened all of them.

What will your heart do, when your presents run out?

Will it start to sink, and feel sad, because there are no more presents for you to open? I know that’s what my heart did when I was a kid.

We want to be rich with presents. We want the excitement of new presents to never end! So when it does end, our joy melts away.

But the true joy of Christmas is not for kids whose hearts are rich with presents. Instead, it is for kids whose hearts are filled with joy because they know that God has come near to them in Jesus, and forgiven their sins.

So, what should you do when your heart gets sad about running out of presents? Remember the mercy of God. Pray to God. Humble your heart. Confess that you sinned by loving presents more than Jesus. And remember that if you trust in him, he has forgiven and blessed you forever, just like Mary.

Rejoice in God’s mercy in the birth of Christ.

Conclusion

It is good to enjoy all the Christmas trimmings—food, lights, family, presents—when you can enjoy them, you should, because these are all good gifts from God.

But for some of us, those things are hard to enjoy anyway. For some of us, there’s the Christmas joy that you ought to have, but don’t, because things have gone terribly wrong in your life. Maybe you feel some pressure to pretend that you’re happy, or maybe not. But for you, the season is much more painful than joyful.

Or maybe Christmas has just never been a good thing in your life, or lately you’ve been burned out from all the busyness of it.

Or maybe you don’t even have a normal experience of emotion at this time in your life—so the very topic of joy, you’re not sure what to do with it.

What does this story of Mary and Elisabeth say to you? What, ultimately, does it say to all of us? That in the birth of Jesus, God has drawn near to the humble and hurting, and has shown mercy to us, so that we who have believed in him are destine to rejoice in Jesus’ birth forever. May the Spirit of God aid you to rejoice in the nearness and mercy of God in the birth of Christ.