Gift of Joy

Bottom line

There is so much to be joyful about, so choose joy, even if you don’t feel it

Opening Line

Have you ever been told to cheer up?

Introduction

There is often two ways this happens. Either it is a tender encouragement, “Ah cheer up, its going to be ok.” Or it is slightly more direct, “Oh cheer up! Its not that bad.” I feel like we have a few people in the room who have received this super helpful advice. Maybe a few people have given it. I’ve probably been on the giving end of this phrase more often then not. I think most of us have heard this before, but how often has it actually helped? Has anyone been told to cheer up and instantaneously felt better? “Oh man, that was exactly what I needed, thank you!” Probably not. More often then not, the emotions you are experiencing are still very real, and the response that comes to mind may not be the most God honoring. In the moment, you may want to tell the person to pound sand, or something along those lines. Eventually, once the rawness of the emotions has passed, you will appreciate the advise, but not when the emotions are fresh.

Main Point

I think this is why a lot of people struggle with the Christmas season, especially when it comes to being at church during advent. It is often at Christmas when you are with family and friends that you begin to notice everyone who is not there. Whether it is because they have passed away, moved away, or the relationship is too broken, it is inevitable that certain moments will spark a memory, and pain of loss comes to the forefront because this is a moment that person would have enjoyed.

Maybe it isn’t a person, but a situation. Everyone else seems to be enjoying the holiday, you can’t get the time off from the job you really don’t like but can’t afford to stop doing. So you are the one missing the moments, and even though you are getting sent pictures and little videos, it simply isn’t the same.

Then you show up at church or tune in to the livestream, and the pastor is talking about joy, often with the premise that you should be joyful in the advent season. Or you open the bible and it seems to telling you to be joyful, yet you sure don’t feel it. In a time when you are feeling a lot of other emotions, it can feel like the church is the one telling you to cheer up, its going to be OK.

Why it matters

The challenge for a believer is trying to balance the two truths about joy. On one hand, yes joy is an emotion that you experience when things are going your way. It is feeling that you want to hold onto and try to protect because when joy is gone, the alternative doesn’t feel so nice.

On the other hand, joy is an action; it is something that you do and that you can choose. It is the action of joy that scripture so often talks about and encourages believers to embrace. The challenge is trying to maintain the action of joy when the emotion isn’t there. Is it possible to be joyful, even when you don’t feel it. If it is, then being joyful over the Christmas season and beyond, is one of the best gifts you could give.

So to unpack this, you are invited to turn to Luke 2, starting in verse 8, as we take a look at the story of the shepherds. As you turn there, I want you to know that shepherds knew a little something about not feeling joyful. It is not that there weren’t some who enjoyed working with animals, it is just that most ended up there not by choice, and I'll show you what I mean in a moment.

Scripture

Luke 2:8 NLT

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep.

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The story of the shepherd. While everyone else is tucked in for the night, the shepherds are stuck in the field watching their sheep. There were no holidays, no shift change. Shepherds were with their sheep constantly. It was seen as the lowliest of occupations. This was not only the case for the time of Jesus, but generally all throughout history. When Israel moved to Egypt during the time of Joseph, Jacob and his sons were encouraged not to mention to Pharaoh that they were shepherds because shepherds were not well respected. When Samuel came to the house of Jesse to annoint the new king, David was out with the sheep because he was the youngest and no one else wanted the job. Even in the parable of the prodigal son, where did the prodigal son end up when he ran out of money? Feeding pigs, aka a pig shepherd. The reason Jesus used shepherds as the analogy for the kingdom of heaven was because the people who followed him were poor, and many of them were probably shepherds.

Being a shepherd would have been for some the last resort, the necessary occupation for those at the end of their rope. They probably didn’t own the animals they were watching over, but they were sure responsible if one went missing. If you wanted to find a joyless exsistence, you found it in being a shepherd. Yet in the midst of it, something amazing happens!

Luke 2:9–14 NLT

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 find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

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If you imagine this playing out as it is typically described in the movies, the shepherds are laid out, half of them have fallen asleep while the others are trying to keep one eye open and suddenly an angel appears! That startled feeling of coming out of a deep sleep, terrified would be a great explanation of what they are experiencing. Probably uttered a few words that simply aren’t appropriate for church, but you get the picture.

Why shepherds? Of all the people in Israel at this time with different social economic statuses, why the bottom rung of society? Maybe it was because they were the only ones who were paying attention. Everyone else is consumed with the census and trying to get call it a night. The same people who couldn’t take in Mary on the verge of giving birth probably didn’t even notice what was happening right in their own backyard. Maybe it just fits the narrative better. Jesus didn’t come in a castle but a stable, so maybe the shepherds were a better fit then the king. As the story plays out in Matthew, King Herod was not exactly warm to the idea of the Messiah, the promised king of Israel coming.

Maybe it was because the shepherds fit the mission of Jesus. Jesus said he didn’t come for the righteous but the unrighteous, the same way a doctor isn’t for the healthy but for the sick. Shepherds were the down and out of society; they were the very people Jesus loved to speak life into.

One thing we know for sure, if you wanted to make up a story, you wouldn’t start with shepherds. The same way Jesus appearing first to the women after his resurrection actually gives the story credibility, the angels appearing to the shepherds to declare the birth of the Savior actually makes the story credible. No one talks to shepherds, so this must have really happened.

So in the glory and majesty of everything the shepherds saw and heard, they respond the only appropriate way.

Luke 2:15–20 NLT

When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

I want to leave that verse on the screen for a moment. When we met the shepherds at the beginning of the story, they were in a field, living the lowly shepherd life. Now they getting in people’s faces, telling them all about the child they had seen, what the angels had told them. They were glorifying and praising God. Probably had to do it quietly because then they would have to chase their sheep all over the country side. So what changed? Did they suddenly have a higher place in society because they had seen the Savior? Did their circumstances suddenly change because they had seen an angel?

On one hand, nothing changed. They were still shepherds. Some of them were still shepherds because they had no other choice. They still had to stay out all night with the sheep despite what the weather might be doing.

On the other hand, everything changed. They had seen the Savior of the world! They had seen the promised Messiah, laying in a manger, something they probably encountered often. He wasn’t just the Messiah, he was one of them, which meant the salvation He would bring was for everyone. The hope of the kingdom of God had arrived. They were filled with a joy that they simply could not contain.

Transition to Application

The truth is, when you encounter Jesus, He changes everything. When I say encounter, I’m not talking about hearing the story for the first time. For the shepherds, the Messiah stopped being a person written on a scroll and became a tangible real person. When you encounter Jesus like, when He stops being a character in a story and becomes the Lord and Savior of your life, He changes everything. It is through this relationship with Him that we find joy.

Main To Do

This is why the New Testament authors and Jesus can command you as believers to be filled with joy. Paul says this in Phil 4:4

Philippians 4:4 NLT

Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!

1 Thessalonians 5:16 NLT

Always be joyful.

James, the brother of Jesus says this in his letter

James 1:2 NLT

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.

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When you declare with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord and that by the power of the Holy Spirit He came back to life, the Holy Spirit makes you into a new creation. You become a temple of the Holy Spirit, and He dwells within you. It means that joy is choice because joy is one of the fruits of the Spirit. The problem is that you have been taught that joy is dictated by exterior circumstances. When joy is reduced to an emotion or a feeling, then you will find yourself spending your whole life chasing things that are pleasant and avoiding things that uncomfortable. If you live like that, then real growth never happens because your faith and character are refined through trial.

If instead, you find your joy from within, from the relationship with Jesus that He died for. When you find your joy from the Holy Spirit within you, then it doesn’t matter what life throws your way because you have the promise of eternity within you. It allows you to go those awkward family gatherings and enjoy them against all odds. It allows you to maintain your joy even if you have to work over the holidays. Because the power and presence that dwell within you are greater then the trials that happen to you.

This is also why joy comes in short supply when you allow sin to remain in your life. If true lasting joy comes as a result of a relationship with Jesus Christ, and sin is rebellion against Jesus, then it shouldn’t shock us that the more sin you allow, the less joy you experience.

Why it matters

This advent season, choose joy. Choose the things that increases joy in your life like regular devotions and personal times of praise and worship. Grow in your relationship with Jesus, allow the Holy Spirit to be the loudest influence your life, and watch the unshakeable joy of the Lord increase. Watch as the joy within you grows, people begin to notice. Share with them that the joy you feel comes from your relationship with Jesus.

The alternative is to try to chase the feeling of joy through stuff and entertainment. Since those things only offer momentary feelings of joy, you end up spending your whole life chasing the wind. Like a drug, the highs aren’t as high but the lows can get really low.

Closing Line

This advent season, choose joy.

Discussion Questions

What stood out from the message?

In what ways does understanding joy as an action rather than just an emotion change your perspective on life's challenges?

How can you encourage someone who is struggling to find joy this holiday season?

How does the story of the shepherds illustrate the relationship between joy and the gospel?

What does 'choosing joy' look like in your everyday life, especially at school or in social situations?

How might practicing joy impact your relationships with friends and family?

How can you choose joy in times of personal struggle or sadness?