The Gift of Joy

Often we equate Christmas with a time of joy. We see it reinforced in Christmas cards that tell of joy. We have Christmas decoration set up with the word joy in it. We sing Christmas carols that are about joy. It has an origin. We read the Christmas story in the Bible and we know the angels appear to the shepherds outside of Bethlehem declaring a message:

Luke 2:10 (NIV)

Luke 2:10 NIV

10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.

Of course we associate joy with Christmas. The angel told the shepherds this news of the Messiah would be a cause for joy. This baby in a manger, after all, is the savior of the world. The people of Israel had been waiting and waiting for God’s promised Messiah to arrive. How can that not be an occasion for joy? Yet at the same time, let’s consider the situation for a moment. Mary and Joseph used a barn as the birthing suite for Jesus to arrive—perhaps less than joyful accommodations to welcome their first child. King Herod was certainly not joyful at the news of Jesus, whom he perceived as a threat to his own power. Which in turn likely meant it didn’t feel all that joyful for Mary and Joseph to run and live as refugees in Egypt to escape Herod. Not to mention all the families in the southern region of Judah who had their sons killed by Herod as he searched for Jesus. That doesn’t sound very joyful.

Perhaps we need to take a second look at what exactly it means for us as God’s people to know and embrace joy at Christmas. Again this week for this advent series I am turning to the book of Romans written by the apostle Paul. And, again, at first glance this might not appear to be a passage that immediately turns our minds to thoughts of Christmas and joy. But follow along with me as we work into this topic of joy and get down to the real reason we embrace joy at Christmas.

Romans 6:1–14 (NIV)

Romans 6:1–14 NIV

1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Jesus came into this world to suffer and die by taking the guilt of our sin upon himself

Sin and death and being buried with Christ; this doesn’t sound like much of a Christmas passage. However, as we focus on the birth of Jesus during the season of advent, how quickly do we lose sight of the reason why Jesus came in this first place? We know from the gospels that the reason Jesus came into the world is to bring God’s salvation to the world. And we know from the gospels the truth of how this happens; that Jesus came into this world to suffer and die by taking the guilt of our sin upon himself. Not all that joyful.

how else do we know how to embrace joy unless we are given a reason to be joyful?

In fact, as we spin the clock forward and think about the season of Lent which leads up to Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, those are not days we typically associate with joy at all. Further, we sometimes become so uncomfortable with what appears to be the absence of joy in Lent that we feel like we need to keep reminding ourselves that Easter resurrection day is coming. We want to jump ahead to when the story gets joyful again. Because how else do we know how to embrace joy unless we are given a reason to be joyful? We are people who seem to naturally look for reasons to be joyful because we want joy. We try to move our lives toward things that surround us in joy.

Marie Kondo incorrectly identifies joy as a personal experience

We don’t need the Bible to figure that part out. It is plain obvious in the world around us. A few years back Marie Kondo made an entire television series on Netflix about it. Her patented KonMarie Method lays out a way of pursuing happiness by decluttering everything out your life which does not produce joy. Marie Kondo suggests that by only hanging onto the things in life that “spark joy” we can become happier people. I will admit that I am doubtful of a path to joy that depends entirely on focused consumerism. Joy is not about the right selection of material possessions. Perhaps that has more to do with finding contentment by recognizing that there is plenty of clutter in our lives that we can live without. But it seems a bit superficial to me to call that joy.

we more correctly identify joy as a communal experience

Christmas songs about community: I’ll be home for Christmas, there’s no place like home for the holidays, it’s lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you, Silver Bells: Children laughing, people passing, meeting smile after smile, Mariah Carey - all I want for Christmas is you, Elvis - I’ll have a blue Christmas without you

No, I think it is much more often the case in our world that we see joy not as a personal experience, but as a shared communal experience. Joy is something that is best embraced in community. We can easily connect that back to Christmas as we know it and experience it in our culture today. Set aside the Christmas carols we sing in church and consider for a moment other Christmas songs. I’m not talking about Rudolph and Frosty and songs that give a narrative and tell stories. I’m talking about more recent Christmas songs that talk about the sentiment and feeling and experience of Christmas. There is something we can see in common with these songs. We see it in lines like, “I’ll be home for Christmas,” “there’s no place like home for the holidays,” “it’s lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you,” Silver Bells: "Children laughing, people passing, meeting smile after smile,” or who could forget Mariah Carey “all I want for Christmas is you.”

There is something all these more recent Christmas songs have in common. A community of having a place to belong with other people. Even for those who take the Bible and the story of Jesus away from Christmas there is an acknowledgment that the joy we are seeking is found in the expression of community. Joy comes by the people you are with. This makes sense. I think we all understand this. Joy is not the presents; it is the people we are gathered with who give and receive the presents. Joy is not the delicious Christmas meal; it is the people around the table with whom we share the meal. Those who struggle the most with Christmas being a difficult time of year are not struggling because they are missing material possessions of presents or missing delicious food; people for whom Christmas is difficult struggle more because they are missing people, there is a loss of community around them.

Joy is NOT a personal experience centered on the ‘about what’ Joy is a communal experience centered on the ‘with whom’

Joy, then, is not so much a personal experience centered on the ‘about what.’ Rather, Joy is a communal experience centered on the ‘with whom.’

‘with whom,’ gives a reason for joy even when we think beyond the manger to the cross

Let’s take it back to the Bible. The thing we celebrate in church through the advent season is the coming of Jesus into the world. It is the long-awaited arrival of God-with-us! Jesus comes and lives in community with his people in this world. And, yes, all of that moves forward into the season of Lent when we commemorate and remember the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross—a less-than-joyful time. But hang on. If our truest experiences of joy centers not on that ‘about what’ but on the ‘with whom,’ then there is a reason for joy even when we think beyond the manger to the cross.

Paul’s main point in Romans 6 is not just what Jesus is about, but who Jesus is with

This is exactly what the apostle Paul is reminding us about in the passage for today. At first glance we might read this passage and think it is an explanation about what Jesus does. True enough, Paul talks about the actions of Jesus to bring about salvation from death to new life. But look more closely. Paul’s main point is not just what Jesus is about, but who Jesus is with. And Paul makes it clear: that ‘with’ is us.

Jesus came into this world to be with his people. The sinful nature into which every single one of us is born went into the grave along with Jesus. That sinful nature was buried with Jesus. A part of us was with Jesus in that grave. And so also then, a part of us is raised to new life when Jesus comes out of that grave because that too is with Jesus. Your forgiven and redeemed life in Christ came to be because it came out of that grave with Christ. That is what the apostle Paul is telling us in these words.

Greek baptizo = immerse

Paul ties it to baptism. This is not because baptism itself is somehow magical to save us. Rather, it is because baptism so perfectly signifies this truth. We should remember that baptism in the time of the New Testament was immersion in water. In fact, the Greek word baptizo means “immerse.” There is symbolism at work when a person goes down into the water just as Christ went down into the grave. It is symbolism that echoes and reinforces that we have died with Jesus. And there is symbolism at work when a person comes up again out of the waters of baptism. It echoes and reinforces that we have been raised to new life with Jesus. The immersion of baptism reminds us that we have been immersed with Jesus. We sometimes use that word immerse to symbolically mean being completely covered over in other ways. When your job gets really busy, you might say that you are just immersed in your work. Or right now students are immersed in studying for exams (or maybe should be). Baptism is the reminder that we are completely covered with Jesus both in his death and in his resurrection. It assures us that we are also completely covered with Jesus in our death and in our resurrection.

the joy of being with Jesus makes a difference in our lives today

‘With’ is the operative word. The joy of Christmas comes in experiencing and celebrating that Jesus is with us, that we are with Jesus. And Paul goes on to remind us that this joy makes a difference. It is not just knowledge; not just information. We are now different people because we are united with Christ. And this has to do with the question Paul uses as the lead-in to this entire passage.

Romans 6:1 (NIV)

Romans 6:1 NIV

1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?

verse 6 — Greek palaios anthropos “old self” = former man

Paul’s answer is no; it doesn’t work that way. Because we are now united with life in Christ, we are no longer united with death in sin. In Paul’s words, that ‘old self’ is dead—crucified with Christ. Our English NIV Bibles use the term ‘old self’ in verse 6. The literal Greek that Paul writes is palaios anthropos (former man). It is a reference to what we saw last week in Romans 5; Paul is making a reference to Adam, and the sinful nature into which all humanity is born as descendants coming from Adam. That’s the part of us that went to the cross and died there with Jesus.

we live in joy because we are no longer bound to sin, but instead are bound together with Christ

Paul insists this unity with Christ—which puts to death our sinful nature along with Jesus on the cross, and raises in us new life in Christ along with Jesus at his resurrection—makes a difference in who we are now. We live in joy because we are no longer bound to sin, but instead are bound together with Christ. In Christ our lives are set on a trajectory of freedom from sin. We are forgiven and counted as righteous before the heavenly Father. And yet, it does not mean we are automatically perfect people without faults or mistakes. Perhaps some teaching from the church helps clarify the distinction Paul is making in this passage. Article 77 of the Westminster Larger Catechism talks about the difference between justification and sanctification. It says this:

“God in justification imputes the righteousness of Christ; in sanctification his Spirit infuses grace, and enables to the exercise thereof; in the former, sin is pardoned; in the other, it is subdued.”

“God in justification imputes the righteousness of Christ; in sanctification his Spirit infuses grace, and enables to the exercise thereof; in the former, sin is pardoned; in the other, it is subdued.”

the Holy Spirit who sanctifies us is a gift to the church

Paul knows perfectly well that we are people who still commit sin. His admonition in this passage is in no way an expectation that somehow we will automatically become perfect people who never slip up in thought, word, or actions. But the reason I live with joy is because in Christ the guilt of all that sin is forever forgiven; I am justified before God because of the righteousness of Christ. And I live with joy because by the Holy Spirit sin is subdued (even if not yet completely eradicated). Day by day, week by week, year by year we are on a journey of sanctification, always being made more holy, always being conformed into the image of Christ, always becoming more complete disciples of Jesus, ever increasingly bearing the spiritual fruit produced in us by the Holy Spirit.

joy finds expression in our communion with God — and joy finds expression in our communion with one another

That, I think, is reason for joy. Whenever we see sanctification take shape in our lives it is a reminder that we are united with Christ. The Holy Spirit is not given as an individual gift; it is a gift Christ gives to the church. This means that as God’s people gathered together as part of his church, joy is a communal experience. It is a joy that finds expression in our communion with God; and it is a joy that finds expression in our communion with one another. Christmas is a time for joy, not just because of the ‘about what,’ but most especially because of the ‘with whom.’