Advent Joy

Sermon on Isaiah 12:1-6 prepared by Jonathan Shradar

Isaiah 12:1-6

Luke 2:4–11 “And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, [5] to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. [6] And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. [7] And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

[8] And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. [9] And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. [10] And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. [11] For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (ESV)

Choosing Jesus is choosing joy.

[Hallmark movies being the same - Reservoir sermons being the same!]

But we are headed to a unique day, and today, our celebration of Advent is different…

Most of the memories are like this… the quiet morning. The stillness that precedes certain chaos. All of the waiting has led to this day. The last of the construction paper rings has been pulled off the calendar counting down the days.

While the sun has risen like as days before, this day is different, special, at least it’s meant to be.

For me, in those small hours of the morning I am often granted such a sense of joy for what has been given to celebrate, the day we will spend, and the delight we will share with each other. Christmas.

This Sunday of Advent is meant to tap into that sensation. While we don’t yet get to open presents, the tone changes, from purple penitence to pink party! Joy!

Celebrating Christ’s arrival, giddy for his return. The gloom overcome by his light, things are getting very bright!

We come to a song in Isaiah to grab ahold of this Advent joy.

We have followed the promise in Isaiah this Advent as the promise given to Israel of a child who would be king, who would be “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

It was a promise for the whole world. A promise realized in Jesus.

And as they waited for his first arrival, we long for his return to rule and reign for eternity. We do so with hope, peace, and joy.

Chapter 12 ends the section of Isaiah, what began in chapter 6 with Isaiah’s cleansing and sending, builds with the promise of God with us.

Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (ESV)

Prophecy of invasion, leading to eventually nothing remaining but a stump, from which a branch will spring and bear fruit, leading to the picture of the messianic age. When the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

And in that day, when Immanuel comes, you will sing.

“Opening with the story of a single sinner cleansed (6:5, 7), this section ends with the song of a saved community (12:1–6).” J. Alec Motyer

Song of 2 stanzas, joy of salvation, joyful gratitude.

Joy of Salvation

Isaiah 12:1 “You will say in that day: “I will give thanks to you, O LORD, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me.” (ESV)

Singing of the Biblical story, justice is needed, before a Holy perfect God. Humanity as a whole, his people here in particular, turned from his way suppressing the truth, refusing to honor him as God.

Going all the way back to being tempted by a snake, the liar in the garden, to falling for temptation to choose lesser things over and over again.

Becoming morons in their thinking, giving attention/worship to images resembling mortal humans, birds, animals, and creeping things. Chasing after self, materialism, worldly power, whims of desire, coveting, disobedience, violence, evil.

Wrath, anger for sin is stoked and God will render to each according to their works… But!

The messianic image is one of justice, Majestic One, who in judging takes on the iniquity of us all. Anger turned away. Truly a comfort.

Not because of anything we have done.

Isaiah 12:2 “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” (ESV)

What results is life, joy.

Isaiah 12:3 “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” (ESV)

Sometimes we conflate joy and happiness, they involve each other, but I wonder if it would be helpful for us to make a distinction.

Joy: the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires; a source or cause of delight.

Happiness is feeling or showing pleasure or contentment; a temporary emotion often triggered by a specific event or moment.

Happiness is short-lived while joy is more an enduring state of being.

I want both of them for us, especially at Christmas, but for believers there seems to be something deeper about joy…

We see disciples rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer for the name… Told to count it all joy when we meet trials of various kinds…

There is something about it that shapes their lives, that drives them.

“Christian joy is a good feeling in the soul, produced by the Holy Spirit, as he causes us to see the beauty of Christ in the word and in the world.” John Piper

Good feeling: One of the marks of the difference between an idea and an emotion or feeling is that you don’t have immediate control over your feelings or your emotions. You can’t snap your fingers and decide to feel something.

[One of the reasons I am the kind of Christian I am, with the theology that I have, is that I know the Bible requires of me things that I cannot myself immediately produce by my own power. I am fallen. I am sinful. And yet I know I should be feeling the emotions the Bible expects me to feel. I know myself guilty.

Saint Augustine said, “Father, command what you will and grant what you command.” He knew God commanded certain emotions of him that he couldn’t make happen on his own. So he prayed, O God, if you are going to command me these things, grant that you would give them when you command them.]

In the soul: The soul, the immaterial part of my personhood, experiences joy. The body may feel the effects of that.

By the Spirit: It’s clear on our own we can’t make these things happen, it is a fruit of the Spirit. So the joy in my soul overflowing towards God is coming from the work of the Holy Spirit.

A sight of Jesus: “The fourth piece is that the Holy Spirit does this work, not magically without my mind being engaged, but by causing me to see the glory and beauty of Jesus Christ.” I can’t rejoice in the Lord if I don’t know anything of him or what he has done, but as I hear of him and read of him in the word, the Spirit is at work. “When I see Christ in all that he is doing, and all that he is, then my heart is drawn out in joy towards him. The Holy Spirit bears this fruit by causing us to see the beauty of Jesus Christ.”

So this is the joy we get to have as Christians. This is how we draw up “water,” that which we need to live, to thrive. And the vision here is not just a sip, or even just one glass of cool water.

“Drawing from God’s wells of salvation suggests an ever-flowing, bountiful source of God’s salvation that will always be available to his people.” Paul D. Wegner

Our willful surrender of self to Christ, and the Spirit works in us to show us his beauty.

To see the gift of salvation, the gift of the cross. After all that’s the hinge for the kingdom in Isaiah, whether they realize in the moment they first hear it. The branch that comes to judge, the Majestic One, who lays down his life. This is their salvation, their rescue.

He is our salvation, he is our rescue, he is our joy.

“Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come

Let this blest assurance control

That Christ has regarded my helpless estate

And hath shed His own blood for my soul”

Luke 2:10 “And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” (ESV)

Angels pointing to Christ as the ultimate source of salvation. Tying into the overarching biblical narrative of God's redemptive plan through Jesus, who brings true joy to the world.

It is in Jesus we find joy.

But we often seek saving from other things than the Savior. Self, others, the world. We succumb to the temptation of the enemy of God and run away from him.

Self. This is the thesis of every Disney movie. The mantra of the moment. Fulfillment can only be found in you. Your desires. Your opinions. Your priority above all things.

We used to see it as a bad thing. Called it selfish, narcissistic. Now we call it empowerment. Putting self above all things. That urge to buck convention and forge the singular path, we cling to emotions or desire as our identities, and any that don’t champion my hero status or not people with a different opinion but enemies doing “violence” on me.

The problem is that desires change, and conflict, leaving us confused, without community, and for some having harmed the self in pursuit of what we knew would finally be the answer to our longing. No joy.

Others. We look to relationships, affirmation, pleasure, things that people can give us to the point they become idols as we look to them to give us what only God is meant to. Spouses buckle under the weight of expectation. The pleasure is never enough. The fame is fleeting.

The world. Materialism, things to satisfy, Maybe they make us happy for a minute. But there are always other things… World system, wealth, priorities, pursuits that leave us broke and exhausted.

All of these leave us parched and perishing, they have no power to save, to solve the most important issue of our soul, they may give us brief happiness but no lasting joy.

But there is hope, Jesus didn’t come for those that had it figured out, had it all together. He gave himself, while we were still sinners. The angels came to Shepherds working the night shift. They were not allowed in the Synagogue… you can only imagine what they talked about.

People might think it’s crazy…

1 Corinthians 1:18, 23-25 “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God… [23] but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, [24] but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. [25] For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (ESV)

Power and wisdom, salvation that gives us joy.

Joy is meant to be the operating system for the believer awestruck by the grace of Christ. Of hearts captivated by Jesus and the salvation he gives.

“Jesus is everything Isaiah depicted. Jesus is our source of wisdom, the power by which sin is defeated, the one who adopts us into the family of God forever, and the means by which we have peace with God and with one another. And his kingdom of peace and righteousness will never end. He is the hero at the center of God’s plan of redeeming grace, and nothing will impede God’s zeal to complete his plan.

It is right to say that in Jesus you find everything you need in order to be what you were meant to be, to do what God designed you to do, and to enjoy life as God meant for you to enjoy it. Jesus is life. Jesus is hope. Jesus is the grace of God. We will spend eternity worshiping and celebrating him. Why not start now?” Paul David Tripp, Everyday Gospel (December 10)

As wells to continually draw from for sustenance.

John 7:37–38 “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. [38] Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” (ESV)

You are meant for this. In Christ, flowing water. Unceasing reservoirs of grace. But we will have to choose him, we will have to dive in.

At Salvation’s Well by Matthew Pilgrim

“With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭12‬:‭3‬ ‭

I stare down Salvation’s Well

And all I see is black

A darkness so deep

It could swallow me

Every part of me

My heart skips a beat

My vision swirls

I push back from the depths

But a voice climbs to meet me

“Don’t look away” it says

I look again down Salvation’s Well

And the blackness rises to meet me

“Draw up the water” I hear

“Draw it up from the dark

And drink” it beckons

I search but find no vessel

No bucket, no jar

“How?” I hear my voice

Echo and become swallowed

In the heart of darkness

“It’s you” I hear rise

Like all of nature sighing

“It was always you”

And I sense, I know

That the darkness beckons

Perched at Well’s edge

I wonder, how Salvation

Can be held by such shadow

Yet full of doubt I leap

And joy greets me in the descent

Then we rise! When you can sing “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart…” you live with,

Joyful Gratitude

When the operating system is installed and running. When we see our salvation and savor it. The beauty of Christ and cherish him.

This becomes our posture as we wait for his coming.

Isaiah 12:4–6 “And you will say in that day:

“Give thanks to the LORD,

call upon his name,

make known his deeds among the peoples,

proclaim that his name is exalted.

[5] “Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously;

let this be made known in all the earth.

[6] Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,

for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.” (ESV)

In relationship we can call upon his name, “trusting, not afraid.”

Make known his deeds among the peoples, beginning in Israel (peoples = citizenry) expands to “all the earth.”

From our salvation we let the work of Christ be made known.

“Those who have been rescued from a frightening reality want to tell others about it. Such experiences naturally bring forth song, story, and renewed hope. Isaiah promises that such a time is coming, when God’s saving work will be celebrated (v. 3), when trust in Yahweh will replace their fears, and when God’s strength—rather than fragile national power—will become the center of their song (v. 2). Courage to face future challenges can be found from the experiences of past deliverances.” GTB

We have that in spades in Jesus. His life, death, and resurrection for us. Salvation. Water of life flowing. The Spirit empowering us as we sing.

“Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!” Philippians 4:4 (MSG)

Joyfully waiting with hope!

Hebrews 9:28 “so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” (ESV)

Eager for that day. Anticipating more than any Christmas morning ever!

Living with joy because we are the joy of the One the angels proclaimed.

Hebrews 12:1–2 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, [2] looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (ESV)

Choosing Jesus is Choosing Joy

With joy you will draw water from the reservoir of salvation!

See what Jesus has done - In his word, and the world. “the most authoritative and clearest place where we see the beauty of Christ is in his word, the Bible. That is why the Holy Spirit inspired the word, so that we could read the word and know Christ. The Spirit gives us eyes to see the beauties of Jesus that call joy up out of our hearts.

It is not just in the word that we see Christ. We see him in his gifts and in people. We see him in his gifts of nature. We see him in his gifts of food and in all of the good things that our Father in heaven gives to us. Every gift of Christ to us is intended to be a communication of something of himself. So we see Christ not only — we taste Christ not only — in his word, but also in his works.”

Shout and Sing for Joy - Tell the world what Jesus has done. Cherish Him and let everyone see.

This day is different. All days in Christ are different, with joy we live the abundant life as we wait for him to dwell with us again, the Holy One of Israel.

May the Lord be our strength and song.