Joy to the World

The Story

Luke 1:34–38 CSB

Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not had sexual relations with a man?” The angel replied to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. And consider your relative Elizabeth—even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called childless. For nothing will be impossible with God.” “See, I am the Lord’s servant,” said Mary. “May it happen to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

Matthew 1:20–24 CSB

But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.” When Joseph woke up, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her

Matthew 2:9–12 CSB

After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there it was—the star they had seen at its rising. It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overwhelmed with joy. Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another route.

Luke 2:8–17 CSB

In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be the sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped tightly in cloth and lying in a manger.” Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people he favors! When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger. After seeing them, they reported the message they were told about this child,

Our Place in the Story

One of the most amazing things about the Christmas story is that these are real people.

They are people who had hopes, dreams, fears, desires, and jobs. One of the things that makes the Bible and the stories in the Bible so great is just that, it is filled with real stories of real people. It shows the good, the bad, and the ugly.

This is of course because they are real people but also because then we can relate.

When we look at the Christmas story there is something for everyone. We can all even at different times find ourselves in the story. This is not to say you are exactly like a person in the story or that their promise or struggle is yours but that we can in some way relate and in relating find comfort.

We could look at Herod, Simeon, Anna, and others because there is so much there.

Herod, obsessed with his own power rejects the news.

The inn keeper, busy with the demands of the day makes no room for Christ.

Simeon and Anna, expectant, anticipate the news.

We can also notice that while I’m breaking this down a certain way we could look at it a different way. Where I see Hope in a specific character or group of people you might see Joy.

The point is again that there is something for all of us. we are to see that if God worked through in or around someone else that he can work through in or around us as well that the hope, peace, and love that he has is for us.

Hope

In the Shepherds and Wisemen we see hope.

The Wisemen travelled hundreds of miles to see Jesus. They crossed desserts and traveled for weeks. These were not Jewish men. They were Persian kings or Priests of foreign gods. They were important men in their area. They had clout and status but when they saw the new star they knew something that was greater than them was occurring.

Yet they knew this new star meant something great. They were from the area where Daniel was captive all those years ago and had more than likely heard the prophecies of the coming King.

They saw the star, the new this meant something new and amazing was happening. So they set out. When they found the newborn King they worshipped.

Hope moved them from looking to worshipping

The shepherds were lowly ordinary men. They were just like you and me. Nothing great about them. They were just trying to go to work, stay out of trouble, pay their taxes, and not get into trouble with anyone. They were not the elite, the powerful, or the influential.

Can you imagine working your overnight shift. Trying to stay warm, relaxing and yet being alert because of wild animals and then boom an Angel appears and starts tell you, a shepherd that the long awaited Savior was born. The one promised long ago was now here.

Both of these groups set off and went to find the meaning of this.

Luke 2:16 CSB

They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger.

You don’t drop everything and hurry off unless you actually hope to see something.

These two groups show us that God can disrupt our lives in a moment. That He can do something that blows us away brings hope into a situation that causes us to change our plans.

In the Wisemen and Shepherds we see God provides hope.

When we have God hope we disrupt everything we are doing. Hope from God and in God will make you do foolish and wondrous things.

It does not matter your status or your job. The same hope is available to all of us.

Peace

Joseph, had his reservations at first. He had his disbelief. He did not receive the news from Mary that she was with child from the Lord and immediately think it was true. He had questions. He had doubts. He was human.

So often when God is doing something we have questions. We keep ourselves reserved. We doubt because it might seem a little crazy. How can this be? Is this really it? What about? So many questions run through our minds. So many what ifs’ start racing in our brains.

Jospeh had his questions and his doubts.

The news was quite frankly unbelievable. But then God spoke.

God sent the angel to Jospeh to tell him what he needed to know. He did not answer every question. He did not calm every fear. He did not explain the inner workings of how the immaculate conception occured. He told Joseph what he needed to know. Jesus often did this. He was questioned by opponents and disciples alike. He did not answer every question but instead answered the questions of the heart.

I don’t know what Joseph’s main question, doubt, or fear was. The Bible does not tell us but that is for our good. We can infer but the main point is not the question it is the answer.

God is saying to Jospeh and to us, I am with you. He was saying, “It’s Ok”

The answer is that God is God saying, I AM.

The I AM of God is greater than anything else and can give us hope when all seems hopeless, confusing, and unsettling.

When we do not know what to do the I AM does.

When we are confused the I AM is not.

When we need reassurance the I AM gives us peace.

Peace from God can calm all our fears and give us rest.

In Jospeh we can see that God provides peace.

Peace from God and peace in God changes everything.

Joy

In Mary we can see joy.

Luke 1:46–47 CSB

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

In status, Mary was essentially a nobody. She had no power. She had no fame. She did not have thousands or millions of followers on social media. She was not Instafamous. She was just a girl from a small town engaged to a man and ready to start living her life.

Sure I am sure she had dreams and desires. But they were probably pretty ordinary dreams. She wanted a family. She wanted to not worry about were the next meal was coming from. She probably just wanted a quiet, simple, ordinary life.

There is nothing wrong with that. There is nothing wrong with desiring a simple ordinary life. She probably felt pretty content knowing things were on their way.

What set Mary apart was not her desire for a simple ordinary life. What set her apart was her willingness to say yes to God.

She is a simple girl from a simple town and she simply wanted to be obedient to God.

When the angel comes to her, she like Jospeh, had questions but she received the news by faith. This was not going to be an easy road but she was probably not thinking about any of that. When God breaks into our world and disrupts everything and we say yes we are not usually thinking about the fallout.

She did not think what will Jospeh say.

She did not think what will the towns people think.

She did not think what will my parents think.

She thought, God has called me and that is all I need to know. A call from God trumps all other questions.

Where God calls, God leads.

She said yes and she received it with joy.

Remember joy is an emotional memory that reminds us.

When she was troubled or worried she would more than likely have thought back to the angel visiting her and refreshed her joy.

In Mary we see joy, we see that when we submit to God’s will it does not mean everything will be easy but that we can have joy in the midst of the trouble.

We must get this thought out of our heads that obedience to God guarantees an easy and perfect life. To say yes to God is to say yes to a narrow way. But it is the better way. You are going to have trouble in life. Do you want to have it alone or have it with joy in your soul?

In Mary we see God provides Joy.

Mary said yes to a hard life and we reap the reward of that yes. We have joy because a simple girl said yes to God.

Love

More than all these things we find love. Love from a transcendent God who breaks into humanity and does not only speak hope, peace, and joy but one who becomes love in flesh.

We are not saviors of anyone. We are not messiahs. We are not going to save the world from sin.

We can do like Jesus did and become love incarnate. We can be love in flesh.

We do like He did, we take the love we have and we pass it on. We do not hold the love and keep it to ourselves. We pass it on. It does not diminish our light to share it.

We gain more than we will ever lose by sharing our light.

In Jesus we see that God provides Love.

We take the light we have been given and we pass it on. We take the love we have from God and share it.

We share in hope. Hope that God is with us.

We share it in peace. Not worrying about the outcome.

We share it in joy. Knowing that it will be worth it.

We share it in love. Caring for others and wanting their best.

Candles

this is the day where you need to submit to Jesus and receive him as your Lord and Savior. Maybe you just need to be reminded of who he is. Maybe you need to be reminded of how much loved.

our second we’re gonna and we’re gonna sing and we’re gonna share the light that we have.