Advent Joy

Joy

Pray

There has been a theme with the last four weeks. I will admit, this is the first time I have ever preached through an “Advent Series” and I am quite sure that I may have messed up the order, but as we have worked through Hope, Peace, Love and, today, Joy; the constant theme has been that all of these topics are not circumstantial. They do not rest in a feeling or what is happening around you or a season of life, but they all are found in a person.

Joy is often associated with happiness and that can be an expression of Joy, but it is much deeper than that.

We can find a joy in beautiful and good things like the kind that wells up in God’s heart when He created the world and man.

Psalm 65:11–12 (ESV)

You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with abundance. The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy,

We can find joy in a bottle of wine, oil for your face and bread.

Psalm 104:14–15 (ESV)

You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart.

We can find joy in weddings and joy for our children. Joy is one of the fruit of the Spirit.

Galatians 5:22-23, “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control”

But, if you have lived life for any time at all, you know that the world is not always a joyful place. Christian life is marked with sadness, death and pain sometimes, so it follows that all of the examples of the fruit of the Spirit, including Joy, are attitudes that we adopt.

When Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, the first thing they did was sing for Joy, even though they were leaving a place they knew had food and resources for them to survive to an unknown desert location. The later writer of the Psalms said that “God brought His people out with joy, His chosen ones with singing.”

This joy in the wilderness was not defined by their present struggles, but based on their future destiny.

I know a friend who is in jail currently and he has the joy of the Lord to face the day because he knows that freedom is coming. Interestingly enough, I saw a video this week of a man that walked into jail with a 14 year sentence in front of him, but he said that it wasn’t bad because every second that he spent in jail was one closer to going home.

There are highs and there are lows but the future for us in Christ is bright. Every year, month, week, second is one closer to us being with the Lord.

This is a theme that Jesus carries into His earthly ministry.

Matthew 5:11–12 (ESV)

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Jesus is not denying the suffering of life. He is not saying that you won’t have pain. He is pointing you down the road to what is set before you.

Everything that is worth doing requires a great deal of sacrifice and sometimes pain. When a woman is pregnant, the build up to that baby can be awful for some, but the idea that it is not forever, that in just a few short days this pain will be over and then I get to hold my child pushes the mother through.

Paul talks about this life as training for a race.

1 Corinthians 9:24–25 (ESV)

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.

James reminds us that we are to

James 1:2 (ESV)

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

There is a joy in knowing that there is future victory. There is a point to the pain. None of this is meaningless, but we may never see why we have gone through it.

I remember as a young athlete in school, the coaches would make us do these exercises that seemed like torture. I didn’t understand why I needed to drag a tractor tire for hundreds of yards, but the coaches new I would need those muscles for a time down the road when someone would be pulling me one way and I needed to go the other.

We can’t know what is in store for our future. Paul was beaten, stoned, shipwrecked all for preaching the Gospel and I am sure while he was going through it, he didn’t understand, but we find out that Paul was a pharisee. He was a well educated man. He could have out-debated you. He knew the whole law by memory. ON HIS OWN, he could have been a force to be reckoned with for Christ, but the Lord humbled him to the point he penned these words,

Philippians 3:3–11 (ESV)

For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

This leads to Paul’s statement in

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

If we know that God has a plan for our life and a future, then the current circumstances can seem puzzling, but we are to hold on to the Hope of Christ, receive His peace to bear through the pain, understand His great love for us and in all of those things find His joy because one day we will be with Him.

Christmas is a hard season for some. There are empty seats where family that used to make the holidays so special used to sit. If you have lived long enough, you know the pain of that.

Maybe you never had anyone make the holidays special for you and that is a sore spot for you or maybe you have ruined a holiday or two and you just want Christmas to pass by. This is my encouragement to you, DO NOT LET THIS TIME GO BY WITHOUT REJOICING.

We choose to rejoice. Even when the world is falling apart, we rejoice. When things are incredible, we rejoice. Make this the time that you spread the hope, love, peace and joy of Christ if you have never before.

God has given us this day to remind us of the greatest gift He has ever given mankind. The birth of Jesus should give us great JOY. If you are in Christ and He is in you, this is cause for celebration. If you don’t have family, find friends to celebrate with. You don’t have to spend any money to rejoice. It cost nothing to tell someone that God loved them so much that He sent His only Son for them.

There is a joy that is offered to all and that means you who feel far from the Lord and you that are still hurting from past loss or trauma.

Something I read this week has helped me understand some details of the birth story of Christ. In Matthew 1:18-19 we learn some things about the two earthly parents of Jesus.

Matthew 1:18–19

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

Mary and what she was giving up….

Joseph and what he was giving up and what it cost

They both hold on to the Joy of the Lord in their life amidst their circumstances.

This is our third Christmas in this building and we have a little tradition that we read a story.

This story is an exploration into the innkeeper that put Mary and Joseph up in the manger where Christ was born in Bethlehem. It is not factual, but it is a good reminder of the cost of following God and a reason for joy in heart broken situations.

The Innkeeper by John Piper

Jake’s wife would have been fifty-eight

The day that Jesus passed the gate Of Bethlehem,

and slowly walked Toward Jacob’s Inn.

The people talked With friends,

and children played along The paths,

and Jesus hummed a song,

And smiled at every child he saw.

He paused with one small lass to draw A camel in the dirt,

then said, “What’s this?”

The girl bent down her head To study what the Lord had made.

She smiled, “A camel, sir!”

and laid Her finger on the bulging back

Where merchants bind their leather pack.

“It’s got a hump.”

“Indeed it does, And who do you believe it was Who made this camel with his hump?” Without a thought that this would stump The rabbi guild and be reviled,

She said, “God did.” And Jesus smiled.

“Good eyes, my child. And would that all Jerusalem within that wall

Of yonder stone could see the signs Of peace!”

He left the lass with lines Of simple wonder in her face

And slowly went to find the place

Where he was born.

Folks said the inn Had never been a place for sin,

For Jacob was a holy man. And he and Rachel had a plan

To marry, have a child or two, And serve the folks who traveled through,

Especially the poor who brought Their meal and turtledoves,

and sought A place to stay near Zion’s gate

They’d rise up early, stay up late,

To help the pilgrims go and come,

And when the place was full, to some,

Especially the poorest, they would say,

“We’re sorry there’s no room, but stay

Now, if you like, out back. There’s lots Of hay,

and we have extra cots That you can use.

There’ll be no charge. The stable isn’t very large,

But Noah keeps it safe.”

He was A wedding gift to Jake because The shepherds knew he loved the dog.

“There’s nothing in the Decalogue,”

He used to joke, “that says a man Can’t love a dog!”

The children ran Ahead of Jesus as he strode Toward Jacob’s inn.

The stony road That led up to the inn was deep With centuries of wear,

and steep At one point just before the door.

The Lord knocked once, then twice, before He heard an old man’s voice,

“’Round back!” It called.

So Jesus took the track That led around the inn

The old Man leaned back in his chair and told The dog to never mind.

“Ain’t had No one to tend the door, my lad, For thirty years.

I’m sorry for The inconvenience to your sore Feet.

The road to Jerusalem Is hard, ain’t it?

Don’t mind old Shem. He’s harmless like his dad.

Won’t bite A Roman soldier in the night.

Sit down.” And Jacob waved the stump Of his right arm.

“We’re in a slump Right now. Got lots of time to think And talk.

Come sit and have a drink. From Jacob’s well!” he laughed.

“You own The inn?” the Lord inquired.

“On loan, You’d better say. God owns the inn.”

At that the Lord knew they were kin,

And ventured on: “Do you recall The tax when Caesar said to all The world that each must be enrolled?”

Old Jacob winced,

“Are north winds cold? Are deserts dry? Do fishes swim And ravens fly? I do.

A grim And awful year it was for me When God ordained that strange decree.

How could I such a time forget?

Why do you ask?”

“I have a debt To pay, and I must see how much.

Why do you say that it was such A grim and awful year?”

He raised The stump of his right arm.

“So dazed, Young man, I didn’t know I’d lost My arm.

Do you know what it cost For me to house the Son of God?”

The old man took his cedar rod And swept it ’round the place:

“Empty. For thirty years alone, you see?

Old Jacob, poor old Jacob, runs It with one arm, a dog . . . no sons.

But I had sons . . . once.

Joseph was My firstborn.

He was small because His mother was so sick.

When he Turned three, the Lord was good to me And Rachel,

and our baby Ben Was born,

the very fortnight when The blessed family arrived.

And Rachel’s gracious heart contrived A way for them to stay—there in That very stall.

The man was thin And tired.

You look a lot like him.”

But Jesus said, “Why was it grim?”

“We got a reputation here That night.

Nothing at all to fear

In that we thought. It was of God.

But in one year the slaughter squad From Herod came.

And where do you Suppose they started?

Not a clue! We didn’t have a clue what they Had come to do.

No time to pray, No time to run,

no time to get Poor Joseph off the street

and let Him say good-bye to Ben or me Or Rachel. Only time to see

A lifted spear smash through his spine And chest.

He stumbled to the sign That welcomed strangers to the place,

And looked with panic at my face, As if to ask what he had done.

Young man, you ever lost a son?”

The tears streamed down the Savior’s cheek.

He shook his head, but couldn’t speak.

“Before I found the breath to scream I heard the words, a horrid dream:

‘Kill every child who’s two or less.

Spare not for aught, nor make excess.

Let this one be the oldest here,

And if you count your own life dear, Let none escape.’

I had no sword, No weapons in my house, but Lord,

I had my hands, and I would save The son of my right hand. . . .

So brave, O Rachel was so brave! Her hands

Were like a thousand iron bands Around the boy.

She wouldn’t let Him go, and so her own back met With every thrust and blow.

I lost My arm, my wife, my sons—-the cost For housing the Messiah here.

Why would he simply disappear

And never come to help?”

They sat In silence.

Jacob wondered at The stranger’s tears.

I am the boy

That Herod wanted to destroy.

You gave my parents room to give Me life,

and then God let me live, And took your wife.

Ask me not why The one should live, another die.

God’s ways are high, and you will know In time.

But I have come to show You what the Lord prepared the night you made a place for heaven’s Light.

In two weeks they will crucify My flesh.

But mark this, Jacob, I Will rise in three days from the dead,

And place my foot upon the head Of him who has the power of death,

And I will raise with life and breath

Your wife and Ben and Joseph too,

And give them, Jacob, back to you

With everything the world can store,

And you will reign forever more.”

Let us rejoice that our God made a way for us to be with Him through Jesus on Christmas day. Let’s pray.