Advent: A Reason to Rejoice
Notes
Transcript
Good morning! Today is the third Sunday of Advent. Hallmark thinks it has the corner market the “Countdown to Christmas” thing, but the Church has been doing this far longer. For the first Sunday of Advent, we lit the candle of Hope, remembering that real hope comes from trust. God kept his promise to send the Messiah 2000 years ago, and because of that, we have the blessed hope of salvation through the blood of Jesus and in the promise that one day Jesus will return to set up his eternal kingdom!
Last week, we lit the candle of Peace.
Today, our third candle is lit—the candle of Joy.
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
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.
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.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”
And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.
And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.
Shepherds are not the world’s most appreciated people. They don’t get invited to the best parties. You don’t hear kids saying, “I want to be a shepherd when I grow up!”
Shepherding is a tough job. It’s not a high-paying job. You spend most of your time outside, no matter what the weather is like. You are surrounded by sheep. Sheep stink. They are dumb. They attract dangerous animals.
So when you are a shepherd, and you come home from your job, you are dirty, exhausted, and you smell like sheep!
So imagine the amazement these shepherds experienced when a host of angels appeared to them! I mean, angels appear to kings and prophets, not to dirty, smelly shepherds! And, on top of that, they were informed that the Christ was born.
The title Christ comes from the Greek, and it means “anointed one.” This is the Greek version of the Hebrew Messiah. So these shepherds just got word from angels that their Messiah had come.
How crazy is that!
The angels called this news of great joy. Why is this news so joyful? Yeah, it’s always great to hear that someone had a baby. We don’t even have to know the people to get excited for them when they have a baby.
But this baby was their Messiah. They had been waiting close to 1500 years for the promised Messiah to come, and the angels said he’s here!
They knew that this child was anointed by God to deliver Israel from bondage and bring truth and justice to the whole world.
Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!
The Lord has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil.
On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak.
The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival, so that you will no longer suffer reproach.
Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth.
At that time I will bring you in, at the time when I gather you together; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes,” says the Lord.
The angels declared the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah. Jesus was going to change the world. The shepherds had a reason to rejoice!
A Reason To Rejoice
A Reason To Rejoice
Folks, today, WE have a reason to rejoice. As much as those shepherds had a reason to rejoice, we have even more reason.
Those shepherds had a limited understanding of who Messiah was supposed to be. They expected an earthly king to raise up armies like King David and set up an empire like King Solomon. They knew the Messiah was going to be both king and prophet, speaking the wisdom of God and working miracles.
But they had no idea he would be the literal son of God! They didn’t know that his kingdom would not be a physical one on this earth. They didn’t know that establishing this kingdom would cost Jesus his life.
They didn’t know that everyone, Jew or Gentile, who turned to Jesus would become an equal citizen of this kingdom.
While they believed that his kingdom would last forever, they didn’t know that the citizens of that kingdom would also live forever because of Christ’s resurrection!
One Sabbath, when Jesus was grown, he went to the synagogue and was asked to read.
And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.
And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
These poor Jews were so confused, they were trying to figure out what Jesus meant.
But WE know.
We have a reason to rejoice.
Jesus came for us all.
It doesn’t matter what our income or position in society.
The wealthiest man and the poorest slave are all welcome in Christ’s kingdom.
Jesus came to heal us.
The word that is translated salvation in the New Testament means “to make whole.”
Jesus came to make us complete.
He promises a place for his followers in heaven.
But he also wants to meet your need right now.
God himself orchestrated all this because you matter to him!
As much as mankind looked forward to Messiah coming, God looked forward to it even more.
The moment we fell into sin and became separated from God, he began planning how he was going to save us and restore us to himself.
He set stars and planets in motion so that there would be a bright star to shine down over Bethlehem that night.
He put it on Caesar’s heart to have a census to cause Mary and Joseph to end up in that barn.
Don’t you love when someone goes through the effort of planning a special event just for you?
That’s exactly what God did—for you.
No matter what you are going through right now, you have a reason to rejoice.
Jesus has come.
His nickname is Immanuel—God with Us.
He will always be here for you.
He will stand beside you, and hold you up when you struggle.
He will heal you and give you victory over your situation.
One day, he will take your hand and lead you home to his eternal kingdom.
