Joy: Advent 3 (2025)

The Joy of John the Baptist

Hope —-> Peace —-> JOY

When we think about JOY and Christmas we often think of children opening presents or biblically we have the verse Luke 2:10 “But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.”

But the majority of JOY in the story of Jesus’ birth revolves around his cousin… John the Baptist.

Luke 1:5–14 NIV

In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old. Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth,

He will be a JOY and a delight. — this double emphasis on JOY.

-Basically is declaring he will be the embodiment of JOY.

Luke 1:39–45 NIV

At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

LEAPED FOR JOY - John is full of JOY even in the womb, especially at recognizing Jesus in utero. Incredible.

Luke 1:57–58 “When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.”

JOY is surrounding the birth narrative but mostly around John the Baptist.

However, when you think of John the Baptist, I doubt you think of JOY. We often think of a disheveled wilderness man who has a bit of crazy and quirky as part of his personality. Maybe even slightly cranky or condemning. He’s the NT prophet. So he has this prophet allure to him.

In fact, his first words recorded were bringing condemnation on the teachers of the law.

Luke 3:7–9 “John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.””

Yet - I believe and I will contend in this sermon that John the Baptist is a fantastic example of living out biblical Joy.

And maybe we start there…

What is JOY?

Like hope… we learned that hope is expectation that God will show up, it’s the waiting and yet knowing God is going to come through.

Like peace… it’s not measured by circumstances or misplaced identity but instead found in the presence of God.

Joy is not happiness.

It’s not a passing sensation

It’s a state of well-being

It is not dependent on circumstances - good or bad

Joy is living into the DELIGHT of God.

-What he has done, what he is doing, what he will do.

Often we think Joy and Happiness are synonyms but happiness is a feeling. It floats in and out based on what’s happening in and around you.

Joy is much deeper and more secure than happiness.

Joy is also not always feeling happy. It’s more about recognizing - I’m good. I live in an unshakable kingdom. God’s got me. My life may be in chaos, but I can delight in the Lord.

John the Baptist modeled TRUE JOY

What do we know about John the Baptist?

Matthew 3:1–6 “In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ ” John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.”

And according to Luke 1:80 — he went out to the wilderness as a young adult and lived out there since.

This wilderness is important.

For the Bible the wilderness is a two-fold idea:

1- place to meet with God

2- place to be tested

The wilderness is a place to learn what it means to KNOW God. Not just know about God.

God has to provide in the wilderness.

You have no attachments in the wilderness.

It’s not for luxury or comfort. It’s quiet and desolate.

It can be seen as a punishment or an opportunity.

If you can find JOY in the wilderness, you can find it anywhere. There’s something powerful about knowing John the Baptist not only chose the wilderness but embraced it as a way to KNOW God.

Here’s the thing that we can learn from John the Baptist when it comes to Joy and the kingdom of God.

JOY isn’t found in the abundance but is nurtured and blooms in the wilderness

If Joy isn’t circumstantial but is instead a state of well-being. The only way you can really learn it is in the hardships, when all is stripped away.

When the only choice is Jehovah Jireh.

We often believe that JOY is found in stacking up happiness. Like if you can horde happy moments and experiences you’ll have a JOYFUL live.

But John said, how about I go into the wilderness where I have to wear camel and eat bugs.

What does this mean for us? What does this mean for you?

Are you chasing highs and abundance? What does it mean to have joy when there’s nothing…when you’e in the wilderness.

Let’s look at another example of this:

Genesis 16:6–14 NIV

“Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her. The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered. Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.” The angel of the Lord also said to her: “You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.” She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.

In the wilderness, Hagar is running away but it was there. It was there she could say - I know that God sees me. And I have seen him.

Deep in the desert when all hope was lost, Hagar found JOY…. and guess what, her circumstances didn’t change? In fact, they remained exactly the same, the JOY was found not in the change of the circumstances but in the fact that she knew God SEES HER.

EL ROI

This isn’t just the story of Hagar, it’s the story of Abraham, Job, Joseph, on and on.

Back to John the Baptist.

As John begins to hear about Jesus and realize that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah, He not only models JOY he actually teaches his disciples, the crowd listening, and even us today — ALL ABOUT JOY.

He gives a short sermon on JOY.

John 3:27–30 NIV

To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.”

JOY comes from hearing the voice of Jesus

Going into the wilderness is a place you can hear God’s voice.

-The whisper, no distractions, testing, etc.

Hagar heard the voice of God and felt a change in her WELL-BEING.

John the Baptist hears the bridegrooms voice and is FULL OF JOY.

John the Baptist uses the imagery of a WEDDING.

When we think about JOYFUL days, Weddings have to be top of the list. This is a mountaintop moment. Yet weddings are unique because done rightly and set forward in the right way - it’s not about “happily ever after” that’s a myth.

It’s about a VOW - an OATH - to remain. To stick through storms in life together. To get old together. “Till death do us part”

So a wedding is not a celebration of “hordeing happiness” it is recognizing JOY in the struggle. That life is better together. That the mountaintop may be the celebration but the real JOY in this marriage is found in getting through life together. “Through sickness and health”

But that’s not even the point John is making - he actually says that while we’ve all been waiting for the bridegroom, the messiah to come for his bride (the people of God), where does John find his joy?

“The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and is now complete.”

John describes himself not as the bride or the bridegroom (the people we would say are the happiest at a wedding) but instead the best man.

He’s full of JOY for his friend who’s getting married. That his JOY is FULL and overflowing because the BRIDEGROOM has arrived and John the Baptist says, I get to be part of it, I helped attend to him.

And then he says an iconic line - “he must become greater; I must become less.”

JOY is found in elevating Jesus as you embrace humility

John isn’t going, oh man, I was the main show. I was the big deal, I had all these disciples and everyone listened to my sermons. Now this Jesus comes along… No, like a best man at a wedding, he’s THRILLED. He’s full of JOY for his role was never to be the groom, it was always to be the bestman.

So now it’s time for him to become LESS so that Jesus can become greater.

And that’s the CRUX and main point of his sermon about JOY. That Joy is actually found by hearing Jesus’ voice and then elevating that voice to the central voice of your life and of the WORLD.

That you now become less.

This is the opposite of how we typically think when it comes to JOY.

That JOY is found in elevating ourselves and pushing everyone that wants to get in the way down.

-It’s all about ME!

-American Christmas tends to make this a thing.

-Christmas is all about what you want.

But John the Baptist says JOY is found and made complete when we learn to elevate JESUS — where he becomes greater in your life while you become lesser.

Embrace Humility.

Ok one final John the Baptist story to help us understand how he embraces JOY and understands Jesus at the Jehovah Jireh.

We preached on this earlier in Mark… but we need to consider the end of John the Baptist’s life.

He was imprisoned for calling Herod out for taking his brother’s life - declaring the Jewish law forbid it.

In a moment of lust - Herod gives Herodias’ daughter whatever she asked because she pleased him when she danced for him.

She chose to have John the Baptist beheaded.

Now how’s that relate to JOY?

For when we are in the wilderness or even humbling ourselves. What do we think? We think about how eventually it will work out for us. We will get it all back at some point. God will reward such faithfulness.

But for John it lead to his early death.

If Joy was a temporary thing, we would seek it in temporary places. But it’s an eternal thing and John, even in the end, could not have his joy stolen from him.

The most beautiful thing about the Gospel is that death no longer has the final say.

Joy is an eternal reward not a temporary state of being.

Here’s the KEY we have to understand about JOY.

The world can’t give you JOY and thus it can’t take it away.

This doesn’t mean to placate away grief or to trivialize the horror of this moment.

Matthew 14:12–14 NIV

John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus. When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

And this helps us understand JOY in a final way.

For JOY is not painting a smile on when everything is terrible. JOY is not pretending to be happy.

JOY is such a deeper truth that it actually has the ability to grieve, while happiness does not.

JOY is a state of well-being, living in the delight of God.

And the world can’t take that away and you can cry in the midst of knowing God is with you. You can grieve and battle the circumstances, you can fight the depravity of our worlds and go IT SHOULDN’T BE THIS WAY.

Henri Nouwen talks about this in his book Living in the Spirit:

Today's Best Illustrations, Volumes 1-4 Talk about the Weather

I have a friend who radiates joy, not because his life is easy, but because he habitually recognizes God’s presence in the midst of all human suffering, his own as well as others’ … My friend’s joy is contagious. The more I am with him, the more I catch glimpses of the sun shining through the clouds. Yes, I know there is a sun, even though the skies are covered with clouds. While my friend always spoke about the sun, I kept speaking about the clouds, until one day I realized that it was the sun that allowed me to see the clouds.

Those who keep speaking about the sun while walking under a cloudy sky are messengers of hope, the true saints of our day.

—Henri J. Nouwen in Here and Now: Living in the Spirit. Christianity Today, Vol. 40, no. 13.

This is John the Baptist. The one covered in clouds but talking about the SON. He’s a messenger of hope, a beacon of JOY, and a model for each and every one of us. To embrace JOY.

Joy is the third candle of ADVENT. Remember Advent is the time in which we celebrate the LIMINAL space we are caught in, longing for the return of Jesus to set all things right.

A healthy JOY can recognize that this world is broken and needs Jesus, while also embracing the kingdom of God is not in trouble and can’t be thwarted by a broken and messed up world. In fact, that’s exactly what JOY is.

JOY is living in between the two advents. But recognizing that ultimately it won’t be brokenness that remains it will instead be JOY.

6,000 Plus Illustrations for Communicating Biblical Truths Happiness in Heaven

The Rev. Dr. A.C. Dixon says that when their little boy Harold died, all the enjoyment of their life was gone. He had no joy in preaching or in any of his work.

When the Christmas festival was to be held in their church, he felt like leaving the city, but remained. The children came to the Christmas tree, had a good time, and seemed to have forgotten all about little Harold.

The next day was Christmas. While the family sat at the table, sad and silent, one of the little ones said, “Papa, this is Harold’s first Christmas in heaven.” Another one quickly replied, “Why, it is Christmas all the time in heaven.” Immediately a smile came to him as he reflected on little Harold’s JOY in heaven.

Life is hard. Don’t paint a smile on and pretend to be joyful.

Instead embrace the JOY of the LORD which the Bible says can be your STRENGTH.

Let’s pray.

How does the concept of joy differ from happiness in your understanding of faith?

In what ways can we cultivate joy in our lives during times of difficulty or chaos?

What does it mean for you to find joy in the wilderness experiences of your life?

How can you practice humility in a way that creates space for joy in your life?

What specific actions can you take this Advent season to elevate Jesus in your life and experience greater joy?

What does joy look like in your day-to-day life and how can you recognize it more?

Can you recall a time when you felt joy during a challenging situation? What contributed to that feeling?

How can you support a friend who might be struggling to find joy right now?

In what ways does social media impact your perception of joy and happiness?

What are some practical ways to prioritize joy over the distractions of the world, especially during the holidays?