The Attitude of Joy

Joy is an attitude that we often speak of during the Christmas season. It is littered throughout the Christmas story. I’ll remind you that when we talk about joy from a biblical perspective, it is something that is not temporary like happiness. Instead, our joy extends beyond circumstances to all areas of our lives!

Read Luke 2:8-20

This morning I want to begin with looking at the cause of joy in the life of a disciple of Christ followed by some of the results of joy in our lives. First,

True Joy Comes from the Good News of the Gospel

This passage, though familiar, is a necessary reminder for us that the gospel is at the center of all things for the life of a Christian. It directs our actions, our relationships, and even our emotions. These shepherds are in the field and it seems as though it is just another evening of watching the flock. When all of the sudden an angel of the Lord appears before them.

The angel’s first response to the shepherds is not some sort of greeting. Instead, he says “fear not”. The reason they had no reason to fear was because the message that the angels were bringing was good news of great joy. In other words, the news that Jesus had been born would be a source of joy for the shepherds.

As we consider the songs that we sang this morning about joy, each of them relate to the fact that God sent His Son, Jesus, to this earth with the ultimate goal of dying on the cross for our sins. For any person who believes that Jesus died on the cross for their sins, this truth is where we derive our joy from!

And by the way, when we speak of truth, we need to remember that the truth of the gospel is what we stand on. This is where our joy comes from. This is what dictates how we operate on a day to day basis.

I want to spend a moment expounding on joy when it comes to the advent season. We often spend our time at Christmas talking about both the arrival of Jesus as a newborn as well as thinking on His return. However, when joy is concerned, we often get ourselves stuck just thinking of the joy that comes from spending eternity with Him in heaven. I want to be sure that we understand that while there is certainly joy in the thought of heaven, we must also think on the arrival of Jesus and the joy we have been given because of the perfect life that He lived here on earth.

So now that we’ve established joy coming from the gospel, we turn out attention to the results of this joy.

Joy is the Greatest Replacement for Negative Emotions.

Going back to verse 10, the angel knows that the shepherds are afraid and so he tells them not to be. This would be fruitless advice if it wasn’t for the news that was to follow. So often when it comes to emotions, we tell someone not to feel a certain way with reasons behind them.

The Christian should be joyful because of Jesus coming to earth in the form of a baby boy. Now, there are moments where we might feel sad, angry, fearful, or just simply frustrated. I’m not saying that it is sinful to feel those emotions but I would say we should avoid allowing ourselves to dwell there for too long. After a bit of looking at why we feel that we, we should turn our attention to the source of our joy.

We read from Psalm 30 this morning for our call to worship. I want to look specifically at Psalm 30:5. We are reminded here that even the anger of the Lord is temporary and we are inevitably filled with joy even in the midst of turmoil.

Psalm 30:5 ESV

For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

This goes hand in hand with the first point and I can’t help but be reminded of verse 3 of “Joy to the World”. No more let sins and sorrows grow Nor thorns infest the ground He comes to make His blessings flow Far as the curse is found, Far as the curse is found Far as, far as the curse is found

Because of Jesus death on the cross, we have no more reason to have sorrow because of sin. Death was defeated when Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day!

I believe that this point is the most pertinent to the lives of believers today. In the midst of dread about a situation at work, turn your eyes to Jesus! When we are filled with sadness over the loss of a loved one, turn to Jesus. When there is great frustration with a family member, consider the fact that Jesus sent His son to this earth to die for your sins!

Joy Fuels our Sharing of the Gospel

This is one of my favorite parts of the Christmas story. We see in verses 17 and 18 that the shepherds were generous in informing others of what they had witnessed in Bethlehem. Our joy regarding the gospel should be the very drive to tell others about it. There is one verse of scripture, though there are many others that would apply, that I want to share on this point from 2 Corinthians 9:7.

2 Corinthians 9:7 ESV

Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

We should be generous in our financial giving but we must also be cheerful distributors of the gospel! It is vital not only for our lives, but the lives of those who need to hear it.

Here’s the way that this plays out logically. Because of Jesus arrival on earth, we are filled with great joy because we are no longer bound by sin. And because of that joy, we desire greatly to share this truth with any and all who will hear it! Though it is not spelled out in the text that the shepherds rushed away, we have biblical examples of people in a hurry to share the gospel such as in Acts 8:26-30.

Acts 8:26–30 ESV

Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. And he rose and went. And there was an jhEthiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

May the joy of the coming of Christ propel us forward as we desire to share the gospel and be obedient to the Great Commission.

Possessing Joy Glorifies God

Finally, we see that all of those involved in this situation were praising God because of what had taken place. My hope is that each and every time we stand together to sing, we are filled with joy because Jesus sent His Son. That when we share a testimony, that it would be coated in joy because of what the Lord has done for us!

There is much reason for you and I to have joy but I pray that, as we respond, the Lord would bring us to a point where it is our desire to put action behind our joy. It is a wonderful thing to be joyful but it is something else entirely when that joy spreads into all aspects of our lives!