Sermon Tone Analysis

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Shepherds: Hope and Joy

Desperate for Joy.

People are desperate for joy in our world.

That desperation takes on different forms depending on where you live.

For much of America, if we are not careful that desperation for joy is displayed in a desire for possessions.

We convince ourselves that if we just get this one particular item, we will experience joy, and not just joy, joy that will last!

All you have to do is turn on the TV and every 5-7 minutes you get to watch 2-3 minutes worth of commercials geared towards removing any joy you may have by showing you what specific item or items you absolutely have to have if you really want to be joyful.

Here’s one that most of us have seen many times the past 2 years:

GMC Commercial

Now there are several things I picked up while watching this commercial.

First off, I am guessing the age of the couple to be late 20’s to early 30’s.

It appears to be a major city, which would mean the value of their home is likely between $500-750,000.

In his hand is a phone that is probably worth $500 or more.

His wife buys presents for each that probably cost $3-500.

Not to be outdone, he has purchased two brand new vehicles with a combined cost of over $100,000 and it’s not even Christmas yet!

While this couple may have a joyous Christmas, somewhere around January 15th, when the bills start to piling up, all joy is out the window!

The point is, when our joy is tied to possessions, or our friendships, or jobs, or families of just about anything, the joy will likely be short lived.

That is not to say that these things are not important.

I mean, friendships, jobs, families and even to a certain degree possessions can all be important things, but each one is temporal.

Which means that if our joy is tied to them, when they disappear, so does our joy.

This morning as we continue our “Cast of Christmas” Advent Series, we are going to look at the joy that was being proclaimed to the shepherds that first Christmas night.

We will be looking at several passages, but to begin with we will be looking at some verses in Luke 2, please turn in your copies of God’s Word to Luke 2. Next Slide

Luke 2-Page 1090 in the Pew Bibles.

As you are turning there, let me continue, because there may be some of you, particularly parents, who may be thinking, “Phew, I’m in luck!

My joy isn’t tied to personal possessions or my job or friends.

Truthfully, if my kids are happy, I am joyful.

In fact my greatest joy on Christmas morning is watching the glee on my children’s face when they open their presents!”

Well, perhaps that type of joy may be somewhat unselfish, although honestly the jury is still out on that being unselfish, but that is a discussion for another time.

The problem with our joy being tied to what we get others is, so much of the time many of those “must haves” we went to great lengths to get our kids for Christmas morning end up in the back of their closest before the end of the school year.

For example, if you had children in the ’90s, you might remember Tickle Me Elmo, I kid you not some parents payed thousands of dollars on the black market for a Sesame Street character whose allure came from the fact that he went into seizures and fits of giggling if you squeezed him.

I watched one news clip where a Walmart clerk was literally trampled by parents trying to get to the furry red stuffed animal.

Chances are no one here knows of anyone who still has a Tickle Me Elmo, and if you do, can I recommend a good councelor!

If we go way back, we must face one of the strangest toys of any Christmas past.

I know our younger members won’t believe it, but children of the ’70s were clamoring for Pet Rocks.

The pet box included breathing holes all around it, and inside you would find . . .

a rock.

That’s it.

I guess it became your pet.

The downside was it wasn’t very fun to watch.

The upside was you never you never had to walk around the yard with a pooper scooper!.

So, what will it be this year?

Millions of parents are desperately hoping that this year they’ll find the right toy.

A toy that will both light up Christmas morning and not end up stuffed in the back of the closet three weeks from now.

I don’t even want to think about all the gifts I’ve bought over the years that scarcely held my family’s interest for Christmas Day, much less for months or years to come.

But we keep buying and keep hoping this time it will be different.

That brings us to our topic this morning and the shepherds in Luke 2 who received Hope and Joy.

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The Reason for Hope, The Foundation for Joy.

The first Christmas present was significantly different from those that we have already discussed this morning.

The Bible tells us in Luke 2:8-12,

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Luke 2:8-12

Luke continues the story: Next Slide

Luke 2:16-18

This Christmas present was so different anything we have looked at this morning.

The problem with toys and most things we look to for hope and joy is a case of diminishing returns.

They quickly loose their value.

Those 2 vehicles in the GMC commercial drop in value by about $6,000 each before the first payment is cashed!

But the first Christmas gift is a different sort of gift altogether.

The shepherds show us that encountering Jesus is a different sort of experience.

It had such an impact on the shepherds that they had to spread the word after they had seen Him.

This was a lasting hope and joy that they could not contain.

Three decades after that encounter, Jesus gave us insight on this sort of hope and joy for our lives: Next Slide

John 15:11

We all taste hope.

We experience joy.

How many of us would say our joy is full?

There are about 250 passages in the Bible that deal with joy.

If you read them, you’ll find the Bible doesn’t just encourage joy, it commands us to have it.

In fact, the Bible commands us to rejoice twice as many times as it commands us to repent.

We aren’t just given permission to laugh or to have some fun times; God wants your life to be constantly overflowing and filled with joy.

Is that how you would describe your life?

The shepherds’ joy was a result of what God had done.

Watching sheep at night has its merits.

But the hope, wonder, and life-changing joy for them began when they first heard of Jesus.

And the joy grew as they met Jesus.

Joy begins for us in the same way it began for the shepherds.

It begins with meeting Jesus.

Without that foundation, how can we hope to have lasting joy?

Very few things last forever.

A real life-changing encounter with Jesus, however, remains and grows through all eternity.

Meeting Jesus never stops impacting, shaping, and transforming our lives!

It never stops giving us hope and opportunities for joy.

With that foundation in mind, let’s zero in on a few basic themes that recur numerous times in those 250 passages on joy.

If we are going to walk in the joy God has for us, it seems we should pay attention to what the Bible not only says but repeats numerous times.

While our foundation for joy comes as a result of what Jesus did for us, we find that embracing daily joy has little to do with what happens every day.

In fact, according to many passages in the Bible, hope and joy are more of a mind-set or posture for living that comes from what Jesus did at Christmas than simply a result or feeling.

It’s an undeniable theme concerning joy in the Bible.

We start by:

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Embracing the Hope and Joy That Have Been Given.

The apostle Paul clearly demonstrates this truth in Next Slide

Philippians 4:4-5

One important part of walking in hope and joy is simply to choose to rejoice in everything!

Much of the hope, joy, and rejoicing in the Bible isn’t really connected with circumstances.

It’s connected with a decision.

In fact, one of the keys to a life of joy is to rejoice even when the circumstances are disappointing or even painful.

Take, for example, the amazing prayer of the prophet Habakkuk.

The prophet prays to God when Israel is in a state of terrible disarray.