Finding JOY In Our Discouragements
Pastor Chad A. Miller
Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 32:13
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· 59 viewsWeek 3 of our Advent season brings us to JOY. In Luke 1, we see joy on many levels with Elizabeth and Mary. Because Christ has come to be God With Us, we can experience joy no matter what discouragement we may be going through.
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REFLECTION / ADVENT READING: Psalm 117:1-2
SERMON: Luke 1:46-55
BENEDICTION: Nehemiah 8:10
INTRODUCTION
IS IT OKAY TO BE HAPPY?
I mean, if you were photographed laughing and carrying on and someone posted that...
…would that be tone deaf?
If you were to clap along ‘cause you felt like a room without a roof…is that even OKAY?
We have RIGHTLY heard, It’s okay to NOT be okay. But is the flipside true? Can we talk about JOY in this climate?
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We are continuing on our journey to rediscover Christmas, despite the challenges, hardships, pains, and difficulties we might be experiencing.
Because Christ has come to be God With Us, we CAN experience joy no matter what discouragement we may be going through.
TRANSITION
Luke’s Christmas story begins a little earlier than Mary and Joseph and Jesus, with a prophet named Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth. Luke begins
5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.
This short paragraph would have spoken volumes of information to Luke’s original audience.
We’ve got Herod, the Roman king keeping the Jews under harsh Roman control. These are difficult times.
And here we meet Zechariah and Elizabeth, both of priestly lineage. And in a day with a lot of religious corruption and power plays by the Pharisees and Sadducees, Zechariah and Elizabeth are a stark contrast.
They are described as righteous, blameless, faithful. This is especially important in light of what Luke tells us next. Zechariah and Elizabeth are old but have never been able to have children.
THEN, GOD INTERRUPTS (Luke 1.13-17)
Zechariah had gone into the temple to handle his priestly duties. The archangel Gabriel shows up and tells Zechariah that his wife is going to have a son, a powerful prophetic son who will prepare the way for the coming Messiah.
13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.
Gabriel’s announcement stunned Zechariah. “Your prayer has been heard.” What prayer?
Some speculate that this refers to their personal years-long desire to bear children.
Others speculate that the angel was referring to the prayer given by Zechariah in the temple, the one whispered by every faithful Jew, praying for the coming of the Messiah.
Maybe it’s both! Because both the desire for a son and the longing for the kingdom of God were, in a sense, one and the same. The long years of anguish and darkness, of year after year with no child, likely gave way to a desperate pleading for God to come. There are those requests that we send to the Almighty that seem doable, reachable, and there are those we send with a wrapping of cynicism and doubt, as if the only time we might see resolution is when God fully renews and restores the world.
We pray for peace on our streets, but know only when the Prince of Peace fully returns will we see it in full.
We long for reconciliation among Christians, but recognize true unity will only happen around the throne of God, with brothers and sisters from every nation, tribe, and tongue.
We plead for God to heal the sickness and disease that ravage our loved ones, but understand that even in an era of advanced medicine, our true healing will only come when Jesus returns.
As you know, Zechariah is so overwhelmed he can hardly believe this news and when he questions the news, the angel says, “OK, here’s your sign. You won’t be able to speak until the child is born.” And the prophet is left writing and signing to everyone to explain what’s happened.
It seems Elizabeth is quicker to believe the news, and when she becomes pregnant, she says,
25 “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”
So, here are Zechariah and Elizabeth - Zechariah was one of three hundred priests in the family of Abijah (Luke 1:5; 1 Chron. 24:10), one of twenty-four divisions of priests in Israel. An ordinary priest and his wife, Elizabeth who had been labeled “barren” - a lifelong source of pain, sorrow, and shame. Both are now rejoicing at the promise of a baby.
MEANWHILE IN GALILEE
If we were watching this unfold on a movie the subtitle would now appear...”Meanwhile, In Galilee”.
When Elizabeth is six months pregnant, Gabriel makes another earthly appearance, this time to Mary. To deliver the pregnancy announcement of the ages!
Mary received the news gracefully and willingly, but at some point early on, she must have known that her challenges and disgrace were just about to begin.
The scorn and shame she would face—and her family and her fiancé as well—would be SO MUCH when it became obvious she was pregnant and unmarried.
How do you make people believe the baby in your womb is God’s Son?
Even Joseph couldn’t believe this news at first, and as Matthew’s narrative tells us, Joseph planned to break off their engagement in what would have been a divorce in that culture. Mary’s journey would not be an easy one.
Maybe that’s why, she “hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea” (Luke 1:39, NIV). Mary must have heard about her relative Elizabeth’s miraculous pregnancy. “If anyone will understand, it has to be Elizabeth,” she might have thought. If so, she was right.
This is where the joy erupts. Right in the middle of discouragement, disgrace, grief, and shame, the joy comes bursting through for these two mothers-to-be.
Which brings us to our first point...
Even in a world long-laid in sin and error pining...
1. It’s OK To Be JOYFUL and Happy
1. It’s OK To Be JOYFUL and Happy
41 And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, 42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
Zechariah & Elizabeth rejoiced....quietly at their good fortune.
But Joy overflowed when the news of Jesus came!
Joy & Happiness are contagious! Notice Mary’s response - she must have been so relieved that she didn’t have to explain herself or worry about being misunderstood!
>>> Just a side note. That’s beauty of going ALL - IN with your church family! Being more than just an attender…when you’re in a COVENANT RELATIONSHIP in a BIBLICAL CHURCH FAMILY, they will REJOICE when you REJOICE!
Mary’s response, we refer to as the Magnificat
46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
We’ve probably all heard joy described in contrast to happiness. Often in our Christian culture, the two get split into happiness as secular and less valuable or fulfilling, and joy as spiritual and more important or fulfilling. Is this ringing a bell?
In actuality, the Bible makes no such distinction between joy and happiness in that way. They are essentially different words for the same thing. They may have slightly different nuances like many synonyms do, but those are often cultural and shifting. The original Hebrew and Greek terms used in the Bible to describe joy and happiness are essentially interchangeable.
I say that to tell you (because some of us need to hear and be reminded of this) IT’S OK TO WANT TO BE HAPPY AND JOYFUL AND IT’S OK TO ENJOY THOSE EMOTIONS!
There is great joy in the Christmas season, and it’s good to embrace and celebrate that joy.
To those of you who find yourselves driven by obligation and busyness and guilt in this season, it’s OK to stop, and say no, and pause and embrace a part of the season that brings you personal happiness.
And to those of you who find Christmas to be a painful, difficult season; to those of you who are hurting or grieving personally or feeling discouraged by this tumultuous last year we’ve been going through;
and to those of you who are happy to revel in this season—it’s OK to feel and to embrace joy. God sees you no matter where you are on the emotional spectrum of happiness.
The point here is that our longing for happiness and joy is a natural desire that God has placed within us as a reflection of His own joyful nature.
What’s most important part is our source of joy and happiness.
2. Joy Is Our Strength
2. Joy Is Our Strength
There’s a great example of this principle in the story of Nehemiah. You may remember Nehemiah was the Old Testament leader who got permission from King Artaxerxes to return from exile in Babylon and rebuild Jerusalem, starting with its walls.
This was more than just repairing some walls and buildings, it was a spiritual REVIVAL - A REAWAKENING OF GOD’S PEOPLE
In chapter eight of the book of Nehemiah, he brings all the people together and they bring out the Law of Moses and read it.
Nehemiah is calling the people to remember and return to their relationship with God.
As he does this, the people are weeping. There may be tears of joy…but most are from sadness as they recognize their guilt and feel the weight of their drifting from God.
So what does Nehemiah do? Does he bear down even harder? NO…check this out
10 Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
10 Then he said to them, “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, because the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Nehemiah is saying, “this is a time for great joy and happiness…God has brought us back - He is restoring our hearts AND our buildings! His joy fuels and sustains us!
Our true source of happiness, joy, and fulfillment comes from Christ. Christmas is a season of joy because the Messiah has brought joy into the world and provided us the way of ultimate fulfillment and life. Peter describes it like this
8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
A joy that is “UNSPEAKABLE AND FULL OF GLORY” finds its source even deeper than our pain…deeper than our sorrow…even deeper than the problems that can bury us. It’s a deep well that we draw upon, no matter what we are facing.
This is not a “don’t worry, be happy”, “put on a plastic smile” or “fake it ‘till you make it” kind of joy.
Sometimes the joy of the LORD comes in like a rushing fountain erupting from our spirits. Sometimes it is a thick, slow bubble to the surface.
Wherever you find yourself today, let me encourage you that the joy of the Lord can be your strength no matter what you’re facing.
And that leads us to our final point.
3. We Can Choose JOY
3. We Can Choose JOY
The word REJOICE is used a lot in the Bible…but not a lot in our culture. It’s the VERB FORM of Joy. It’s the action of feeling or expressing joy and delight.
To return to joy. It’s a choice…an action. For Christians, it is a return to our SOURCE of joy - the LORD JESUS CHRIST!
I’m encouraging each of us this morning…to take the action.
Regularly, daily, constantly coming back to Jesus - our source of joy. Recalibrate your life to the Gospel every day. Dying to self…coming alive as the Spirit of God animates our days with His leading and guiding.
REJOICING - the process -
refuels your tank
restores your strength
and renews your spirit as you
RECONNECT with the Savior
This sheds a lot of light on James encouragement to us:
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Count it all joy?
That may be the last thing you want to hear when you’re hurting. Joy may seem a million miles away when you’re grieving or depressed or afraid…when the pain and problems seemed to be stacked up against you.
James isn’t necessarily saying “be happy about your trials”. He’s remind us us that can find joy IN them when we see the bigger picture.
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
That bigger picture begins and ends with our source: the LORD Jesus Christ.
The Psalms are a great source of lyric for our hearts. They are honest and a bit raw at times at writers pour out their feelings!
Psalm 13 is a great example of FINDING JOY IN OUR DISCOURAGEMENTS.
The beginning of this 6-verse Psalm starts where many of you are right now…alone, isolated, sad, afraid, ready to give up.
1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
It ends up here:
English Standard Version Psalm 13
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the LORD,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.
What’s the linchpin? Look at verse 5
5 But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
We see David transition as he TRUSTS IN THE LORD!
This is where and how WE find authentic joy.
In the midst of our discouragements, we can celebrate in this season as we remember and TURN FROM OURSELVES to the LORD Jesus Christ, who has come to be with us and to give us joy.
Have you trusted Jesus? If not, you can…he’s calling you right now to believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory!
If I were you, I would cry out to God right now and beg Him to save me…to cleanse of my sin and rebellion against His ways…and forgive my resisting his STEADFAST LOVE. God will change you, he will make you a new creature…He’ll give you beauty for your ashes, strength for fears, gladness for your mourning, peace for your despair. Call on Jesus!
Sister, Brother. Are you trusting him now? Is your heart rejoicing in your salvation? RE-joice.
It’s OK to be JOYFUL and Happy - we have a compelling reason to be!
the JOY of the LORD is our Strength - we need Him more than fleeting pleasures.
The choice is yours…will you choose JOY or will you hang on to bitterness and anger?
BENEDICTION
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Let’s rediscover Christmas this year by embracing joy, no matter what we’re going through.
Let’s remember each day the source of our joy.
Let’s seek our happiness, not in the seasonal trappings and traditions around us, but in returning constantly to our source of joy.
Let’s choose to continue the process of rejoicing, despite the pain and challenges we are facing.
Let’s heed the good news of the angels that will bring great joy to all of us: A Savior has been born, our Messiah, the Lord, and He will carry us through and complete His work in us no matter what.
10 Then he said to them, “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, because the joy of the Lord is your strength.”