Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Emotion Tone
Anger
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Disgust
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Fear
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Joy
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Sadness
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Analytical
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Openness
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Conscientiousness
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Extraversion
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Agreeableness
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Have you ever been to Yellowstone National Park?
I’m sure if you haven’t you’ve seen pictures of just hoe beautiful it is.
The wildlife is iconic: the bison and bears, the wolves, the eagles and elk, and all sorts of smaller creatures.
Then the mountains, of course, are rugged and majestic.
So are the waterfalls and rivers.
But there is one thing there that really stands out about Yellowstone, and that’s the geysers.
There’s so much geothermal activity there, it’s amazing.
The park basically sits on top of a huge super volcano brewing beneath the earth’s surface.
And all over the park, this brewing heat works its way to the surface and forces its way through the earth.
I’m sure we all know of probably the most famous of these geysers, Old Faithful.
But there are other geysers there in the park as well, like the Grand Prismatic Geyser.
It’s the largest hot spring in the U.S., and its kaleidoscope of colors is breathtaking.
There are also countless small pools and puddles that bubble and occasionally shoot spouts of super-heated water out into the air.
And then there are the muddy geysers called the mudpots.
These are the cauldrons of goo somewhere between liquid and solid.
They’re kind of like a big pot of oatmeal simmering on a stove.
These geysers burble and burp and boil, releasing bubbles of heat and gas into the air.
They come in different colors depending on whatever predominant minerals they hold, and they’ll remind you of lava churning and mixing in the earth.
Now, why am I talking about geysers?
Well I want you to think of these geysers as glimpses of joy.
See, similar to geysers, joy bubbles and overflows and has to find its way out in some way or another.
Sometimes, and for some people, that’s a big bursting eruption like Old Faithful.
But other times, joy might be a slow rolling burble.
It might even be a little muddy or murky or slower to make its way out.
But no matter what’s surrounding it or influencing it,
Joy has its source deep within.
As we look to reorient Christmas this season.
Despite the challenges
Despite the hardships
Despite the pain & difficulties
That we may be experiencing, because
Christ has come to be our Immanuel, God with us,
we can experience joy no matter what discouragement we may be going through.
As we look at the Christmas story it’s har to ignore the fact that there is a lot of joy throughout the story.
This morning I want to look at the joy that occurs early on in the Christmas story because this joy isn’t separate from pain and disappointment.
Honestly, much of this joy is actually brought out of grief and disappointment.
So, this morning I would like to take a look at Luke 1 and I really want to focus on the stories and experiences of Elizabeth and Mary.
So, grab your Bibles and turn to Luke 1. Now, we’re going to be bouncing around throughout this chapter.
First let’s look at:
Luke 1:5-7 We notice here in Luke’s account of the Christmas story that it begins a little earlier than with just Mary ans Joseph.
It begins with a prophet named Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth.
These couple of verses 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.
We know that this was difficult times for the Jews.
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.
And 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.
That changes suddenly and miraculously when 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.
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, says this in verse 25.
There’s an odd statement if you’d look back to verse 24 that tells us that Elizabeth went into seclusion for the first five months of her pregnancy.
Maybe this has something to do with Elizabeth’s disgrace that she mentioned in verse 25.
For her, the inability to have children would have been a lifelong source of pain and sorrow and shame.
It was a big deal in that culture to have children.
Imagine the great hopes of the young couple Elizabeth and Zechariah.
That would have eventually faded through the years as they tried repeatedly to have a child.
She probably would have questioned herself and probably asked questions of the other women.
And they probably would have questioned her—unfairly—casting suspicion or unfounded blame on her.
Perhaps there were pregnancies to spark new hope and miscarriages to dash those hopes with grief and loss.
Elizabeth’s self-worth probably sunk as the years passed and hope dimmed.
At some point, she and everyone around her would have declared Elizabeth barren and branded her with this lifelong stigma.
Maybe that’s why she stayed in seclusion for five months, keeping to herself to let her hope blossom into joy personally.
Or to ensure that this pregnancy was indeed going to last.
Or maybe she was simply savoring these days on her own terms.
But notice the story continues on, now Elizabeth is six months pregnant and we see the angel Gabriel making another appearance, this time to Mary.
But now
Gabriel’s delivering the most miraculous pregnancy announcement of all.
Mary received the news gracefully and willingly, but at some point early on, Mary 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.
This would be tremendous especially 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 is why Luke tells us in verse 39 that Mary hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea.
She must have heard about her relative Elizabeth’s miraculous pregnancy.
I mean if anyone was to understand it would have to be Elizabeth, right?
This is now where the joy erupts.
Against the past environment of discouragement, disgrace, grief, and shame, the joy comes bursting through for these two mothers-to-be.
Look at these next verses Luke 1:41-45
Imagine what a relief this must have been to Mary.
She didn’t have to explain herself.
She didn’t have to worry anymore about being understood.
All she had to do was say hello, and Elizabeth knew.
Even her developing baby knew and leaped within her.
Think about that it was a fetus that was the first to rejoice at the news of Jesus.
This was just the affirmation and encouragement Mary needed.
So much that her joy came bursting through in a song of praise and thanks to God.
Now we wont read that here this morning but I do encourage you to read Mary’s song here in verses 46-55.
There’s really 2 things or levels going on in those verses.
On the one hand it’s a celebration and connection in the midst of miraculous events.
Then on the other, it’s an affirmation and understanding of two expectant mothers fostering the flow of joy, no matter what has happened prior or what may lie ahead.
Now there is a lot that we can take away from this, but I really want to focus on 3 things that apply to our own experience of joy.
1. It’s OK To Be Joyful & Happy
For some of us that’s a no brainer kind of statement.
But for others this statement can make you a little uncomfortable.
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