Joy to the World

Those words were penned by Issac Watts in 1719. A piece of music known as “Antioch” by Frideric Handle Antioch was used for the melody and it has been a standard in hymnals ever since.

Watts based his song on:

Psalm 98:4 ESV

4 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!

So, what is joy, and how does it relate to happiness. Some people might say it’s the same thing, but it’s really not. In looking at the history of the word happiness, you find the word is linked to circumstances. In German the word luck and happiness are the same word.

If the circumstances around us, our relationships, our job or school, the activities we do in our free time are good, we are happy, and of course, you could easily add to that list.

So how is joy different from happiness?

While happiness is tied to circumstances, joy is a choice that is not tied to circumstances.

Happiness might be brought about by eating a piece of chocolate or getting all green lights as you drive through town, but this happiness doesn't last very long. As soon as someone pulls out in front of you, your happiness is gone. Happiness is an emotional response while joy comes from within. Happiness resides on the face, while joy resides in the heart.

According to the Benedictine Monk, David Stiendl-Rast, Joy is the happiness that doesn’t depend on what happens.

In The Christmas Experience, Kyle Idleman writes; “Joy is an inner sense of well-being and satisfaction that endures through good times and bad, it abides through happy experiences and sad circumstances. You see, joy is a gift that God gives us when we allow Him to be the Lord of our lives.”

This morning we will be looking at the joy that was brought into the world some 2000 years ago.

We are going to turn now to that most famous of Christmas story passages, Luke Chapter 2.

I was raised in the church, I have heard the Christmas story many times. I have even been in a few Christmas plays, in church and in school, back when such a thing was allowed.

I suppose most people know something of the Christmas story, but even as someone who was raised in the church, for much of my life I have accepted the Christmas story as just a series of events that just sort of happened and when all was said and done, everything just ended up sort of fitting together and provided for us what we now know as the Christmas story.

I don’t see it the same way anymore. As I study the events that comprise the Christmas story, I have come to realize that every detail of the Christmas story, was planned by God. Things did not just happen to work out. They worked out according to the perfect planning and timing of a God Who is in complete control of everything.

As we go through some of the details of the Christmas story this morning, I want you to come away with a since of awe at how God orchestrated all of the events in a very special way. That, to me, is a huge part of the joy of Christmas.

Joy of Prophecy Fulfilled

Now let’s look at Luke chapter 2.

Luke 2:1–5 ESV

1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.

Joseph and Mary both lived in the town of Nazareth. This is over 70 miles north of Bethlehem. And we know that Old Testament prophecy states the Savior will be born in Bethlehem.

Micah 5:2 ESV

2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.

Now these days we don’t think too much about a 70 mile trip. We might well drive that far just to go shopping at some favorite place. That is just about the distance that Audrey and I drive every Sunday just to be here. But in Mary and Josephs day, 70 miles was not an insignificant trip.

We don’t really know if Joseph and Mary were even familiar with the prophecy, but they did know that they had to make the trip in order to be registered. It was a dictate of the King. They had no choice.

So, God, Who is in complete control, moves the mind of the pagan Roman Ruler, Caesar Augustus, to decree a census to be taken so that Mary and Joseph might return to Bethlehem and prophecy might be fulfilled.

Back in the days of Caesar Augustus they did not send out people to go door to door to take the census, to take the count of the people. I think we did our last census on the internet, they didn't do that either. No, each person was required to return to their home town, the place of their lineage, in order to register their information.

Both Joseph and Mary were a part of the Tribe of Judah and specifically were direct descendants of King David, and because of that, they were required to go to the Town of David, otherwise known as Bethlehem. And there you see Joy in Fulfilled Prophecy. The next joy we will explore is:

Joy of First Notice

Think for just a moment as if you had the mind of God, none of us do of course, but just think about it for a minute. You are about to send your only Son into the world. He is about to be born into an earthly existence through the means of an earthly mother.

Now consider who you, as God, are going to announce this miraculous birth to. I am thinking Kings of different lands, or maybe the High Priest or some other great Spiritual Leader. That is what comes to our mind if we try to image God’s mind, but Scripture tells us in many passages that God does things differently than we do.

Isaiah 55:9 ESV

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

So, who does God choose? Well, that brings us to the next Area of Joy in the Christmas Story

Luke 2:8 ESV

8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

God chooses shepherds. Basically, he chose farmers, he chose stockmen. What an unlikely choice this is. Shepherds were at the low end of the social order. Shepherds were pretty much the bottom of the totem pole in many ways, and these shepherds were the ones working the night shift! Not exactly a lofty position.

Shepherds were considered ritually unclean just by the nature of their job. They were denied the chance to go to the temple and become clean as they would be in the fields attending the sheep. Shepherds were considered untrustworthy and were not qualified to testify in court. Yet of all the choices God had for recipients of this the most important of messages, He chose shepherds.

Have you ever wondered why? I’d like to give you two of the reasons why, I believe, He chose shepherds. I’m sure there may be several others, but I think these two give us a vivid picture of the reality of what the future held for Jesus.

The 1st reason is that:

The Shepherd is Dedicated to His Sheep

John 10:11 ESV

11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

We also see this in:

Revelation 7:17 ESV

17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Shepherds had a unique relationship with their sheep. They lived with the sheep, walked with the sheep, talked with the sheep, slept out in the elements with the sheep. They continually put themselves in harm’s way to protect the sheep and were willing to lay down their life, if need be to save the sheep.

When all was said and done, that was exactly what Jesus did. He walks with us as He walked with the disciples. He talked with us as He left us His Word, and He still talks with us today as well. He experienced life in much the same way we experience life. And in the end, He put Himself in harm’s way when He laid down His life for us, His sheep. Jesus was the Good Shepherd.

The second reason:

The Shepherd Represents the Lowly of Humanity

I think it is significant that the first announcement of the birth of Christ was to the most lowly of the citizens around Bethlehem. God knew that the news of the savior was going to have a bigger impact on the humble people of the society than that of the ruling class, the leaders, and politicians of the day.

The leaders of society in that day felt no need for a savior. They had “the fix in” you might say. Their worldly ways had served them just fine. They had managed to keep their nose high enough in the air so as not to care, or even give official notice, to those of a lower rank. By the social order of the day, to ignore the plight of those of a lower station was almost a requirement of their station.

In some ways, the situation has not changed a great deal even today. Those in the loftier positions have little regard for those on the margins of prosperous society. And even the churches attended by the upper members of society are often little more than social clubs and networking opportunities for their members.

Now let’s look at the next Area of Joy in the Christmas Story:

Joy of the Arrival of Christ

Luke 2:10–11 ESV

10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Notice verse 10. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

While Mary may have been the one giving birth, the nature of the birth of Jesus was to bring joy to all of us.

This brings us to the next Area of Joy in the Christmas Story:

Joy of the Shepherds Sign

For this very specific sign, look at Luke 2:12

Luke 2:12 ESV

12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

I have read this passage hundreds of times, but until doing some research for this message, I realized I had always missed the true meaning of this verse.

Swaddling cloths consisted of a rectangular cloth on which the baby would be placed diagonally, the corners of which were wrapped around the baby. Then one or more long strips of cloth were wrapped about this blanket and secured much like a bandage would be.

These swaddling clothes then kept the newborn warm and secure. The tight wrapping gave the newborn comfort as it mimicked the feeling the baby had while still in the mother’s womb.

The verse says that this is a sign unto the shepherds, and indeed, it is quite a significant sign. You see these shepherds were herding sheep just a few miles outside of Jerusalem. It is likely that these shepherds were responsible for raising the lambs that would have been used in the ritual sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem.

As part of that process, these shepherds would have examined each lamb as it was born, and those that were determined to be without fault, that is worthy of sacrifice, would be separated out, placed in swaddling clothes and placed in a manger. This was the special attention that those lambs meant for sacrifice would have received.

This word that Dr Luke uses here for swaddling clothes is sparganon (sparag a na o) σπαράσσω (G4682) It only appears in the New Testament here in Luke chapter 2, but it is the same word used in other sources as the cloths used by the shepherds in preparing the sacrificial lambs.

Image you are one of these shepherds attending your sheep in the night when suddenly heaven announces that the newborn Messiah would be found wrapped in swaddling clothes. You have wrapped lambs in swaddling clothes hundreds of times, and now the Messiah has come into the world wrapped in swaddling clothes.

Now we can understand how this would have been a very significant sign to those shepherds.

But the sign doesn’t stop with the swaddling clothes, it goes on to say lying in a manger. In other words, there are 2 parts to this sign, each having a special significance to the shepherds.

Now we have looked at 4 specific areas of Joy in the Christmas story out of Luke chapter 2. But you might be thinking “What does all of that mean to me today?”

I mean this all took place around 2000 years ago, and to be honest with I’m not feeling a lot of Christmas joy right now.

Well one of the most important things we can take home from this is that we serve a God Who is completely sovereign. In other words, no detail escapes His attention, and nothing, absolutely nothing in His plan happens by coincidence.

On top of that, we learn in

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV

11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

We see that the plans God has for us include words like “welfare” and “hope”. And if you are in the midst of a difficult season right now, think of when Jeremiah wrote this passage; The Nation of Israel was just about to enter 70 years of captivity. Jeremiah was letting them know that God’s good plan for them was something they could bank on even in the midst of difficult times.

The same holds true for us.

Conclusion

Now one thing you need to realize is that the 1st key opens the door to all the remaining keys. In other words, if you don’t have the first key, the last 3 keys are locked away beyond your reach.

So, what is the 1st key?

The Bible is very clear, we have all sinned-we have all done wrong and the price for the wrong we have done is an eternity separated from God in hell. But the good news is the Bible doesn’t stop with the bad news. It also says in Romans 5:8

Romans 5:8 ESV

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

In other words, that baby, wrapped in those swaddling strips of cloth whose specific function was for sacrificial lambs, and place in the manger, that Baby Who later died on a cross, paid the price for your sin.

The 1st Key to Christmas Joy is putting your faith and trust in the Spotless Lamb Who takes away the sins of the world.

Perhaps you may be thinking, “You don’t know me. You don’t know my background, you don’t know what I have done.”

You know what, you’re right, I don’t, but Jesus does, and you were on His mind as He hung on that cross. You know what one of the last things He said while hanging on that cross was? He said: “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” You know who was at the foot of the cross?

Roman soldiers who had beat Him so badly that He didn’t even look human. Who thrust a crown of thorns on His head so deep that it penetrated to His skull and then nailed Him to the cross He carried on His own back up the hill to be crucified.

You know who else was there?

The Jews that shouted for His crucifixion, were also at the foot of the cross. Chances are they all knew someone who had been healed by Him, in fact some of them had likely been healed by Him, yet still they yelled Crucify Him.

I am here to tell you in absolute confidence, if He could forgive that bunch while hanging on the cross, then He can forgive you, no matter what you have done. You just have to accept His gift of sacrifice for your sins that day and put your faith and trust in Him.

That brings us to the 2nd key to living in Christmas joy:

Now “Sovereign God” is kind of a big theological term, let me break it down for you, it simply means: The God Who is in complete control. Kinda like He was in complete control of every little detail leading up to the birth of Jesus.

• Details like putting in the mind of Caesar Augustus to have a census, a census that brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem at the exact time of the birth of Jesus, thus fulfilling prophecies from over 700 years before the birth.

• Details like His message of the birth of The Spotless Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world to very special and specific shepherds who were raising lambs for the temple sacrifice.

• Details like finding the baby wrapped in the very swaddling strips of cloth they used for baby lambs that would one day be used for the temple sacrifice.

What we need to understand when we surrender the control of our lives to that Sovereign God, is that we can rest confidently that just as He had control of all of the details of the birth of Jesus, we can trust Him with control of our life as well.

It is natural for our minds to focus on the troubles of life, whether it is illness or injuries, financial difficulties, issues at work or school, the list is practically endless.

Instead, we need to focus on Jesus and what He has done. This requires faith in Him.

This brings us to this mornings last key to living in Christmas joy:

I have noticed that the more time you spend focusing on others and their needs, the easier it becomes and the more natural it becomes.

I have also noticed that you can experience real joy when you think less about yourself and more about other people. And that you will experience even more joy when you put yourself in a position of lifting up people who are less fortunate than you, or when you share the joy and love of Jesus with others.

If you have come to the point where you have put your faith and trust in Jesus, the One Whom we celebrate at Christmas, your life, your face, your countenance, your words, should be marked by joy.

There should be no “Woe is me” for the believer. So, if you are one who struggles in this area, my guess is your focus is more on the struggles of life than on the joy of your salvation.

Only you can change what you focus your mind on and I can’t think of a better time to make a change of focus than this week as we celebrate the Advent of Joy.

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