December 3, 2023
Joy
Luke 2:8-20
Christmas is finally here! It’s the time of year when we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. If you’ve been around FBC Bloomfield any amount of time, you know I love this time of year. I’ve been listening to Christmas music for weeks and visiting the Christmas section of Hobby Lobby every chance I’ve had since July. It was during my most recent visit to purchase some new Christmas decorations that I found myself looking for a specific word written on the decoration. I ended up not finding it, but while looking through all the stores, I noticed there were four words that dominated the Christmas decoration market. It didn’t matter which store you ventured into – these four words were on everything. The more I thought about these four words, the more I realized their importance when it comes to the true meaning of Christmas. So, in the weeks leading up to Christmas this year, I want us to look at these four words and what they mean in relation to the true meaning of Christmas, as well as what they should mean to us as we live out our Christian lives – not only during this Christmas season, but every day in our walk with Jesus.
The first word I want us to look at in our Christmas journey is the word “Joy”. It should not be a surprise that the world defines the word “joy” a lot differently than scripture does. Listen to this definition that I found with a quick Google search: “Joy is a feeling of great pleasure or happiness that comes from success, good fortune, or a sense of well-being.” By looking at the shortest verse in the Greek scriptures, we can easily see that this is not how scripture defines joy. It is a verse we looked at during our Thanksgiving sermon which was 1 Thessalonians 5:16, where Paul commands us to always be joyful. In this short command, we can see that it is impossible for us to always be joyful using the world's definition of joy. Maybe we can feel that way occasionally like when we get a special gift at Christmas, or maybe we feel that way when we get a visit from family. We all know the world's type of joy (or maybe it should be called happiness) is fleeting (Proverbs 14:13). We know this because we live in the real world and not in some Hallmark movie. The real world is full of real problems. So if that isn’t what joy really is, what is it? For a Christian, joy is not just an emotion. It is a state of being that is present and persistent in the soul of all believers and only comes from the Holy Spirit as a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). We see that almost every time joy is mentioned in the New Testament it’s always coupled with sorrow. In light of these facts, I think a great working definition of Biblical joy would be one that comes from the website christianity.com: “Biblical joy is choosing to respond to external circumstances with inner contentment and satisfaction.” How does this look in the real world? How can we constantly experience Biblical joy in our lives? This morning I want to take a look at the most famous Christmas passage in all of scripture. It is a scripture that was made famous by Charlie Brown and Linus when Charlie Brown asks what the true meaning of Christmas is. It’s found in Luke 2:8-20 and gives us a great roadmap for how we as Christians can experience joy, not just at Christmas time but all throughout the year.
We must always be on the lookout for Joy - Luke 2:8-10
That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.
In our working definition of joy we said that joy is a choice. We know this because Paul gives us a command to always be joyful. This command means that we have a choice to find joy in a situation, or cling to the misery that fills this world. We have to choose joy in all circumstances. This was the same choice the shepherds had to make that first Christmas evening. They were out in the fields that evening doing their jobs, just like every other night, and they had a choice. They could have focused on many things. Maybe they would focus on their dissatisfaction with their job, or their sheep’s poor health, or maybe on how everyone else had a nicer shepherd's crook than they did. The point is, there were many things that they could have focused on that evening, but there was something else present that they chose to. They chose the message of joy that the angel of the Lord was bringing. How do we know that? We know because they were terrified and that is the appropriate response to what was happening to them at the time. I know what you’re probably thinking: “Of course they are going to pay attention to the message of joy the angel brought to them. It was too wonderful for them to ignore!” This might be true, but they still had to choose joy over all the rest of the circumstances that were in their lives at the time. It might be hard for us to understand, but we are in the same situation. We can choose to focus on the broken things of this world that only bring pain or we can focus on the glorious things of God that bring us joy. You see, the angel was bringing the Good News of Jesus. That was - and still is - the ultimate source of all the joy that the world will ever experience. That was the good news the shepherds chose to focus on instead of anything else, and this is what we must do in every circumstance we find ourselves in. Where the shepherds only had the beginning of the Good News to focus on (the arrival of the Messiah) we have the entirety of the Good News (or Gospel) to focus on, and everything that entails in the life of a Christian. This is where we find our joy. We find it in the Gospel of Jesus. It’s not going to be easy. We must look for it in every situation because our flesh wants to focus on the bad. I’m not saying we are to ignore or pretend that sadness and grief don’t exist, but in those circumstances we remember the Gospel and what it means for us. The way we begin to experience joy is to look for it no matter our situation. Our understanding of the Gospel is going to dictate how much joy we experience in our lives.
We must understand the gift of joy we received - Luke 2:11-14
The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
Have you ever given a gift to someone and didn’t receive the response you expected? I think this happens to all of us because we have a tendency to talk about features of a gift rather than the benefits of the gift. Say that you gave your Grandparents a new cell phone and told them it’s got a 200 megapixel camera, QI wireless charging capabilities, a 6 core 1.8 Ghz CPU with a 6 core GPU, and a fingerprint sensor. You might not get a very excited response from them because they might not understand what a megapixel or GPU is. But what if you told them that this cell phone will help them take crystal clear pictures of their grandchildren and that they don’t have to worry about all those tiny wires and cords when it comes to charging the phone? All they have to do is lay it down on the charger. They will not have to worry about the video problems when they watch videos or while they are video chatting with family. They won’t have to remember a password to use it because they can use their finger to unlock it. Which one do you think they would react more positively to? The same thing goes with joy. The more we know and understand about God, His Word, His promises, and His character; the easier and more excited we get about (and the more we get to experience) the joy of God in our lives.
The greatest news the world had ever heard had just been declared for the first time here in this passage: The Savior, The Messiah, The Lord was here and would be found in Bethlehem just like the prophets foretold. Those who were present that day would have been very familiar with the titles of Savior, Messiah, and Lord and that would have meant a lot to them. Of course they wouldn’t have understood the fullness of those titles, but they would have a decent understanding of why this was a message of joy, not just for the Jewish people, but all people. For us, we can sometimes hear the titles Savior, Messiah, and Lord so much in church that it loses its meaning. Or maybe we don’t realize the meaning of those titles at all and why they are important in the Christmas story in the first place. Let’s take a look at what those titles mean and what that means for us.
Savior
When the shepherds heard the Savior had come, their minds would go to one idea - the idea that through this baby they would be saved from the Romans. They thought the nation of Israel would be restored to its former glory, but we know Jesus came for a much greater purpose than that – it was to save us from our great foe of sin. He came to free men from their slavery to sin and to save them from the penalty of sin. Remember in this Christmas season as we seek joy, Jesus didn't just come as a baby in a manger, but rather He came to seek and save the lost. He came to live a perfect life, die on a sinner’s cross, and rise again three days later to give us an opportunity to be made right with God through faith in Jesus Christ.
Messiah
The word Messiah means “Christ,” “the Anointed One,” “the Deliverer”. This title would bring images of prophets, priests, and kings to the minds of the shepherds, and we know from the book of Hebrews that Jesus was the ultimate fulfillment of prophet, priest, and king. He had come to set up a new kingdom here that was unlike any that the world had known – or was even waiting on! He also came as a deliverer, one who came to deliver us from our past. There is a saying I heard years ago that one would say when speaking of past hurts and addictions: “I don’t live there any more”. For us Christians, we can find joy in that same saying. We don’t live in that old life any more, because through the Messiah, our deliverer, we have been delivered from the brokenness of that old lifestyle and brought into the newness of life. Because of the Messiah, we don’t live there anymore.
Lord
The title Lord is a hard one for us as Christians to understand in today's culture, but it’s the idea of ultimate authority. He is ruler over all and in control of everything. When we face tough situations we tend to only focus on the worst in those situations, but even in those situations we can confidently remember that God is greater than anything we will ever face. He is greater than any sin we will ever commit. He is the greatest and always will be. Not only that, but He calls us sons and daughters, and even in our hardest time we know He will not leave us or forsake us. We can call upon Him at any time and know He hears our every prayer. Knowing this, we can have the attitude that is talked about in James 1 when he says to “count it all joy when we fall into various trials” because we know that God is working it for good and producing something in us that couldn’t be produced otherwise. When it seems our situation is overwhelming us, we don’t have to worry because we are in the mighty hands of the One who is greater than all. He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He is Jesus, our Savior, Messiah, and Lord!
We could focus on these titles and talk about the nuances of each for a very long time. I hope if one piques your interest that you will not just be satisfied with what I’ve shared this morning, but rather continue to learn more about Jesus, and therefore experience an abundance of joy in life because of your understanding and knowledge of His Word, His promises, and character. Our joy will grow as our relationship with Him grows, and this MUST take place, not only on Sunday mornings, but every single day of the week.
We must act upon that gift of joy- Luke 2:15-20
When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.
Joy is an invitation to worship. It’s that simple. Joy causes an overflow once we realize what God has done for us. In our passage, the shepherds heard the Good News and had to go see for themselves. That’s what happens to us when we respond to the Gospel. We aren’t called to take someone’s word for the fact we are sinners and Jesus came to set us free from the sin and its penalty, but rather to come and see for ourselves. We need to ask questions, exercise reason, and put our faith in Jesus alone. We need to see it and experience it for ourselves just like the shepherds did. But then what did they do? They were astonished. When was the last time you were astonished by what God has done? One of my favorite worship songs has the line, “Open up my eyes in wonder”. When we sing that, I mean that with every fiber of my being that I would never get over what Jesus has done for me. The shepherds went and saw Jesus, then left that place and told everyone. What did they tell? The Good News – the same Gospel that was shared with them by the angel and experienced personally by each one there that evening. The Savior had been born! They went away praising God. Nothing had changed in their personal lives. They still had problems. They still had worries, but they chose to focus on the things of God. It was that choice to focus on those things that brought them true joy.
When thinking about Biblical joy, I’m reminded of the story of the twelve spies sent into the land of Canaan to scope it out. All twelve were sent into the land for the same amount of time. They all experienced the same situations, but only two came back with a good report. Those two chose joy. They knew what God had promised them and they were excited to see what God was going to do in those situations. The other ten only saw the despair this new land could bring. This is the same choice we have every day as Christians. We are commanded to always be joyful, but in the end it comes down to us. Are we going to focus on the things of this broken world, or are we going to be looking for the joy that surrounds us as Christians and grow in our understanding of those things that only come from God, and then let that joy overflow in wonder and amazement in our lives? When it does it will produce true worship and praise, and we won’t be able to help but tell everyone we see about it! Choose Joy!
