An Advent of Joy
Advent 2022 • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 1 viewNotes
Transcript
One theme that occurs over and over again in our Christmas songs is “Joy” . Either mentioning joy specifically, or songs with joyful melodies and themes
Joy to the World
“Tidings of Comfort and Joy”
To Us a Child of Hope is Born (Joyful melody)
Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Luke 2:22–38 (ESV)
22 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,
29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
30 for my eyes have seen your salvation
31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”
33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”
36 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, 37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. 38 And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.
Ah, do you feel the joy of this moment?
Can you feel the joy and the wonder in the air as these two saints recognize the Messiah for whom they had waited all their lives
It says that it had been revealed to Simeon by the Spirit that he would not taste death until he had seen the Messiah
So he lived his life in expectation, I imagine trusting that what the HOly Spirit had revealed to him would come to pass
But I can guess that as the years went by, and he got older and older, I wonder if there were days when he began to think, “Lord, when? Is this really going to take place? Am I really going to see your annointed one?”
As he endured the oppressive occupation of the Romans, and saw how far his people had fallen from the worship of God
I wonder if his longing for the Messiah was intensifying, while at the same time, the struggle with doubt increased.
And it says that on this particular day, he was led by the Spirit to the temple.
Maybe it’s just a normal day at the temple.
But maybe he has the sense that this day is different. After all, The Holy Spirit had led him there
And as he is worshiping, he sees a young couple coming into the courtyard with a tiny infant
And the Holy Spirit revels to him that THIS IS THE ONE!
The One whom the Jewish people had been expecting for hundreds of years
Can you imagine his joy?
Of the 4 Gospel writers, Luke really does the most to capture the joy and the wonder and the amazement at the birth of this Baby.
Immanuel. The long-awaited God With Us.
The angel’s announcement to Mary was received with some fear, much amazement, and later as she visited her cousin, Elizabeth, much rejoicing and praise.
When the angels came to the shepherds, they announced glad tidings of great JOY for ALL people
And after the shepherds had gone to see the baby, they went on their way, rejoicing and praising God
What is this JOY that the Bible talks about?
Could we define it as happiness? Is JOY the same thing as happiness? Or is it something different?
I come from a family of Yoders
Picture of Yoder brothers
This is a picture of my grandfather with most of his brothers.
Only one missing is Uncle Paul who was a missionary in Ethiopia
Plus, there were two sisters
You wouldn’t know it from this picture, but these men “suffered” from what we sometimes referred to a “The Yoder Blues”.
I’m not slandering them when I say that they had the Yoder blues because they sort of admitted it.
They could be laughing uproariously one moment and weeping the next.
They were just sort of up and down.
My Grandfather, whom I loved dearly, definitely seemed to be a bit pessimistic, sort of a “glass half empty” sort of a guy.
And I have to confess that I take after him. I tend to get the blues and look on the down side of things.
And If people would ask me, “Are you happy”, there are days, when I would struggle to answer.
And possibly the confusion lies in the fact that I really don’t know what it means to be happy.
When I think about happiness, I think about the lack of concern or worry.
I think about feelings of satisfaction and general well-being.
But that’s not what it means in the Bible.
When you read this word “happy” in Scripture, it has quite a different meaning.
And we can talk about that some other time.
It’s this concept of “Joy” that I want to think about for a few moments this morning
Because, while my grandfather and his brothers didn’t always appear to be “happy”, as we think about happiness, I do believe that they had “joy”
When we read the English word “joy” in the New Testament, it is a translation of the Greek word,
The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Joy)
χαρά, chara
The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Joy)
Closely related to gladness and happiness, although joy is more a state of being than an emotion; a result of choice. One of the fruits of the spirit (Gal 5:22–23). Having joy is part of the experience of being a Christian.
Joy—A state of being rather than an emotion. It is a result of choice.
If that is the case, then what is this state of being which Scripture talks about?
What does it look like
Well, as we read through the life of Jesus and through the rest of the NT, I believe that we would find that joy, this state of being, or living, stems from a right relationship with God.
Joy comes, not from having outward circumstances that satisfy me in some way, as in my life going the way that I think it should
But it’s the grace of God being revealed in my life. It’s God at work.
Joy comes from a confidence in what God has done and will continue to do
Luke chapter 1 46-55, we read Mary’s song after being blessed by her cousin Elizabeth
Man composers of church music in years passed set Mary’s words to music and called it “Magnificat” a Latin word which captures Mary’s opening words
“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!”
her song is an explosion of joy.
Where does this joy stem from?
It is rooted in what God has done and has promised to do!
Luke 1:48-49 “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.”
The joy that the Bible talks about is confidence that God is who He says He is and will never fail!
Maybe we could say that this joy we are talking about could also be defined as hope.
An unshakable confidence that I can trust God 100%, no matter my outward circumstances.
I believe that this is the joy that we see in Simeon and Anna
they had waited all their lives for God to do what He had promised.
Their hope was not shaken. Their joy was not shaken, though their world was in turmoil.
Joy comes from being made right with God through Jesus
Think again about the angel’s words to the shepherds as they announce the birth of the Messiah, the One who would take away the sin of the people
I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to ALL people
The tidings of great joy were to Not just the sheperds. Not just to the Jewish people. But to ALL people, everywhere
What was that Good news?
A Savior has been born!
Why is this Good news? Because without a Savior, without someone to deal take care of our desperate situation, being separated from our Father because of sin, we would be the most miserable of creatures!
Completely without hope in this world
But there is joy because now there is hope that we can be reconciled with our Father
In Luke 10, Jesus had sent his 72 disciples out into the surrounding villages in order to proclaim to them the coming of the Kingdom of God
And when the disciples returned, verse 17, they rejoiced, because, indeed, the Kingdom of God had come! Even the demons were subject to them
But Jesus says to them, “Yes, that is a sign of the Kingdom. I do have authority over the demons. But the real reason that you should rejoice is because your name is written in heaven!”
Your deep joy should be rooted in knowing that you are being offered eternal salvation through Jesus.
Rejoice in the hope of salvation!
Joy comes from daily living, abiding, in Jesus
Joy is rooted in a deep, trusting, active, intimate, relationship with Jesus
It is abiding, living in Him.
It is Him living, and abiding in us
We read about this in John 15.
Jesus uses the picture of a vine with its branches to show us what it means to abide in Him
He is the vine, we are the branches, Jesus says
We are to abide in Him.
And the reason that he tells us this, gives us this teaching, is in verse 11.
“These things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full”.
See, Jesus is concerned about our joy. It’s important to Him that we experience joy
Complete, or full joy comes from abiding in Jesus.
Receiving strength, sustenance, encouragement, discipline, correction from Him
Receiving my very life from Him day by day, moment by moment
Knowing that He is actively working in my life to bring about the fruit that He desires.
In fact, as we read in Galatians, this is evidence of the fruit of the Spirit growing in our lives
Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, etc.
This joy is a lasting joy because it doesn’t depend on what is happening around me, on whether or not things are going the way taht I had planned
And this joy isn’t dependent on how well I perform and how well I manage to control my life and what kind of feelings of happiness I manage to work up
Rather, it is God at work within us through the Holy Spirit
And this joy is characterized by a deep abiding trust that He who began a good work in me, in you, will continue to do that work, perform that work, and one day it will be brought to completion
Because we are abiding in The Vine
Back to my grandfather and his brothers.
No, they may not have been the “happiest” men that you ever saw.
But they were joyful men.
Why?
Because they loved Jesus deeply.
yes, they had their struggles. That much was clear. But I know that they knew that God is who He says He is.
They knew that their sins were forgiven and that they were right with God
They lived and abided daily with Jesus
And I believe taht their joy was full and complete
So, Merry Christmas.
But may it be more than Merry. May you be deeply joyful. Not only today, but every day.
And if you haven’t experienced this joy that we are talking about, I’d be happy to talk to you more about it!