A Song of Joy While Waiting
A Song of Joy While Waiting
Introduction: “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” Christmas is a time of joy; everybody’s eager for a little good cheer. (See the Introduction of this sermon series for examples of the world’s ideals for Christmas, but also of how these are in fact unobtainable.) In our text this morning the psalmist offers us another kind of joy, repentant joy (vv 2, 5, 6). It’s not what the world is expecting as it counts down the days to Christmas, but it’s what the world—and we ourselves—need. We sometimes feel trapped by the world’s demands and our own failures, but we trust that God will deliver us, and that’s where real joy will be found.
We Wait While Jesus Leads Us from Sin’s Captivity
to Joy in Himself through Forgiveness.
That forgiveness is found in specific places. It isn’t under the Christmas tree or in the mailbox. It is found in his Word, his body, his blood, his absolution.
I. Law. Like captives we search for joy outside of God.
The people of God had had their “fun,” and it had landed them in captivity (vv 1a, 4a). The world directs our attention for joy and happiness everywhere but to God. There is no Bible passage that says, “God wants us to be happy and doesn’t mind us sinning to achieve it.” And yet, that is often the way we think. We set up a false scenario where the thing we need for happiness is an affair, a bout of drunkenness, or gossip and slander about our friends and co-workers. The television blares, “You deserve a break today” and “Have it your way” so loudly that we’ve started to believe it. In our pride, we have even thrown down the gauntlet to God. We have refused to pray because the thing we want is wrong. We have silently challenged God to try and stop us from having our fun. We have glared down our family and friends when they tried to warn us of the danger, accusing them of judging. With superior tones we say: “You are being ‘holier-than-thou.’” Repent. There is no joy in sin. It does not satisfy. It only hurts us and those we love.
II. Gospel. Real joy is found in the means of grace by which Jesus leads us to himself.
Vv 5 and 6 express repentance and faith: Repentance is turning away from ourselves and turning toward God. It is contrition for sins and faith toward God. There is a godly sorrow that leads to repentance. Though in repentance we sow tears of sorrow over our sins, soon God by grace brings forth a harvest of righteousness in faith toward Christ. Repentance means being consumed in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which has made us his. It means trusting that as bad as our sins were, God’s love and desire to forgive is greater. We are his own beloved, chosen bride—immaculate, chaste, and pure through his love. He has brought us to this place, to the place of his forgiving presence, to the altar of his body and blood to join us to him. He has turned our hearts through the power of his creative Word and instilled in us the faith that saves.
Conclusion: Joy is in forgiveness, v 2. Here is joy that the world cannot know. It is not the shallow and fleeting joy of Rudolph when the other reindeer finally recognize his real worth. Instead it is joy beyond imagination, peace beyond understanding. It is the joy of Zacchaeus, Rahab, and David. It is the joy of forgiveness and naming from the Holy Trinity in the mystical washing of water and Word. It is the bliss of sacramental union in body and blood that cleanses the lips and hearts it touches. It is the delight of being declared accepted and righteous by God’s Word. Christmas dinners come and go. They fail or succeed in varying measures. They are the stuff of this life. But we wait while Jesus leads us from sin’s captivity to himself through forgiveness. Soon, he will turn us toward the new Jerusalem. Our waiting will end. It is better than being in a dream. And what is more, we will bring our sheaves with us—that is, as God gives us grace to share the Good News of Christ with others, we will lead others to the Christian faith and enter glory with them.