Carry JOY In To The World

Merry Christmas to all. I was blessed to provide the following lesson to Joy Church on the third Sunday of Advent.

“But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the City of David, a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11)

This is the Word of our Lord.

And the people of God said,

“Thanks be to God.”

Today, we celebrate the third week of Christmas season, what we call the season of Advent. The meaning of the word Advent is “The arrival of a notable person, thing, or event.” If you look back in a history book, you will see the word “advent” used to reference the invention of something that was life-changing and world altering. The advent of the metal age or the advent of the industrial age. The advent of electricity or the telephone, of flight or television or computers. We use this word – advent—to describe something brand new, and something that changes everything else.

Nothing was the same for mankind after the invention of electricity or the automobile or the airplane, was it? Everything changed after the advent of those things.

And that’s how it is at this time of year that we Christians call Advent. This is the time when we celebrate that Jesus was born – that God was no longer this distant idea in the skies … but He became flesh and blood, He walked amongst us. People lived with Him and talked with Him. They walked with Him and joked with Him. Even though He was here on earth 2000 years ago, we can find Jesus recorded in history … because Jesus, the son of God, ushered in a new age. He changed everything. Nothing would ever again be the same.

So, for the four Sundays leading up to Christmas, we celebrate Advent – the arrival of the Christ child … the One who changed everything for us here on earth. And today we’re at the third Sunday of Advent. Each of the weeks of Advent, we celebrate something different. The first week, we celebrated the Hope that the Baby Jesus brings to us. Last week, we celebrated Love – God’s love sent from heaven for us. Next week, the last week before Christmas, we will celebrate Peace – the peace we can know by accepting the baby Jesus as our Savior.

But this week, the third week of Advent, we celebrate Joy. And, just as we do the other weeks, we will light a candle this week but, this week is so special that we light a different color candle. The other weeks, you see, we light purple candles as reminders of Jesus and his atonement for our sins but this week, we light a pink candle. Because this is the week we rejoice … we celebrate the joy that is ours because we do have a Savior who offers us so much more than this earthly world. He offers us life everlasting with Him.

So, let’s light our candles … for Hope, for Love, for Joy.

Okay, now for a quick story. Lisa and I were at a Christmas party last weekend for the staff at Christian Academy where she works … and before the party started, I heard that at some point, we’d all get together and sing some Christmas carols together. And I immediately began to try to think of ways to leave the room during that time. Could I pretend to have to take a call on my cell phone and walk out? Could I have an extended trip to the bathroom? Maybe I could start cleaning things up a little. Anything to avoid the Christmas carol time!

Now, you may be wondering, do I not like Christmas music? Do I oddly have something against this time of year? Well, nothing could be further from the truth. I love Christmas and I love Christmas music. I even started playing Christmas music before Thanksgiving this year!

So, why did the idea of being in a group singing Christmas carols freak me out? Any ideas?

Because I knew that we wouldn’t have hymnals to sing out of nor words projected on a screen – and, for the life of me, I can’t remember the words to songs. I mean, admittedly, my memory is not as good as it used to be … yes, at this point in my life I remember something just to forget it 30 seconds later --- but generally I do have a decent memory … except when it comes to song lyrics.

I mean, if you leave me to sing Christmas song lyrics on my own, I swear it’s going to come out something like:

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me

Joy to the world

While Grandma got run over by a reindeer

And we decked the halls with the little drummer boy,

Who Mary didn’t know,

As we hid away in the manger and watched Mommy kiss Santa Claus.

Oh, to all a silent red-nosed reindeer.

Joy to the world, there are fleas on my dog.

Or something like that.

I just can’t remember song lyrics!

So, what happened at the party? You would have to ask, wouldn’t you? Well, I wasn’t able to figure out how to escape the room, so I sat there with everyone else and their beautiful voices, knowing all the words and singing loud … and I just sort of moved my lips, afraid to try to sing any word, knowing it would probably be wrong.

Anyway, what is your favorite Christmas song … come on, shout it out!

Well, I have several I really like but one is Joy To The World … which is great given that we just lit the candle of Joy in our Advent wreath, right?

Don’t worry, I wrote them down so I don’t mess them up, but here are some of the key lines from Joy to the World.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come

Let earth receive her King

Let every heart prepare Him room

And Heaven and nature sing

Joy to the World, the Savior reigns!

Let men their songs employ

While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains

Repeat the sounding joy

He rules the world with truth and grace

And makes the nations prove

The light of His righteousness

And wonders of His love

Joy to the world, now we sing

Let the earth receive her king

Let the angel voices ring

You know what really strikes me about this whole idea of Joy at Christmas?

It is something to share with this world. Joy to the World! The rejoicing is ours because our Savior is born but then our job then is to go out and tell the world – share the Joy with everyone else.

For a little better understanding of the change that Jesus represented to the world, when He was born, the world was a pretty dark place. Lots of fighting and squabbling. Israel was ruled by the oppressive and oftentimes cruel Romans who terrorized and tortured innocent people even by the thousands. It is estimated that, when Jesus was born, about 25% of all babies born were literally abandoned by their mothers to die of exposure or at the hands of wild animals because their moms had no way to care for them. Lots of problems and uncertainties. People were searching for an answer, for something better, for a Savior.

Doesn’t sound a whole lot different from the world we live in, does it?

And yet Jesus arrived on the scene with these words: “Do not be afraid. I bring you news of great joy.”

Today, we have people struggling with problems in their lives, with illness, with drugs and alcohol, with uncertainty, with a lack of hope. We have a country and a world that seems so very divided. Ongoing Middle East problems. North Korea once again threatening our existence and way of life. Problems across the globe as well as here at home in Sidney, Ohio.

Yet, just like how Jesus came along 2000 years ago for the people of His time, He is here, for the people of our time, and He wants to make a difference in your life, in my life, and in the world.

“Do not be afraid. I bring you news of great joy.”

The Joy that Christmas brings to us is the joy of hope and peace. The Joy of knowing that our Savior has conquered all the troubles of this world. Yes, we must endure them while we are here and they aren’t fun. But, through those struggles, God reveals Himself to us and allows us to take on more of His Character. More of His hope. More of His love, His peace, and His mercy. If we just allow Him to do so, Jesus opens our eyes from the darkness of this world, to the bright Joy of His world.

But yet Joy still isn’t easy to come by in this world, is it? The definition of Joy, in case you are wondering, is a feeling of great happiness. With all of the troubles in our world, all of the division we seem to struggle with in our country and in the world, it’s hard to ever feel exceedingly happy, isn’t it? Man, if you do ever get a moment of feeling happy, all you have to do is turn on a few minutes of the news on TV and that will suck that joy right out of you, won’t it?

We seem to live in order to exist today, in order to “get by,” not in order to be truly happy or joyful. Has anyone else noticed that?

Yet, despite all of this, the Joy of our Savior is ours … and Christmas can be a prime time to not just remember that and rekindle that joy, that happiness in our spirits, but to share that joy with the world – as I mentioned earlier, Joy to the World.

Willie Jennings, a Professor of Theology at Yale Divinity School, has said this about Joy:

“Joy is an act of resistance against despair and its forces.”

What he’s saying here is that our lives are naturally absent of joy – instead ours are lives of despair …and being joyful requires an effort on our part – an act of resistance to overcome that despair and replace it with joy.

Sadly, for many people, maybe even for you, this time of year brings memories of sadness. Loved ones who have passed away. Relationships that have crumbled. Maybe not being able to see loved ones for one reason or another. Not all is naturally joyful at this time … it can be a time of despair.

And yet, this Christ child brings us hope, brings us love, brings us peace, brings us the opportunity for life eternal … and what can be more joyful, what can give us greater reason to rejoice than that??

When we’re caught in despair and sadness and the troubles and worries of our lives, Joy is still there but, as Professor Jennings says, we must show an act of resistance against despair in order to experience that joy.

Despair, I am not going to let you get me down! God sent His son to die on the cross for me, and for that, I will resist despair and I will be joyful!

And, furthermore, I will shout Joy to the World … because I want this hurting, pained world to know the joy that is mine no matter what I encounter in this life.

So, how can we bring that Joy to the World? It’s not as difficult as we might think. If each of us brings joy to those we encounter, and Christians all over the world do that, then the world will be changed.

With God’s help, we can resist despair – don’t let it get us down. God’s joy is far bigger than the troubles of this world.

Here are some ideas.

Keep a Joy Journal. Look back each week on the things you can be joyful about.

Approach life’s difficulties with a feeling of expectation because God will use these difficulties to build His character in you.

Praise God. Thank Him. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Lord.

Smile

Thank someone – make them even ask why you’re thanking them.

Reach out to someone you haven’t talk to in awhile

Tell others you love them

Sing

Laugh

Have a good cry

Do something for some in need

There are many ways we can resist and overcome the despair of this world, and these are just a few. But, because of the baby, that baby in the manger, Joy is ours.

My friends, here’s what I want you to remember today: Joy is not blind optimism. Joy is not just a mere hope that things will get better. Joy is not sticking our head in the sand and ignoring the world. Joy is not a pie-in-the-sky dream. Joy is our reality because of the baby in the manger. And it is ours. Why would we not showand tell that Joy to the World?

Let’s pray.