We periodically need sermons on the biblical topic of joy. We need to hear that joy is real. We need to know what joy is. We need to hear, especially, that joy is possible. It’s possible in the pain, the suffering, and the darkness of life. But in this cultural moment we are not just asking whether joy is possible. Many of us are being forced to ask, is joy still permissible? Are we allowed to be happy about anything anymore? This is what I mean and this is what forces us to ask that question.
“We had the best Thanksgiving a few weeks ago and enjoyed so much good turkey and food!”
“Sure but was that turkey free range, sustainably raised, organic, grass fed, and humanely slaughtered? If not, why do you hate animals?”
“I was so happy I got to see all my family under one roof for thanksgiving!”
“Sure but are all of you double vaxed and triple boostered? If not, I don’t know what you’re so happy about. You should be afraid.”
“I am so happy I just got the vaccine and feel more confident going out and about!”
“Sure but don’t you know the vaccine is just a government ploy to track your whereabouts? You should be afraid.”
“I am so happy, I just got a new car!”
“Sure but is it eco-friendly with a small carbon footprint? If not, why do you hate planet?”
“I am so happy, I just got a new car!”
“Sure but it’s not one of those small eco-friendly ones is it?”
“I have so much joy in my friends, we had the best time last night hanging out!”
“Sure but how diverse is your friend group?”
Now, I could poke fun at these cultural realities but that’s not the point here. I am more interested how this cultural vibe of always questioning joy is taking over some corners of the church. In the church people are being forced to ask, is joy permissible anymore? Luke 2 and the story of Christ’s birth shows us that joy is not just possible, it’s not just permissible, but it’s the prescribed aim of God in Christianity for you. It’s actually inevitable.
The Gospel of Luke is a detailed account of the life and times of Jesus and in Luke 2 Mary is very pregnant, having conceived, as a virgin, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Mary and Joseph are traveling “And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn (Luke 2:6-7). Let this scene sink in.
This is a wildly low, humble, meek birth. However, we are talking about the incarnation here. We are talking about God coming down to us.This birthis the birth of “Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).Paraphrasing the Westminster Confession of Faith, we are here talking about the divine Son of God, the second person in the Trinity, who is eternal God, who is equal with the Father. He is here taking upon himself our human nature, having been conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary and now of her humanity too. Yet he is totally without sin. This baby here is God and He is man. He has two distinct natures, divine and human, in one person.This is the first advent, the arrival of the Son of God.
You know when someone has a baby and they start announcing it via text, calls, and social media? God same. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear (Luke 2:9). Don’t miss this. When heaven comes down we shudder in terror. We fear. The Bible shows that for us to breath is for us to fear and Luke has been highlighting this in chapters 1-2. There are two dominant human responses/emotions/states of mind in Luke 1-2 and one is fear. How easily can we relate when fear seems to be the new prescription of our day. Joy may not be permissible but fear is always more than appropriate. Fear comes naturally to us. We fear what we think of us, what others think of us, and what God thinks of us.
But in face of our greatest fear we hear the greatest thing imaginable: And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy.” Not news of doom and judgement but good news of great joy. This is the other response/emotion/state of mind in Luke 1-2: joy. And it’s not just any joy. It’s joy emphatically rooted in Jesus coming to us for our salvation. It’s is the result of God’s grace, mercy, forgiveness, and salvation in Jesus.
This is news of great joy, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:11-12).There are only two options for the first coming or advent of Jesus. Either He brings scorched earth judgment or we get what we just read: a tender, meek baby lying in a manger. Luke 1:78 describes it beautifully. In this birth we get “tender mercy of our God”. This is what the first advent of Jesus is all about: the tender mercy of God.Do youwant and need joy? Look to the greatness of the Gospel.
I began this article, originally a sermon, by making fun of the silly ways people try to prohibit joy today. I did that because there is a movement in the church doing the same thing by forgetting the first advent of Christ, by replacing the message of the first advent of Christ. In some places it seems the message is no longer “joy to the world” but rather “justice to the world”.Atheist John McWhorter, looking from the outside in to the church writes, “The historian of religion will find 2020 illustrative as a time when American Christianity in many places began a slow transition into a new…version of itself.” This new version is a version emphatically focused on social justice.
In an effort to ever focus on and address the very real societal ills and evils surrounding us many in the church are ceasing to proclaim to an unjust world the message of the first advent. Rather, they are proclaiming the message of the second advent. What I mean is that Jesus is coming again. There is a second advent to come. But he won’t come to preach grace but to finally right all wrongs. Believers will be caught up in glory and this is something we look forward to. But unbelievers will be cast away from the presence of God for eternity. For unbelievers, the second advent is not a message of good news of great joy. When the second advent becomes our central message to the world, we are not longer preaching the tender mercy of God (“joy to the world!”) but rather the coming judgment of God (“justice to the world is coming!”).
The point is this: the first advent of Christ is the central message of the church for the world. The central message of the Bible for the world is, “you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And that baby is in a sinful, dark world to give grace upon grace to that sinful, dark world. Joy to an unjust, sinful, guilty world. Joy, not because we are good but because of the tender mercy of God. “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”
God came for you in tender mercy as a tender infant that you, an unjust, sinful person – that the unjust, sinful world - might have joy based on grace. Forever. This joy is unshakable because it’s rooted entirely in who Jesus is and what Jesus has done for us. It’s not based on the goodness of culture around us. It’s not based on never experiencing pain and hurt. It’s not based on the level of your maturity as a Christian. It’s grounded in Jesus who was born, lived, died, and rose to save you. And because Jesus’ grace always gets the last word, so does our joy. “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” Joy isn’t just possible, it’s not just permissible, it’s the inevitable aim of God for you. Fear not, rejoice.
