Got Joy? Advent Sermon 4

Luke 1:57-79

Joy to the world! Why? Not because it’s almost Christmas and we’re getting more stuff. Not because things went perfectly well this year. Presbyterian pastor John Ortberg says that “In this world, joy is always in spite of something.” 

Not because we’ve been really good this year. Because really, we’re a mess down here. All is not calm. All is not bright. Storyteller Kathleen Norris, in her book Acedia & Me, writes the story of a little boy. This boy comes out of a very noisy Sunday school class one day and remarks to an adult in the hallway, “We’re being bad, and we don’t know how to stop.” 

That about sums it up, doesn’t it? It’s nearly Christmas, but things are messy. Families are broken. Friends aren’t speaking to one another. We do terrible things, and we don’t do the things we should. And that’s just here at home. Let’s not even mention the state of the world. We are sinners and we don’t know how to stop. We are, as the author of "O Holy Night" wrote, “In sin and error pining.” We need a Savior.

We are pining—longing—for someone to save us because we cannot save ourselves. We’ve tried. And we’ve succeeded in doing a lot of things. We’ve created some incredible technology. We’ve built skyscrapers and smart cars and theme parks and cell phones. We can fly to the moon and restart a heart. But we cannot save ourselves.

So where is our joy? We meet Zechariah again this morning. As he gazes at his new son—born to him in his old, old age—he is overcome with the joy of the Lord. He knows that his new son, John, will prepare the way for Jesus, the Savior of all. He breaks forth into a song of praise, saying, “You, John, will tell God’s people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins.”

All is not lost! All is not hopeless! John will tell God’s people—will tell us—how to find salvation.

Joy comes from God’s forgiveness. This salvation, this joy, is centered on the forgiveness of our sins. We do not have to live as slaves to sin any longer. When we acknowledge and turn from our sins, we can fully enter into relationship with God with all its joy. Joy comes from God’s forgiveness.

Author Jill Briscoe tells the story of meeting a young woman in her church. The woman complained that she just didn’t have any joy anymore. She used to be a very joyful person, but that had all changed. She just couldn’t find joy again.

“What happened in your life when you lost your joy?” asked Jill.

“I don’t want to talk about that,” said the woman.

“Did anything change in your life when your joy went away?” said Jill.

After some hemming and hawing, the woman admitted that she had let a deep form of sin enter her life, and that is when her joy went away. She had stopped living to please God and started living to please only herself. And her joy was gone.

This is how it works. This message is written all over Scripture. The joy of the Lord is offered and available to all, but to sustain it, to keep it, to allow it to live within us, we must follow Jesus and allow him to direct our paths. Joy comes from God’s forgiveness.

 So where does God’s forgiveness come from? Listen to the conclusion of Zechariah’s song in verses 78 and 79: “Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us in the path of peace.”

Because of God’s tender mercy—his great love and care and concern for each of us—the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us. We sit in darkness. We know what it is to face the shadow of death. Yet Zechariah’s prophecy remains true today: Jesus Christ has come into the world to bring light to those in darkness. Do you long for this light?

There is a tiny village called Rattenberg in Austria. It is the smallest village in Austria and it is getting smaller every year. It has lost 20 percent of its population in the past two decades, and as of 2005 it had only 440 residents. Why? Because Rattenburg is dark. Literally.

The village is nestled behind Rat Mountain—a 3,000 foot peak that blocks out the sun for 120 days each year—November through February. Talk about a bleak midwinter. It is dark, and people can’t stand it. We aren’t designed to live in darkness.

So an Austrian company came up with a plan. They are going to install 30 heliostat mirrors onto the mountainside. The mirrors will grab light from reflectors on the sunny side of the mountain and will shine it back into the village. This will not be cheap, but for the residents of Rattenberg, having light in the darkness is priceless.

In the same way, we celebrate Christmas as the time when God sent his own light into our world, through Jesus, and offered relief from the darkness of our sin.

There is a reason the Bible is so clear about light and darkness. It is because we are walking either in one or in the other. We are either experiencing the joy of God’s forgiveness through Jesus, or we are not.

For those of us who know Jesus, who have experienced the joy of his forgiveness, we are called to reflect his light to those who still need it. For those of us who are still living in darkness, God extends an invitation—come, worship me, follow me, turn from your own ways—ways of despair and the shadow of death. Seek Jesus and pursue him and you will find joy.

Because of God’s mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us! Jesus IS coming! Zechariah celebrated the fact that Jesus was about to be born, and we celebrate the knowledge that someday Jesus will return. We can shout it from the rooftops. We can go tell it on the mountain! 

One writer puts it this way: “The great fruit of belief is joy. There is a God, there is a purpose, there is a meaning to things, there is a big peace, and you are a part of it. God is good. Near him is where you want to be. There is something called everlasting happiness, and the human imagination cannot encompass it. The joy of God is so large that it is no longer inside of you, but you are inside of it.” 

Open your heart to the joy of the Lord this holiday season. Let us turn, individually and together, from sin and experience the joy of God’s forgiveness. O Come, Let Us Adore Him!

Amen.

Photos borrowed from Lisa McKay Writing, Panoramio, and E D Web Project.