Joy to the World!

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on the 4th Sunday in Advent, the 20th of December, 2020, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  This was an abbreviated service due to constraints put in place from the COVID-19 pandemic.  Our YouTube streaming channel is:

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

This morning is the 4th Sunday in Advent.  Today we lit the candle of joy for the joy that Jesus brings to all believers, the joy declared for all the earth if people would only accept the Son of God.  But joy in this world is usually rather short-lived.  It takes so little to rob us of any joy we might feel.  Our joy can be stripped away with a simple careless word or thoughtless deed.  But the joy that comes from truly accepting Jesus, the joy of knowing that our salvation is secured by His blood, can never be taken from us.  This is the message proclaimed to us at Christ’s birth, a message of great joy.

Our scripture reading this morning is very familiar, and one you’ll hear again. But for this reading I chose a version that provides a slightly different, and perhaps more significant, spin on the message given to the world.  Please listen and follow along to what the Apostle Luke recorded for us in the 2nd chapter of his Gospel account, verses 8 through 14, and I’ll be reading this from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible…

8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior — yes, the Messiah, the Lord — has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize Him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others — the armies of heaven — praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in highest heaven,

and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

--Luke 2:8-14 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for sending Your angel to bring us such wonderful news!  You sent Your Son to us, the Messiah, our Savior.  This is our joy - knowing Christ - and it can never be taken from us.  Thank You, Father, for offering us eternal life with You.  Thank You for Your peace and the joy and the assurance of our hope being in You and You alone.  Help us to be more pleasing in Your sight, Father.  And please protect us from all of Satan’s traps and his forces of evil at work in this world.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and purpose in our love and worship, and healthy and safe through these trying times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us for this day.  May we spend this time together rejoicing in our love of You and our salvation.  This we pray under the blood and in the name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Did you know that “Joy to the World” was not written as a Christmas carol?  In its original form, it had nothing to do with Christmas.  It wasn’t even written to be a song.

Isaac Watts was one of the great hymn writers in church history, and perhaps nothing shows that better than the fact that he wrote one of his most famous hymns by accident.  In 1719, Watts published a book of poems in which each poem was based on a psalm.  But rather than just translate the original Old Testament texts, he adjusted them to refer more explicitly to the work of Jesus as it had been revealed in the New Testament.

One of those poems was an adaptation of Psalm 98.  Watts interpreted this psalm as a celebration of Jesus’s role as King of both his church and the whole world.  More than a century later, the second half of this poem was slightly adapted and set to music to give us what has become one of the most famous of all Christmas carols: "Joy to the World".  And the rest, as they say, is history.

I would normally read this morning’s passage of Luke’s Gospel from the King James or New King James Versions where it ends with the angels singing, “and on earth peace, goodwill toward men”.  But in the New Living Translation, the angels proclaim “peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased”.

Now we know that God wants peace on this earth.  He created the world to be peaceful and it was, until sin entered in.  He also wants the whole earth to accept His Son as Lord, but He knows too many will never do so.  However those who do accept Jesus will receive everlasting peace, and that is indeed pleasing to God.

And this is the message of great joy that the angel shared so long ago.  He appeared among the most lowly of people, the shepherds, out in the fields with their sheep.  He brought the best news ever given to mankind, there to the most humble.

The angel spoke of great joy to all men.  Some very wise men traveled a great distance to experience this joy first-hand.  But first they had to talk with King Herod, who wanted to eliminate any threat to his rule.  Listen to what the Apostle Matthew recorded in the 2nd chapter of his Gospel account, verses 7 through 11…

7 Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.” 

9 When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

--Matthew 2:7-11 (NKJV)

The wise men first had to get past Herod, who tried to fool them into giving up the location where the Christ Child could be found, and slain.  When they left Herod, they once again saw the star that had guided them to this place, the star that now stood guard over the place where Jesus lay.  Just seeing the star filled them with great joy, and when they finally came into the house and into the presence of Jesus, they fell down and worshiped Him.

And their gifts…  Gold, a gift befitting an earthly king.  Frankincense, incense used frequently in meditation and in praying to God.  Myrrh, an embalming oil used most often for royalty.  Even at His birth, Jesus’ divinity was recognized and His sacrifice and death were foretold.

Now let’s fast forward to a time very close to the cross.  Jesus is in deep prayer with His Father in heaven, praying a little for Himself and a lot for His disciples and for all believers.  Listen to one part of our Lord’s prayer to our Father God, as recorded by the Apostle John in his Gospel account, chapter 17 verse 13…

13 “But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.”

--John 17:13 (NKJV)

God, through His angels, proclaimed peace on earth to those in whom He is pleased, who believe in His Son.  Jesus, while still alive in this world, knowing His time of sacrifice grew near, prayed that we might have His joy!  He knew His sacrifice would finish His business on earth, and thus complete His joy at serving the Father faithfully and fully.  And He wanted for us to be able to partake of that joy as well.  But that joy will only be granted to those who faithfully and fully serve our Lord.

This is how we please God.  And this is how we receive His joy and peace.  Believe in Jesus as the Son of God.  Accept Him as Lord.  Love Him with all our heart and soul and mind.  Love others and help them come to know Jesus, too.  For Jesus came to save us all.

This is the Gospel, the Good News of great joy!  Joy to the world, our Lord has come!  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, our Savior, the one true Son of God, the Joy of this world.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, Your word inspires us.  Just like when Isaac Watts took the 98th Psalm and made it into a poem praising Your Son, and it became one of our beloved songs to sing as we celebrate Your Son’s birth.  Thank You, Father, for Your word.  Thank You for our bible and all that it contains.  Please help us spend more time in it, learning from it, understanding from the examples it provides what You see as the most important things for us to do with our lives.  Thank You most of all for sending Your Son to offer us salvation.  Help us to show and to share Jesus and His love with those who do not know Him.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You straight from our hearts, promising to repent of our sinful ways, seeking Your forgiveness and Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, You gave up Your throne in heaven and came to earth, not as a conquering hero but as one of us, as a tiny baby – humble, innocent, vulnerable.  You lived among us, teaching us by Your word and Your example how we should live in service to God.  Please help us to better follow Your example.  Help us to fully understand why You had to suffer and die upon that cruel cross, and just what Your death and resurrection mean to us personally, we who follow Your voice.  Forgive us, Jesus, when our faith falters because of the troubles of these days.  Help us to more faithfully serve You.  Give us Your heart for loving others.  Give us Your eyes for seeing their hearts.  Strengthen us, Jesus, through these very difficult times.  And Lord, please heal those hurts that separate and divide us, even within Your church family.  Help us remain true and obedient no matter what we go through.  May our focus be more on the needs of others rather than on what this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.