“An Impossible Joy”
Luke 1: 39 – 45
Introduction
A few weeks ago I heard on the news that there were impossibly huge line-ups as the new Sony Play Station came into stores. Some people apparently waited in line for days, even missing work to do so. Can you imagine doing this for a video game? And of course, some stores had what seemed to be planned out of stock problems to increase expectation and word of mouth. But what were all those people looking for? What were they thinking this game would give them that they were willing to wait in expectation for all that time? Did they think that this game would bring them fulfillment? Happiness? Contentment? Joy?
This morning, as we anticipate tomorrow, as we wait in expectation for Christmas morning finally to be here, I want to talk about joy—about what for Mary and for Elizabeth must have seemed an impossible joy. Our story begins with two pregnant women who, really, cannot be pregnant. The babies in their wombs are not there naturally—this is God at work. This is the stuff of miracle. And miracles, when received with the openness of Mary and Elizabeth, are also the stuff of joy.
Joy is a gift of God
Mary travels to see Elizabeth once she learns that they are both pregnant. No doubt Mary feels that Elizabeth can relate to her situation—and she definitely needs the support! Perhaps this is part of the reason Gabriel told her about Elizabeth. Our text says “Mary set out and went with haste.” She didn’t want to waste any time.
And so she arrives at Elizabeth’s house, greets her, and, then, what happens? Our story tells us that when “Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb.” As Elizabeth tells Mary, “For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy.” Elizabeth’s child, John, leaped for joy at Mary’s greeting—what one scholar calls “a miraculous expression of the emotion of the unborn child.” It was a joy given to Elizabeth.
And Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, receives prophetic inspiration: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” And the Spirit also appears to reveal to her that Mary is indeed, as she says, “the mother of my Lord.” She is humbled that Mary, her relative and the mother of her Lord, would visit her. Shouldn’t any of us feel humbled and joyful that the Lord would visit us also?
The joy begins here with two women in impossible circumstances—both of them are miraculously pregnant. One was barren and past child-bearing years; and like Sarah and Hannah in the OT God provides a child despite her age and physical condition. The child would be the last of the old covenant style prophets, heralding the fulfillment of God’s promise to send the Messiah. The other was a virgin and at the beginning of her child-bearing years; and yet God conceived in her a child without the help of a man. And the child would be the foundation of a new covenant, the Messiah that God had long ago promised.
All children are a gift, and there’s nothing quite like being at the birth of your child. Nothing quite prepares you. When a new child enters the world, it is cause for wonder and for joy. Many people call the birth of a new child a miracle—how infinitely more so here?
Both pregnancies were impossible. Both were miraculous. Both were part of God’s plan of salvation. And both brought—among many other emotions—joy to their recipients. God is making clear here that it is He that brings new things into the world—salvation is not the result of man’s effort, but of God’s hand reaching miraculously and mysteriously into our world.
The baby in Elizabeth’s womb “leaped for joy” when Mary greeted her. Something wondrous was at work. Miracles were in the air. God was moving. And through it all He was creating joy.
Our first point is, then, that joy is, ultimately, a gift of God. It is, according to Scripture, a fruit of the Spirit, something that God brings about in the lives of those who are open and available and obedience to Him. Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, was filled with joy. The child, John, was miraculously filled with joy. And Mary, if we were to keep reading, also rejoiced at what God was doing—“My spirit rejoices,” she says, “in God my Savior.” Rejoicing is simply our joy directed toward God in worship.
In the Gospel of John Jesus tells Nicodemus that a person must be born again or born from above, that they must be born of both water and Spirit. Images of birth surround the message of salvation—the births of John and Jesus and, eventually, the new birth of those who submit to Jesus and his message. Both tell us that something new is happening and to get in on it is to know joy, a joy that can only come from God Himself.
So joy has its source in God; and here the source of joy is specifically the coming of the Messiah into the world, and the joy in being a part of the events that surround this coming. Being in on the good news that God wants to save and redeem is a cause for joy. Do you have that joy in your life? Have you allowed God into your life this Christmas season so that the candle of joy can be lit in your heart?
Joy is usually accompanied by challenges
Joy never reaches us, however, completely unadulterated. Joy is always mixed with adversity, struggle, and difficulty. To truly understand joy one has to understand sorrow. That’s true here, too. Mary certainly knew the joy of being used by God. But she also knew, more than likely, a degree of social stigma. Having an illegitimate child was not cause for celebration in Jewish culture; rather, it was often cause for stoning. And no doubt Mary was unsure of what having to raise and rear the Messiah would be like. But yet she willingly followed God’s call and was obedient.
To know joy we too have to be willing to sacrifice as Mary did, to obey as she did, and to submit herself to God as she did. Sometimes God calls us to do things that we never would imagine would bring joy into our lives. Someone has said that joy is the by-product of obedience, and it certainly was for Mary and Elizabeth.
Our second point is this: joy is usually accompanied by challenges. If joy is first and foremost something that we receive from God’s gracious hand because we are available and prepared (even if we don’t realize it!) like Mary, then when God calls to something that will elicit joy in our hearts we can be sure that we will face challenges just as Mary did. Joy is the by-product of obedience? Joy is also the by-product of successfully facing challenges that God’s call involves.
When God calls us to do something, and we do it and obey and face challenges as a result, and He helps us through it, that is a cause for joy. It’s a joy deeper than what the world gives—whether through a brand new video game or money or a job promotion—because it enables us to face life and sustains us through challenges we face.
How has facing certain challenges in following God brought you joy? How has your joy in Christ sustained you through the challenges of life?
Joy is something we share
And isn’t it interesting that God chose Mary and Elizabeth to bear these children? Isn’t it interesting that he chose two women who were related? As we said before, no doubt this would make it easier on each of them. They could share their experiences and go through this together. It meant that neither of them was alone with their unusual circumstances.
It also meant that they could experience joy—there is a joy when you know that you are not alone, a deep-seated joy that comes from friendship and fellowship.
And there is also joy when we know that we are a part of God’s plan and fulfilling the purpose he has for us. Both Elizabeth and Mary had unique and specific roles in God’s plan. Both would give birth to a son, each of whom had a destiny and a call on their lives. One was infinitely greater than the other, but God chose both of them. Elizabeth and Mary would ultimately be called to share the joy of having these sons with others. Ultimately, both sons would be killed because of the role they would fulfill in God’s plan. John would be beheaded for speaking the truth; Jesus would be crucified for being the Truth.
But neither Mary nor Elizabeth could contain the joy they felt. Both had to share it with one another. And ultimately they would have to share it with the world. The same is true of us. The joy we know is a joy we share. And the funny thing is, sharing the joy doesn’t mean we have less but more. Joy increases the more you give it away.
So, if you do know the joy of the Lord, know also that when you share it, when you give it away, that this will only increase your joy. Have you shared your joy recently? Have you asked the Lord to help you light a candle of joy in someone else’s heart?
Conclusion
When was the last time you leapt for joy? When the last time you heard news so wonderful, so incredible, that you couldn’t contain the joy you felt and it burst out of you? Tell the story of Alisha thinking that Janis might be coming for Christmas.
We heard an account of such an occasion earlier this morning—when the angel appeared to the shepherds. The angel said to them: “I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people.” Good news of great joy. That’s what this season is all about, and that is why John leapt in Elizabeth’s womb. Joy. Great joy.
Does the good news of Jesus Christ still bring you great joy—does the Holy Spirit fill you with joy? Have you, like Mary and Elizabeth made yourself available for joy through a life of devotion and obedience? Are you willing to face the challenges that a life with God will bring if it means knowing an impossible joy, a joy that only God can bring into your life, just as He brought that child, His Son, into the world two thousand years ago?
I hope that you do know the joy of the Lord this season “for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” I hope that your joy isn’t limited to what you find in your stocking and under the tree. I hope that your joy amounts to more than all the good food you eat. I hope your joy is deeper than even the joy we know with family and friends. And if this seems impossible, just remember the words of Gabriel to Mary when he visited her: “For nothing will be impossible with God.” And that is my prayer for all of us this Christmas: that we will all know an impossible joy, for that is the joy that only God can bring.
