Finding Joy in the Season of Christmas
Back in 1975 I learned a valuable lesson about joy and time, and I learned how many hours are in a week. I also learned about the power of prayer and leaning on God to endure, finding joy in all things. As a naive and much too enthusiastic youth director for a small Congregational church in Glendale, I gathered the junior and senior young people together to pray. We prayed that God would provide a unique way to raise money to build a beautiful prayer garden by a creek that ran alongside the church. We would need to raise $3,000 to complete this project. At first we thought we would have a walk-a-thon where families could sponsor fellow “walkers” per mile. Too overdone, not nearly unique enough, and the idea seemed rather unexciting. And then God put something on my heart. That’s it! That’s what we’ll do! We’ll play ping-pong 24 hours a day for a week! Families could sponsor “ping-pongers” by the hour. A ping-pong marathon! We devised a plan to have two to four people playing at a time, each group playing for one hour, and then changing places with another group. The ball could never stop ‘round the clock’, night or day. We would start at 10:00 AM after the church service on Sunday, and end at the same time the following Sunday. Total hours…..168. The first hour was great. The second hour was also fun, kind of. The first night was long, and the next day was even longer. Church families brought in meals, and adults volunteered shifts to stay with us throughout the week. By Tuesday many of the kids were not speaking to one another. Wednesday, some of the families were looking for a new church in the area. All the ping-pongers were grumbling, murmuring and complaining. I felt like Moses with the Israelites in the wilderness! Thursday the newspapers and local TV came out and we came together beautifully, only for the hour the reporters were present. Friday, I was convinced that God was telling me to leave ministry altogether. Friday night I learned what lack of sleep does to a group of young people. All the girls were in tears, and the boys were crying even harder! All of the boys and girls had fallen in and out of love with each other throughout the week, and now they were just plain exhausted, but we kept the ping-pong ball going. Saturday, every now and then we managed to smile a little, and then, only by the grace of God, by Saturday night all of the kids were the absolute best of friends. Families decided not to leave the church. Everybody wanted to play ping-pong at the same time. There was joy and happiness in the air. We were so close to achieving our goal we could clearly imagine what it would feel like, we could smell victory! God clarified that he wanted me to stay in ministry, just not around a ping-pong table. We finished Sunday morning giving God the praises for holding us together by a thread. We were blessed to raise more than enough money to complete the project, and each participant, each family, and that little church in Glendale will never forget such a unique experience. And I learned first-hand how many valuable hours are in a week, because I lived through and survived each and every one! But as we endured, all of us found joy. Joy of being together, joy of setting and achieving a goal, and the joy found only through God.
Joy. This is so important in our lives. Finding joy all around us, not just in the big things, but more importantly in the small. So how do we do this?
The scripture this morning is from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2. We heard it during the lighting of the Advent Candle. Starting with verse 8 we read; “In the same region there were shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an Angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the Glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the Angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, but behold I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all people, for today in Bethlehem there has been born to you the Savoir who is Christ the Lord.” The Angel said, “Do not be afraid but behold I bring you good news of great joy.” And the joy we find is in the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. Let’s hang on to that as we read God’s Word.
I believe that we can find joy in our lives; that we can truly appreciate people and things around us, yet only through Jesus can we find the true meaning of joy. In the Gospel of John, listen to the words from Jesus: “Throughout the world I ask who believe in Me through their words, actions and lifestyles, that they all may be one, even as You, Father are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us so that the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me, I have given to them.” Why? So others would believe down through the centuries, today and in the future as well. The joy in knowing Christ the Savior, our Lord and King. The Gospel writers Matthew and Mark tell us “When we hear the Word of God we are to receive it with joy in our hearts.”
We started the service this morning by singing “Joy to the World, the Lord has Come, Let Earth Receive Her King.” Back in the day, now almost 300 years ago when this was written by a man named Isaac Watts, his words were based on Psalm 98 in the Bible. He published a collection of hymns called ‘The Psalms of David’. “Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises. Sing praises with all instruments that bring God praise as we shout joyfully before the King, our Lord.” He is coming to judge the earth He created and the world around Him from the beginning to the end of time. Almost all the hymns in this collection have slipped into obscurity, except for one half of one song. Watts composed this two-part hymn inspired by this Psalm. The first part has long since been forgotten. The second part has become one of the most popular hymns of all time, the most published in the 20th century: "Joy to the world! The Lord is come!" Ironically, Watts did not intend this to be a Christmas carol.
But it has and I’m glad. Joy to the world, the Lord has come. This little baby born in a tiny manger that God equipped to change the world, has He equipped us as well?
OK. Let’s look at some scripture that will speak to all of us. What is joy and how can we find it, especially during this season? We find joy in knowing we are children of God. Yes children. With their child like faith, with their belief and trust, we must live our lives as children of God. This is a familiar passage from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 18. I refer to this verse especially during baptisms. The disciples were concerned over who may be the greatest. Is it me Jesus, John, Peter, Andrew, James? Who is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven? And Jesus called a child to Himself and set him before them and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of Heaven. Whoever then humbles themselves as this little child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven. And whoever receives one such child in My Name receives Me.”
We do need to approach God with a child like faith.
Have you ever watched children play? Of course, we all have. They leap with joy, they run, they climb, they laugh and occasionally cry, but for the most part they are moving, exploring and finding joy in the little things. At the start of the Advent season we read from the first chapter of Luke, preparing for the way of the Lord. We read that when Elizabeth was six months pregnant with her son John, Mary visited her. As Mary entered her house and her cousin Elizabeth heard her greeting, her baby leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice “Blessed are you among women; for behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, my baby leaped in my womb for joy.”
Finding joy in life can be hard, no matter where we are. We could be financially secured for life, yet has no joy. Just ask the majority of lottery winners. We could be surrounded by family and friends and still have no joy. We feel alone surrounded by people who love us. We could be involved in our hobbies, the things we love, yet still feel a lack of joy. What do we do? Jesus said, and I love this passage. We find it written in the Beatitudes, the Sermon on the Mount in both Matthew and Luke. Jesus was addressing His disciples: “Rejoice in the day and leap for joy, for behold your reward is great in Heaven.” And Jesus also said, and we should memorize this and recite it every day, from the Gospel of John; “Just as My Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be made full.” “Ask and you shall receive so that your joy may be made full.”
The Apostle Paul found joy even in persecution, because he knew his ultimate reward was in Heaven. In his letter to the Romans, chapter 15 speaking about love and bearing one another’s burdens, he wrote; “Now may the God of hope, fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope, by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Wow. Isn’t that the Christmas message? Peace, Hope, Joy and Love? Isn’t that our Advent theme at Christmastime? Our actions are to exhibit the fruits of the Spirit of God, and the first three are love, joy and peace. These are gifts from God.
How important is finding joy in our lives? Paramount. We must find joy in something every single day - through people, through experiences, through adventure and always through Christ.
I had an interesting experience this past week. My family went to the Laguna Playhouse to celebrate my sister Jane’s Birthday. We saw Sister’s Christmas Catechism. What a great play, lots of audience interaction. Well, at the end of the play the sister wants to recreate the nativity scene with people in costume. Of course there is the Baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the wise men (even though theologically they weren’t present at that time) and the animals. Somehow I was chosen from the audience to go on stage to be a part of the nativity reenactment. Guess whose part I played? I was the donkey, although she didn’t refer to me as that.
I’ll close with the Disciple Peter’s words in his letter to the early church. Peter, who I’m convinced, was close to taking his own life when he denied he knew Jesus. Peter, who Christ forgave yet continued to love anyway; Peter who wrote these words and we must hold them close; “Though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.”
Joy to the World, the Lord Has Come. Let Earth Receive Her King!
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. To God our Savior who alone is wise; Be glory and Majesty, Dominion and Power, both now and forever, Amen.
