Advent 2004 December 12, 2004
The Word Made Flesh
The Word “Joy” Made Flesh
Luke 2:10
What is this thing called Joy?
Joy is a rather illusive thing to define. It’s like happiness, but it is much deeper than happiness, it is like pleasure but it is deeper than pleasure.
C. Davis in the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology says this: “A delight in life that runs deeper than pain or pleasure. From a biblical perspective it is not limited by nor tied solely to external circumstances. Joy is a gift from God, and like all of his other inner gifts it can be experienced even in the midst of extremely difficult circumstances.”
It’s a decent definition, but I think that it is missing something. In our desire to categorize and put things in their own tight little boxes, we want to define Joy as if it can exist on its own, completely separated from what we call “externals.” I would say that Joy never exists on its own – it is always connected to something or someone. I think that the Bible will back me up on this.
Some of you know that my daughter Hayley’s middle name is Joy. We gave her that name for a number of different reasons, but the main one is the joy that she gave us when she came. Pam and I had been trying to conceive for over a year, and we weren’t having success, we had been to see doctors, and we were worried that we would remain childless. Pam wanted to buy things to prepare for a child – she really wanted to by the book “What to Expect When You’re Expecting, ” or as I call it, “What to Worry about When You’re Expecting!” But I said that we couldn’t buy these things until we were actually expecting – to have them around if we couldn’t have kids would have been too painful. We had negative test after negative test. That summer the test was a false negative, so on that Thursday in early September, when I came home and checked the messages to find the message from the doctor that Pam was very pregnant, I hit the roof in joy. I hoped on my bike and rode down to Bloor to buy “What to Expect…”, some flowers and some really good food to celebrate – I sang praises to God the whole way as I rode. The news brought me such Joy! It was a very short and very difficult pregnancy – Pam was hospitalized a few times, and was on bed rest for much of the rest of the time. Hayley was supposed to arrive on April 6th; she came February 2nd. But she came breathing on her own, and generally healthy for a preemie. As we held this tiny little girl in our arms, there was tones of emotions, but one stood out above the rest – Joy. On that day, and on many days since, Hayley is my Joy.
Joy is that deep emotion that we feel when our hopes are realized.
Jesus is our Joy
The joy that Hayley brings is fleeting – we have our good times and our not so good. The reason that the joy that Jesus brings is not fleeting is that although I might have some bad days, he doesn’t. Jesus is constant.
Joy surrounds the birth of Jesus!
When the pregnant virgin Mary and the pregnant old woman Elizabeth meet, John the Baptist, inside Elizabeth, leaps for joy!
The Angels proclaim to the Shepherds “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people!”
We sing “Joy to the World!” for good reason – Joy itself has come into the world
The feeling of being “in love” is a wonderful feeling – some people get addicted to it, but the feeling of being loved in return is far greater. When we make that soul connection with another person, and we love and are loved, we feel joy. But there is something even greater that the joy that we feel over human love.
We are created to love God and be loved by him. God is always loving us, but the sin in our lives get in the way of us truly knowing and receiving that love. Jesus removes our sin, and removes the barrier that stands between us and God’s love for us.
Our innate desire to know, love and be loved by God is deeper than our desire to find human love, or to give birth to children, so when our hopes for that eternal “soul kiss” are met, the Joy that God gives is even greater than any other joy that we might experience.
The psalmist writes of this Joy in the presence of God’s love when he says:
Psalm 16:11
You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Psalm 4:6-8
Many are asking, "Who can show us any good?"
Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD .
You have filled my heart with greater joy
than when their grain and new wine abound.
I will lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, O LORD ,
make me dwell in safety
Billy Bray was a man who knew this Joy. He was a drunken and loose living miner from Cornwall, England, born in 1794. He was always getting involved in fights and domestic quarrels. At the age of twenty-nine he became a Christian. He went home and told his wife, “you will never see me drunk again, by the help of the Lord.” She never did. His words, his tone, and his looks had a magnetic power. He was charged with divine electricity. Crowds of miners would come and hear him preach. Many were converted and there were some remarkable healings. He was always praising God and saying that he had abundant reason to rejoice.
Billy Bray was so happy — he shouted all the time. He bothered people. He had so much joy, just shouting all the time. And somebody said to him one time, “Billy Bray, why don’t you tone down some? You’re just too happy. You’ve got too much joy all the time.” Billy Bray said, “I can’t help it. God saved me and I can’t help it. When I put down one foot it says hallelujah, and when I put down the other foot it says glory to God.”
They said, “Billy, suppose you’re mistaken? Suppose when you die you find out that you’re not going to Heaven after all, you’re going to Hell.” Billy said, “Praise God, I’ve been having a wonderful time in the Lord all through the years. Jesus has been good to me and if I die and go down to Hell, then I’ll be thankful for the joy Jesus brought me in life. I’ll shout all over Hell and they’ll have to send me up to Heaven because they can’t stand that kind of joy down there.”
For another, less loud example, Will Ingram told me the story of an ancient saint who, at Easter, when the priest would say “he is risen” and the people would respond “he is risen indeed, Halleluiah!” he would reply “My Joy!”
God’s Presence brings joy – the reason that Jesus is our joy is that he is the presence of God incarnate. Jesus is God come to be with us, The Holy Spirit is our Joy because he is the presence of God within us and among us.
The reason that the angels declare Joy to the world is that This birth is the beginning of the fulfillment of the hope that every person has in the core of their being, and the hope that the earth itself has of redemption.
Living in the Joy
You may have come to Jesus with great joy, but you find that the joy is waning now. The Cares of this world are growing up around you and trying to choke off the joy that Jesus has given you.
How do we sustain, and even grow the joy that Jesus gives us?
John 15 – remain in Christ
In John 15, Jesus is teaching the disciples just before he goes to the cross, and he says: “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” (11)
What has he told us?
4-5 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
If the Presence of God brings Joy – stay close to him! Through prayer, worship, Bible reading & practicing the presence of God. – stay connected and your Joy will grow
9-12 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
Remain in him through obedience – often times we might go running after other things that we might think will bring us Joy, but it is actually staying away from sin that brings us joy, as well as doing the things that God has called us to do. When we live a life of obedience, we stay connected to God, and we sustain the joy that he has given us.
Tony Campolo - “Joy in Christ requires a commitment to working at the Christian lifestyle. Salvation comes as a gift, but the joy of salvation demands disciplined action. Most Christians I know have just enough of the Gospel to make them miserable, but not enough to make them joyful. They know enough about the biblical message to keep them form doing the things which the world tempts them to do; but they do not have enough of a commitment to God to do those things through which they might experience the fullness of his joy.” (Seven Deadly Sins. p. 21)
This obedience is not a legalism that kills the soul – his main command is to love!
In fact Paul argues against legalism in Galatians 5 and promises that when we are neither legalistic, nor running after sinful things, but instead staying instep with the Holy Spirit, we will grow the fruit of the Spirit - Joy
We do not get joy by running after joy, we get joy by running after Jesus.
In Good times and in bad, God’s love for us through Jesus is constant, so even in sorrow or in pain as Nouwen says on the back of your bulletin, we can have joy.
Expressing the Joy
Mother Teresa said, “A person filled with joy preaches without preaching.”
There may be such a thing as silent joy, but I’m not sure that there is such a thing as quiet joy – even in silence, Joy must find some expression
We must express the joy – this is why Paul says
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! - Philippians 4:4
Psalm 98
1 Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done marvelous things;
his right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.
2 The LORD has made his salvation known
and revealed his righteousness to the nations.
3 He has remembered his love
and his faithfulness to the house of Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
4 Shout for joy to the LORD , all the earth,
burst into jubilant song with music;
5 make music to the LORD with the harp,
with the harp and the sound of singing,
6 with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn-
shout for joy before the LORD , the King.
7 Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands,
Let the mountains sing together for joy; 9 let them sing before the LORD ,
for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples with equity.
