Joy to the World

Good evening everyone, it's really good to have you with us at our service this evening.

As Fiona said, my name's Ian, and it's my privilege to think a little bit about the meaning of Christmas.

We've just sung Joy to the World, but I wonder if we look around our world today,

whether that might seem a little bit hollow.

There's a lot of places where there's not much joy.

The BBC on their website today had a news story which had the headline,

Bethlehem is empty of joy, no Santa, no celebration.

And if you read a bit into the article, it talks about how there's no Christmas tree this year,

there are no carols, there is no celebration of Jesus' birth.

Because Bethlehem these days is part of the West Bank,

which is an occupied territory in Israel and is largely a Palestinian people.

And even those who are Christians find it difficult to celebrate Christmas this year

because a lot of them have relatives in Gaza.

Little joy in Bethlehem.

Little joy too, I suspect, in Jerusalem, certainly not in Gaza,

or in Kiev or Kharkiv or Sudan or in Yemen

or in the other places around the world where there is conflict.

Perhaps some of them we hardly read about or are aware of.

Come to our own country and there are a lot of people who perhaps don't have much joy.

Many of us are privileged and we will enjoy Christmas tomorrow.

We will enjoy the giving and receiving of presents.

We will enjoy good food and time together.

But there are an awful lot of people in our country today for whom that's not true.

We have the privilege here of having a food bank.

And on Friday we were able to give out some Christmas goodies and some toys for children,

for those who had children, and to give them something for Christmas.

But there are an awful lot of people for whom Christmas is a really difficult time

and they perhaps are more aware than ever of how little they have.

Next year in this country there's going to be a general election campaign.

I'm fairly sure that none of the parties will be offering us joy in that.

The message will be you won't be as bad under us as you would be under the other lot.

Perhaps for some of us too, Christmas is going to be a difficult time.

A time perhaps when you remember relatives or friends who are no longer with us.

There are empty spaces at the table and that brings sadness.

So can we have joy this Christmas?

And what's the secret of that joy?

Well, I think clearly from the Bible the answer is yes, there is joy available.

And it's a joy that can be despite whatever circumstances we are facing.

It's not dependent on what we have, who we're with,

and what kind of importance or status we have in our world.

Rather it's dependent on our relationship with God.

And we find that joy when we go back to the first Christmas and to Bethlehem.

Bethlehem, which then, as now, was an occupied territory.

It was occupied by the Romans.

And probably a place where there would have been relatively little joy.

The people of Israel felt really oppressed by the Roman authorities.

And they longed for their independence.

They longed for someone who would come and free them from the Romans.

But there was no sign or little sign of that at the time.

And yet, as we read in both Matthew and in Luke,

after the birth of the Lord Jesus, there are two references to joy.

And it's not just any joy.

There's a really strong emphasis in both of them,

of the intensity of the greatness of that joy.

So we see it first in the story of the shepherds around Bethlehem.

The angel of the Lord appears to them.

The sky lights up with the glory of the Lord.

They're terrified.

And the angel tells them not to be afraid

because he's bringing them good tidings of great joy.

Great joy as he comes to tell them about something really exciting

that's just happened not very far from where they are.

The birth of the Lord Jesus.

As we read on what the angel has to say,

I think there are two reasons he gives us

why there should be great joy among all people,

among all nations.

First of all, there's the joy of incarnation.

A baby is born.

We've been blessed in this church over the last few years

that we've had a lot of babies born.

We've rejoiced with parents

as they've had new life come into the world

and into their families.

It's wonderful as a church to be able to see

the young children and the babies who are with us

and to share something of the joy of their parents.

How much more then should we rejoice,

should we have joy over the baby that was born in Bethlehem?

Because this was no ordinary baby.

We've been reading this evening some of the things that happened before Jesus was born.

700 years before, the prophet Micah prophesied that he will be born in Bethlehem.

This was not something that just happened.

This was something that had been foretold many years before.

The angel comes to Joseph and explains the reason why Mary is pregnant

and that the person who is to be born, the baby who is to be born,

is to be the son of God with us.

The incarnation is one of the most remarkable things,

perhaps the most remarkable thing that has happened in history.

We got a bit of a flavor of that from the reading in John, didn't we?

No one has seen God.

God is invisible.

God is a spirit.

We can't see God in our world.

We can see the work that God has done,

but we can't see God.

And yet God came into our world through his son in human form,

living among us as a normal human,

miraculously conceived but born naturally,

and living a life where he needed food and drink and sleep

and everything else that we need.

And he came to show us what God is like.

He came to show us God's glory.

And how marvelous it is,

how much joy we should feel,

that the God of heaven cared enough for us

to send his son to be with us.

That God took on human flesh

and became like us in every way,

except that he was sinless.

And the joy of incarnation is one of the things

that should really thrill us as we think about Christmas.

That the baby in Bethlehem was not just an ordinary child.

He was, he is the son of God.

But the angel says more than that to the shepherds, doesn't he?

He says he's born a baby in Bethlehem,

and he says he is a saviour.

He is Christ the Lord.

And the joy we can have at Christmas

is not just the joy of incarnation,

it's the joy of salvation.

A saviour has come.

As I said earlier,

the Jews were looking for a saviour.

They'd look for many years for a messiah

who had been prophesied.

But they were looking for a saviour

who would free them from the Roman authorities.

They were looking for someone

who could liberate them,

who could save them

from the burden that they experience

through being occupied by a foreign power.

But that wasn't the saviour who was born.

That wasn't the purpose of Jesus coming into the world.

The son of God took on human flesh

not to be a great ruler of his people at that time.

Not just to show us what God is like

and to demonstrate the power and the wisdom of our God.

The son of God came into the world

to be the saviour of the world.

The angel said to Joseph,

we saw it in our reading earlier,

that his name would be Jesus.

God saves because he would save his people

from their sins.

And so we celebrate salvation at Christmas.

We celebrate the fact that it's not just a baby born in Bethlehem.

And that part of the story,

the end result of the story that begins on Christmas Day

is the Lord Jesus going to the cross at Calvary

and there dying for us,

taking our place,

dying for our sins

so that we could be forgiven

by a God who is just

and would recognize

that the punishment has been taken

for those who trust in the Lord Jesus.

There's a remarkable verse in the book of Hebrews.

Hebrews chapter 12,

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

it says this of Jesus,

for the joy set before him,

he endured the cross,

scorning its shame,

and sat down at the right hand of God.

For the joy that was set before him.

What was that joy?

Well, to some extent,

I think the passage implies

that the joy was in the reward

that he would receive afterwards.

That he would sit down at the right hand of God.

That he would receive the acclaim of heaven

for the great sacrifice that he'd made.

But I think more particularly,

the joy that the writer is thinking about here

is that the joy that Jesus had

in being able to save us from our sins.

In being able to do

what was otherwise impossible

and to reconcile man and God together.

To do what we couldn't do.

In our sin, in our failure,

we are not able to restore

our relationship with God.

Our best isn't good enough.

But what Jesus did on the cross

as he took our place there

is enough.

And it can bring us back

to our relationship with our God.

And Jesus, I'm sure,

rejoiced in that.

That was part of the joy

that was before him.

As he took that awful journey

to the cross.

As he suffered the mockery

and the torture

before being crucified there

and being separated

from his God.

Our salvation,

if we know Jesus,

is a course of great joy

that can help us

through all the difficulties of life.

And all of us can know that joy

this Christmas

as we think about the Lord Jesus

and what he's done for us.

But I said there were two passages

which talk about joy.

And the other one is the second story

that we read about,

the one in Matthew,

about the wise men

coming to see the infant Jesus.

You remember they saw his star

in the east.

And they made their way

to Jerusalem.

And when they got there,

they asked at the palace

because they'd come to find

the king of the Jews.

They asked at the palace

where the king of the Jews was.

Threw it into some kind of turmoil.

Particularly Herod the king.

And we're told

because the wise people there

could look back

in the Old Testament

as we have this evening

and see that it was prophesied

that the Messiah

would come from Bethlehem

in Judea.

And so they left the palace.

I wonder when they left the palace

whether they were

maybe a bit down.

They'd come with this great news

there's a king being born

in Israel.

And what did they get?

They got a king who is there

who is trying to appear

enthusiastic about it

but I think fairly obviously wasn't.

And would very soon afterwards

instigate a murderous campaign

against the children

in the Bethlehem area.

And they had the scholars there

who just didn't care basically.

He was a problem for them.

Where is the Messiah to be born?

They could look back

and find in the Old Testament

yes it's in Bethlehem

but they showed no inclination

to go there themselves.

They solved a nice problem

and they move on

to the next thing.

And so the wise men

come out of the palace

and what do they see?

They see the star

that had been there

in the east.

At some point

they'd lost sight of the star.

Whether they had to follow

on the way to Bethlehem

we don't know

or Jerusalem rather

we don't know

but certainly one way or another

the star had gone.

And then they come out

of the palace

and they see the star

and Matthew said

they rejoiced with great joy.

Different translations

put it different ways.

They were overwhelmed with joy

is probably as good

a translation as any.

These men who had come

all this distance

who perhaps had thought

well are we going to see

this king that's been born

and suddenly they get

the sign again from God

that the king is there

and there's a star

they can follow the stops

right over where Jesus is.

And there's joy there

and I suggest

that's the joy of anticipation.

of recognising

that they are about

to see something

that is very wonderful.

It doesn't say later on

that they rejoiced

when they saw the crowd

they worshipped

and I'm sure

they rejoiced as well.

But they rejoiced

when they saw the star.

A lost joy of Christmas

I think is in anticipation

particularly for children

as they look forward

to getting their presents.

Our grandson Archie

who is nine this year

decided quite early on

he only wants one present

for Christmas

and parents

and grandparents

and uncles and aunts

have all clubbed together

and he's going to get

a VR headset tomorrow.

And he's the kind of age

he doesn't express it too much

but I'm sure he's really

excited about that

and most of the day tomorrow

probably he'll be

in another world

and quite oblivious to us.

But a lot of children

are like that aren't they?

Maybe we as adults too.

We look forward

to what we're going to get

at Christmas.

We anticipate

the celebration

the joy

that there's going to be

and that anticipation

in itself

brings us joy

in our lives.

And that's what the wise men

are experiencing here.

The joy of anticipating

their visit to Jesus

being able to worship him

being able to give him

the gifts

that they brought

being able to be

among the first

to see

this special king

that's been born.

And laying aside

what happened before Christmas

Christmas also I think

should be a time

of anticipation

for us.

We look back

to when Jesus

came into the world

in Bethlehem

as a baby.

but we can also

look forward

and we can anticipate

the fact

that the Lord Jesus

is coming back

again.

That one day

he'll return

not as a baby

but as a king

and recognized

as a king

that every knee

will bow

before him.

That all the evil

in the world

will be overcome

and he will rule

in righteousness.

And those of us

who know him

those of us

who have trusted

in him

we will see him

we will be like him

we will be with him

forever.

And that's a great

source of joy

I think for us

too

at Christmas.

And if our

situations

are difficult

if there are

things in our lives

that we say

well that brings us

sadness

we are going

through situations

which are

really

hard

then the anticipation

of Jesus

coming back

and of going

to be with him

is something

that can give us

joy and hope

even in that.

Peter in his letter

says that God

has given us

new birth

into a living hope

into an inheritance

that can never

perish

spoil

or fade.

And then he says

in all this

you greatly

rejoice

though now

for a little while

you may have to

suffer grief

in all kinds

of trials.

So for many of us

this Christmas

is a time

of joy.

It is a time

when we can

look back

and see

the child of Bethlehem.

When we can think

about the salvation

that we have

through the Lord Jesus.

When we can look

forward

to the day

when the Lord Jesus

will return

or when we go

to be with him

through death

and when the

sufferings

and trials

of this life

are behind us.

Let's make sure

our trust is in him.

Let's think

of him

over this Christmas.

Let's rejoice

with great joy

of what the Lord

has done for us

through Jesus.

Let's pray together.

our Father

we thank you

that even in a world

of sadness

of trouble

of sorrow

where there is so much

that would

cause us grief

yet there is

joy available

for us.

We thank you

that that joy

comes through that baby

born in Bethlehem

born as God

with us

God incarnate

born to be

our saviour

and one day

returning

and returning

to reign.

We thank you

for the prospect

that many of us

have of going

to be with him

and to be with him

forever.

Help all of us

to have our trust

in him

help us to think

much of him

help us to rejoice

in him

this Christmas day.

We give you thanks

for this time together

we thank you

for the privilege

of singing these carols

of thinking

of your words

and we commit

ourselves to you

in the name

of the Lord Jesus.

Amen.