Joy to the World! Luke 2:9-12

JOY to the World!

Luke 2:9-12

Introduction: A woman told a story from a childhood Christmas. She and her siblings eagerly awaited their father’s arrival from his job at a foundry in the city.

…But this year, their dad had been laid off and there were no presents and, most disappointing, no tree. The kids still held out hope that their dad would come up with a tree. Dad promised that he would do what he could. He went into the garage and emerged some time later carrying a two-by-four, about five feet tall, with holes drilled on each side. He went down the street to a neighbor whose property was bordered on three sides by a row of evergreen trees. He asked permission to cut some of the branches, which he brought home and inserted into the holes in the two-by-fours, making a “tree.” He was trying, but by no stretch of the imagination could this be called a Christmas tree! While the kids were trying to deal with their disappointment and the little girl who grew up to tell the story was looking out the window and praying, there was a knock at the front door. The woman and her son from the property down the street were standing there with the tallest, most beautifully shaped Christmas tree that the children had ever seen! It filled the doorway. The woman also presented the children with a number of small presents that thrilled the children, since it was all that they got that year.

       Every year that she was growing up, the woman who wrote the story saw a gaping hole in the row of evergreen trees around her neighbor’s property and she remembered that act of kindness and how God had answered her prayers. (Irene Lukas, Guideposts, Dec., 1976.)

       That little girl could see the gap in the row of trees reminding her of a neighbor’s kindness, and how God had answered her prayer. Let the nail pierced hands be our reminder.  Because of Him, we can have the joy of the Lord that springs from a heart that has been reconciled with God! The Son entered this broken world, taking upon himself a human nature in order to give his life so that we could have peace with God.  Today we remember that Christmas is reason for joy! I am not talking about trees or lights or presents or get-togethers. Those things are fine (and fun!). But the good news is that “Unto you a Savior is born…”

       Billy Graham said, “Christmas is not a myth, not a tradition, not a dream. It is a glorious reality. It is a time of joy. Bethlehem’s manger crib became the link that bound a lost world to a loving God... Christmas means that God is interested in the affairs of people; that God loves us so much that He was willing to give His Son.”  

That is reason for joy. It is an old, old story, but it is a wonderful story! Does the message still fill your heart to overflowing?  If we are not careful, the busyness and pressures of life can rob our joy. Remember why He came!

      From the Old Testament times the messianic hope anticipated a time of rejoicing would be associated with the Coming One. In Isaiah 9:2,3 we read,

 “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.  ³ You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.”

The magi in Matthew’s gospel certainly felt joy when the star they saw in the east led them to the Son.  We read in Matthew 2:9-10, “And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was.  ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.” The God who is, led them to the Promised One, the Messiah of the Jews and Savior of the World. They had reason to rejoice!

       In Luke, when the pregnant Mary came for the first time into the presence of her cousin Elizabeth who was also expecting, the yet unborn John the Baptist responded with joy, Luke 1:44 says “For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.” Mary, Elizabeth, and even John knew the Hope of the ages was here! His coming was cause for rejoicing!

       As we focus on the Advent of Joy, I want to look closely at another, very familiar passage in Luke’s Gospel, focusing on just four verses of the angel’s announcement to the shepherds in Luke 2:9-12,

“And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.  ¹⁰ And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people.  ¹¹ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  ¹² And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."

The Maine* Idea: Advent is cause for joy because God sent his Son as He had promised, revealing His glory and providing salvation to those who would believe.

I. Advent is cause for joy because it is a revelation of God! We have seen His glory in Jesus (v.9)!  “And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.” 

      First, notice that this glorious message came to them, to a group of shepherds watching over their flocks on a Bethlehem hillside. What an awesome moment that must have been! Common shepherds, out in the fields, watching over their sheep. Sheep were a necessary part of the worship of Israel. The sacrifices were required by the Law. But shepherds, ironically, were not highly respected by the pious Jews. Their work kept them from worship! Here they were, out in the field, doing their job, yes, but they weren’t in “church” (or at the Temple in Jerusalem!), they weren’t praying (as far as we know). They weren’t even listening to a podcast of their favorite rabbi!  But God met them where they were and He revealed himself to them. And if our eyes are open to the truth, we’ll see that He meets us in the course of life. Times of retreat are helpful when we can withdraw from the hustle and bustle of life and seek God. It’s good, yes, essential, that we gather together for worship and celebrate Jesus. We need quiet times when we can be alone with the Lord. But it is also true that there is no secular / sacred dichotomy for a Christ follower. God is with us always. God meets us where we are, living as broken people in a broken world. Even in our struggles He is there. He walks with us through life, changing us and growing us on the way.

            God sent this angel to announce a glorious message that the Jewish people had been anticipating for centuries. It was an awesome revelation of the glory of God. God has spoken in many ways through the prophets in times past. At this moment, incredibly, He spoke through a heavenly messenger, an angel, to these shepherds.  How many humans have had the experience of seeing an angel (at least knowingly!)? At this point in history, as the fullness of time approached, an angel had spoken to Zachariah, to Mary, and to Joseph, announcing that the time was at hand. And now, a group of Shepherds, out in the fields, watching their flocks, hear the angelic announcement that a Savior had been born! What joy!

       “The Glory of the Lord shone around them…” As though heaven itself cracked the door open for a moment, the light of heaven, God’s glory, flooded all around them. The brilliance of the glory of God is something the Jews understood from past times.  Moses got a glimpse of it, first in the burning bush, and then later as God hid him in the cleft of a rock and passed by in his radiant glory. The Jews in the wilderness had a hint of it as they saw the Pillar of Fire in the wilderness leading them on the way and awesome presence of God shaking Mount Sinai and shining from the Holy Place in the Tabernacle. It spoke to His transcendence and His holiness. Isaiah had a glimpse of the Lord, “high and lifted up.” That same glory shone down on these humble shepherds on a hillside outside Bethlehem.

       Notice the response of the shepherds to this revelation from heaven: they were filled with fear!  This was probably not only the godly reverence of knowing they were in the presence of holiness, a visitor from heaven. They were likely confused and troubled by what was happening! Why was he here? What did this mean? But, their confusion would soon be transformed into joy. After all, Advent is cause for joy to all who believe the good news that God sent his Son as He had promised, revealing His glory and providing salvation for all who believe by humbly giving himself for us.

II. Advent is cause for joy since the good news is for all people (v. 10). “And the angel said to them, ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people.’” 

       They were terrified, and what did the angel say first? “Fear not…” It seems that is often the first word of the Lord to his people when he is appearing to them. We respond with “fear” because we recognize our weakness in the light of His power. Our sinfulness is exposed in the light of his holiness. But the admonition “fear not” in itself is good news. It reminds us, as Billy Graham said, that God is interested in us, that He cares, that He loves us so much that He did not send His Son to bear a sword, but to bear a cross.

       Then the angel goes on to say, “…I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people.” That offer of salvation in Christ is extended to all people: a universal call to turn from your sin and rebellion and turn to Jesus for life. Jesus came to provide the one and only way for sinners to be reconciled to God.  That might sound like an exclusive message, after all we read in John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but by me…” and Acts 4:12, “There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved…”  Exclusive, yes, but in another sense it’s very inclusive in its context. The barriers were gone: rich or poor, male or female, Jew or Gentile, the Lamb came to take away the sins and to offer life to all who turn to Him in faith. That is cause for rejoicing!  Advent is cause for joy because God sent his Son as He had promised, revealing His glory and providing salvation to those who would believe.

III. Advent is cause for joy since it celebrates the birth of the promised One, our Messiah, Savior, and Lord (v.11). “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

       Isaiah had said 700 years earlier, “Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given…”  Now the angel speaks and says onto you is born a Savior.  The word of the prophet was not only for the leaders and the powerful and the influential, it was even for “the people,” including these shepherds. That means it is also God’s word for you and me. He came for us, in our “lostness,” to rescue us.

       He was born “…in the city of David…” just as the prophet had said (see Micah 5:2). He was born according to promise, in fulfillment of Scripture. In perfect detail, God providentially guided “His story” to compel Joseph and Mary to travel to Bethlehem. The prophet said,

“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days…” (Micah 5:2).

      They had been in Nazareth, that was where the angel found Mary and Joseph and revealed God’s plan. God used circumstance rather than a direct revelation to get them where they needed to be for His plan to unfold on schedule, according to promise. It seems that God still guides His people providentially… through the circumstances of life that He sovereignly orchestrates, along with the more subjective “nudging” of the Spirit. And, of course, He has given us His Word, the Bible, as our infallible guide.

       The angel gives some information about this coming one, He is “…a Savior, Christ, the Lord.”  He is Savior, Messiah (Christ), and Lord. Only the unfolding of His life, his teaching, and his death and resurrection would reveal the full meaning that God intended for each of those terms. Our men’s meeting last week the question came up, could this be the first time those titles had come together? He was the promised one, the Messiah, He came as Savior, to rescue us from our sins, and He is Lord, God incarnate. This would prove to be the greatest news that humans had ever received. So, Advent is cause for joy: God sent his Son as He had promised, revealing His glory and providing salvation to those who would believe.

IV. Advent is cause for joy since it revealed His willingness to humble himself for us (v.12). “And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."

       His humble birth was a sign. First of all, He came as a human baby. Think about how humbling that was!  He existed eternally as God! Couldn’t God at least have created a human body out of the dust of the earth as He had done with Adam? Of course he could have! But He didn’t.  Mary was with child of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was born of a woman. And as a tiny helpless baby He depended on her care and feeding and the protection and provision of Joseph. This was the creator of the Universe! Fully God, and fully human.

        And remember the circumstances that surrounded His human birth: Not to the castle of a king, not in wealth or even with the recognition of the religious leadership, but with this sign: in humility, humbly wrapped in rags and laying in the feeding bin of an animal. Paul said to the Philippians that though

“…he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,  ⁷ but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form,  ⁸ he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross…” (Philippians 2:6-8).

Isaiah spoke of the coming of a suffering servant. His willing “humiliation” began in his incarnation as a servant. This “stable” was likely a small cave out behind the inn used to shelter animals. As He entered life as a human baby, he was wrapped in rags, and laid in a manger, in that cave. Thirty-three years later or so, He would be once again wrapped in rags, and laid in a cave, but this time it would be a tomb. That was God’s plan!  He came to do for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves: He came to rescue us, to save us, by laying down His life for us.

       Notice that it was a sign given to these shepherds, men who were looked down upon for their failure to “keep kosher,” since they couldn’t regularly get into the city for worship, but who also did the essential work of caring for the animals that were destined for sacrifice in the temple. “You’ve been watching over these sacrificial lambs who were destined for sacrifices [not that they could take away sin] that were shadows and types, pointing forward to a perfect sacrifice that could finally take away sin. The time has come: get down to Bethlehem and see the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” That is Good News. They believed, they went to Him, and they rejoiced!

What is God saying to me in this passage? Advent is cause for joy to all who believe the good news that God sent his Son as He had promised, revealing His glory and providing salvation by humbly giving himself for us.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? The neighbor who cut down a tree from her yard and brought it to the family along with some presents for the children no doubt found joy in giving. But how might she have felt if the family had opened the door, looked at the tree and the gifts, and then said, “No thanks, we really aren’t interested…” and had they then politely closed the door? The price was paid but the gift was rejected? 

       God didn’t give us a tree, He gave the Son, who was hung on a tree, accursed so that we could be forgiven! The nail pierced hands remind us of why He came!  The only way to know real joy, is to receive the Gift of Christmas! Believe the good news, that God loves us so much that He sent His Son into the world, to give himself for us. “This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His One and only Son into the world that we might live through Him!” (I John 4:9).  That is cause for joy!  Rejoice in the Lord always! Again, I will say it, rejoice!  AMEN.