I want you to take a moment and think of the most recent event in your life when you felt overwhelming joy. I’m talking something that just made you so exuberantly joyful, when you were absolutely, completely overwhelmingly joyful. Like you could have said in that moment, “Ah! Yeah! This moment is just perfect. This is life!” What is that event? Try to think of something recent, because the more recent it is, the more likely you are to remember how joyful you were and how that joy felt.
For me, it’s an event that many of you were a part of…it was when I baptized Jeremiah just a month ago. Man, life doesn’t get much sweeter than getting to baptize your own child, knowing that when they chose to do that, it was because they have given their life to Jesus and have made the decision to live for Him. That moment brought me so much joy.
This last week, and the last few weeks as I’ve been thinking about the things we talk about when we’re in the Advent season, leading up to the celebration of Christmas: hope, peace, joy, love…I try to think about these things in deeper ways than I might do throughout the rest of the year. I want to make sure that as I’m preparing my heart for Christmas, as I’m thinking of these things, that I really spend time to deeply understand what they are and how important they are in the life of the Christian.
So, as I’ve been thinking about joy, and as I talk about joy this morning, it’s good for us to make sure we remind ourselves what joy really is, where joy comes from, and how important it is for us as Christians.
I want to start this morning in part of the Christmas story, the telling of the birth of Christ. Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke 1:39-45, which happens after Mary becomes pregnant with Jesus, and she goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth. If you’ll recall, Elizabeth was also pregnant, and she was pregnant with John, the Baptist.
So, Luke 1:39-45, “Now at this time Mary set out and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how has it happened to me that the mother of my Lord would come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for JOY. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.”
This is one of my favorite parts of the Christmas story, and let me tell you why. I love this part because the first people to know about Jesus are women and the first person to really recognize how important He is, and respond to who Jesus is, is an UNBORN baby. Think about that for a moment. When Mary came to Elizabeth, and the baby John in Elizabeth’s womb recognized the divine baby Jesus in Mary’s womb, John leapt for…what? Joy!! He leapt for joy when He recognized the unborn Jesus. This unborn baby recognized who Jesus was, and his response was joy.
Who gives joy, now during Christmas-time and year-round? Of course, we know the answer…Jesus! Jesus gives us joy. The Lord gives us joy. The Holy Spirit gives us joy. Not only does He give joy, He is joy, and when we press pause on the chaos that sometimes accompanies the holiday season, and we meditate on who the Lord is, on who Jesus is, on who the Holy Spirit is, our response is usually…joy! Or at least…it should be.
Let’s look at Psalm 51. I’m going to read verses 10-17, but just before that David, who wrote this Psalm, talks about his sin and how grievously he had sinned against the Lord. This was written after he was confronted by the prophet Nathan about his adultery with Bathsheba. He really did sin pretty bad, and that sin not only included adultery, but conspiracy to murder as well. But this is what David wrote, after he lamented how badly he had sinned against God,
“Create in me a clean heart, God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the JOY of Your salvation, And sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach wrongdoers Your ways, And sinners will be converted to You. Save me from the guilt of bloodshed, God, the God of my salvation; Then my tongue will JOYFULLY sing of Your righteousness. Lord, open my lips, So that my mouth may declare Your praise. For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You do not take pleasure in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, God, You will not despise.”
There’s two things here that David found joy in when it comes to the Lord: first, is the Lord’s righteousness; and the second is His salvation. So, David’s Psalm is very specific, and our joy is specific, too. Our joy isn’t just a whim, it’s not just wishful thinking. Our joy is founded in characteristics of God that are deep and unchangeable. The Lord cannot be separated from His righteousness. His salvation is part of who He is. He is righteous and He is salvation, and there is no other source of righteousness or salvation. We find joy in His righteousness and salvation and it’s everlasting joy because His righteousness and salvation is everlasting. See how that works? That’s why Christians can find true joy, and the closest the world can get is happiness, because they don’t have anything or anyone everlasting and unchanging to find joy in.
Psalm 119, which talks extensively about God’s words gives us this beautiful verse in verse 111, “I have inherited Your testimonies forever, For they are the JOY of my heart.” We have joy in the Lord’s righteousness and salvation, and this beautiful verse helps us understand that we have joy in the Lord’s words. Every word that has come from Him, gives us joy. Why? Because His words don’t change, and His words are everlasting. Just like His righteousness and salvation, and we have everlasting, unchanging joy when we remember His words. And His words aren’t just words! His words make things happen. His words create life and ends life. His words reorder matter! Those are the words we find joy in!
And Psalm 21 which praises the Lord for His salvation and is another Psalm of David, verse 6, “For You make him most blessed forever; You make him JOYFUL with the JOY of Your presence.” Like His righteousness, His salvation, and His words, we have joy in His presence. Deep, everlasting, unchanging joy in His presence. And you know how amazing that is, and how powerful that can be. All I have to do is surrender completely in worship before Him, when I can feel His presence and I know He’s here and I know that joy that comes from just being in His presence.
So, again, it’s not just happiness, it’s not just well-wishing or a warm fuzzy feeling that we get in an imaginary God; it’s real, deep, unchanging joy that is rooted in who He is: His righteousness, salvation, life-giving words, and presence. That’s why we can have joy in chaos. That’s why we can have joy in sorrow and grief. That’s why we can have joy in confusion. That’s why we can have joy in the midst of the worst possible thing you can possibly imagine, because our joy isn’t rooted in ourselves, and it’s not rooted in the changing things of the world.
And why is joy in the Lord so important for the Christian? I mean aside from having joy that can’t be stolen or taken away or diminished?
Here’s why it’s so important, I’d like for you to join me in our final passage for this morning: Nehemiah 8:10. The people had returned to Jerusalem after being exiled to Babylon for 70 years, and they were gathered together in a public square and they had asked Ezra to read the word of the Lord. And they were reminded of the celebrations and feasts that the Lord had declared they should celebrate, and they cried because they hadn’t been doing them. Then Nehemiah and Ezra and the Levites told them not to be sad, not to cry or grieve because that day was a holy day, it was a joyous day because the word of the Lord had been read again for the first time in a very long time. And they said something so profound, so important for those who call on the Lord to remember, chapter 8, verse 10, “This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the JOY of the Lord is your strength.” (NIV).
The joy of the Lord is our strength. The deep, unchangeable, everlasting joy that we have in God’s righteousness, salvation, words, and presence, is our strength.
We need the strength of His joy because when we have the strength of His joy, what it strengthens is our faith. His joy strengthens our faith! And when our faith is strengthened, then our joy increases, which in turn strengthens our faith even more! It’s like a vicious cycle, but it’s not vicious! It’s the cycle of joy. Joy strengthens faith, faith increases joy, joy strengthens faith, and so on and so on.
So, as you continue to prepare your heart for the celebration of Christmas, as you reflect on His hope, peace, love, and joy, may you remember that it is the righteousness of God that gives you joy; it is the salvation of Christ that gives you joy; it is the creative words of the God-head that gives you joy; it is the presence of the Holy Spirit that gives you joy; and that joy is unchangeable because He is unchangeable, and that joy is everlasting because He is everlasting; and that is important because it strengthens your faith which in turn increases your joy.
So, what are some ways you can continue to allow God’s joy to prepare your heart this Advent season?
1. How has the joy of the Lord strengthened your faith this Advent season? What are ways you can capture more of His joy this week?
2. How does Psalm 150 help us understand what our response should be to the joy of the Lord?
3. Find some passages about the joy of the Lord to meditate on this week. What do those verses teach you about joy?