Jesu Juva
“Joy that Will Not End”
Text: Luke 1:39-56; Micah 5:2-5a; Hebrews 10:5-10
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
There will be lots of people leaping for joy in a couple of days now, as presents are unwrapped, as family comes to visit, as special foods and meals are prepared. That’s a good thing. We need that. We need more of that in a world where joy is sometimes hard to come by, hard to find, and comes too little and too infrequently.
But it was John the Baptist who was the first to leap for joy with Christmas joy. The first to leap in joy at the coming of His Saviour.
But would he have . . . would he have leaped for joy if he knew how it was going to end up for him? That he was going to end his life in Herod’s prison and with his head removed? Well, YES. Yes, because this child in Mary’s womb that caused John to leap for joy has come to raise his headless body and make it whole again. To raise his lifeless body and give it life again. To raise his mortal body and make it immortal. To give him hope, and a life and joy that will not end.
Which is the joy we need. The joy of these next few days will be real and great - but it will not last. The presents will be used, some broken, some consumed. Family will go home or return to old divisions and feuds. The joy will fade as decorations are boxed back up and lights are darkened for another year.
But that’s not yet! I don’t want to throw a wet blanket on the joy we have now with our celebration of Jesus’ birth just a couple of days away! But what I DO want to do is make this joy last beyond a day or a season. To make Christmas the start, not the end, of our joy. Because there are two kinds of people in this world . . . I’m sure you’ve noticed: those for whom Christmas Day is the end of Christmas, and those for whom it is the start. Those who take down the tree and decorations and lights the day after Christmas because, after all, the gifts have all been given and opened, so . . . it’s over, right? And then those for whom the joy lasts beyond the day. The second seems better to me! A joy that lasts.
That’s the joy God created us to have, but we lost it. And we seem to keep losing it! One day, one moment, yes! But then the next . . . trouble, sadness, pain, division, brokenness. I wish I could say it’s all someone else’s fault, but I know that’s not true. I do my share. And remember when Adam tried that excuse? He was so filled with joy when God created Eve and brought her to him. But how long did that last, before he was blaming her for his sin? They start having children - that’s a joyful time! Until they start killing each other. Isaac and Ishmael didn’t get along. Neither did Jacob and Esau. Joseph’s brothers sold him. And in all this the only one really joyful is satan! Who keeps turning us against one another and against God and stealing our joy.
So the joy we heard of today - the joy of Elizabeth and the joy of John - is significant. Because it’s not a joy they found or got because of anything they did, but more like a joy that got dumped into their laps! (Or maybe better to say, into their hearts.) They weren’t looking for it or expecting it, but there it was. For there, in their home, was Jesus. There, in their home, was the promise of God fulfilled. There in their very home, was the almighty God in human flesh. Even though His human flesh was at that moment smaller than a pea! All the fullness of God was there with them. There to save.
That’s what Mary was confessing with her joyful words. God had shown His strength - in her! A virgin was pregnant. He exalted those of humble estate - He raised her up to be the mother of God! He filled the hungry with good things - her again! Filled her up with her Saviour. And He remembered His mercy, His merciful promises of hope, to Abraham and his offspring forever . . . to send Mary and Elizabeth and John and you and me a Saviour. A Saviour to restore the life and joy we keep losing. So we, too, can leap for joy.
And not just one day a year.
Now don’t confuse joyful and happy. They’re not the same thing. We heard at the end of the Holy Gospel that Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home. After three months of joy with Elizabeth, she went back home . . . to what? A man who wanted to divorce her. A difficult and very pregnant trip to Bethlehem. Then a trip to Egypt to protect her son. And you know what all those things are? Satan trying to rob Mary of her joy and faith. Just as he is trying to do with us. I think maybe he’ll put up with some Christmas joy if he can quickly take it away and bring us down the other 364 days of the year!
So what’s the answer? How do we counteract this work and these lies of satan, who keeps at us with all his trouble, sadness, pain, division, and brokenness?
Well, it’s simple really: we counteract the work and lies of satan with the work and truth of God and His Word. Now for Mary, that would be to know that all that was happening to her - the good, the bad, and the ugly - had all been spoken of before by God. Satan wasn’t in control; God was. Things weren’t going horribly wrong; they were going according to God’s plan. We heard one of those Scriptures today: Micah’s prophecy of this birth happening in little Bethlehem. Their not-quite-a-vacation trip to Egypt had also been foretold. So in the midst of trial and unhappiness, Mary could find refuge and joy in the fact that God was carrying out His plan of salvation, even using her. If Bethlehem wasn’t too little, neither was she.
We heard also from the book of Hebrews how God fulfilled His Word. Now, the book of Hebrews was written to Christians in Rome who were experiencing a lot of trials and struggles, persecution and pain, and were listening to satan and thinking of going back to Judaism, because it was legal to be a Jew and their life would be easier. They were looking for joy in their life again. But they wouldn’t find it by going against Jesus and His Word, but in believing that Jesus had fulfilled all that God had said. Jesus was the one who could give them hope, and with hope, joy. Even, like John the Baptist, if they - literally! - lost their heads. Which, turns out, many of them did.
Now what about you? Where are you looking for joy? And are you confusing happiness and joy and so maybe looking in the wrong places?
I hope you are filled with happiness and joy this week as you celebrate Christmas, as you celebrate Jesus’ birth and the fact that God became man and is here with us. But even more I want you to be filled with joy here [every Sunday]. That’s what I said earlier: God wants you to have a joy that doesn’t end on Christmas, but a joy that starts with Christmas and goes on and lasts. That like Mary, you know that God has shown His strength in you, by His Spirit giving you the faith to believe. That He has exalted you of humble estate and made you His child - that if Bethlehem wasn’t too little for Him, neither is the water of Baptism, and neither are you. That He has filled you with good things - namely His Body and Blood for the forgiveness of your sins. Bread and wine not being too little for Him either. And that He remembers His mercy to Abraham and his offspring forever. That’s you, too. True children of Abraham by faith. And if we rejoice in God in the manger on Christmas, even more should we rejoice in God here for us every week. Every week, working in us, working for us. Fulfilling His Word. Every week here being Christmas, as here we receive the gifts - the gifts of God, and of God Himself.
Which makes this place, humble as it is, a place of hope, and with hope, joy. That after another week of struggle, when you just want to close off the world and stay in bed, you come here and find hope, and with hope, joy.
That after another week of sinful deeds and thoughts and desires, you come and hear once again that your sins . . . were even worse than you thought and crushed not only those you sinned against, but Jesus Himself! But that Jesus wanted that. He wanted to take the brunt of those sins and your punishment for them and provide you with forgiveness. So you have hope, and with that hope, joy. Not so you go back and think and do those things again, but so you won’t.
And that after another week of being assaulted by satan and hearing his lies, you hear again the truth of God’s Word. The prophecies fulfilled, the work for you completed, and the future for you secure. That satan is not in control; God is. And that as horrible as the sin in this world is - and it is pretty horrible - God is - somehow - able to turn it around and use it all for your good. And with that Word and truth you have hope, and with that hope, joy.
Like Mary. She rejoiced in God her Saviour, even with great difficulties facing her. And that is where our joy is as well. No matter what else is happening in your life and in the world. No matter how hard satan rages. What’s done is done; and what’s done is your salvation.
In just a moment now, when I finish this sermon, we’re going to pray for that joy. We have been for some week actually, though maybe you didn’t notice. For when the sermon is over, you’re going to stand and sing, and you’re going to sing these words: restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation, and uphold me with Thy free spirit. The Spirit of God that is His gift to you. A gift that cost you nothing, but cost Jesus everything. The Spirit of God from Jesus to give you Jesus, and with Jesus, hope, and with hope, joy. A joy that lasts far more than just one day a year, or even a lifetime - but a joy that will last forever.
So leap for joy in a couple of days now. I hope you do. I hope you have a very merry and blessed Christmas. But come joyfully to the altar first. You weren’t there is Nazareth when the angel Gabriel came to Mary, and you can’t go to the manger, but you can come here. To the same Jesus for you. You aren’t too small, this place isn’t too small, and this bread and wine aren’t too small. They are just right, and where Jesus want to be, with hope, and with hope, joy, for you.
In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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