This is taken from my sermon "Rejoice" from a Christmas advent series I'm doing called Behold He Comes....
Scripture Reference: Luke 1:39 - 56
An interesting theme emerges when we read what is commonly called “The Annunciation”, the name given to Gabriel’s announcement that Mary was going to give birth to the Messiah. It’s a theme that carries throughout the rest of the story in Luke: the account of Mary visiting Elizabeth; the birth of John the Baptist; the birth of Jesus; angels announcing to the shepherds on the Judean hills that Jesus was born. Read these scriptures and see what you see:
Look at the account of Zechariah and the angel in Luke 1:12 – 14:"And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth."
Notice how Gabriel greets Mary in Luke 1:28:
"And having come in, the angel said to her, ‘Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!’"
Luke 1:44 - 47:
"’For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord."And Mary said: "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior."
The angels’ proclamation to the shepherds in Luke 2:10:
"Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people."
When the Wise Men saw the star that led them to Jesus in Matthew 2:10:
"When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy."
They were anticipating the Messiah, expecting His arrival, looking forward to His coming. But, receiving Him wasn’t just about anticipation; it wasn’t just about expectation; but, it was about doing so…with JOY. Over and over the command comes to rejoice! We read that when various individuals hear of Jesus’ birth they praise and worship God with joy in their heart. The literal translation of the proclamation of the angels to the shepherds is, “Behold, I announce to you a great joy.” It means, I’m telling you about an occasion for rejoicing. And, not just any joy….a GREAT joy….in the Greek it’s “Mega Joy.” “I’m going to tell you something so fantastic…so stupendous…so amazing that you are going to rejoice with an exceeding GREAT JOY!”
And, most interesting, many times the command to rejoice comes on the heels of “Fear Not.” It’s an invitation to trade fear for joy. This is not the time to draw back…this is not the time to be fearful…this is the time to rejoice! This is the time to be glad! The time to worship with joy…a great joy….an exceeding great joy!
Of course, the context of many of those statements is because an angel has just come on the scene and probably scared them half to death. But, there’s more to the angels’ commands not to fear than not being frightened at the sight of an angel.
Interestingly enough, when I’m fearful, rejoicing is one of the last things I naturally want to do. Think about it…the last time you were fearful about a situation, was it your natural inclination to rejoice or to hide? To worship God or to cry? To be glad or to be alone? Yet the command was to fear not…don’t be alarmed, but to rejoice. And, the reason for their rejoicing was that there was good news…news that was so good that fear would have to go.
The Gospel writers attest to the fact that Jesus’ arrival and life on earth brings joy and takes away fear. That theme continues in Acts when, in the face of persecution and death, we find the apostles who at one time ran for their lives at Jesus’ arrest now rejoicing because they’ve been beaten for the name of Jesus! Then, there are the authors of those New Testament books called epistles that write at length about rejoicing in the face of fear. Take for example the book of Philippians where Paul calls for rejoicing in all circumstances…a call made by a man in prison who didn’t know from one moment to the next if he was going to live or die at the hands of the Romans. Or, consider James who, after his introduction, begins his letter by saying, “Brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials.” I heard my daddy in the Lord, Kenny Thacker recently say, “If James had said to ‘act’ like you count it all joy, that would be one thing. But he doesn’t say to “act like it:” He says to “do it.”
You know, it COULD be that the authors of the New Testament, and Gabriel, along with the other angels were just spouting off religious rhetoric or Christian jargon that sounds good on a coffee cup, a Christmas card, or a Christmas ornament. But, what if….what if there was a way that we could live that would allow us to face trouble, fear, or anxieties with true joy…a smiling heart? Boy, wouldn’t that be good news?
I believe Mary is a great example of what I’m attempting to say. We have often failed to take into account the absolute selflessness of Mary’s decision to carry the Lord Jesus. We read the story and we think, “What’s not to be excited about? She’s going to carry the Messiah! She’s been chosen by God to carry His Son! Man, sounds like a great deal to me!” And, it probably did to Mary. But, at some point, I’m sure she realized that it was probably going to
- Cost her her reputation (can you imagine trying to convince your family, your friends that you are indeed a virgin, even though you are pregnant? That you haven’t been unfaithful to your betrothed husband?
- Bring shame and humiliation to her, her family, and to Joseph;
- Cost her her future marriage to Joseph and, depending on how Joseph took the news, it could cost her her very life.
Bringing the Messiah to the world truly cost her something, not just on Christmas, but for the rest of her life. She carried that stigma with her I’m sure throughout her adult life from those who refused to believe that Jesus was the Christ; they always saw her as shameful and always saw Jesus as an illegitimate son.
And, it’s in this context that the angel tells her to rejoice! It’s in the midst of these realizations that Mary is told to fear not, but rejoice!
She arrives at Zechariah and Elizabeth’s house and the Lord once again confirms prophetically through Elizabeth what has been spoken to her by Gabriel…that she is the mother of the Lord. And, what does Mary do? Well, she doesn’t do what some of us might do, which is fall at Elizabeth’s feet weeping, saying, “Oh, Elizabeth! What am I going to do? What have I done? Why is God punishing me this way?” She says this: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit HAS REJOICED in God my Savior.” Somehow, in the midst of wrestling with the ramifications of what she has agreed to do, she finds the ability to rejoice…not just act like she is rejoicing, but really rejoice!
Her rejoicing didn’t erase the questions. She had to come to terms with how she was going to tell Joseph. She had to live with those around her mocking her and making fun of her. She had to come to terms with the fact that because of what she has agreed to do, her very life could be at stake. But, somehow, the news that the Messiah was coming was such good news that it surpassed her fears, her doubts, and her anxieties. Because, if God was going to use her to bring His Son into the world, surely He could handle all the other details.
Also, I find Gabriel’s first statement to Mary very interesting: “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” And then, Elizabeth’s first sentence to Mary when she arrived: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.”
Mary had done nothing to earn the job of the mother of the Messiah. All we know about her is that she is a young virgin, that she is betrothed to Joseph, and that she lived in this obscure place in Israel called Nazareth. But, for some reason, God chose her, God blessed her, and God invited her to partner with Him to bring the Messiah into the world. And, though the cost was enormous, she accepted, and not half-heartedly, but fully, with joy!
I believe the pattern we see in God’s approach of Mary is key for us to understand what is so good about the Good News. What’s good about the Good News is that God Almighty, King of the Universe, has CHOSEN us to be His sons; He has BLESSED us, even though we’ve done nothing to deserve or earn the blessing. And, then, He INVITES us to join HIM in bringing about His purposes on the earth. IN THAT ORDER! You are chosen and blessed before the invitation even comes! Because HE CAME…because He instigated relationship with us…because He is WITH US (Emmanuel, God with us), now we are chosen, now we are blessed, and now we are invited.
What’s so good about the Good New, is that no matter what happens, God will ALWAYS treat us like sons. He is not going to fire us like He’s an employer…He is not going to give up on us and throw us away. This is why even though things don’t go the way we wish they would or think they should, we can have joy and we can rejoice because God will always treat us right!
So, what do I mean when I say we will ALWAYS be treated like sons? Well, I don’t mean that we have found some key to life so that we never have to experience sickness or disease, or loss, or physical, emotional, or financial pain. I used to think that if I was a good enough son, I would have financial prosperity, a nice house, a nice car, never get sick. But you know what, I’ve been a son of God for 22 years, and I still have to live on a budget and say no to MANY things I would love to have; I don’t live in a fancy house with all the amenities; I drive a car with two busted door handles, a car that has almost 190,000 miles on it; and (don’t tell anybody), but I still get sick sometimes. As God’s sons, we are called to be in this world…we cannot excuse ourselves from the effects of dwelling on this ball of dirt called planet Earth. We are to be in the midst of it, living life as a son of God, demonstrating how to live in the human condition as a transformed, totally loved, totally accepted son of God. Emmanuel, God with us, means that He was really WITH US! He experienced what it was like to be in this existence and understands how it feels, not so that He can DELIVER us from your hard circumstances, but so that He can equip you to live like a son in the midst of it because He is also with us NOW! He was a man of sorrows, acquainted with our grief. Our sonship doesn’t excuse us from the human condition, but it allows those around us who aren’t sons yet to see how people can have joy in the midst of it.
Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, so don’t misunderstand me: I believe that God still heals; that God still works miracles. I contend for that, but, I don’t stake my joy on whether I get what I want all the time! I realize that God’s sovereign and is in charge whether I see it or not.
I’ve seen a few things in my life that have shaken my understanding of blessing and joy to the core, but there is one that I think summarizes what I’m trying to say this morning:
A few years ago, I knew a young college-aged woman named Faith who was one of the most gifted vocalists I had know. She and I had worked together doing worship workshops and she served on the worship team at her church. She was a vocal major at Northern Kentucky University and had a bright future. One night after church, she was tragically killed by a drunk driver. It was devastating! The family asked if I would sing a song at her funeral that I wrote that she had loved called “Worship Song.” As the funeral began, the worship team led the congregation in worship. I saw this congregation, many I knew personally and loved so much, sing the words,
“Blessed be Your name in the land that is plentiful, where Your streams of abundance flow, blessed be Your name. Blessed be Your name when I’m found in the desert place, though I walk through the wilderness, blessed be Your name.”
I saw tears streaming down their faces, I saw hands raised…it was as if I was attending a Sunday morning worship service…except there was a casket in front of the pulpit and there was one less worship team vocalist. This church had just lost one of their elders to a sudden heart attack not long before this. They had suffered loss, grief and pain, yet were rejoicing in the Lord. And, there was nothing fake about it. If I had ever seen authentic worship, I saw it at that funeral.
What causes people to do that? What gives people the ability to rejoice in the midst of struggles? Pain? Grief? I don’t have all the answers for why things happen, and don’t let anyone lie to you and tell you they do…because they don’t. I used to think I did, but it’s funny how He so gently fills the gaps in our theology as we walk with Him. But, I do know this: our joy cannot be contingent on whether we have all the answers. It can’t be dependent on having a new car, or the latest technological gadgets. It can’t be dependent on whether or not everything at home is perfect, or if we work for a good boss who never yells at us, or if our children are well-behaved and make good grades or if we are physically healthy. If having joy means that we have to have lots of friends, lots of money, lots of stuff , then we are NEVER going to have joy! That stuff won’t make your heart smile when you get the dreaded diagnosis from the doctor or when your kids run away from home.
True, heart rooted joy comes from one thing: The Good News. Jesus said, “In this world YOU WILL HAVE TRIBULATION. But be of good cheer: I have overcome the world!” In other words, He’s in charge. So, whatever happens in this world, in our lives, God’s gonna use it for His glory. The source of our joy is that no matter what happens, no matter what tribulations come our way, we can be assured of one thing: we will ALWAYS be treated like sons.
My son, David, had an abscess under one of his teeth last month, and after a week of antibiotics, they scheduled an appointment to pull his tooth. I could tell he was nervous as we drove to the dentist, and to be honest, I think I was more nervous than he was. But, we got there, they gave him the “happy gas,” they put the numbing gel on his gum, and then injected the medication into his gum to numb it. He had been pretty relaxed until that happened, then his arm shot up and he went, “ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy.” I called out, “David, Daddy’s here…it’s okay, buddy, it’s okay.” Very quickly, the medicine took effect and the arm relaxed…they pulled his tooth, and he was happy because he had lost his first tooth. He had to deal with a numb mouth for a few hours, but soon, it was all over.
If I can speak sort of from a metaphor, I feel like some people are on the way to the dentist’s office, nervous not knowing what to expect. Some are on antibiotics to prepare them for the trip…and, it tastes good because it’s the bubble gum flavored kind, and they have NO IDEA for what awaits them! Some are dealing with a numb mouth now that the tooth is out. And, some are on the table yelling, “Daddy! Daddy! This hurts!”
Be encouraged this Christmas season that the source of your joy is not in being pain free, whether that’s emotionally, physically, financially, or any other way. Our joy is rooted in the assurance that because He came, then no matter what is going on, no matter how you feel, no matter how much it hurts, you will ALWAYS be treated like a son. That doesn’t mean you won’t have to take an antibiotic or have a tooth pulled or have a numb mouth, so to speak. That doesn’t mean that you won’t cry out for your Daddy because of the pain. But, it does mean that when you cry out for Him, He is right there, holding your hand, walking with you through the circumstances. He has chosen us, He has blessed us, and He has invited us to be with Him; Mary rejoiced in this revelation; Elizabeth rejoiced; angels rejoiced; the shepherds rejoiced; the wise men rejoiced; today, WE can rejoice because we are sons…and we will ALWAYS be treated like sons.
SO.......beginning in January, my little "cadre" and I are going to be reading through a great book by Dudley Hall called Men in their Own Skin: Answering the Call to Confident Manhood. The plan is for us to read a chapter a week, talk about it in our individual sessions, followed each week by a summary blog from me. My hope is that even a small group of men beginning to walk out true spiritual manhood will have a definite effect not only on married couples, but on our single brothers and sisters, our sons and daughters, as well as our wives.
