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“Christmas
Joy”
a sermon by
Thomas L. Jenkins
Texts: Isaiah 12:2-6
Zephaniah 3:14-20
Philippians 4:4-7
Luke 3:7-18
“…salvation…judgment…peace…He will baptize you with the Holy
Spirit and fire.”
Today is the third Sunday of Advent, and this Advent Sunday is the
Sunday of joy. I hope and pray in my heart that we may receive the true joy
of Christianity as we open our hearts to the truth of God’s being born
into humanity.
We call this “Christmas season.”
And we may very well experience real times of happiness because
of events with family and friends, the giving and receiving of gifts.
Of course there come pressures with all this too: decorating,
buying gifts, and getting together with family.
In a capitalistic society, this is the highest retail time of the year.
On televisions there are classical movies--It’s
a Wonderful Life--and
brand new movies, concerts, and shows all about the Holiday Season. Schools get out for about two weeks.
I still think its fascinating that the most important historical event
in the history of the world—the Son of God being born into this world
in the person of Jesus of Nazareth—is not allowed to be recognized in
our public schools.
It is here, in the church of Jesus Christ, where the greatest truth that
has ever been given by God to human beings is realized.
And it is the true reason for all the various types of
celebrations we have just mentioned.
In Isaiah we read “God is my
salvation.” God is
our salvation. And one of
the greatest truth’s of Christmas is that our salvation, who is God,
is located in the person of Jesus Christ.
God entered into the heart of humanity.
God entered in the heart of your world, into the heart of who you
are; God entered into your heart through the birth of Jesus Christ.
We may feel at times like we are lost.
We may feel at times that we are separated from God.
We may feel at times that we are out of God’s will.
And there may very well be authentic serious reasons behind these
feelings, but God is never out of your heart.
We may not know it; we may not feel it; we may not believe it at times.
But that does not change the truth.
On Christmas God was born into the heart of who you are.
In Zephaniah we read “the Lord
has taken away the judgments against you…”
A pattern within the history of Israel, portrayed in the Hebrew
Scriptures, is that God makes judgments, but then leads the people to a
state of repentance through prophetic ministry, and then God takes away
the judgments and restores them. This
is a witness to God’s presence in their times, but it is also a
witness to the ultimate judgment which is taken away from us through our
salvation in Jesus Christ.
God took away the judgments against us by taking the judgments upon
himself in Jesus Christ. God
is the judge over the sin in this world.
And God is the one judged who takes the sins of the world upon
himself in Jesus Christ. God
is the judge. God is the
one who takes the judgment upon him for our salvation. When Jesus died on the cross all God’s judgments against us
were taken away from us.
God is our salvation. Our
salvation is located in Jesus Christ.
When God was born into Jesus, God was born into us.
Jesus took on God’s judgments against us so we could be saved. These are the ultimate truths within our lives.
And these are more than just words we are to hear.
We are to take them deep within ourselves, meditate upon them,
and let them shape how we see and understand all that goes on in our
lives.
It is because of the truth of God in Jesus Christ, the real truth of
Advent and Christmas that Paul would write to his brothers and sisters
“Rejoice in the Lord always;
again I will say, Rejoice…the Lord is near…Do not worry about
anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known to God.”
Know the truth about God in your life.
When it comes to your salvation God has already accomplished it.
It is finished. You
are saved in Jesus Christ. That
is the truth of who you are. And
that is your future in eternity. And
so, even when you struggle with the issues and circumstances in your
life, the difficult issues that may very well bring you down and maybe
even make you sad and upset, even angry at times, return in your heart
and mind to the truth that we are being told by the Word of God, that
even what we are experiencing at times in this world are not the real
reality of our lives in God. Take your issues to God is prayer. Pray about the things in your life. And ask God to return your heart to seeing and believing in
God’s truth about you.
It is then, when we are baptized by the Holy Spirit by Jesus Christ.
Christ will lead us in our hearts, our thoughts, our emotions,
and our actions to rejoicing because we are seeing God’s truth.
And we will be led by God to deal with the troubles in our lives
in God’s Spirit. That is
the fire that cleanses us from seeing things from the world’s
perspective and moving us to seeing things the way God sees things.
God is your salvation. The
Lord has taken away the judgments against you.
Rejoice in the Lord always.
Jesus is baptizing you in the Holy Spirit.
This is the real joy of Advent.
It is happening. It
is coming again.
Let us pray…
Amen
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