Pastor's Pastor

Pastor's Pastor: With Jesus comes joy

Pastor's Pastor: With Jesus comes joy

Floyd Bresee is the Secretary of the General Conference Ministerial Association.

 

Christmas Sermon Seeds

 

Jesus and joy are in separable. You can't have either without the other. We waste our time, some of us a lifetime, trying to find joy without Jesus. On the other hand, if you claim to have Jesus and are not joyful, then what you have isn't the real thing.

In Luke 2:10 an angel announces Jesus' birth to the shepherds: "And the angel said unto them, (1) Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of (2) great joy, which shall be to (3) all people." Note three lessons from this birth announcement:

1. Don't be afraid of Jesus' coming—it's good news

The New English Bible says it this way: "They were terror-stricken, but the angel said, 'Do not be afraid; I have good news for you.' "

Seeing Jesus, man lost his fear of God.

The Old Testament tends to picture a God who is more judgmental and harsh than does the New Testament. Why? Because God has changed? No. Humans dread the unseen. The Old Testament writers had never seen God and thus wrote of Him with a sense of fear and foreboding. Seeing God in Jesus dissipated the dread.

Don't be afraid of Christ's first coming, that is, conversion. At some time in life almost everyone wonders about the wisdom of giving his life to Christ. Might not such a decision kind of drain the fun out of life?

My country neighbor put out some steel traps one winter. I don't know what he hoped to catch. I do know what he did catch—the neighborhood dogs. Three times I heard the loud yelping or the soft crying of a dog in pain. Three times I worked with a trap to open it carefully so as to free the animal's crushed leg without causing more pain. One victim was so frightened and so frustrated with pain that he tried to bite me all the time I was attempting to free him.

How like the human predicament. Trapped by sin, we beg for release. Yet when Christ comes to help, we resist. Like the dog, we fail to understand that all He wants to do is set us free.

Don't be afraid of Christ's second coming, either at death or the Second Advent. Some approach the end of life on earth with fear and foreboding. They believe in God. They mean to be saved. But they look at themselves and come away thinking that it's impossible. Speaking of Jesus, the angel promised, "He shall save his people from their sins" (Matt. 1:21). If we had to manage and maneuver our own salvation, there would be great reason for fear. But that's not how it works. Our business is to be His, and His business is to do the saving.

2. Jesus brings joy

"Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy." Why is Jesus' joy such good news? Because it lasts. We understand this better by comparing three words: pleasure, happiness, and joy.

"Pleasure" is temporary. Let's define pleasure as that feeling of delight we receive from a stimulation of our senses, I love pecan pie. Rolling a bite of succulent pecan pie around on the tongue is, for me, pure pleasure. The trouble is that eventually you do have to swallow. Moments later the sensation is gone. In fact, if you eat too much pie, that delicious taste in your mouth becomes a knot in your stomach. Pleasure is temporary.

"Happiness" depends on circumstances. We'll define happiness in its most literal sense. The root word is hap, meaning luck, or chance. Enjoying robust health, you're happy, favored by hap. But what if circumstances change and you contract cancer? Jesus must have an answer to life when circumstances go against us.

"joy" lasts. On His way to Gethsemane, Jesus spoke of a "joy [that] no man taketh from you" (John 16:22). Early Christians found an internal peace that was impervious to external pressures (Acts 5:40, 41).

The joy that Jesus brings is a deep-down exuberance resulting from a love relationship with a Christ who will never fail to understand and will never leave you alone. Other relationships can end in death, or even divorce or some other form of rejection. Your relationship with Christ can never be severed by anything other than your own choice.

3. Jesus' joy is available to all

In our text, the angel promises this joy "shall be to all people." There is no one so irreligious or so melancholy that Jesus' joy is outside his or her grasp. Where do you get joy? Joy is part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22). When does this joy become ours? When the Holy Spirit brings Jesus within us.

Christmas is such a busy season. Have we become so busy with Christmas presents that we have neglected Christ's presence? Nineteen hundred years ago Jesus looked for a place to be born. He's still looking today. Offer Him your heart. With Jesus comes joy.


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Floyd Bresee is the Secretary of the General Conference Ministerial Association.

November 1988

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