Joy

Joy can be a real challenge at Christmas. Ironically it is a season where joy should be a part of our life. We sing “joy to the world” but feel depressed. Christmas is the season where we pursue joy. We fill the parking lots of malls, we pack bars and clubs with friends, and we exchange gifts at Christmas parties all in the name of joy.
Many of us are finding it harder this Christmas to express joy. The economy has left a dark cloud over many of our Christmas festivities. Limited funds have us making tough decisions when it comes to picking things off of the children’s wish list. The turkey meal becomes chicken and the Honey-Baked Ham is bologna soaked in honey and covered in Baked Beans. I have even heard some ask can we just skip over Christmas this year. The reason some of us want to skip over Christmas may not be the bad economy. It could be a relationship that has broken up. It could be children who have wondered away. A bad doctor’s report that says this could be your last Christmas together. With so much bad news in the world today it is hard to proclaim “Joy to the world!”
It is times like this that it is important to go back to the heart of Christmas. The story of Jesus’ birth explodes with joy. In the story we find shepherds living in fields. Shepherds were considered unclean, lower-class, and not very popular among the majority of the Jewish people. The shepherds provided the sheep that were needed for the sacrifices in the Temple. They still were not highly regarded because they did not participate in the social or religious life of the people. They kept to themselves. Raised their sheep. Lived in the fields. Isolated. Lonely. Separate. And yet, it was these men that God chose to announce the birth of Jesus, the Savior of the world. The sense of joy that the angels felt in giving the shepherds this announcement is obvious. The first word to the shepherds is “I am bringing you good news of GREAT joy . . .” It is almost as though this angel could not get the words out before the whole host of angels break forth in praise.
I remember once when I was a child that my cousin came running into the house one Christmas holding what looked like a baseball bat wrapped in Christmas paper. In excitement he could not control himself and he says, “I can’t tell you what it is but it looks like a bat doesn’t it?” This same excitement bursts from the angels as they tell the shepherds the good news that Jesus has bee born. The joy is contagious. The shepherds leave immediately to go tell this good news to those in Bethlehem. They take a huge risk leaving their sheep behind. They leave their livelihood and seek after the meaning behind the joy. The meaning behind the message that brought the angels such joy is worth leaving everything behind to discover it for themselves. Then once they discover the source of the angels joy they leave announcing it to the world. This is a world they had rarely participated in but insisted that this world experience the joy that they knew.
What was it that had the angels of heaven acting like little children who can’t keep secrets? What was it that forced the shepherds to leave all they had known behind? What was it that brought so much joy to the world? What was it that they had that so many of us miss?
Joy. The story of the angels and the shepherds teach us that joy is not found by seeking joy. Joy is a by-product. It is the result of another great event. Joy is a product of experiencing the Good News of Jesus Christ. Joy is not self-induced. We can’t find joy by fighting crowds at shopping malls. We can’t turn on joy by watching our favorite Christmas movie. Real, abiding joy does not come after receiving that “salad shooter” that we always wanted. These thing may bring us pleasure but they do not produce lasting joy. Joy is not a present. Joy is a presence. Joy is found in Jesus. Imagine what difference it would make if you put retelling the story of Jesus to your children instead of spending some much time making wish lists for Santa.