Advent 2015 Joy

December 20, 2015

Advent 2015—It’s a Wonderful Joy     NOTES NOT EDITED

Matthew 2:1-12

SIS--  Each of us determines our level of joy in life.

“Joy” is not a feeling.  It’s not even an attitude.  It doesn’t depend on circumstances.  Joy is a “decision.”  It is a decision to experience God by accepting Him for Who He is:  the Messiah.  The Savior.  The Deliverer. 

Joy is really all about “anticipation.”  Joy is a decision to live today in hopeful anticipation of a great reward tomorrow.  Just like the anticipation of a child on Christmas Eve.  The anticipation is so great it consumes all other thoughts.  That “joy.”  A decision to live today in great anticipation of a reward tomorrow. 

One ancient writer called joy, “being in self-transport” as on a journey anticipating one’s arrival at a glorious destination.

People miss the true joy of Christmas because they seek the wrong thing, look in the wrong places, and respond in the wrong way.  The Christmas story demonstrates how to experience true joy every day for all eternity.  Let’s read the story of Christmas together.  We can never read it too many times.

MATTHEW 2:1-12

Now, here’s the part of that story we want to focus on this morning, the Fourth Sunday of Advent:

¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed beyond measure.

Literally, they were overjoyed with exceedingly, great joy. This is an emphatic description of an “ecstatic” response to finding the object of their quest.  This brings us to the first aspect of discovering “True Joy.”

1.  What we Seek (vv 1,2)

Everybody is searching for “joy”.  Consider the Wise Men.

Wise men from the east arrived unexpectedly in Jerusalem,  ² saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?  For we saw His star in the east  ^l and have come to worship Him.”

The Wise Men, as I said last week, are important characters in the Christmas story. Obviously, something they desired more than anything else compelled them to make a very long, very dangerous and very costly journey.  All men are on a quest for “something” that will bring them “joy.”

But, “what” is it?  What do people seek that will bring them joy.  Some men and women feel that great “riches” will bring great joy.  I meet people like this nearly every day.  These people spend hours upon hours earning more and more to buy more and more.  People who seek joy through riches have one thing in common – they seldom find it.

Solomon was wise and said, “Whoever loves money will never be satisfied with money.  Whoever loves wealth will never be satisfied with income.  This is futile” (Eccl. 5:10).

Seeking joy through riches is a futile search.

Some seek joy through “pleasures.”  We now have several generations which have battled with addictions – that is, seeking joy through “pleasure,” or physical gratification.  We live in a world addicted to just about everything you can imagine from shooting up heroine, to snorting cocaine, to “huffing paint.”  Many are addicted to sexual pleasure in one form or the other.  The porn industry is a multi-billion dollar a year industry – an industry that leaves broken, unfulfilled lives in its wake. 

Solomon also had something to say about seeking fulfillment or joy through pleasure:

Eccl. 2:1  I said to myself, “Go ahead, I will test you with pleasure;  enjoy what is good.” But it turned out to be futile.

All people want joy, but “What” they feel will bring joy, more often brings disappointment.

What was it that the Wise Men were seeking to “bring them exceedingly great joy?” What drove them to leave their homeland and make such and arduous and dangerous journey? The reason for their long, dangerous trek was spiritual—a “spiritual quest.”  What they were seeking was “worship experience.”

One of the most significant characteristics of humanity is that man is inherently “spiritual.”  Encyclopedia.com has an entry titled, “Homo Religiosus,” defining man as inherently religious.  One blogger concurs with this by writing, “Anthropologists routinely define man as homo religiosus— incurably religious.” Man may seem materialistic, especially in our days when even toddlers have cell phones and teens have designer everything. Materialism is simply a secular expression of worship—worship of “things.” 

Kids today live in a sea of materialism.  A kid considers it being “deprived” if he or she has to actually get off the couch to change the channel on the T.V. because someone misplaced the remote!

But, even in our materialistic society in America, one thing has not changed.  Man is “inherently” (by nature) spiritual.  Everybody is seeking ultimate meaning in some way—including the anti-religious atheist who worships science and human wisdom.

The text clearly tells us that the Wise Men were on a “spiritual quest.”  They were looking for Someone to “worship” (verse 2c).

This is the first aspect of “finding true joy.”  You need to ask, “What” will bring me the greatest fulfillment in life?  If it is not riches?  If it is not sensual pleasures?  What is it one must seek to find true joy. The “What” is actually a “Who.”  Joy will come only come through a “spiritual quest.”  Look at verse 11:

¹¹ Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped Him.

This brings us to the next aspect on how to discover “true joy.”

2.  Second, joy comes by Where we Look (1)

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived unexpectedly in Jerusalem,

It is not enough to know “What,” is the source of true joy, but we must know “where” to look to find it.

Now, let me be clear of one thing, on our own without the faith that God Himself gives us, we would never find Him.  In fact, we would never even think to look for Him.  There is a bit of irony to Christianity that I don’t fully understand.  We don’t find Jesus—He finds us—the irony being, “we find Jesus” even when we are not even looking for Him.  The Bible says, “No man can come to the father unless the Spirit of God draws Him” (Jn. 6:44).  But the Word also says, “Seek and you will find” (Mt. 7:7) 

God must give us the very faith He requires of us in order for us to be saved.  Christmas is all about gifts, and God is the greatest of all gift-givers.

So, I’m going to assume that since you are here today, in a church, you are on a Spiritual Quest—whether you know it or not.  I pray that God will open your heart and shine His light into your soul so that you will first, seek Him, and secondly Look for Him in the right place.

In other words, had the Wise Men travelled north, or south, or east they would never have found the object of their quest—no matter how sincerely they would have searched.  V1 tells us they travelled, “to Jerusalem,” because that is where, logically, one would expect the “King of the Jews” to be found.

It is very significant that they looked in Jerusalem.  That was—and is—the Holy City of God. One would expect to find the King in the Holy Palace in the Royal City.  But God’s logic is not our logic.  God’s ways are not man’s ways.  Isaiah declares (55:9):

“For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.

They were “close.” Jerusalem is only about 6 miles from Bethlehem to the north.  But, they were looking in the wrong place:  they were looking for a king on a throne, not in a Manger.

The Wise Men were “so close.”  This is the most heart-breaking realization in my life as a preacher:  so many people are so close to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, but whether you miss heaven by an inch or by a mile you miss it for eternity.

So many people are on a spiritual quest to find God and they get so close.  They live “good” lives by human standards.  Many are devoutly religious.  But, being good or being religious will never be paths to “being saved.” 

Hell will be populated by a great many good, religious people who LOOKED for God in all the wrong places.  Some of these people will have even looked for God “in church,” but will not find Him. 

One Sunday Evening a little boy from a very religious family knelt by his bedside to pray.  This family went to church every time the doors were open.  The little boy had literally grown up in church.  His prayer stabs me like a dagger in my heart.  The little boy prayed, “Dear God, we had a good time in church today!  I wish you had been there!”

Sadly, many times the most unlikely place to find God is in church.

Many men and women have come to realize that “what” will bring them joy is “spiritual,” not emotional, physical, or material.  But, they don’t know where to LOOK to find that fulfillment to their spiritual quest.  Like the Wise Men they look in the obvious place—the religious place; Jerusalem, the Holy City.  The Wise Men, at first, were like so many people today.  They are “so close,” but also “so very far away.”  They look for fulfillment of their spiritual longings in the “wrong” place.  Knowing “where” to LOOK to find true joy is really the key to everything.

You won’t find the King of Kings in a palace, but in a stable.  You won’t find the Great High Priest in a temple, but on the streets among the people.  A key to finding true joy is knowing “Where to Look.”  It is not in the obvious places, but in the right place.

Look again at verse 6. It says, ⁶ And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the leaders of Judah: because out of you will come a leader  who will shepherd My people Israel.”

There could not have been a least likely town in all the world for the King of Glory to born – from a logical, human perspective – than the little town of Bethlehem.  Bethlehem at that time was a town located at the crossroad between “insignificance and obscurity.” This little, inconsequential speck of real estate was thrust into eternal prominence by being the humble birthplace of the savior. 

Where do you find true joy?  Where the Wise Men ultimately found it:  in the “ruler who is a shepherd.”

This term “ruler who is a shepherd” reminds us of at least two other great “shepherds” in the Bible:  Moses and David.  Moses is the great shepherd leader who delivered God’s people out bondage and slavery in Egypt.  David is the “Shepherd King” who reigned over the most prosperous time in the history of Israel.  Now, One like unto Moses and David, has come to “deliver mankind from sin.”

That brought great joy – overjoyed with exceedingly great joy – to the Wise Men.  Joy comes to us when What—more importantly Who—we seek in our spiritual quest is the True God of Israel, Jesus Christ.  There is not hope, no peace, and no joy to be found in one’s spiritual quest unless What, or Who you are seeking is the One Who can deliver you from your sins.

Prosperity won’t bring you joy.  Faith in a false god won’t bring you joy.  Most assuredly, being the most religious person on the planet will not bring you joy.  Joy comes when one’s spiritual quest brings one face to face with God Almighty, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Look at verse 11:

¹¹ Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped Him.

Too many people have “lost sight of the child in the manger” That Baby is what Christmas is all about.  Presents under the tree have replaced a baby in the manger as the most important gift.  The delightful smells of Christmas dinner have replaced the pungent odor of the lowly stable.  The lights and tinsel on the Christmas tree have blinded us to the brilliance of that first Christmas star.  People miss the true joy of Christmas because they look in the wrong place.

What you are seeking to bring you joy, and where you look to discover joy are two key aspects to finding true and lasting joy. Also of great importance is:

3.  How you Give (9-11), or what you do with joy when you find it.

⁹ After hearing the king, they went on their way. And there it was—the star they had seen in the east!  It led them until it came and stopped above the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed beyond measure. ¹¹ Entering the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother, and falling to their knees, they worshiped Him.  Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

I’m sure you have heard many sermons on those wonderful gifts of the Wise Men:  gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  Many of us probably have gotten a gift of gold, or even the gift of perfume, like frankincense.  Not many have probably gotten a gift of the sticky, tar-like substance called myrrh. 

Gold made sense for the baby who was King of the Jews.  Frankincense was a perfume burned in the service of priests, and Jesus was the Great High Priest.  That seems appropriate.  But myrrh?  This was an ingredient used in the preparation of a dead body for burial.  How is something related to death appropriate for a baby or young child with his entire life ahead of him.

Well, we know the significance of the myrrh.  We know the story of Jesus.  He was born to die.  He was born under the shadow of the cross to one day be sacrificed by God in payment for all the sins of man.  By His death, we can have eternal life.  Jesus was born to die for the sins of mankind.

So, myrrh was as appropriate as the gold and frankincense.

But, I’m more concerned this day not on the gifts themselves, but on the “attitude” of those giving the gifts – exquisite and expensive gifts.  Notice again verse 11, the middle part:

Then they opened their treasures.

This Christmas as I read that text, my mind stuck to that word, “opened.”  The common meaning of the Greek word is just as with the English, “they opened their bag of gifts.”  But, I got much more out of that word this year.

As exquisite and expensive as the gifts were, “How” they gave them seems much more important in light of the fact that God had “opened” heaven and stepped into a manger.  The Word, “opened” is a compound word and it can mean “open up” or to “make opened up.”  The prefix of the word causes one to Look upward.

The attitude of the Wise Men was one of “worship” or “openness” to God.  Get this, it is perhaps the most important key to getting true joy.

The Wise Men “opened themselves up completely to God and gave everything they had in honor and devotion to Jesus.”

What would our families, our church, and our world look like if we as God’s people “opened ourselves up and poured ourselves completely and sacrificially out in service to God?”  That is a heart-breaking question for me to ask because I know many of you in this room have not “opened yourselves up” to God in such a way. 

How we give ourselves to God and to others in Christian service will have more to do with the joy we experience in life than perhaps anything else we do.  It’s not so much “what” we give that matters, but “HOW” we give—with absolute openness to God.

Years ago I read the story of a man’s miraculous transformation at Christmas time.  It was 1964.  The man had taken his first, full time job.  He would be away from home for Christmas for the first time.  This night was Christmas Eve.  He was a stranger in town.  He was on his way back to his motel after working late to spend Christmas Eve alone with a T.V. dinner.  On the way home he remembered a co-worker had mentioned his church was having a “drive-by nativity.”  He decided to stop by.  He found the church and got out of the car.  There was the live nativity:  Joseph, Mary, the Shepherds all in costume; and a fidgety donkey tied up nearby.  The man had been there just a few minutes when his co-worker came by.  “Hey! We’ve got a problem.  One of our wise men got sick and couldn’t make it.”

Could you stand in for him?”  The man was not a church-going man, but he agreed and found himself in a flowing robe standing near the manger holding a gold box.  About an hour went by and the man was freezing, thinking he wished he’d said “no.”  But, as he stood there shivering, the scene engulfed him.  He forgot about Christmas presents.  He forgot about Santa Claus.  He even forgot about the cold.  He was captivated by the scene of Mary, Joseph, and the baby in the cold under a starry sky.  Christmas became more real to him at that moment than at any time in his life.  He had found the true meaning of Christmas.  Later, he would thank his friend for asking him to stand in as a Wise Man and would say, “For a brief hour that Christmas I was really a Wise Man.”

Being a wise man, or wise woman, is the key to guaranteeing your life will be one of true joy regardless of the circumstances.  When WHAT you seek is spiritual, not worldly.  This Christmas, when WHAT you seek to bring joy, and WHERE you look to discover joy, and HOW you give yourself completely to God converge in the persons of Jesus Christ, you will experience true joy.

What you are looking for; where you look for it; and most importantly how you give of yourself when you find it, will determine the level of joy you experience in life.

What you should seek is “spiritual.”  Where you should look is in the manger where the Savior lay.  How you should give is by “opening your life” fully to God.  You do this, and singing “Joy to the World”
will have a whole new meaning.

All this Advent we have been following the story of George Bailey, whose life rose to great heights of love and hope, plunged into deep despair that destroyed his peace, and rose again to even greater heights of joy when he discovered that one really can have “A Wonderful Life” when one has a wonderful hope, a wonderful love, a wonderful peace, and most of all, a wonderful joy.  Let’s join George Bailey as he discovered a wonderful joy.

CLIP:  George arrives home.

Yes . . . friends, with the joy of Jesus in our hearts, it really is “A Wonderful life!”