Joy to the World

Joy to the world.  The Lord has come. Let earth receive her king.  Now I don’t know about you, but this is my favorite Christmas carol.  I love it.  The picture that is painted by this song is absolutely awesome.  Joy to the world.  And it is a joy unlike any other. 

We experience joy in different places and in different ways.  There is the joy of getting a really cool gift under that tree.  There is the joy of being able to give that really cool gift.  There is the joy of an unexpected snow day in the middle of an incredibly busy week.  And then there is the joy of having to shovel all that snow.  But of all the joys that we experience and know in this world, none is quite like the joy that is sung in this carol.  Joy to the world.  The Lord has come. 

Now this Advent our theme looked at God’s love at Christmas. This love covers us and makes us righteous. It moves us to share that love with others. It comforts us no matter what we are facing. It is the greatest gift of all. There is joy in this theme.  This morning I would like us, as we consider this joy and God’s love for us, to consider a reading from the great book of Revelation.

Now perhaps it seems a little odd that we would be looking at the book of Revelation on Christmas morning.  But I would say not.  For the picture that is painted in these verses, is only possible because of Christmas morning.  Though God has always been present in the lives of his people, the birth of Jesus marks his presence in a new way.  For God became a human being and lived with us.  And so this is the beginning of living with God in a new way.  Here John speaks of that life after Jesus returns.

He writes, “I saw a new heaven and a new earth, because the first heaven and earth had disappeared, and the sea was gone. ² Then I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, dressed like a bride ready for her husband. ³ I heard a loud voice from the throne say, “God lives with humans! God will make his home with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There won't be any more death. There won't be any grief, crying, or pain, because the first things have disappeared.”  I did not see any temple in it, because the Lord God Almighty and the lamb are its temple. ²³ The city doesn't need any sun or moon to give it light because the glory of God gave it light. The lamb was its lamp. ²⁴ The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.”  That is Joy.  And so we sing, Joy to the world.

           

This is a beautiful picture of eternity.  Now keep in mind this is not just talking about heaven and where we will go after we die.  But this is talking about what happens at Jesus’ second coming.  A new heaven and a new earth, a new creation.  And on that day the home of God will be on earth, and he will live forever with his people.  This is awesome.  It is amazing.  It is astounding.  Notice John’s words as he attempts to show us something that indescribable.  To paint us a picture that no one has ever seen before.  There are no words for it.      

He begins by noting that there is a new heaven and a new earth.  And that the sea is gone.  The kinds of feelings that evoke fear, dread and utter hopelessness for us, are similar feelings that the sea evoked for people in John’s day.  It represented, chaos and sometimes evil.  There was no controlling the sea.  And so in this picture that John paints for us, the sea is gone.  On that day there will be no more sin, suffering, pain, evil or chaos.  And God will live with his people.  He won’t be far off, but right there, right in the middle of the place.  That is Joy.  And so we sing Joy to the world.

John goes on to measure the city and take note of the gates and the walls and what they are made of, and those things are significant, but for today we are going to skip ahead to verse 22.  There is no temple in this city because God is there.  But then, can you imagine?  Just as there is no sea, there is also no darkness.  What would this place be like without darkness?  The sun and the moon they are obsolete.  They are like the computer you bought five years ago.  There is no need for the light that they give, because on this new earth, under this new heaven, our light will come from the presence of our God.  Can you imagine?  No night.  No darkness.  No fear, or sickness, or pain, or suffering or death.  And it will be that way forever.  There will be no end to this place and this time with our God.  It is so much better than anything that we can imagine.  That is Joy.  And so we sing, Joy to the world.

And this new heaven and new earth, this city where God lives with his people, this is the Christian hope.  This is for us a great source of strength and comfort.  Because we know that we have this to look forward to, there are times when we are faced with the pain and suffering, fear and dread, hopelessness and brokenness that come from sin. There are times when we are faced with sickness and hardship and even death.  But in the light that comes from our God, these things, these dark things are not as scary as they are without that light, because we know that soon this new day will dawn, and when it does, there will be no more darkness.  For this light is a light that will shine without end.  That is Joy.  And so we sing, Joy to the world.

That’s pretty good news isn’t it? I mean this is really something.  It is life.  It is life beyond death.  And not just in a spiritual sense, but in a real and physical sense.  This is what things will be like after the restoration.  No clouds and harps and wings, but real life here on a real earth.  Lived forever with our God and the great joy and comfort that come from being in his presence.  All of this is given to you and me freely, without any work or worth on our part, but purchased and won for us by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

Now there is even better news to this whole story.  You see God kind of cheated a little bit.  Because he has taken this awesome future that we look forward with great expectation and he broke into history with it, and we are able to live in this reality now.  It’s kind of like this.  One day in class, my sem. Prof. brought in a sampler box of whitman’s chocolates.  He passed it around and told the class that this box was part of a truckload of whitman’s chocolates.  And that the rest of the chocolates would come sometime during the weekend.  You won’t know the exact time of the deliver, but it will come and in the mean time enjoy this little foretaste of what is to come. 

The future that John paints for us is indeed coming, but while we wait for that day we enjoy the foretaste that our God brings to us here and now.  It began a long time ago with the birth of Jesus.  For in him the kingdom of God had come near.  It had come among us.  And through God’s grace we have been bought and brought into that kingdom.  And while we look forward to that day when there will be no more darkness.  We get to enjoy now the presence of our God. That is Joy.  And so we sing, Joy to the world.

You see he has brought us into this kingdom, into this light, into a day that will never end.  And though we will face times and moments of darkness in our lives, they will not last.  They are only temporary.  For in Jesus this new day has dawned, and we get to live in it now.  And we get to know now his Joy.  And get to sing that Joy to the world.

And so as people of this kingdom of this day, we share that kingdom and that joy with the world.  We proclaim his love and grace, his mercy and forgiveness.  We love those whom society has deemed unlovable and help those who need help.  We share the joy that comes with the good news of forgiveness through Jesus Christ and the relationship with God that we have in him. 

We care for others not just in our words, but in our actions too.  Because in these things we are helping to expand God’s kingdom, and to make it grow.  We are bearing witness to who he is and his great love for the world.  We are letting the light that has come and overcome and will shine forever to shine through us into a world that is couched in darkness.  We are proclaiming his Joy.  And so we sing joy to the world.

And so, while we wait for that day when Jesus will return, we walk now in his light.  And we live in his joy.  For we experience it in word, in the water of baptism, in with and under bread and wine.  And through those gifts we are given forgiveness, life that never ends, and a relationship with our God that will last forever.  That day will be a glorious day, and we get to experience it now, as we walk together in that light and bear witness to the God’s rule and the hope of him living with his people forever.  That is Joy.  And so we sing, Joy to the world.