Joy.

Nate Schlomann

[0:13] Good morning everybody. [0:14] Welcome. [0:14] My name is Nate. [0:15] I’m one of the pastors here at Village Church. [0:17] It’s great to be with you all this morning. [0:19] This morning we are kicking off our This Is Christmas series and what we’re going to

[0:23] be doing over this in the next few weeks after this is we’re going to be looking at a few [0:27] different issues during the Christmas season that typically come up that might cause us [0:31] problems. [0:32] So this morning I’m going to talk about joy and why is it that we can sometimes struggle [0:36] to find joy during the Christmas season. [0:39] Next week Pastor Steve is going to be back and he’s going to be talking about Christmas

[0:42] disappointment. [0:43] You’re not going to want to miss that one. [0:44] I think that’s going to be very, very helpful actually during this time of year. [0:48] And then the Sunday before Christmas we’re going to talk about forgiveness, forgiveness [0:53] during Christmas time. [0:55] But this morning we’re going to talk about joy.

[0:57] And the messaging we get all throughout the Christmas season makes it seem like it should [1:01] be easy to have joy this time of year. [1:04] Of course it’s in all the advertising that we see if we do Christmas right we’re going [1:08] to have joy. [1:10] There’s a message of joy in the stories that we hear and the stories that we see in the [1:14] movies we watch.

[1:15] There’s a message of joy in the stories frankly that we tell ourselves about what we should [1:19] be doing and feeling this time of year. [1:21] For many of us we have these nostalgic memories of joy during the holidays. [1:27] And so if we’re honest we spend Christmas time looking to recreate joy that we remember [1:32] from the past even though it’s often an idealized version of the past. [1:36] Or if we got kids in the home we spend our holidays trying to create nostalgic joyful

[1:41] memories again for our own kids. [1:44] But desire and joy and actually having joy are two very different things. [1:49] In reality is a lot of us don’t often have a lot of joy during the holidays. [1:54] In fact for many people Christmas time ends up actually being the opposite of joy. [1:59] Did you know that according to surveys and I looked some of this up this last week according [2:02] to surveys 88 percent of people feel overstressed during Christmas time.

[2:07] So that’s not joy that’s the opposite of joy. [2:09] Why is Christmas time so stressful. [2:13] And those surveys show that the average married couple fights more during the holidays than [2:17] any other time of year. [2:19] All right. What are they fighting over. [2:20] They’re fighting over what to do with their time.

[2:22] They’re fighting over how to spend money. [2:24] They’re fighting over extended family issues and surprisingly they’re fighting over food. [2:29] What to eat and when. [2:31] And then surveys also show that conversations with extended family is a huge source of stress [2:38] during Christmas time. [2:40] What are some of the other complaints we hear about the Christmas season.

[2:43] We hear that everything is so busy and hectic it’s just go go go all the time. [2:47] And then also we got the sense that there’s all kinds of obligations that we don’t really [2:52] feel like participating in but we have to. [2:54] Christmas parties events extended family stuff on and on and on. [2:58] It’s just the list of things we have to do this time of year. [3:00] It gets hectic and busy.

[3:02] Of course we hear about the dreaded materialism. [3:05] Everyone is trying to sell you something or you feel the need to buy something for someone. [3:10] And so there’s this this materialism that’s part of the season. [3:14] And of course there’s always the complaint that we’ve lost the true meaning of Christmas [3:19] right and all this other stuff just obscures what it’s really about. [3:23] So maybe given all that you look around and you don’t really feel joy in the stuff of

[3:28] Christmas at least you don’t really enjoy it. [3:30] You don’t really enjoy all the stuff going on this time of year. [3:33] And maybe you’re thinking all the stuff that you’re busy with or stressed about isn’t [3:37] what Christmas is really about all my cars on the table. [3:39] I love Christmas time. [3:41] I love all of it.

[3:42] I love the hustle and bustle. [3:43] I love the business. [3:44] I love the lights. [3:44] I love the movies. [3:45] I love the food. [3:46] I love the celebrations.

[3:47] I love the obligations. [3:49] I am person who does love Christmas time. [3:52] What I want to share with you this morning is what it is that should give us joy this [3:56] time of year and allow us to enjoy and celebrate all the stuff that’s involved in Christmas. [4:02] So yes we are going to start by talking about where the joy of Christmas really comes from. [4:07] It comes from the birth of Jesus and we’re going to talk about that.

[4:10] But the thing is we’re not going to stop there. [4:13] One thing that robs people of joy at Christmas time is not understanding how the joy we have [4:18] in Jesus actually allows us to find joy and to celebrate all those other aspects of Christmas [4:24] time that can so often bring us stress. [4:28] So what is the true meaning of Christmas? [4:29] If you look to our culture for the answer to that question, you’re going to get a lot

[4:34] of answers that have to do with sentimentality and feelings. [4:37] You’re going to hear things like Christmas is all about the heart. [4:39] Christmas is about family and friends. [4:41] Christmas is about goodwill and love. [4:44] You might even hear Christmas is about a spirit of generosity, a spirit of giving back. [4:49] You’ll even hear some Christian themes sprinkled in like hope and peace.

[4:53] Even though it’s devoid of hope in what specifically or the reason for that peace, [4:57] you’ll still hear that kind of stuff. [4:59] All these are good things. [5:00] All these are things that could in some sense make us happy this time of year. [5:04] But the thing is Christmas joy is not based on sentimentality or feelings. [5:09] Christmas joy is based on something a little more concrete, something fixed and permanent.

[5:13] So let’s look at Luke 2, verse 10. [5:17] We’re going to look at part of the Christmas story and see a little bit about Christmas [5:20] joy here. [5:20] Luke 2, verse 10. [5:22] It’s the story we’re all probably pretty familiar with. [5:24] And the angel said to them, fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy

[5:29] that will be for all the people for under you is born this day in the city of David, [5:34] a savior who is Christ the Lord. [5:35] And this will be a sign for you. [5:36] You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling claws and lying in a manger. [5:40] And suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God [5:45] and saying glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is

[5:50] pleased. [5:51] So what we see here in this little bit of story is Christmas joy is about an event. [5:56] It’s not a feeling. [5:57] That’s my first point this morning. [5:58] Christmas joy is about an event, not a feeling. [6:00] Christmas is the celebration of an event, the incarnation of Jesus, God with us.

[6:05] And in this text, the shepherds didn’t just simply have joy because of a feeling they [6:11] had. [6:11] They had joy because of an event that they were told about Christ the saviour had been [6:16] born. [6:17] So Christmas is ultimately about the material reality that God became man. [6:23] He did it because he loves us.

[6:24] He did it to rescue us. [6:26] But we celebrate an event with specific meaning, not a sentimental idea. [6:30] And because of this, we’ve got a deeper motive for our joy at Christmas time. [6:36] Our joy comes from the reality of what Christmas is, not the idealism of what we want Christmas [6:42] to mean. [6:43] It’s our joy.

[6:44] It doesn’t depend on whether or not we feel the right spirit of Christmas at the moment. [6:49] It’s still true that Jesus was born. [6:52] Our joy doesn’t depend on whether our holiday plans go like we want. [6:55] It’s still true that Jesus was born. [6:57] Christmas isn’t a thought or a feeling. [6:59] It’s the celebration of an event that happened.

[7:03] And now that event, of course, is full of meaning. [7:05] It’s full of a lot of meaning that comes along with it. [7:08] Feelings attached. [7:08] God loved us. [7:09] He made a way for us that should have meaning and feeling. [7:12] But our joy at Christmas is based on an event in history.

[7:15] And Christmas is a thing that happened. [7:17] And we celebrate the finality and the importance of that event. [7:22] So why does this matter that Christmas joy is about an event and not a feeling? [7:26] I think often we fail to have the joy that we should have this time of year [7:30] because we get hung up on well-intended but wrong notions about how Christians are supposed [7:36] to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.

[7:39] We know that Christmas is about the birth of Jesus, but we still buy into the idea [7:43] that celebrating the true meaning of Christmas is about a set of feelings and emotions. [7:49] And when we do that, we’re going to end up not finding the joy that we should. [7:51] And here’s why. [7:52] When you make Christmas about some overarching spirit of goodness and happiness [7:58] and a set of emotions that you yourself are trying to conjure up around you,

[8:02] what you’re doing when you do that is you set expectations that reality can just never live up [8:07] to. And our lack of joy actually comes from unmet expectations of others and unrealistic [8:13] and unhealthy expectations of ourselves for what we’re supposed to experience during the Christmas [8:18] season. [8:18] What ends up happening if you do that is the season becomes about doing and thinking [8:23] and feeling all the right things that you’re just trying to conjure up instead of just

[8:28] celebrating and enjoying what God has done. And when you do that, stress is bound to happen. [8:32] Stress is a signal that something is wrong with how we think about Christmas time. [8:37] Celebrations are supposed to be something that we enjoy, not stress over. [8:41] And then this kind of thing just compounds on itself. [8:44] Since our Christmas joy can never live up to the hype in our minds and the expectations that [8:49] we have for it, we don’t end up celebrating like we should because it was kind of a letdown.

[8:54] And so that just compounds on itself. [8:56] But reality is no one should celebrate as much as Christians. [8:59] So we need to learn how to have joy. [9:01] Another thing that can kind of creep in is the loss of loved ones during Christmas time [9:07] can rob us of our joy. And that also is based on this idea that Christmas joy is about a feeling [9:13] and emotion and not an event. Because what can happen is if you live long enough,

[9:17] you are going to have loved ones that you’ve lost, that you remember around the Christmas time. [9:21] And if Christmas joy to you is all about a feeling, you’re not going to have them there [9:25] for that feeling. But if Christmas joy isn’t about event that happened, it actually is that event, [9:30] the coming of Jesus, that is our only hope in the face of loved ones that we’ve lost. [9:35] So focusing our joy and Christmas on an event is essential for having joy during the holiday. [9:41] We can even turn the Christmas story itself into a sentimental feeling rather than a celebration

[9:48] of an event. That’s something that we can do if we don’t think about what it is that we’re doing [9:53] in the right way. And so this is something I see happening even with Advent celebrations. [9:58] And so it’s a caution to be careful with how you do Advent. Do you know what Advent is? [10:02] Advent wasn’t a thing 10 years ago. Now that’s actually not true because Advent is from church [10:06] history and it’s been a thing for thousands of years. But it wasn’t a commercial thing 10 years [10:12] ago that you would go to the store and buy. And now Advent is, if you’ve got little kids,

[10:15] you know this. It’s like a thing that you’re supposed to do where you get an Advent calendar [10:19] or some kind of Advent schedule and you set your kids down and you go through the Christmas story. [10:23] And of course, that’s a good thing to go through the Christmas story. There’s nothing, it’s not [10:27] what Advent did is what we tend to do with Advent. It’s because here’s what we tend to do. We know [10:33] that the birth of Jesus is an important thing and spiritual things are supposed to be important. [10:38] Right. And so what we do is say, Hey kids, push pause on all the Christmas fun. We need to come

[10:42] talk about Jesus and get really solemn and serious. Not a good idea. All right. Christmas needs to be [10:49] about celebrating the event of what happened. And so if Advent to you means taking a pause in [10:55] Christmas fun and getting real serious about who Jesus is, don’t do Advent that way. There is a way [10:59] you can do Advent the right way, which is remembering it is part of our celebration. It [11:04] is a celebratory time. We are not spending a month in solemn mourning thinking about how [11:09] horrible we are that God had to come die for us. All that is true, but he already did. All right.

[11:14] That’s the thing. We don’t need to mourn and wait for Jesus to come. Christmas is a month long [11:20] celebration of the reality that Jesus already has come. So we need to celebrate it like that the whole [11:25] time. So yes, we need to know our need for Christ, of course, but all of Christmas time ought to be [11:31] an appropriate celebration because we are people that know that we are celebrating an event [11:35] that has happened. Don’t let anyone convince you. The real meaning of Christmas is found in some [11:40] kind of serious reflection. The real meaning of Christmas is actually learning to celebrate widely

[11:46] and broadly and freely the supplying of our need by God. We’re celebrating an event that’s happened. [11:52] It’s done. Jesus has come. So once we understand that Christmas joy is about an event and not a [11:58] feeling, what kind of response does that create in us? How do we react to all the different stuff [12:04] and things of the Christmas season, all the hectic busyness and obligations and materialism [12:09] that 88% of us say stresses us out during the holidays? I think at that point you might be [12:15] tempted to think, great, our joy is to be found in the event. It’s in Jesus. So the answer then is

[12:20] focus on Jesus and ignore all the other stuff. After all, don’t we know Jesus is the reason for [12:25] the season? Of course that he is. All right. But that is not the answer. He’s also the reason [12:31] that we should enjoy every part of the Christmas season, every busy part, all the hustle and [12:37] bustle, all the movies, all the lights, all the food, all the obligations. Jesus is the reason [12:41] we should enjoy all of that stuff. And when we say enjoy it, we really mean actually enjoy it. [12:47] It should be obvious in our attitude that we enjoy this time of year. The meaning of Christmas

[12:52] is not found in rejecting the celebrations we see all around us, but embracing the celebrating [12:58] while also understanding the deeper story behind it all. This key is when you understand what [13:03] Christmas is really about, you’re going to celebrate more and not less. I want to propose [13:08] to you this morning that the reality of the Christ-focused event of Christmas actually puts [13:13] Christians in the position to do the most celebrating with all the other stuff of Christmas [13:19] beyond just the Christmas story. All the other stuff itself is not bad. It’s just the world

[13:24] around us doesn’t know what they’re celebrating. And so that should actually be kind of a cool [13:29] thought to us as Christians. We understand what this season is about. The world is out there [13:34] running around. They’re busy. They’re hectic. They have all these parties and traditions and things, [13:39] and they’re doing all this stuff and they don’t even know really why they’re doing it. They’re [13:42] seeking after joy. We know why. We know that all of this is happening because 2000 years ago, [13:49] Jesus was born. And so that should put an attitude and a mindset towards celebration in us

[13:54] that we are going to celebrate more because we understand more what it is all about. [13:59] Let’s look at another part of the Christmas story in Matthew 2, 10 through 11. Picking up here with [14:05] the wise men searching for Jesus. Matthew 2 verse 10, when they saw the star, they rejoiced [14:11] exceedingly with great joy and going into the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother, [14:15] and they fell down and worshiped him. Then opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold, [14:21] frankincense, and myrrh. So it goes without saying, I think that the joy of the wise men was not

[14:27] sentimental. It was not just some emotional feeling. They had some spirit of goodwill. They [14:33] they had just traveled a very long way and for a very long time. And so when they actually found [14:38] Jesus, this thing was real. They rejoiced and then they didn’t just rejoice. They celebrated. [14:44] All right. They gave expensive gifts. They made a big deal of all of it. This was Christmas joy [14:49] that was evident in the way that they celebrated. I want us to think this morning. Second point, [14:53] no one should out celebrate Christians at Christmas. Nobody should out celebrate

[14:58] Christians at Christmas. We need the kind of joy that leads us to out celebrate those who don’t [15:04] have it. And that should be clear to everyone around us. It’s obviously true. We should remember [15:09] that Jesus is the reason for the season, but remembering this should lead us to more celebration, [15:15] not less. Christians should be motivated by their joy of an event to out celebrate others at [15:22] Christmas time. And we need to understand all the stuff of the Christmas season is ultimately a [15:27] celebration of Jesus, whether people realize it or not. If we have Christmas joy that’s based

[15:34] on what God’s done, it’s going to show up everywhere. Not just when we’re talking about [15:38] the Christmas story. So why do we enjoy time with loved ones? Why do we put effort into decorating [15:44] our house? Why do we have special traditions and Christmas movies and going on tacky light tours? [15:49] And why do we eat good food? Why do we go to Christmas parties? Why do we give gifts and [15:54] hopefully gratefully receive gifts to all the answer to all these things as we celebrate all [16:00] these things? Because we know the deeper meaning that we are celebrating an event that Jesus

[16:05] has come. Now, what about materialism? What about this objection that so much of Christmas has [16:13] just become about stuff, about materialism and commercialism? Isn’t it true that we shouldn’t [16:18] celebrate that? It seems like the world has turned Christmas into being all about stuff and spectacle. [16:24] I think we need to have a mindset about Christmas that actually is about the material. And I think [16:31] that’s what we miss. I think when we buy into this idea that Christmas is about a feeling and [16:35] emotions that we’re trying to conjure up, then materialism seems wrong. But if we understand

[16:41] that Christmas actually is about celebrating an event that happened, material stuff is how we [16:47] celebrate things that happen. And so there’s actually a portion of us as believers that needs [16:52] to embrace celebrating the reality of Jesus with the material stuff of God’s world. Think about this. [17:00] How much stuff you put in and when I say stuff, I mean effort, I mean money, I mean time, [17:05] I mean, whatever you have available to you, how much stuff you put in a celebration is appropriate [17:11] or not appropriate, depending on what that event is. So if an event was really important, a lot of

[17:21] people are going overboard on celebration. Sometimes we are just out celebrating things [17:26] that really aren’t that big of a deal. One example, stepping on little toes in the room, [17:33] I don’t understand gender celebrations. I don’t understand gender reveal celebration parties. [17:38] I see this happening online and I’m thinking every person who has ever lived has had their [17:43] gender revealed. It’s not unique. Now we might be heading to an age where knowing someone’s [17:50] gender is actually an accomplishment, but that’s another sermon for another time.

[17:56] But it’s not an extraordinary event, right? But we put a lot of time into it. However, [18:02] Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, God incarnate, becoming a man. This is a one-time [18:09] event. There is no celebration that we could do that without important the coming of Christ. [18:16] This is one of the most important things that has ever happened in the history of the world. [18:21] No amount of celebration honestly is overblown when it comes to celebrating Jesus and the fact [18:28] that he came. You can’t go overboard. It’s not about rejecting materialism because part of

[18:34] celebrating Christmas is properly enjoying all the material stuff of the reality of Christ coming [18:41] into the world. So celebration is a material thing. Celebration involves senses and tastes, [18:46] locations, games, gifts. Yes, even movies and lights and all this stuff. That’s all part [18:52] of celebration and we should learn to enjoy that as part of something bigger, realizing [18:57] this is all happening because of Jesus. Another question that comes up when it comes to like, [19:05] what should our Christian traditions and Christian Christmas celebrations be?

[19:08] Is the question of what about Christmas traditions that have origins outside of Christianity?

[19:14] Isn’t it a reality that some of the things that we celebrate are non-Christian in their origin? [19:19] What about Christmas trees? What about Santa Claus? Aren’t a lot of Christmas celebrations [19:24] actually about the winter solstice? And did you know Jesus wasn’t even born this time of year? [19:29] Yes, we all know Jesus was not born this time of year. First, some of these celebrations, [19:34] I think, first we need to understand is they actually have more of a Christian origin than [19:38] we realize. So we’ve been led to believe some things that aren’t completely true. One is

[19:42] Christmas trees. Have people throughout time put plants in their house? Yes, they have. But [19:46] what we know as Christmas trees originated with the Reformation actually. No doubt about that. [19:51] In Germany, during the Reformation, that’s the first place you would see what you would recognize [19:55] as a Christmas tree. That’s a Christian thing. Of course, well known that Nicholas was actually a [20:01] real hero in the early church. So there is some Christian origin to that. As far as the time of [20:06] year, celebrating the birth of Christ, the light of the world at the darkest time of the year,

[20:11] makes a lot of sense. So were there pagan winter solstice celebrations? Of course there were in [20:17] history. But here’s what we need to understand. No matter the origin of a celebration and [20:22] traditions, we need to remember that we are celebrating the coming King. And so it makes [20:28] perfect sense that Jesus as King would supersede and overrule any human tradition and make that [20:34] celebration about him. That’s actually something that we should embrace. The celebration of Jesus [20:39] consuming and overriding secular celebrations is exactly what we would expect a coming King to do.

[20:46] This doesn’t mean, so we want to find Jesus in everything then. We want to realize that whatever [20:51] it is that we’re seeing that people are celebrating, they’re doing it at Christmas time [20:55] because it is about Christ, even whether they realize that or not. It doesn’t mean that we [20:59] are celebrating Jesus, Juke, everything. It doesn’t mean our answer to making Jesus King of [21:03] all celebrations is to insert a little bit of Christmas story in everything. That can just get [21:07] annoying after a little while. But as Christians, what it is, is we feel freed up to celebrate

[21:13] everything that the season brings to us because we realize ultimately whether folks know it or not, [21:17] it’s all about Jesus. You can enjoy good things that God has given for the good things that they [21:22] are. And in doing that, that’s an acknowledgement that it’s all from him and then because of [21:27] that, we’re celebrating Christmas. So feel free to enjoy good food, enjoy giving gifts and enjoy [21:33] receiving gifts, enjoy time with friends, love that extra time you had to spend with family. [21:38] You need to enjoy Christmas movies and lights. You need to enjoy Christmas parties and tacky

[21:42] sweaters. Here’s another thing I think you need to realize. You even need to enjoy shopping this [21:46] time of year. I hope there’s some women in the room that are appreciating what I’m doing for you [21:49] right now. If you can learn to enjoy going to a mall on Christmas Eve or the Saturday before [21:56] Christmas and look around and just see all the busyness and all the people running around like [22:01] crazy people and realize they don’t know why they’re doing this. But this season has come about [22:06] because Jesus was born, whether they know it or not. There’s something good about understanding

[22:11] that this hustle, this bustle is because of Jesus. We can do all of that. I think another aspect of [22:19] celebration that we misunderstand and it robs us of Christmas joy is that celebration does take effort. [22:24] We need to be okay with that. We need to change our mindset about this in order to enjoy Christmas [22:30] more. Often one of the biggest complaints that I hear about Christmas and the thing that robs us [22:34] of joy is that we have to just do all this stuff. We’ve got to decorate. We’ve got to spend time [22:40] getting ready for things. We’ve got to go here and go there and just all the effort. It just

[22:45] seems like if this is just all about Jesus, would it be so much work? I think that is just [22:50] our culture’s misunderstanding of how often work is involved in celebration. Look again at Matthew [22:55] 2 and the Wise Men. Look at the effort that went into their celebration of this coming King Jesus. [23:01] First, they devoted years to traveling to seek Jesus out. That’s kind of mind-blowing. Years they [23:05] spent and they didn’t even know that they were going to find him. And then when they did find [23:10] him, of course, they put effort into these very expensive gifts that they prepared for him.

[23:14] And so one of the reasons that we do struggle with joy during the holidays is we [23:20] don’t find fulfillment in things that take effort and hard work. And so our society just [23:24] thinks that anything that takes too much effort can’t bring us joy. And so what happens is all [23:29] the obligations, all the stuff we have to do, it weighs us down and we just end up complaining, [23:33] I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to do that. We need to have a different mindset. Often [23:37] celebrations take effort and that’s okay. The best hosts of parties put a lot of hard work

[23:41] into the party. You get terrible hosts, don’t put much work into the party at all. And so we’ve [23:47] all been to those different kinds of parties, right? You’ve all showed up at a party where [23:50] it’s clear someone cared about this. Someone must have put days and days of work and effort [23:54] into this party and it shows and it’s enjoyable. And then you’ve been to one where you just showed [23:57] up and it’s like a couple of guys on a couch and some prepackaged food and I don’t know. [24:04] They didn’t try at all, right? You see the difference. One is took a lot of work and a

[24:10] big deal for someone and it brought a lot of joy. And so we need to be fine and okay with putting [24:16] effort into celebrating. You need to just be okay with the fact it’s going to take time and it’s [24:20] worth it because we’re celebrating the event that Jesus came. One thing that can breed a lack of [24:28] joy in the face of a lot of effort though is a lack of gratitude. So make sure that you are having [24:32] gratitude for those that are putting effort and work in. Make sure that you have gratitude in your [24:36] house for the things that we’re doing during the Christmas season. Make sure that you have a house

[24:41] that is full of gratitude to God, of course, above all for what he has given to us. Gratitude will [24:48] help you put joy in every part of your celebration. Finally, one other part when I’m thinking about [24:54] how do we celebrate Christmas that I want to talk about for just a little bit is the idea of serving. [25:00] So talked about joy, we’ve talked about celebration. And one message that I hear coming [25:04] at us a lot is that ultimately Christmas is about serving and about giving back. And so if [25:10] you want to know the true meaning of Christmas, you’ve got to serve and you’ve got to give back.

[25:13] And I think the result of this is correct. We do need to serve and we do need to give back. But [25:18] the idea that that’s the true meaning of Christmas, I think is problematic. And let me tell you why. [25:24] Now, first for Christians, we should always be giving and serving. That’s one thing. It’s not [25:28] just something that we do during the holidays. What is a Christian who only thinks about giving [25:33] and serving during the holidays. They’re ungenerous and they’re unsheritable. So we don’t [25:37] want to do that. That’s part of our life all the time. But if we have this notion that the

[25:42] holidays is specifically about giving and serving, we’re missing the event that we’re supposed to be [25:47] celebrating. The holidays is about giving for one person, God. God gave us Jesus. He gave us something [25:54] that we could never earn. And so actually it is more right, and I wouldn’t even say this exactly, [26:00] it is more right to say that the holidays are all about receiving. The holidays are about us [26:06] realizing that something real in history happened. Jesus became, God sent Jesus to become man to save [26:12] us. All right. And we receive that gift. We can never do anything to earn it. And so in that

[26:18] respect, the holidays actually are more about realizing that we are receiving something we [26:22] could never earn. Now, the reason I wouldn’t say it that way is because again, we should be serving [26:26] and giving others all the time. We do that out of gratitude and out of a love for God and what he [26:32] has done for us. But don’t just reduce Christmas to Christmas is just about serving and giving. [26:37] You’re not going to celebrate appropriately. That’s actually not what Christmas is about. [26:40] Christmas is about celebrating what God has done and celebrating it appropriately

[26:45] because of the greatness of God’s gift to us. Obviously, we should still give. Obviously, [26:55] we should still be giving and generosity during Christmas time, but don’t let that take away from [26:59] the reality that Christmas is about what God has given to us. The final thought about Christmas [27:05] joy that I want to close us with this morning is considering the importance of joy for our witness [27:11] to the world around us, including our families. Let’s look at a longer passage in the Christmas [27:16] story in Luke chapter one, starting in verse 67. And this is a part of the Christmas story. We don’t

[27:23] often spend much time on, but this is actually John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah, and he is [27:28] rejoicing over the coming Savior Jesus. And then he’s also going to rejoice over the role that his [27:33] son, John, is going to play in pointing people to Jesus. Let’s look at Luke one, verse 67. [27:40] And his father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, [27:44] blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised [27:49] up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant, David, as he spoke by the mouth of his

[27:54] holy prophets from old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate [27:59] us to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his Holy covenant, the oath that he [28:04] swore to our father Abraham to grant us that we being delivered from the hand of our enemies might [28:09] serve him without fear and holiness and righteousness before him all our days. So stop right there for a [28:15] second. All of that that he just said is him giving praise and rejoicing that Jesus has come. [28:21] That’s what he’s doing right there. He is joyful that the Messiah, Jesus, is coming.

[28:27] And then where does he go from there? Starting in verse 76, then he’s going to talk about how [28:32] excited he is that his son, John, is going to be a witness to Jesus coming. So verse 76, he says, [28:37] and you child, he’s talking about John the Baptist now, will be called the prophet of the most high [28:41] for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways to give knowledge and salvation to his people [28:47] and the forgiveness of their sins because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall [28:52] visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to

[28:56] guide our feet into the way of peace. So don’t forget that John the Baptist is part of the [29:01] Christmas story. And the focus of John the Baptist’s birth was not about his own greatness. Of course, [29:07] it was about the joy in the coming King Jesus. And then what was John? He was a joyful witness. [29:14] John was a joyful witness about what God had done in this Christmas event. [29:19] And I was a powerful witness to faith in Jesus. Joy is a powerful witness to our faith in Jesus. [29:25] And so we need to remember that as we’re thinking about celebrating Christmas, our joy is a witness

[29:30] to the culture around us. It says something to those around us when we’re not stressed out, [29:34] when we’re genuinely enjoying this time of year, when we are genuinely focused on celebrating God’s [29:41] gift to us. If the birth of Jesus is the important event that we say that it is, [29:46] enjoying the season that is all about that event says a lot about our faith. Consider that you [29:52] learning how, and this is something we have to learn how to do, but consider that you learning [29:56] how to be joyful at Christmas time is an act of worship and mission. And that means real joy,

[30:02] not fake joy. That means joy in all that the season brings, not just some condensed joy as [30:08] you read the Christmas story. So don’t get me wrong, the Christmas story matters too, but our [30:12] joy throughout the season is our witness to what God has done. I think also we need to take genuine [30:18] joy in the mission opportunity of Christians and mission opportunity of Christmas for Christians. [30:25] So more non-Christians come and hear the gospel preached during Christmas time, [30:30] and especially on Christmas Eve than any other time of the year. That is just a stat, it’s just

[30:35] facts, it’s undeniable. That should be something that brings us joy. We should be excited about [30:40] that reality. It’s one thing to be happy about that. You can be happy about something that’s true. [30:45] There will be more people here on Christmas Eve than any other day of this year. That is true. [30:49] The question is, what does our joy in that cause us to do? Are you going to invite, are you going to [30:54] approach the season with a hospitality to others? Are you going to go out of your way to make some [31:00] cookies for the neighbors? Are you going to go out of their way to give a gift that could mean an

[31:04] invitation, whether to church service or whether just to your house, to build a relationship? The [31:11] mission opportunities of Christmas are huge, and so we need to find joy in that. I think the biggest [31:17] place Christmas joy is an important witness to our faith is actually in our own homes with our own [31:23] children. So I want to take just a minute. As we’re getting close to the end here this morning, [31:27] I want to talk about the concept of Christmas joy in our home for those of us who have little [31:33] kids in our house, which I know is a lot of us, or bigger kids too. We need to have houses that

[31:40] have joy. We recently kind of updated our stats as a church and kind of looked over the church [31:45] membership and people who are attending. We are now at a place where there are over 200 kids who [31:51] call Village Church home, fifth grade and under. We are overrun with kids. That is a lot of kids [31:57] as a huge blessing. You need to go thank the village kids worker after service if you haven’t [32:01] done that recently. They are busy. Their hands are full, and our hands as a church are full, [32:07] and this is a huge blessing, but we need to take seriously our joy in front of our children. The

[32:13] matter of joy in your home is important throughout the year. This is really a principle of parenting [32:19] that matters throughout the year, but I would say it’s even more critical this time of year. Your [32:24] home being a joyful place is a huge witness to your children, so don’t miss that. Your kids [32:29] should associate this time of year with a joyful celebration. If you want to pass on the true [32:35] meaning of Christmas, that we’re celebrating the event of what God did, real joy in the home [32:39] is going to do more to do that than any amount of Advent calendars you could do, as important as

[32:44] those are to do too. You can’t tell your kids how important the Christmas story is and then have [32:50] a home that is no fun during Christmas. It’s not going to work. You don’t want to be the parent [32:55] that is telling your kids in a stern, strict manner, this season matters because of Jesus, [33:01] and then they see no joy in the home. We’ve got to have our kids see joy in the home and [33:07] throughout the activities that we participate in as a family during Christmas time. It takes effort. [33:13] That’s the thing, and we need to be okay with that. It does take effort to create a joyful home.

[33:17] Put in that effort because it’s worth it. It doesn’t necessarily take money. [33:21] Plenty of celebratory fun things are cheap or free, but parents take joy in your home seriously at [33:28] Christmas time for the sake of your witness to your children, that they would see that Jesus is who [33:35] we say he is. One of the quickest ways to drive kids away from the faith is to tell them how [33:40] important Jesus is, but they never see any joy in your life in that, and take advantage of the [33:45] time for just the on a platter opportunity it gives you to let your kids see joy that you have

[33:51] in Jesus. Enjoying Christmas is a declaration that Jesus is king and that our faith is not [33:58] in some sentimental feeling or philosophical idea, but in a God who rescues sinners here in time and [34:06] in place. It’s good news because it has already happened. We’re celebrating something that has [34:11] happened. We don’t have to like God’s people in the Old Testament look forward to our salvation. [34:16] We do look forward, of course, to God putting everything right in the end, but our salvation, [34:21] the guarantee of our hope, Jesus, he has come. It is already done. So that event started at

[34:27] Christmas. That event would be finished at Easter. But when we enjoy everything that Christmas is, [34:33] all of it, every little bit, even the Jesus story part of it and the stuff that is considered more [34:39] secular, the hustle and bustle, the food, the events, the lights, and all the effort and all [34:44] the work that does go into Christmas time. When we enjoy all of that, we’re declaring to the world [34:49] that Jesus is king and the good news of his coming is for them too. And so because of that, let’s [34:54] have joy during Christmas time. Right now we’re going to move into a time of communion. And

[35:00] at communion, we are faced with another remembrance of an event. What started at Christmas would end [35:08] finishing at the cross and the resurrection. And so if you’re a believer this morning, [35:12] these tables are open to you. There’s tables in the front and the back and the bread represents [35:18] Christ’s body broken for you. The cup represents Christ’s blood shed for you. But as we come to [35:23] the tables this morning, I want us to remember that our faith is not based on a set of philosophical [35:29] ideas. Our faith is not based on a sentimental notion of what God might think about us. God has

[35:37] proven what he thinks about us and what he did. He came and he died and he rose again. So as you [35:43] come, just remember that our faith is based on events and we praise God for that. When you’re [35:48] ready, come.