Rev. Dr. M. Taylor Bach

Zephaniah 3:14-20 Luke 3:7-18

Did you hear about the man who bought a huge diamond ring for Christmas? His best friend came up to him and said, “I thought your wife said she wanted one of those new four-wheeled vehicles.” He said, “Yes, but I couldn't find a fake jeep.” (Laughter) What is it that gives a person joy? Is it receiving an incredible present? It might cause joy for a while. Is it a groom watching his bride come down the aisle on their wedding day? Possibly. Is it the birth of a child and the mother holding that child for the first time? Maybe. The angels came to the shepherds the night that Jesus was born and said, “I bring you glad tidings of great joy! It will bring joy to the world.” So we sing a song entitled Joy to the World about the birth of Jesus. I don't know if you went to Christian camp when you were young but I did, and we sang a song entitled I've Got Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in My Heart. Do any of you remember that one? When you finished singing that song, you actually felt like you had joy down in your heart.

Christians are supposed to be joyful. In the epistle to the Philippians, Paul says, “Rejoice in the Lord.” In the scripture that Bob just read from Zephaniah, it says, “Be glad and be joyous because the Lord is near.” Then he recommends singing to celebrate the nearness of the Lord, the presence of the Lord. So Christians are really supposed to be those people who are joyful. When that joy is seen by others, it is like a huge magnet. It will draw others to us. We have some examples of that happening in other countries right now. I found some interesting facts from the Pew Religious Research Company. This just staggers my mind. In Africa in the year 2000, there were 10 million Christians. Today, there are 360 million Christians in Africa. How did that rapid growth happen? It is because some of our own American missionaries have gone over there and the residents have seen the joy in the missionaries' hearts as they explain the Good News to them. And they converted! They became Christians  wanting just a little piece of that joy down deep in their hearts, too.

Another amazing fact is that this Sunday, there will be more Christians going to church in China than in all of Europe combined. Can you imagine that? In China, a Communist country. Why is that? It is because the Christians who are there share their joy. Again, it worked like a magnet and drew people to the Christian faith. It drew people to Jesus because as the scriptures said, “The Lord is near” and that makes people joyful.

Here is another fascinating fact. There are more Baptists in India than there are in our own American South. We always think that since the Bible belt is in the South, there are Baptists everywhere. But now there are more Baptists in India&of all places! So if we are looking for the future of Christianity, it seems to be in the developing countries. Why is that? It is because people who share the joy of being a Christian, the joy of having Christ in their hearts, the joy of the birth of Jesus and the Good News to all people, share truly glad tidings.

The more I think about this, I'm standing up here wondering&do you see any joy in me? I hope you do every Sunday. I always try to stir up the joy in my heart but sometimes I may not succeed in that. Shouldn't we all be joyful in every worship service as we listen to the beautiful music, participate and hear the scriptures? Shouldn't we all begin to feel some joy about the fact that we are followers of Jesus Christ and how much He means to us and that He can take up His dwelling and reside inside of us and His Holy Spirit can fill us? We've got to be the most joyful people around. When we achieve that, we will have just a magnetic thing about us that will draw people into our church and make our church grow. That would be wonderful.

There was a parable that Jesus told that ends with joy. I'd like to repeat it to you because it is a very impressive parable. He talked about a good shepherd (which always was a symbol of Himself) having 100 sheep. One of the sheep drifted away and got lost. Perhaps it was a small lamb that got separated from all the other sheep. What did the Shepherd do? He left the 99 and went out searching for that one. When He finally found that one and brought it back to the 99, there was great rejoicing. This is a symbol of exactly what happens in heaven when a person who has fallen away from the faith returns or a person who has never had the faith discovers it. When these people come to faith in Jesus Christ, then there is great rejoicing in heaven. There is great rejoicing with all of us as well if a person who is lost is once again found and a person who was missing from our church returns. That is how it should be because Jesus is once again dwelling within the individual.

In the New Testament, there are two characters that I always view as very joyful. They're not preached about very often. In fact, you can read the New Testament and have your mind skip over them. They are Pricilla and Aquila. Do you remember their names? They appear in the Acts of the Apostles and they appear in the epistles of Paul. They were apparently really good friends of Paul. Aquila was a tentmaker just like Paul was. So whenever Paul went to their town, Aquila would hire him to be a helper. That way, Paul would pay his way by making tents. Apparently, Aquila was a highly successful businessman. He not only had a business in Corinth, but he had a business in Ephesus and a business in Rome. So whenever Paul went to any of these places, through the hospitality of Pricilla and Aquila, he could stay with them. They would create a house church where they were located and people would come and sit at Paul's feet. He would tell them all about the Good News. They would create a great deal of excitement and a great deal of joy. This gave birth to the church in these locations. It was all because of the joy of this couple, this successful couple (in business), who were willing to share of their wealth and their hospitality. Probably even more importantly, they shared their joy in finding Jesus Christ. That is what we should be doing during this Christmas season, too. If we invite friends over for Christmas, family or friends, and invite them here to our Christmas Eve services, we should make these occasions the most joyful celebrations that we possibly can as the angels did when they brought glad tidings of great joy announcing the birth of Christ. We, too, can announce the birth of Christ through our joy and sharing that joy with one another. It just seems to me like a marvelous thing to do. I hope you can think of it at Christmas. I know sometimes having all the family over can be more trouble than it is joyful. Sometimes you don't get along with everybody in the family. There are times when it can be very difficult and yet, if you really register whose birth it is, it is not about turkey or anything on the table, it is about Jesus Christ. It is not about getting the right present. Don't we always worry about that? We worry if it will make the receiver happy. That is just fleeting joy. The real joy comes from registering&we are celebrating Christ's presence among us. We are celebrating His birthday. Today is Gaudete Sunday when we light the pink candle on our Advent wreath. It is the turning away from penitence and moving into celebration. “Gaudete” is the Latin word for joy. So this is joyful Sunday and it is the beginning of the celebration of Christmas. I hope you all walk out of here and go to the Pancake Breakfast in Fellowship Hall excited and experiencing the joy of the season. I hope you can carry it home with you and for the next two weeks - take it with you and share it with family and friends. As Paul said, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I say it again, rejoice. The Lord is near.”