Joy to the world In the Old Testament, in the Prophet Zephaniah we read. Zephaniah 3:14-17 New International Version 1984 (NIV1984) 14 Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! 15 The LORD has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The LORD, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm. 16 On that day they will say to Jerusalem, “Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. 17 The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” This paragraph is found at the end of a book that is for the most part not nearly this upbeat. Listen to chapter 1 10 “On that day,” declares the LORD, “a cry will go up from the Fish Gate, wailing from the New Quarter, and a loud crash from the hills.11 Wail, you who live in the market district[d]; all your merchants will be wiped out, all who trade with[e] silver will be ruined.12 At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who are complacent, who are like wine left on its dregs,who think, ‘The LORD will do nothing, either good or bad.’
If we were to take the time to read the whole book (all three chapters) one gets the idea that something odd is happening here. God is proclaiming judgment and blessing at the same time. Do you remember the story of Paul and Silas Acts 16 22 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. 23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose. 27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” Praying and singing hymns to God.
Perhaps they were singing Zeph 3:17 17 The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” I was rereading some of one of my favorite books. Desiring God, by Dr. John Piper. And in it he explains some things that greatly impacted me early in life.
1) Passion is not bad, it is good and is to be encouraged.2) Christians should not avoid pleasure, or to put it another way most Christians do not live the life they were created to live because the spend so much time trying to diminish their God given desires.
3) We were created to desire, to delight, and to find joy in God. And only in God does our heart find satisfaction.
4) Thus the subtitle of the book, "meditations on Christian Hedonism." These are really powerful ideas, and as we journey together as a church, I expect we will dig deeper into these truths, but today, I want us to consider what implications this might have for our Christmas celebration this week. The older I get the harder it is for me to find joy in Christmas. Is this true for you as well? Perhaps it is just the time of life I am in. The pace of life speeds up to an impossible speed. The tension between buying the perfect gift, and the lack of funds in the checking account creates stress. Pretty soon that jail cell that Paul and Silas were in starts to sound kind of inviting. Its quiet. There are no cell phones, or email, or Christmas letters to write. And yet we find in Zephaniah the direct imperative: Be glad and rejoice with all your heart!!! Be glad? Can we order our emotions? Is God unaware of my circumstances? Does he not see how hard life is? And suddenly something clicks. Suddenly, Ebonezer Scrooge wakes up. Suddenly, the Grinches heart begins to grow 3 sizes. Perhaps the joy is not to be found in the circumstances. Perhaps the Joy is to be found in God, who freely gives joy to all who seek him. What is the object of our delight?
This is the light bulb. This is the key. God is the source and object of our joy. To the extent that we make proper use of the things and events in our life to see God, we will find joy. We find this truth right in Zeph. "The LORD is mighty to save." Do we have a clear picture of who God is? "He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." You might ask, "Why does God take delight in me?" When you give a present on Christmas morning, and the gift you give lights up the eyes of the one receiving the gift - we, the gift giver, experience delight." It is the same for God. He delights in us, as we delight in him. It is not something we muster, as sometime we must at Christmas. We think of clever things to say if we receive a gift we do not want. a) Now there is a gift!
b) That will look great in my basement
c) I have been looking for a picture for my laundry room
d) I really don't deserve this But the great thing is, when God gives us himself, he gives the very best. And our joyful response, while it is commanded, is hard wired into our created being. two applications: 1) Have you, like me, taken your eye off of Jesus, and allowed your circumstances to dictate your disposition? Stop it. 2) This Christmas, do not expect to find joy in the things and the experiences, but in the creator of the things and the experiences, JOY TO THE WORLD...THE LORD HAS COME!
If we were to take the time to read the whole book (all three chapters) one gets the idea that something odd is happening here. God is proclaiming judgment and blessing at the same time. Do you remember the story of Paul and Silas Acts 16 22 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. 23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose. 27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” Praying and singing hymns to God.
Perhaps they were singing Zeph 3:17 17 The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” I was rereading some of one of my favorite books. Desiring God, by Dr. John Piper. And in it he explains some things that greatly impacted me early in life.
1) Passion is not bad, it is good and is to be encouraged.2) Christians should not avoid pleasure, or to put it another way most Christians do not live the life they were created to live because the spend so much time trying to diminish their God given desires.
3) We were created to desire, to delight, and to find joy in God. And only in God does our heart find satisfaction.
4) Thus the subtitle of the book, "meditations on Christian Hedonism." These are really powerful ideas, and as we journey together as a church, I expect we will dig deeper into these truths, but today, I want us to consider what implications this might have for our Christmas celebration this week. The older I get the harder it is for me to find joy in Christmas. Is this true for you as well? Perhaps it is just the time of life I am in. The pace of life speeds up to an impossible speed. The tension between buying the perfect gift, and the lack of funds in the checking account creates stress. Pretty soon that jail cell that Paul and Silas were in starts to sound kind of inviting. Its quiet. There are no cell phones, or email, or Christmas letters to write. And yet we find in Zephaniah the direct imperative: Be glad and rejoice with all your heart!!! Be glad? Can we order our emotions? Is God unaware of my circumstances? Does he not see how hard life is? And suddenly something clicks. Suddenly, Ebonezer Scrooge wakes up. Suddenly, the Grinches heart begins to grow 3 sizes. Perhaps the joy is not to be found in the circumstances. Perhaps the Joy is to be found in God, who freely gives joy to all who seek him. What is the object of our delight?
This is the light bulb. This is the key. God is the source and object of our joy. To the extent that we make proper use of the things and events in our life to see God, we will find joy. We find this truth right in Zeph. "The LORD is mighty to save." Do we have a clear picture of who God is? "He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." You might ask, "Why does God take delight in me?" When you give a present on Christmas morning, and the gift you give lights up the eyes of the one receiving the gift - we, the gift giver, experience delight." It is the same for God. He delights in us, as we delight in him. It is not something we muster, as sometime we must at Christmas. We think of clever things to say if we receive a gift we do not want. a) Now there is a gift!
b) That will look great in my basement
c) I have been looking for a picture for my laundry room
d) I really don't deserve this But the great thing is, when God gives us himself, he gives the very best. And our joyful response, while it is commanded, is hard wired into our created being. two applications: 1) Have you, like me, taken your eye off of Jesus, and allowed your circumstances to dictate your disposition? Stop it. 2) This Christmas, do not expect to find joy in the things and the experiences, but in the creator of the things and the experiences, JOY TO THE WORLD...THE LORD HAS COME!
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