The Exhausting Pursuit of Joy

Joy… we all want it. Nobody probably ever thinks they have too much of it. We all pursue it in some manner. We all pursue it more than we realize… in fact, it is probably the primary pursuit of our lives. We pursue what we think will ultimately bring us satisfaction, happiness, or joy. However, we often pursue it in the wrong places, which can be exhausting; and futile. 

CS Lewis famously wrote in his essay Weight of Glory that

“God must look down and see that our desires are not too strong but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered to us. Like an ignorant child who is content to make mud pies in the slums because he cannot imagine what is meant by a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” 

The bible has a lot to say about joy. And when we come to the story of the birth of Christ, it is brimming with joy. It is spilling over with joy. No more so than the text we are looking at today. Infinite joy is offered to us today! The hymn Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee says, “Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day!” The Giver of undying, immortal, infinite joy has come to fill us with it! Let’s not settle for something less than He has for us.

Christmas Is About Mega Joy

Well, you’ve heard it before. The angels announce good news of great joy. Good news, that’s the gospel right? But listen, it is the gospel of great joy. The word great is … well great! The Greek word translated great is “megas” from which we of course get our word mega. And it means great or mega in every way - size, extent, grandeur, and rank! The message that the angels came proclaiming one of mega joy. The response of the wise men (or magi) when they found Christ - this King  they had come to worship - was one of mega joy as well. Matthew 2:9-10 says,  

And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they [the magi] saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 

This is the joy that the angel announced to the shepherds and the magi experienced. But more needs to be said about this joy. Our text unpacks for us why it is so great.  

First, notice it is a joy that reaches to great heights. It reaches to the heights of heaven. You have heard the phrase of being on cloud 9. This joy lifts up!. Look at verse 13-14. After announcing the good news of this baby that had been born in a manger, look at what happens:

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

This news came to these lowly shepherds, but it also captured the attention of the angels of heaven. A multitude of angelic worshipers. They were thrilled to hear the news and see this thing that happened. And so they came down to put on a concert inaugurating the Son of God coming into the world. What a concert! And they sing, “Glory to God in the highest!” The message of great joy leads to a song about God’s soaring, highest glory!

Peter tells us something fascinating in 1 Peter 1:12. He says that “angels long to look into” the good news of Christ. The joy bends low for the shepherds and soars to the heights of heaven as the angels celebrate the coming of Christ! Not only is this a soaring joy. It is also…  

Second, it is a joy that is expansive. Notice who is the joy for? Verse 10 tells us:

Good news of great joy that will be for all the people… 

For all the people. It begs the question for every single person on planet earth? Obviously not everyone experiences this joy. So who is “all the people”? The key is in the next verse. Verse 11 says, 

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Unto you. That is a strange phrase. When our son Grayson was born back in April, he was born “to us” or to our family. But when Christ was born into the world, the angel says, Christ was born “unto you”. I take this to mean that the joy of his coming is for all who receive him as their own. John 1:11-12 says that Jesus “came to his own and his own did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” We sing the words, “Joy to those who long to see him, Dayspring from on high appear…” This is good news of mega joy to all who receive Christ as their own. 

And what happens when more and more people share in this joy? Well, it multiplies joy to the glory and praise of God! This joy is great in its soaring heights, it’s expansive reach, and its depth…  

Deep Joy. Far better than a fleeting happiness or a chipper attitude when everything is going well. No, these simply fade away once reality slaps you in the face. That is not the joy that is described here. Notice two things about this encounter that the shepherds had with the angel of the Lord. Verse 9 says, 

An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.

God’s glory shone around these shepherds. This happened to Paul when he met Christ on the road to Demascus. He describes it like this in Acts 26:13: “I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining all around me…” When the shepherds saw the glory of the Lord shining, they felt what any sane person would feel - fear. They were filled with fear. In fact in the original, it says their response was one of “megas phobeo” - mega fear. Now, of course the angel allayed their fears, but the point is that underneath the joy that was announced, was the awe and wonder at the glory of God. This joy was mixed with awe! I can’t help but think of how Psalm 2 tells us to “rejoice with trembling” at the Son. This is a joy with deep roots and weightiness. 

This great joy - soaring, expansive, and deep is not just a feeling without a solid object. The point is that this joy is directed toward the Messiah! Christmas is about MEGA joy in Christ!

Christmas is about mega joy in Christ

This is important! What is the reason for this great joy? It has nothing to do with the immediate experience of sensual pleasure or riches or the absence of pain for these shepherds. It has everything to do with the fact that a gift has been sent to them.

The joy that these shepherds are being invited to know turns them, not in on themselves, but out toward another! This is so important in our narcissistic age. Our day in which self-discovery, self-realization, self-affirmation, etc is so prized. How about self-forgetfulness! Listen to what the shepherds were told by the angel of the Lord:

Fear not, for behold I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For (because/reason) unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 

What’s the reason for joy? The Messiah has come! God was fulfilling the hopes and longings of his people. We sing O Come, O Come Immanuel, which I love. But it is a song of longing. He’s come! There are numerous OT prophecies of the arrival of the Messiah and what he would do. Let’s meditate on a few of them right now!

The promised conqueror promised in Genesis 3:14-15 who would crush the head of the serpent, who would slay the dragon has come! The forces of evil have been defeated. But it is like D-Day (6/6/44) awaiting VE Day (5/8/45). The decisive victory has been won through the cross and resurrection, and the final victory is on the way.

The promised Son, born of a virgin, who is Immanuel - God with us - from Isaiah 7, has come!  He has come to taste our sadness. He’s come to remove our sin as far as the east is from the west. He has come to make our heart his dwelling place by the Holy Spirit, and be with us forever. 

The King who would sit on the throne of David forever and spread his government of peace - from Isaiah 9, has come. And of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end. 

The ruler prophesied of in Micah 5, who would shepherd his people, has come! This mega joy is found in one location - it is our Messiah, the Lord Jesus. Do you see this? Peter says that Christian joy is inexpressible and filled with glory even in suffering because it is joy in Christ (1 Peter 1:8)!

[Christmas is about mega joy… found in Christ... and one last thing and this might be the most important thing i have to say today… ]

Christmas Is about Mega Coming To Us

Experiencing joy this Christmas is not primarily about you looking in the right place instead of all the wrong places... rather it is about having your eyes opened to the joy that has come looking for you. The God of infinite joy has pursued you. The joy of the triune God that spilled over in the coming of Christ. And so Christmas is about the infinitely joyful God pursuing lost, darkened, rebellious sinners.

It’s hidden in plain sight. Think about all the different scenes of the biblical Christmas story we know so well. God choosing a young girl named Mary, the virgin birth, the circumstances that led to Joseph and Mary being in Bethlehem, the birth of Christ revealed to the shepherds, the Magi being led to the child all the way from the east. How did all of this happen?

Christmas is about the joy of God spilling over. The triune God full with exceeding joy and that joy spilling over in the sending of the Son, our Messiah into the world. And this joy will fill every open heart. In spite of circumstances. Listen, the issues of life matter - they really do. But this joy is stronger and more durable than your temporary circumstances, for this joy didn’t originate in you or in any part of creation. It originates in God. Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be full” (John 15:11).

And this joy cannot be extinguished - it is too great. It is too high, expansive, and deep. No one and nothing can take it from you. If you are in Christ, this joy will be with you to the end of the age - through every grief, pain, loss, and fear. For Jesus said to his disciples “no one will take your joy from you.” Good news of great joy!

May the Spirit give you ears to hear the good news of great joy of mega joy. Your Messiah has come “unto you”. And He has come to be the fountain of everlasting joy to all who want him; to all who come to him thirsty to drink. 

May the Holy Spirit grant us the faith to believe this gospel of mega joy, experience it, and live a life fueled by it. Let’s pray.