December 21, Fourth Sunday of Advent

Lessons: 2 Samuel 7.1-11, 16; Luke 1.26-38

INTRODUCTION

A little girl was fascinated by a nativity scene set up in her church. Asked by her mother! she was able to identify Mary, Joseph! the shepherds, and the animals in the stable.

"And what's that? her mother asked, pointing to the manger.

"Oh, that's Baby Jesus' car seat! Mommy!" the little girl said proudly.

XXX

A grandmother took her five year old grandson Christmas shopping. They found a nativity set, brought it home! and set it out.

"Look at that! grandma!" the little boy said. "Baby Genius in the manger.

--via Jeff Totten Hammond! LA

1. Jesus is the baby Genius.

1. Jesus is the one who brings us life.

2. Jesus is the one who lives forever.

3. Jesus is the one who makes it possible for us to experience great JOY.

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MAIN BODY:

1. When I began to examine these scriptures for the basis of this sermon I was struck with this thought:

1. Everything in our lives ends, even life.

2. Wouldn't be grand to place your life in the hands of someone for whom there is no ending?

2. Human immortality does not exist.

1. We are mortal.

2. William Shakespeare As You Like It, Jaques (Act II, Scene VII, lines 139-166), especially the sixth and seventh satages).

"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages....The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well sav'd, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion;
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything."

3. We die and we are seen in old pictures where no one remembers the person's names.

3. Everything changes.

1. The Old year is ending, a new year is beginning.

1. We picture the old you as Father Time, an old man with long hair and beard carrying a sythe.

2. The New Year is portrayed as a baby with a top hat and sash that says "Happy New Year."

2. We are in the process of the changing of the guard.

1. Even though he will be addressed as President, George Bush will become a private citizen.

2. Barak Obama will become President on the 20^th of January.

3. We put up monuments and then in time walk around them without looking nor remembering.

4. We are remembered only by those who have an interest in genealogy or personal history.

1. Even those who remember give way to those who do not.

2. Everything that we know, ends.

3. Can you recall the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

1. Great Pyramid of Giza

2. Hanging Gardens of Babylon

3. Statue of Zeus at Olympia

4. Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

5. Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus

6. Colossus of Rhodes

7. Lighthouse of Alexandria

4. Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley relates what happen to our monuments.

I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read,
Which yet survive stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
.And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my works. Ye Mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

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4. There is only one remedy.

1. We find the joy of living.

2. In these days this might be somewhat difficult.

1. Many of my colleagues are preaching sermons that reflect the deep anxiety created by the financial mess.

2. Some of my colleagues preaching sermons on the psychological impact of the economy.

1. New Poll Shows 63% Are Already Hurt by Downturn ⁽¹⁾
   By Michael A. Fletcher and Jon Cohen
   Washington Post Staff Writers
   Wednesday, December 17, 2008; A07

The deepening recession has eroded the financial standing and optimism of a broad swath of Americans, nearly two-thirds of whom say that they have been hurt by the downturn and that the country has slipped into long-term economic decline.

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll also found that a rapidly increasing share of Americans -- 66 percent, up from just over half a year ago -- are worried about maintaining their standard of living. Nearly two in 10 said they or someone living in their household had lost a job in the past few months, and more than a quarter said they had their pay or hours reduced. And 15 percent said that at some point in the past year they fell behind on their rent or mortgage.

Overall, 82 percent said the country is headed pretty seriously off on the wrong track, and 54 percent call the nation's financial predicament a "crisis."

The number of those who said they have been hurt financially by the recession, 63 percent, is higher than the 53 percent who said they felt the pain of the 1991 recession. The stock market has added to the financial anxiety: More than half said their families have suffered because of the recent sharp drop on Wall Street, and nearly half lack confidence that they will have sufficient assets to last through retirement.

More than half worry about being able to afford medical care for a sick family member, and nearly four in 10 are concerned about making house payments and heating their homes this winter.

The unease is most palpable among those with annual family incomes less than $50,000. They are twice as likely as those with higher incomes to be "very concerned" about maintaining their lifestyles and are much more apt to be anxious about health care and housing. Across the board, women are more apt than men to express concern in these areas.

The poll found that 10 percent of homeowners and 29 percent of renters said they have fallen behind on their mortgage and rent payments at some point in the past year.

More than two in 10 of those with jobs said they think it is likely they will lose their position over the next year, higher than at any point in polls dating to 1975.

The widespread financial anxiety will be felt across the holidays: Fifty-seven percent said they will spend less on Christmas shopping for family and friends this year than last. That is the most saying they plan to rein in shopping in polls going back to 1985.

The poll was conducted by telephone Dec. 11-14 among a random national sample of 1,003 adults interviewed on conventional residential telephones or cellphones. Results from the full poll have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points. Error margins for subgroups are larger.

3. Where will we find joy amidst the anxiety.

Joy from G5479 ⁽²⁾

áñÜ, chara: khar-ah', From G5463; cheerfulness, that is, calm delight:--gladness, X greatly, (X be exceeding) joy (-ful, -fully, -fulness, -ous).

1. The cross leads to joy and not just happiness. There is a difference between joy and happiness. Happiness is a checkbook that has money, a car that works, a good date for Saturday night. Happiness is the absence of major hassles, or terrorism or crime; happiness is kids getting good report cards and spouses getting a raise. Happiness is something we know as enhancement or protection of our own lives.

2. Joy comes in connection with another or with Jesus. Joy can happen without money or a working car. Joy happens when we get to the core of life and realize that love is at the core. Joy befriends us; love accompanies us.

1. Consider the ice cream vendor who got caught in a monumental traffic jam on a hot, humid afternoon.

He finally got out of his truck, went to the back and got himself a cold ice cream bar. As he munched, he realized that in the car idling behind him four young children were watching his every bite.

On impulse he once more opened the back of his delivery truck and got out ice cream for those children. Of course, in moments he was surrounded by a crowd of youngsters, as refugees from the other stalled vehicles mobbed him. By the time traffic began to move again, the ice cream man had given away four boxes of ice cream bars, which he had already decided to pay for himself.

When he returned to the factory, he was called into the manager's office. But instead of being fired, the manager smiled and told him it was the best public relations they had received in years. Grateful parents had been calling in all afternoon to praise the kindness of the man who had changed a frustrating situation into a moment of delight.

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5. We find our joy in a Head of State that will always be the Head of State.

1. Read Acts 2.25-28

²⁵For David says concerning him (that is Jesus),
'I saw the Lord always before me,
for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken;
²⁶ therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;
moreover my flesh will live in hope.
²⁷ For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
or let your Holy One experience corruption.
²⁸ You have made known to me the ways of life;
you will make me full of gladness with your presence.'

1. There is no doubt that Jesus is the source of JOY.

1. Read Psalm 16.7-11

⁷ I bless the LORD who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me.
⁸ I keep the LORD always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
⁹ Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;
my body also rests secure.
¹⁰ For you do not give me up to Sheol,
or let your faithful one see the Pit.
¹¹ You show me the path of life.
In your presence there is fullness of joy;
in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

2. Add Hebrews 1:8-12, NRSVA

⁸ But of the Son he says,
"Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
and the righteous scepter is the scepter of your kingdom.
⁹ You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions."

¹⁰And,

"In the beginning, Lord, you founded the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands;
¹¹ they will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like clothing;
¹² like a cloak you will roll them up,
and like clothing they will be changed.
But you are the same,
and your years will never end."

2. This Head of State will supply all your needs.

Philippians 4:19, NRSVA

And my God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus,

6. Jesus is the God of Joy.

1. Charles Wesley wrote the words to the song: Love Divine, All Loves Excelling

Love divine, all loves excelling,
Joy of heaven to earth come down;
Fix in us thy humble dwelling;
All thy faithful mercies crown!
Jesus, Thou art all compassion,
Pure unbounded love Thou art;
Visit us with Thy salvation;
Enter every trembling heart.

Breathe, O breathe Thy loving Spirit,
Into every troubled breast!
Let us all in Thee inherit;
Let us find that second rest.
Take away our bent to sinning;
Alpha and Omega be;
End of faith, as its Beginning,
Set our hearts at liberty.

Come, Almighty to deliver,
Let us all Thy life receive;
Suddenly return and never,
Never more Thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing,
Serve Thee as Thy hosts above,
Pray and praise Thee without ceasing,
Glory in Thy perfect love.

Finish, then, Thy new creation;
Pure and spotless let us be.
Let us see Thy great salvation
Perfectly restored in Thee;
Changed from glory into glory,
Till in heaven we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee,
Lost in wonder, love, and praise.

2. Sometimes my joy is like a raging river that leaps and swirls with a noise that is deafening.

1. Do you remember what it was like to fall in love?

Marc McCutcheon in The Compass in Your Nose and Other Astonishing Facts about Humans writes ⁽³⁾

One sign of falling in love is a high feeling similar to that of an amphetamine boost, according to Dr. Michael R. Liebowitz of Columbia University. The brain releases a chemical, probably phenylethylamine, that acts like a stimulant, summoning up extra energy, boosting the heart rate, and making the world look great. People get hooked on it. That is why when you break up with your loved one, the crash has a lot in common with drug withdrawal. People assuage their distress by eating much larger than usual amounts of chocolate, which also contains phenylethylamine.

2. Replay the joy that you experienced when your first child was born.

3. How did you feel when you received a significant award, raise, or promotion?

2. Sometimes My Joy Is Like A Quiet River

1. This is a song by George Gagliardi

Sometimes my joy is like a quiet river that flows calm and easy in my soul;
And when the dark days come I can live with strong assurance,
knowing that his Spirit's in control.

Sometimes my joy is like a quiet river, especially when I find it hard to smile;
Still I can be sure that he will keep his promise,
knowing that he loves me all the while.

And as I daily ask a thousand questions, searching for the who and what and why,
I find that Sometimes my joy is like a quiet river,
and when my days are desolate and bare,
So often I find strength deep within that quiet river,
drinking from the living water there.

I've got joy like a river in my soul.
Sometimes my joy is like a quiet river.

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Conclusion

1. As Gordon Aeschliman has written:

Don't give us blessings; give us grace to be obedient to your every command and desire.
Don't give us status; give us a place to serve.
Don't give us things for our use; use us.
Don't give us good jobs; put us to work.
Don't give us pleasure; give us perspective.
Don't give us satisfaction; teach us sacrifice.
Don't give us entertainment; enable us.
Don't give us good salaries; give us strength to do your will.
Don't give us a mansion to live in; give us a springboard to take Christ's love to the whole world.
Our great joy is in pleasing our Lord; no other joy in life is comparable.

Alternate Ending:

James S. Stewart, my beloved teacher at Edinburgh University, said, Don't be put off by these gloomy caricatures of Christianity. For God's sake, don't judge Jesus, the King of joy, by them! Try the real thing, not that miserable parody of the reality. Make friends with Jesus, stand where Peter and John and Andrew did, and look into his eyes, listen to the music of his voice, answer his challenge, rise and follow.

What is the Bible's ultimate purpose? To bring exhilaration and delight to you and me? No. It is to bring us back to God. The One who made us who wants us back in fellowship with him. He has something in mind for us to do. The Bible is a love letter to the whole world, but it starts with the person who opens it and reads it. It is the message of a Father pleading with his children. It is not some strange vibration out of the cosmos, nor is it a mystical distillation from the zodiac. Its purport is, Come home, son. Come home, daughter. And it ends with the promise of the Holy Spirit that he will stay with us, will never decamp in rough terrain, and will bring us at our journey's end back to the loving Father who made us and the Jesus who saved us.

Here is where the joy enters: That welcoming party will be accompanied by a joy so exquisite in richness that nothing on earth or in heaven can compare with it.

--Sherwood E. Wirt, Jesus, Man of Joy (Eugene, Ore.: Harvest House Publishers, 1999), 69.

1. Retrieved from: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/16/AR2008121602696_pf.html

2. Strongs Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries. Electronic Edition STEP Files Copyright © 1998, Parsons Technology, Inc. Strong, James (1822-1894) Parsons Technology, Inc. Electronic Edition STEP Files Copyright © 1998, Parsons Technology, Inc., all rights reserved.

3. --Marc McCutcheon, The Compass in Your Nose and Other Astonishing Facts about Humans [Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher, 1989],53.

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