Joy to the World! - Isaiah 52: 7-10

We have arrived! For the past four weeks we have been accompanying the Biblical characters on a joinery that mirrors our own to discovering the Christ Child in the manger. Not everyone has arrived - next week we will conclude our sermon series with the wise men arriving to adore Christ with gifts - but we, ourselves, have arrived anew this day.

We are not the only people making a journey. This scripture passage, one of my favorites, was written to the Jewish people who had once been taken captivity by Babylon, this is their triumphant song as they return to Jerusalem, to rebuild their lives together and the city they worshipped God in. Their hearts were filled with joy for what the Lord had redeemed them from. And now they were propelled into life with this message of hope and redemption.

We are a people of haste. We are constantly moving as fast as possible, often trying to get from point a to point b. When I worked at Hershey Medical Center, the first thing that we were told was to walk slowly, but with purpose, because people who walk fast in the hospital are generally going to an emergency, sometimes leading them to be the bearer of news that loved ones do not want to hear. When was the last time that you saw someone running with good news of great joy to share? When is the last time that someone shared good news with you at all?

Friends, if anyone should be running to bring good news, it should be us! The people forever marked by the gift that was given to us in the Christ Child - the one whom brings peace, and will bring peace again. The one who brings salvation, is continually saving us, and will come again to bring salvation to the world. Yet, often we are blocked from sharing this good news, either by our own fear or our own desire to keep it to ourselves, afraid that if we share it, the meaning will be diminished. However, Jesus is not a thing - that when divided each person gets a smaller piece. And Jesus is not like us - only able to be authentically attentive and loving to a finite number of people. Jesus is the son of God, and the son of man! The light of the world, whose glory shines for all.

In the Gospel of John, we do not get the nativity story as we know it, but we get the statement that Jesus was the Word with God before the beginning of time, and “in him was life, and that life was the light of all of humanity. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” Jesus, the light of the world, should shine through us in word and deed that proclaims joy. It should be like the old hymn, “Go Tell it on the Mountain”. For what we have to share is holy and timeless - God has given us the greatest gift imaginable in the birth of Jesus Christ.

In the 4th Century, the date of December 25th was chosen to be the day to celebrate the birth of Jesus. There is no way of knowing the exact date of Christ’s birth. Some feel that this date was first selected to counter act the Pagan celebration of the winter solstice. In the old Julian calendar - December 24th and 25th was the longest night of the year. After this night daylight began to shine longer. The winter solcite celebrate the end of the darkness and the victory of the sun and the light it shined over the darkness. Perhaps this was the reason December 24th and 25th were selected to celebrate the birth of Christ more then any other reason - for the heavens in and of themselves were declaring the truth of the Gospel - that Jesus was the the light of the world, for all people. And that through him God’s light would defeat the darkness of sin and death. Truly we have good news to share! Our God reigns over the darkness and bring us light.

Is this not news that is worthy of us proclaiming it through shouting? Does this news not bring hope to a world that is engulfed in so much darkness? We have spent the last four weeks during Advent preparing our hearts to welcome Christ into this world, but we have also been preparing our entire beings for the light that we are called to bear as followers of Christ. For some day, Christ will return in all of his glory, and will join us praising God. At that time all darkness will be gone from this earth. But as we eagerly await the second coming of Christ, we are called to be bearers of his glory now. We are called to shine light into the dark places, and to rebuild that which darkness has destroyed.

Even for those who truly believe that God has redeemed their life and will redeem this world, this message of joy can be hard to share at times. We can get so caught up in our own darkness and despair that we forget all that God has done for us, and all that God has gifted us with. We can begin to take the gift of Jesus Christ for granted. We no longer thank God for the comfort he Holy One extends to us or the salvation that has been offered to us through Jesus Christ.

But even when our light seems to flicker as we face the darkness, it can never go out. Even when times are difficult, we can never really loose the joy we found at the manger. Because Christ has defeated the darkness. Even when we do not feel up to the task or worthy of the message we have to share, we are still expected to run to bring others the good news of Jesus Christ. Because the gift that has been given to us is meant to be shared, in all times and circumstances. Like the Jewish people who returned from exile, we have a task before us, a story to share, and a joyful song to sing. For our God reigns! Amen! Amen! Amen!