Luke 2:8-20.                Good News of great joy!!                   25/12/12

 (8)  And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. {9} An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. {10} But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. {11} Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. {12} This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." {13} Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, {14} "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests."

 This Christmas we again have that most startling message of the angels; "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. Yes today we have again been brought good news of great joy: News that surely turns our world upside down.

 Yet as I stand up here and look at your faces, one really has to wonder. Good news! What good news? Where’s the good news of great joy? Did you only get a pair of socks for Christmas or a cheap set of kitchen scales? No; that is most unfair of me! You are here, which does mean that there is something very special about the message of Christmas. You could be home sleeping in, or enjoying the gifts you have received, or preparing the special lunch that you have in mind. But no you are here, and so you do recognise that there is much more to Christmas than those things; as good as they might be. You have come to receive more of and to be reassured again of this good news of great joy and in turn give glory to God in the highest.

 This then though, had me to thinking, why is it that we are not over the moon at this good news of great joy? But then, as I thought about this, this is just the way it is. Let me explain. If as you entered church here this morning each of you were given a million dollars, I can imagine the atmosphere and happiness that would be evident. But then what about 12 months time when we all gathered back here again. Certainly there would not be the same euphoria and happiness. However the impact of that good fortune would have changed your lives and given you much deeper sense of happiness and wellbeing that is not so upfront and  out-there, but nevertheless ingrained into the character and life of each of you. As well, each of you would express that underlying happiness and security in different ways depending on your individual circumstances, health, family situations and the like. The appreciation, however, for what you had receive would still be there, as would the underlying security, and the changed lifestyle.

 Now I know that illustration has its shortfalls and limitations, because the gift itself is not all encompassing. The same could be said if we used the illustration of say a cancer patient who has been told his sickness is terminal, but then out of the blue he is given the news that he is completely and guaranteed clear. The same joy would be there initially, but it would shift to a different level as time goes by. That too does not mean that this person is any less happy for his changed circumstances, and it does not lessen the change of his life’s situation or necessarily his appreciation of it. No doubt he would be ever so thankful and have a whole different outlook on life.

 Now when we go back to thinking of our spiritual lives, no doubt the situation is the same. The angel’s message of; "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord’: has impacted our lives greatly and continues to do so day by day, year by year. Sure the way we express that joy as each day goes by may be different, but the reality and depth of it may, and in most people, is nevertheless just as great. Here again we need to remember that first and foremost it is who God is and what he has done and continues to do that is of paramount importance. So the gift and the Good News are there no matter who we are and how great our joy is or is not.

 The good news of great joy that is proclaimed is the news of God’s activity in our world. This good news of what HE has and is doing, is what makes it truly good news of great joy.  For when God Almighty himself does something, he does it properly. It is something that is truly good, right and it truly is a reality. When he says it is; it is. When he says it is for all people: it is for all people. [ Of course, many people have chosen not to receive it. They don’t want it. But he has made it available to all.]

Then, what is this good news of great joy that will be for all the people?

What is it that will make us truly joyous in the midst of the aches, pains and troubles of this world? What is it that would make us infinitely happier than a million dollars or healing from a terminal illness? What is there that will remove the guilt that lies deep within us as a result of our selfishness and rebellion? What will take away the terror of death and the facing of a holy and just God?  The angel says; Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.

 There is the answer to all our hopes and all our fears. There in Jesus, we find the great joy that our hearts and lives yearn for. In Jesus, God came to be with us: God with us, not to condemn and destroy. Nor to simply show us how to live as God expects us to, and to tell us to ‘lift our game’ if we want to be with God in heaven. Nor did he come to be with us, simply to say, she’ll be right mate, it doesn’t matter what you think, say or do.

 No Jesus, came to be with us to take on himself our sin and the punishment that was meant to come our way because we have chosen to go against God and what he has to say to us, and because we have placed ourselves and what we think, say, and do as of utmost importance. So Jesus came into our world to die in our place, so that we might be forgiven and assured of God’s acceptance despite who we are and what we have done. God came to be with us that we might be with him in eternity.

 Again, this is not some fanciful thinking, made up be some wise guy, years ago. This is not some fairy story or myth from years long gone. No, this is God’s good news to you and me. This is what the God who created the world and keeps it going, says. This is the one who said way back in Old Testament times that he would send his Messiah to be born in Bethlehem, and who would die on the cross and rise again three days later. This is the God who has given and fulfilled many promises that he had made down through the ages. Here now, this God tells us that he has this, good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. So if he says so; it is so. There is forgiveness of sins, life and salvation for all in Christ Jesus.

 Now that truly is Good News! That is Good News of the greatest joy. There we have that which now truly does change things for us, and which turns our world upside down. Now we too can join with the angels in praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests.

 That again is the reason we gather here together week after week and year after year. This Good News of great joy, brings us back again and again with an underlying joy, peace and hope which is beyond understanding. Yes, we know deep down that this is the greatest thing that has ever and will ever happen in our lives. We have been rescued from hell here and in eternity and brought into the wonderful world that God has always intended for his people.

 At the same time as having this Good News of great joy there in our lives, we also know that we are for a short while called on to live on in this world with all its troubles and hardships. We are here now to be and to share the good news of ‘God with us’ with the people around about us in our daily lives so that they too can know of this Good News of great joy. That, today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to them; he is Christ the Lord.

 So to live on here with that as our task, means that life will not always be easy. The shine will be taken off of our great joy. We will not always have the new enthusiasm and joy that comes initially; but deep down it is still there and under girds all that we say and do. But that is a part of why we gather together week after week, so that we can again be strengthened and encouraged in this regard, and that we might also give glory to God in the highest for great things he has indeed done.

 So as a result of all of this: "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favour rests." AMEN

 Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish