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I’ve got joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart (WHERE?) DOWN IN MY HEART (WHERE?) DOWN IN MY HEART (WHERE?) DOWN IN MY HEART TO STAY. And if the devil doesn’t like it he can sit on a tack. (OUCH!) Sit on a tack. (OUCH!) Sit on a tack. (OUCH!) And if the devil doesn’t like it he can sit on a tack. (OUCH!) Sit on a tack today.
Last week I shared that Jesus did not come the 1st time as Jesus will not come the 2nd time, for the pretty and the perfect. Jesus has come and shall come again for those who are broken. This week we are going to learn of the wisdom of a prophet named Isaiah who has often been known as “the evangelical prophet” because he said so much about the redemptive work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. What we know about Isaiah is that he was one of the greatest men of his time and his walk matched his talk.
In studying the Book of Isaiah we learn that Isaiah condemned the immoral and idolatrous lifestyles of the Israelites, while comforting the future generations of weary exiles who thought that God had forgotten them. Isaiah encouraged the weary exiles to flee their imprisonment of a lifestyle and trust in God. Isaiah encouraged the Jews to put away their greed, self-indulgence, idolatry, cynicism, and self-centered self-righteousness. For Isaiah believed the coming of Christ was yet to come and the ultimate triumph would of good over evil would have to await the new heaven and the new earth at the 2nd coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The Book of Isaiah, found in the Old Testament of the Bible is known as “The Messiah’s Ministry of Peace During Both Advents.” The first Advent being Christ birth and the Second Advent being Christ second coming. In studying the Book of Isaiah we learn that the first part of Isaiah, 1:1-29:8, is a message of judgment. The people of Judah trusted God on the surface and sought to save themselves through clever political alliances. In turn the people of Judah were crushed by their cleverness.
The second part of Isaiah, Isaiah, 40:1-66:24, is a message of the first Advent Candle, hope. Through the words of Isaiah we learn that God’s ultimate purpose for His people is always their blessing and recovery.
Last Sunday we lit the candle of Peace. I shared with you about the funerals I had presided over and how there was no room in the casket for anything of this world. There was only room in the casket for the one who died and the peace within them at the time of their death.
This morning we lit the third Advent candle, the candle of JOY. I have observed that there are many who have no joy in their lives and it quite often is nobody’s fault but their own. It is nobody’s fault but their own for they are too busy living in the pain of the past to live in the present for tomorrow. Did you hear what I said? They are so busy living in the pain of the past that they cannot live in the present for tomorrow.
I am not saying that death, whether it is as in a last breath or a living death as in divorce, separation from your child, hurt from your childhood or due to illness… does not hurt. I am not saying that death does not cause emotional, psychological, faith, pain to the human heart and soul. But one does not have to dwell on what has happened. It is all about faith, what does one believe in, attitude, who is in charge of my life, and choices, how do I wish to live my life? Driving my life in reverse or driving toward the future? Am I being what the world expects me to be or am I being real?
Back during WWII, four young American soldiers who had been on the front lines of battle for some time were sent back from the fighting to a small French village for a little Rest and Recuperation. When they arrived safely in the village, they suddenly realized it was Christmas Eve. They began to discuss how they would like to spend Christmas. One of the soldiers said, “You know, as we were coming into town earlier today, I noticed an orphanage on the outskirts of the village.
Why don’t we go there in the morning and take some Christmas joy to those children?” The other soldiers liked the idea, and the more they talked the more excited they became.
So the soldiers went out and bought all kings of toys and clothing and candy and books and games, and early the next morning, they showed up at the front door of the orphanage with wonderful Christmas presents for all the children.
The orphanage director was pleased and all the children were delighted as they opened their gifts. All the children that is, except for one little girl who stood quietly off to the side. She appeared to be 5 or 6 years old and her face looked so very sad. One of the American Soldiers noticed that she was not participating, and he asked the orphanage director about the little girl. “O, bless her heart,” said the orphanage director. “We just got her last week. Both of her parents were killed in a car wreck, There was no one to take her in, so they brought her here.”
The American soldier went over to the little girl and gently said to her, “It’s Christmas morning and we have wonderful Christmas presents here: toys, clothes, candy, food, books, puzzles, dolls. Which would you like most for Christmas?”
The little girl looked the American soldier in the eyes and replied, “I want somebody to hold me.”
Where are you this third Sunday in Advent? Is there a little child inside of you scared, lonely, confused, hurt? Longing for nothing of this world, but for somebody to hold you and in the safety of his or her arms so you will feel safe and protected from the world?
Maybe the best Christmas present of all is to have somebody hold you, to feel good human touch and to know you are not alone. As somebody once put it, “Rich is not what you have; it’s who you have beside you.”
I invite you to open your Bible to our Scripture Lesson, Isaiah 61, “The Lord’s Message of Freedom,” Isaiah 61: 8-9.
For I the Lord love justice, I hate robbery and what is wrong; I will faithfully give them their recompense,
(recompense: to reward) and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
(Covenant: A binding agreement, Genesis 17:7) Their descendants shall be known among the nations, and their offspring in the midst of the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are a people whom the Lord has blessed.
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ does not tell us that we cannot be happy. What Jesus tells us is He loves justice and hates robbery and what is wrong. What Jesus tells us is that through a covenant with God we shall be blessed by God. Jesus does not tell us we shall be blessed by that of this world.
If you haven’t noticed the holiday we are celebrating is not Giftmas but Christ-mas.
(The suffix “mas” means “celebrating”). We are not celebrating gifts under the tree. We are supposed to be celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
As a dad I who is a people person and not a hammer, screwdriver, wrench, kind of man I cringed when our girls opened presents from Santa that stated those words that made me cringe. No, not “Made In Japan.” “Assembly Required.” For some reason I have two left thumbs when it comes to assembling things.
One Christmas a dad ordered a tree house for his children. The time came to assemble the tree house. Dad laid out all the parts on the floor and began reading the instructions. To his dismay, he discovered his instructions were for a sailboat! The next day he sent an angry letter to the manufacture complaining about the mix-up.
Several days later the reply came: “We are truly sorry for the error and the inconvenience. However, it might help you to consider the possibility that somewhere there is a man out on a lake trying to sail your tree house.
The point is clear: To put something together, you have to have the right parts and the right instructions. This is where faith, not religion, faith comes in. The only way you can put life together is through faith. Faith in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior for that is what makes it work.
That’s the way to assemble your life, to root it in Jesus Christ through faith, to tie it to Jesus Christ, to ground it in Jesus Christ.
If you want to give your loved ones a fantastic Christmas gift this year, give them a hug. A hug of love, of belonging, of salvation from the world around them.
Isaiah 61:10-11
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall rejoice in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, (purity) he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, (garland: a crown), and as the bride adorns herself with her jewels (jewels represent good deeds not to human but to God.) For as the earth brings forth its shoots, (a young garden in the spring producing new plants) and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.
From the love from our hearts the greatest Christmas gift of all may be given unto another this year. If you notice the holiday we are celebrating is not Giftmas but Christ-mas
(mas means to celebrate) thus we are not celebrating all the toys under the tree but celebrating the birth of Christ Himself.
The question is, “How are we going to put this together?” There is a possibility that there is some assembly required.
1 part patience
1 part the Prayer of Serenity
1 part the Lord’s Prayer
1 part the Sinner’s Prayer
4 Parts Trust In God
Without our trusting in God all the patience, praying the Prayer of Serenity, the Lord’s Prayer, the Sinner’s Prayer, are irrelevant.
This Christ-mas are you worrying how to put something together? Living in the misery of the past, or living in the present for the future? Only when we stop living in our past may we have true JOY in our life.
I learned along time ago that only one person can ruin my Christmas irrelevant of where I am. Just as only one person can ruin my day. Whom you might ask? Only
I can ruin Christmas and only
I can ruin my day if
I permit myself to instead of being grateful.
Psalm 95:1-2
O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise!
Let us bow our heads and enter into prayer.
Almighty Father God may we enter into the days in JOY for being alive. JOY for the gifts we have, life, JOY in our daily attitude and not drowning in our misery from the past but living today for tomorrow. Amen
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