The angel said to [the shepherds], “Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.

Luke 2:10-11

The angel’s greeting to the shepherds that first Christmas night is now God’s greeting to us, on this most holy of nights. It is a greeting which still brings us great joy. Because it tells us the source of that joy: The birth of our Savior, Christ the Lord.

It is the most joyous news of all – that into this dark world there has come a light, a great light. A light which no darkness can overcome. This night brings a light, and a joy, that fills the world, now and always. Which is, when you think about it, why the joy of this night is such good news. It is because the joy of Christmas comes to all, regardless of our circumstances. It does not depend on anything in this world. This joy is eternal, unchangeable, and priceless. 

And we are here because we know where this joy is found: In a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger. This child came into this world to bring us joy. It is why he was born, you might say. He came, as he himself once said, so that his joy may be in us, and that our joy may be complete. Our joy is found in Jesus, and our joy is made complete in him. 

Joy

But tonight, I want us to consider the question this might raise for us: What is this joy? What is this great joy that the angels first shared with the shepherds? The joy that Jesus came to offer us? And why does this joy sometimes feel incomplete? Because, if we’re being honest, Christmas is not always merry. Some years it is, and some years it isn’t. 

Just because it’s Christmas doesn’t mean we’re happy. But just because we aren’t especially happy does not mean that we are not filled with joy. Why is that? The simplest explanation is that happiness is not the same as joy. We can be joyful, even if we are not especially happy. 

When you think about that first Christmas, happiness is not a prominent theme. Mary and Joseph were forced to travel a long way from home because of a government decree. They couldn’t find a decent place to stay, even though Mary is about to give birth. There are no baby showers for Mary, no doctors, nurses, or even midwives that we know of. Not even any family to  help her in her time of need. 

And what about the shepherds? They are visited by an angel, and even by a multitude of heavenly hosts, but they are not given anything to make their lives easier or instantly better. They are just told that their Savior has been born, and they will find him wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger. Joyous, but not necessarily happy.  

Happiness is not a prominent theme of the Christmas story. The Savior, whose birth we celebrate tonight, did not come to solve all our problems and make us happy. Not yet. Instead, this baby was born to bring us joy. And this joy is a prominent theme in the Christmas story. 

But we might still ask: What is this joy that Jesus came to bring? Let me share with you three basic elements of this joy.

The Joy of the Incarnation

First of all, this joy is the joy of the incarnation. The joy that comes from God becoming human, from the Word becoming flesh, from God becoming one of us. 

Think of what Christmas really means for us. It means that God chose to become one of us, a fellow member of the human race. Whatever else people might say about humanity, whatever shortcomings we might have, nothing can take away the fact that God willingly chose to become one of us. Of all the planets orbiting stars in all the galaxies all around this amazing universe, this little planet Earth is the one that God chose to visit. And this race of beings we call human is the one that God chose to become. A human being on the planet Earth. 

God chose to become one of us. And that means, when you think about it, that we now share in God’s own nature. God chose to become one of us. So that we might become one with God. 

What a glorious, awesome thing this is! We are not just made in the image of God, but God’s own son is now made flesh in our image. This is the joy of the incarnation. And this is the good news of great joy that the angels shared with the shepherds on that holy night. 

The Joy of Our Salvation

But the joy that comes from the incarnation is not the only joy that Jesus came to bring, and not the only joy we give thanks for tonight. Jesus also came to bring us the joy of salvation. 

The good news of great joy which the angels sang of to the shepherds was not just that the Messiah was born, but that he was also our Savior. The Messiah came to save us from our sins. Jesus did not just come to be born, and to show us the glory of being human. He also came to save us, because humans are not always so glorious. 

We need saving, don’t we? We find ways to give up our glory, and to fall short of what God expects of us. We sin. All of us. And all too often. 

But the joyous miracle we celebrate this night – the miracle of the Gospel – is that, despite our sin, God loves us. Enough to send his son to die for us, so that all who believe in him would belong to him and live under him in his kingdom forever. And that is good news of great joy. 

When we find ourselves discouraged or unhappy, we can simply remind ourselves of the beautiful, simple message of the Gospel found in John 3:16 – That God so loved us that he gave his only son, so that we who believe in him would not perish but would have eternal life. This is the joy of salvation. The joy that comes from the gift of the Savior. 

The Joy of His Resurrection

And then, along with the joy of the incarnation and the joy of salvation, there is finally the joy of the Resurrection. We really don’t celebrate Christmas properly if we forget that Jesus was not only born for us, but that he also died for us. But we also don’t celebrate his birth, or his death, properly if we forget that he not only was born among us, and died for us – but that he also rose again. And is even now preparing a heavenly place for us.  This, too, is part of the joy of Christmas. 

We even sing about it in one of our beloved Christmas carols: 

“Light and life to all he brings, risen with healing in his wings. 
Mild he lays his glory by, born that we no more may die, 
born to raise us from the earth, born to give us second birth. 
Hark! the herald angels sing, ‘Glory to the newborn King.’”

Risen, Jesus is, with healing in his wings. Even now we remember and rejoice in this good news. That the one who was laid in a lowly manger is now seated on a heavenly throne. 

The one who was wrapped in bands of cloth is now clothed in glory. Born that we no more may die, born to raise us from the earth. 

This, too, is the joy of Christmas. And all of this is somehow wrapped up together. The incarnation, our salvation, his resurrection, and ours. It is all wrapped in bands of cloth this holy night. And it all brings us joy. Because it all means that nothing in this world can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus. There is no unhappiness that can rob us of this love. This joy is real, and is stronger than anything else in this world. 

The Joy that Is Unconquerable 

This joy, to put it another way, is unconquerable. As a famous Lutheran pastor (Dietrich Bonhoeffer) once put it: 

“The joy of God has passed through the poverty of the manger and the torment of the cross; and so it is unconquerable, irrefutable.”

The joy of God has passed through the poverty of the manger. You might say that the joy of God has passed through the unhappiness of the manger. And this joy of God also passed through the torment of the cross. The deep unhappiness of the cross. 

The Son of God, after all, was not blessed with a simple, happy life. In fact, his relatively short life ended with the cruel agony of death on a cross. He died in shame before God raised him in glory. 

The joy of God passed through this shameful agony. And because of that, we can be assured that this joy is unconquerable and irrefutable. There is nothing in this world that can take away this joy. It has already passed through the poverty of the manger and the torment of the cross. 

This joy has been through it all, and is still just as great and as wondrous as ever. This, too, is the joy of Christmas, the joy that we celebrate tonight. 

Closing

The Christ child was born for us – to give us this joy, and so that our joy may be complete. And all who celebrate his birth discover this joy, each and every time we come to the manger. 

No matter what is happening in this world or in our lives, this joy is there for us. The joy of Christmas. The joy of our salvation. The joy of the resurrection. All wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger. 

“Born that we no more may die, born to raise us from the earth, born to give us second birth. Hark! the herald angels sing, ‘Glory to the newborn King.’”

Amen.