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Joy for All Who Need It: Sermon · Beyond the Sermon

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  You're listening to Beyond the Sermon, the podcast of First
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  Methodist Church in Collingswood, NJ.
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  On our podcast, the goal is not just to share the sermons we've
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  preached, but to go beyond the sermon and talk about what we're
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  learning and what God is doing in US and in our community.
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  For Advent 2025 we are in a series called Brought to the
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  Light, Advent for all who need it.
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  This series is looking at the themes of Advent and how Jesus
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  comes to us all. You can find more information
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  about our church at fumccollingswood.org.
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  Thanks for listening. Our scripture this morning comes
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  from the book of Luke, chapter one verse, starting in verse 39.
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  A few days later, Mary hurried to the Hill Country of Judea to
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  the town where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and
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  greeted Elizabeth. At the sound of Mary's greeting,
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  Elizabeth's child leaped within her and Elizabeth was filled
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  with the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth gave a glad crying
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  exclaimed to Mary. God has blessed you above all
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  women, and your child is blessed.
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  Why am I so honored that the Mother of my Lord should visit
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  me? When I heard your greeting my
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  the baby in my womb jumped for joy.
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  You are blessed because you because you believe that the
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  Lord would do what he said. Mary responded.
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  Oh, how my soul praises the Lord, how my spirit rejoices in
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  God my Savior. For He took notice of His lowly
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  servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me
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  blessed. For the mighty One is holy, and
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  He has done great things for me. He shows mercy from generation
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  to generation to all who fear Him.
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  His mighty arm has done tremendous things.
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  He has scattered the proud and haughty ones.
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  He has brought down Princess from their Thrones and exalted
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  the humble. He has filled the hungry with
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  good things and sent the rich away with empty hands.
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  He has helped His servant Israel and remembered to be merciful,
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  for He made this promise to our ancestors, to Abraham and his
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  children forever. Mary stayed with Elizabeth about
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  3 months and then went back to her own home.
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  This is the word of God for the people of God.
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  Amen. OK, so I mentioned in Traces of
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  Grace this week, if you if you read that weekly e-mail the
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  church sent sends out, that I'm aware that I've been starting
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  these Advent sermons by referencing Advent song lyrics.
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  Sam, could I get my voice out of these front monitors?
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  I don't need to hear myself. It's bad enough you all have to
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  hear me anyway. It's that choice to to start
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  these Advent sermons with some some songs that maybe are are
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  less familiar to you. It's not been without intention.
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  I love the way that music can capture the essence of something
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  and can give expression to ideas that may be hard to communicate
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  purely in words, right? That's why much of of the music
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  that would properly fit here into this Advent season, it's,
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  it's more somber, right? It's more reflective.
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  It's meant to communicate the longing of this season before we
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  get to the celebration of Christmas, right?
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  In fact, traditionally the season of Advent was similar to
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  the season of Lent. It was a time of reflection and
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  repentance and preparation. It's not just a countdown until
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  Christmas really comes, right? Technically speaking, Christmas
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  isn't just on the 25th of December.
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  Or maybe I should say it isn't only on the 25th of December,
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  December 25th. It's merely the first day of
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  what we've traditionally called the 12 Days of Christmas, right?
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  Which we tend to only think of when we sing about partridges
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  and Lords of leaping and golden rings, right?
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  But Christmas, that celebration would begin on December 25th and
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  it would continue all the way up through January 5th, with
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  January 6th being the Feast of Epiphany when we celebrate that
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  the wise men came from afar to worship the newborn baby who at
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  that point wasn't so newborn. But, but I believe our our
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  celebration of Christmas is better when we don't just rush
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  past the waiting of Advent. When we don't just rush past to
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  to get to Rudolph and Santa or presents under the tree, or even
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  to baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a
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  Manger, right, That waiting is important.
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  All that to say, I've got another song for you this
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  morning. It's the opening song on Andrew
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  Peterson's album Behold the Lamb of God, and it's an invitation
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  to get wrapped up in the story of Christmas, which started long
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  before Bethlehem's Inns were full.
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  Before God spoke to Joseph in a dream, or the Angel Gabriel
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  visited Mary or Zechariah, before there was a king named
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  David or a prophet called Moses, and even before Adam and Eve ate
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  the fruit and sin and death entered the world through their
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  disobedience, Their disobedience.
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  So listen to these words says gather round ye children.
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  Come listen to the old, old story of the power of death
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  undone by an infant born of glory.
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  Son of God, Son of Man, gather around.
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  Remember now how creation held its breath, how it let out a
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  sigh and it filled up the sky with the angels.
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  Son of God, Son of Man. So sing out with joy for the
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  brave little boy who was God, but made himself nothing.
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  He gave up his pride and he came here to die like a man, right?
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  That's, that's the good news, right?
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  That's a story worth celebrating.
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  That's a message not just of hope and peace, but of joy that
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  God came for us. And in the midst of the darkness
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  and the solemnity of Advent, the long nights and the longings,
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  this third week of Advent, it is set aside for rejoicing, to
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  remember that this story that we find ourselves caught up.
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  And it's a story of joy because in the baby Jesus, the infinite
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  God made himself small, right? He emptied himself of his divine
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  rights and privileges, how Andrew Peterson puts it, he gave
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  up his pride, right? Not pride and A and a pride full
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  sense, but those rights, those privileges, so that he could
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  take on our humanity. He could die in our place, and
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  he could bring redemption to humanity.
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  It's good news of great joy, which is for all people in the
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  words of the angels. And we get a taste of that good
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  news of great joy in the story that will read for us this
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  morning, which recounts Mary's encounter with Elizabeth and the
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  yet to be born John the Baptist. And so I want to look at that
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  story this morning a little bit more and and what it teaches us
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  about joy. All right, so beginning in in
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  Luke chapter one, verse 39, we pick up a story that was already
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  in the process of being told, right?
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  If we were to read some of the verses just before this, we
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  would see that that Mary has just been visited by the Angel
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  Gabriel, the same messenger Angel who had appeared to
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  Zechariah in the temple. Like we talked about a couple
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  weeks ago. Gabriel comes to Mary and he
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  tells her that she is going to conceive a child by the power of
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  the whole Holy Spirit. And when Mary questions how that
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  could happen since as far as she knew she was still a virgin,
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  Gabriel reveals that Elizabeth who who was a relative to Mary,
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  we don't know how close, but a relative to Mary.
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  He tells her that Elizabeth was in the sixth month of her own
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  miraculous pregnancy right. Even though she had been barren
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  up until that point, she was going to have a baby as well.
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  And so whether Mary wanted to confirm the angel's words to her
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  by seeing Elizabeth pregnant for herself.
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  Or if Mary wanted to get out of Nazareth for a little while as
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  they figured out how to respond to this this shocking news.
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  Or if she just wanted to share this amazing news that she'd
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  received and, and Mary thought of all the people in the world,
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  maybe Elizabeth might be the one to understand some of what she
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  was going through. Whatever the reason or the
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  motivation, Mary hurries off to Elizabeth and Zechariah.
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  And it makes sense, right? No, no matter what other
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  emotions might have been swirling around within Mary's
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  heart, makes sense that she would want to share the joy of
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  the news that Gabriel had shared with her, right?
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  Because the news wasn't just that Mary was going to have a
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  baby. That happened all the time in
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  the ancient world, just like it does today.
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  The remarkable part of the news was that the baby who would be
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  born to Mary would be the very Son of God, the Messiah that had
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  been promised. The news was that God was going
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  to use Mary to bring His promises to fulfillment.
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  That news filled Mary with joy, and joy like that is meant to be
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  shared, right? Joy in the goodness and
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  faithfulness of God is what drove Mary to Elizabeth.
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  And it drive joy like that. It drives us to one another
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  because there's something deeply communal about joy, right?
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  Have you ever noticed that that joy is multiplied when we
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  celebrate the goodness of God together?
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  We see that a little later in this same story, when after
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  Elizabeth gives birth to John, we're told that Elizabeth's
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  friends and neighbors and her family, they all heard the news
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  and they rejoiced with her at God's mercy in giving her a
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  child. So as Mary comes to Elizabeth's
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  home and she arrives there, she gives her greeting.
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  Luke tells us that the child within Elizabeth leaped within
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  her, leapt within her, and Elizabeth herself is a is then
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  filled with the Holy Spirit, which we need to remember looked
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  different in that time before the Holy Spirit was poured out
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  at Pentecost, right In the Old Testament, the the Spirit was
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  given to people based on their role as a as a prophet, priest,
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  king, a judge, something along those lines.
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  Sometimes he, the Spirit was only given for a a short
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  duration of time while while that person accomplished a
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  certain mission or task that God had assigned to them.
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  But Elizabeth, she's filled with the Holy Spirit and that filling
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  with the Spirit, that joy that wells up within her, she begins
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  to prophecy. She has a message from God about
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  Mary and this child that she is carrying.
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  And she's not just, she's not predicting the future, right?
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  Elizabeth is describing reality from God's own perspective,
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  right? Because while joy is, is meant
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  to be shared with others, sometimes joy can also have this
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  prophetic nature to it. Prophetic in the sense that it
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  can point us to what God is doing and and prepare people for
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  God's coming work what God is about to do.
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  And so when both of these miraculously conceived.
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  Nope. The joy that Elizabeth feels
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  this, this prophecy that she begins to, to share with Mary,
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  she's, she's telling, foretelling the way that God was
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  going to use these miraculously conceived children, Even though
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  it was going to look different, it wasn't going to be the same
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  for each of them. Elizabeth's prophecy pointed
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  forward to the greatness of the child that Mary carried within
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  her womb, the one of whom, John, the baby in Elizabeth's womb,
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  would later say, I baptize with water those who repent of their
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  sins and turn to God. But someone is coming soon who
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  is greater than I am, so much greater that I'm not even worthy
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  to be his slave and carry his sandals.
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  He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
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  There was this recognition that this child that Mary was
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  carrying God was doing something new.
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  And when Mary hears all this from Elizabeth, she herself is
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  filled with this overflowing joy which comes bubbling up out of
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  Mary in this song of joy that we've come to call the
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  Magnifica, right in this this song of praise to God for all
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  that he's doing. We, we sang part of it earlier
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  as we were singing in worship, Mary's joy in praising God for
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  all that he was doing. It was that joy that reminded
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  her. And her joy reminds us of the
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  bigger picture that God is painting, the larger story of
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  redemption that God is telling, right?
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  We can see how quickly Mary moves from her own experience,
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  she says, For he took notice of this lowly servant girl.
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  But then she moves to the grand sweep of redemptive work that
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  God was working in history, right?
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  His mighty arm has done tremendous things.
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  The good news is that God is at work, that God is bringing mercy
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  and justice and is keeping his promises to his people.
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  And it was not just about Mary and her child, it was about the
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  world. And that good news, it pulled
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  Mary from a small view of what God was doing, a view where
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  where maybe she could have seen herself as the main character of
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  the story. It pulled her into a a broader
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  view that was rooted in the fact that God was bringing his
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  Kingdom near to people. And so this, this third Sunday
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  of Advent where we celebrate that there is joy available to
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  all who need it, it's necessary, right?
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  It's necessary in the midst of this season of reflection and
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  longing, which could easily turn us in on ourselves, or you could
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  easily begin to focus on us and what we need in the moment, what
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  we're longing for, what we need God to do, rather than on the
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  larger story. You see joy, as the Bible talks
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  about it. It isn't just a feeling of
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  happiness that we experience because the circumstances around
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  us are pleasing to us, right? I might feel happy if the Eagles
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  win today, but as we've learned in the last few weeks, that can
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  very easily not go the way we want it to and also effects our
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  feelings of happiness. But joy is different.
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  I I think Mary exemplifies this kind of joy.
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  Remember, she is praising God over this news that she is
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  pregnant with the Son of God. She was pregnant before she was
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  married. That could have gotten her
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  stoned to death. This wasn't exactly an easily
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  explainable situation, right? It never happened before, and it
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  hasn't happened since. This news that we hail as good
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  news of great joy, which shall be for all the people, could
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  have easily been a death sentence for Mary.
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  It could have been easy for her to slide into a sense of of
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  despair or depression if not for the recognition of Elizabeth
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  right that that God was doing something bigger than either of
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  them could have imagined. But it can be difficult or it
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  can be difficult to feel joyful in this holiday season, even
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  though everything around us tells us that it's the most
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  wonderful time of the year. There have been many years when
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  I not only didn't feel joyful at Christmas, I didn't want to feel
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  joyful, right? The the the weight of the world,
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  the weight of lost, the weight of grief.
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  It can all feel like too much sometimes.
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  And there have been times where I couldn't see beyond my own
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  circumstances to see see that joy.
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  And it was exactly in those moments that I most needed joy.
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  Not because I I needed to get past the negative feelings just
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  to feel happy, but because I needed to be reminded that there
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  was a bigger story of redemption that God was writing.
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  Because I needed that joy to speak prophetically to me and
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  point me to something greater that God was doing and was able
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  to do. Because I needed others to come
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  alongside me and share their joy when I was having trouble
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  finding my own joy. This sermon is titled Joy for
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  All Who Need It. And the truth is, that's all of
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  us. We all need joy.
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  But it isn't just an emotion, it's Jesus, right?
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  Jesus is the joy we need. He is the good news that God
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  loves us, that God is working, that God has come for us.
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  And it's joy that reorients us from the stories that we're
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  living in, the small stories we're living in to the to the
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  big story that God is writing. So this morning, you may not
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  feel very joyful this morning. Maybe it was it was tempting to
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  stay in bed. Maybe you did stay in bed and,
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  and we don't blame you for that this morning, but I get it.
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  I, I, I get that it's not always easy to feel joyful here at
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  Christmas. Today, 14th of December, it's
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  the anniversary of one of the hardest days of my life.
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  And I'm not trying to get you to bypass whatever pain or grief or
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  sorrow you might be feeling today.
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  In fact, that's part of why we do the longest night service
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  every week that we're doing next week, specifically for those who
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  are grieving and and struggling with joy at this time of year.
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  But I want to remind you that joy is part of the fruit of the
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  Spirit, right? It's not something that you need
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  to or or even can manufacture within yourself.
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  But if Jesus is joy, I believe he wants to offer himself a new
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  to us today. And you might need a reminder of
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  all that God has done or is doing, not just for you, but for
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  the world. And hopefully this message, this
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  worship service this morning can be part of that.
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  You might need to allow others to to come close to you, to
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  share their joy with you and allow that joy to reorient your
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  heart to the reality of who God is and all that He's doing.
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  Because as as Andrew Peterson's song says, we can sing out with
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  joy for the brave little boy who was God but made himself
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  nothing. He gave up his pride.
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  He came here to die like a man. But that wasn't the end of the
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  story, right? It goes on and the song goes on.
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  It says, therefore God exalted him to the place of highest
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  praises, and he gave him a name above every name, that at the
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  very name of Jesus, Son of God. So in heaven and earth below,
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  every knee would bow in worship, every tongue would proclaim that
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  Jesus, he reigns with the angels.
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  And so whatever you might be going through this morning,
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  whatever might be trying to to get in and steal your joy, if
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  you'll let him in, if you'll find yourself reoriented to the
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  story he's telling, to the bigger story that your life is a
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  part of, if you'll let him, that won't be the end of your story.
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  Would you pray with me this morning?
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  Jesus, we come and we're grateful, Lord, that you have
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  given yourself to us, that you were willing to leave all that
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  was yours to enter into not just this world, but into our
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  brokenness and our sin. You came to redeem us.
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  You came to to pull us back into that larger story that you're
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  telling, that in this season of Advent, would you meet us again?
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  Would you fill us with yourself? And in filling us with yourself,
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  would you fill us with joy? Joy that speaks prophetically to
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  the world around us. Joy that reorients our heart and
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  reminds us of the larger story that you're telling.
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  Joy that isn't dependent on the circumstances we find ourselves
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  in today or tomorrow, but a joy that comes only from you.
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  So we give you ourselves this morning, Jesus, trusting that
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  you're enough and that we can trust in you.
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  So we love you, thank you, We pray, Jesus, all these things in
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  your name, Amen.