Good News Everybody Needs to Hear

"Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which is for all people," the Angel of the Lord spoke to the shepherds that most ordinary night some two-thousand plus years ago.
Because the previous verse states that "the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were greatly afraid," we naturally link "do not be afraid" to the shepherds fear because of what was happening to them in that moment. I see that, of course. However, the Angel's announcement that night was not just merely for the shepherds, but to the existing world then up until now.

Fear is a common emotion, as is happiness. Both are rather predictable. Fear occurs when bad things are possible or indeed occur. Happiness springs up within us when good things are possible or indeed occur. We are seldom shocked by most emotions. After all, we have experienced most every emotion most all our lives. I pity people that are driven by their feelings and emotions. The good ones seem to be constantly fleeting, driven by circumstances. The bad feelings of life can be crippling and they seem to linger even after circumstances improve.
 
The Angel came and spoke on a dark night to a dark world. Israel was experiencing deep oppression by the Romans. The elites, both political and religious, were all corrupt. Slavery was common. A man's beast of burden was more protected than his slave. Women and children had no standing in society. There really was no middle class. Prejudice and hatred was prevalent. Deceases of all sorts ran rampant. Pure, clean drinking water was rare. It had been four hundred years since God had spoken through His Prophets. Would the long awaited Messiah ever come? Both Jew and Pagan dreamed of relief. Few, if any, had ever experienced joy.

Happiness can disguise itself as joy, but it isn't. Happiness turns up more or less when we expect it. There is happiness in a good marriage, a rewarding job, a wonderful vacation, a restful holiday; Nothing wrong with happiness. I embrace it when I have it and long for it when it is absent. The reason joy is unpredictable is because God holds it, God grants it, and we only experience it as we have Him in our hearts.

When we study the song of Mary (Luke 1:46-56), and Zacharia's prophecy (Luke 1:67-79), we find a deep peace and joy bore out of difficulty and confusion. Jesus said these words: "These things have I spoken to you, that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be full. (John 15:11). He says those words at a  very odd time. He says them on the night He would be betrayed, get arrested in a garden, be falsely tried and convicted, then sent off to be crucified. Odd time to be talking about joy, right?

NOPE!

Joy is about fullness, a fullness that can only be made by God. Thus fullness at its core is the expression of love. Christ knew that His cross was the perfect backdrop for the portrait of real love to be revealed.

Read Isaiah 12:1-3

The joy that every person's heart longs for is only produced in the salvation that Jesus delivered to humanity through His death, burial and resurrection.

May the Joy of the Lord fill your life this Christmas season. It can! It should! All indications of Scripture point to the fact that it already has. The fruit of the Spirit have already been bestowed upon God's children, "Therefore, with joy you will draw from the wells of salvation." All we need is found in God and, because God now indwells us through His Spirit, we have all we need - yes, even joy in the darkest moments of life.

But the Angel said, "Good news of great joy which shall be to ALL PEOPLE." Dante Alighieri, the one who wrote literary classic Dante's Inferno, said in his book Inferno: "The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis." Silence will revoke no Christian's salvation, but can the Born Again really be silent? Can the Transformed be neutral in the midst of turmoil? Can the full and satisfied not want to feed and minister to the needy? How can we who have received the greatest gift ever given not want to share with others the same?

The Joy you have, you must share. Just as the absence of peace and joy for the person who claims faith in Christ is a warning of the possible lack of salvation, so is a person's lack of passion for souls. We know how dark this world is today. Rather than ringing our hands and scratching our heads, let's deliver the message of hope to a desperate, cold, lost and dying world. God is good and, thus, people need the Lord. How can they hear lest someone tells them?

The story of darkness is hopelessness. The story of light is life. This is the Christmas story. The story began two-thousand plus years ago in a time of turmoil and despair. It is a story that culminates in victory, mercy, grace, and hope; From beginning to end, the story of man is that of sinfulness, despair, and death. But God, who is rich in love, sent forth His only begotten Son to bring hope, light, life, forgiveness and salvation to a depraved and wicket lot - me and you.

May I remind you that it is never too late; as long as breath remains, the lost can seek salvation and the redeemed can shout joyfully unto the Lord. Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord.

My prayer and hope is for you to have the merriest of Christmases ever. May the Peace, Hope, Love and Joy of the Lord fill your heart this amazing season.



In Christ,
Pastor Todd