Sermon Audio
December 14, 2014
What joy do you have?
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts
be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord our Rock and our Redeemer. AMEN.
When I first arrived
here at Emmanuel one of the first church celebrations I had the opportunity to
celebrate in the first two months was Christmas. Not only here in the church proper, but also
with the saints at Wheat Ridge. Since
that time I have not only visited and celebrated Holy Communion with the saints
both at Wheat Ridge and Good Samaritan, but joyfully proclaimed Christ and Him
crucified for many who now make heaven their eternal home. The reality is each time I do visit Wheat
Ridge, Good Samaritan and even elderly members of our congregation, I receive a
great joy in reminding them that they are part Emmanuel and especially members of
the Body of Christ! They are part of our
fellowship and I have the greatest pleasure to bring the joy of Christ for and
to them during every visit.
Today we light the
third Candle of the Advent Wreath. The
third Candle is known as the Shepherd’s Candle or the Candle of Joy. For my family growing up and many others, the
third candle was pink on the Advent Wreath.
This candle has special significance because of the reminder of the Joy
of the Angels.
Remember in the account
of Luke that tells of the sky being full with Angels proclaiming the birth of
the Savior. This is so impactful even
listening to it as a child. The joy the
angels and others must have felt when they heralded Jesus entrance into the
world. At a congregation in Western New
York, on Christmas Eve there would be from the balcony a trumpet sounding the
joy of the moment. This would not only
raise the collective hairs and goose bumps on many people’s necks, but clearly
elicit the joy of the moment of the heavens clearly proclaiming Jesus birth.
When I was in Israel as
a student, this passage took on new meaning for me personally. Our tour group that had been in the Holy Land
for days and enjoyed visiting the most sacred sites gathered together shoulder
to shoulder huddled in nothing more than a cave, an underground cavern. Very similar to what the shepherds would keep
their sheep in to protect them from the marauders of the night. In that cave, in the dim light, the
proclamation of the angels was recited from memory from the King James
Version. And in that one moment all who
heard, clearly connected not only with the joy of the shepherds, but especially
the joy of the message shared of Jesus Christ birth in Bethlehem for all of
mankind.
My question for we who
gather here this morning, “What joy do you have?” As we light this the Shepherd or Candle of
Joy, “What joy do you have?” Clearly we
could say, it is the message of Jesus birth, but that was over 2000 years ago
our society would respond. But for we
who gather here in the church and light the Advent Wreath, now with three
candles, our Joy can have new and greater depth and meaning.
When we look through
the lens of the fulfillment of the promised Messiah, just as Joy filled
Elizabeth with the entrance of her cousin Mary who carried Jesus in the Womb,
we to can have that joy. For today we
gather here to let the joy of Christ overflow from within us. We look to this wreath of greenery, now with
three of the four candles lit, knowing that in ten days we will gather to
celebrate Jesus entrance into the World.
We will sing the songs of joy and light our candles and clearly with
unmistakable hearts and voices raised, sing “Joy to the World”!
God wants us to not
only have the joy, but share the joy!
This morning, we have heard the children singing, telling of the coming
Christ and those children are our future.
The children are our joy and we not only have an obligation to teach
them the stories, but share the joy God first placed into each of our
hearts. And that joy came in our baptism
into Jesus Christ life, death and resurrection.
This is the fount of all blessings and the joy that God clearly shares
with each and every one of us.
May we who gather here
this morning not only come to bask in the glow of the lights of the Candles of
the Advent Wreath, but also share in the joy given to us by our Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ. For Jesus Christ
came into this world in a lowly manger to save all of mankind, including all of
us joy filled saints gathered here this Third Sunday of Advent. AMEN.
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