Good News of Great Joy!

Have you heard any good news lately? If you are a Tigers fan, Christmas came early this year, so to speak. With the announcement this week of a blockbuster trade that brings two more proven young all-stars to the Detroit ballclub, local baseball enthusiasts have penciled in a lineup for manager Jim Leyland that they hope will carry the team into the 2008 World Series. That’s good news, especially for a sports town in the throes of promising football seasons evaporating. (The Lions will not win 10 games, and this year’s Wolverines may never live down Appalachian State).

Consider the impact good news has upon us. When we get good news, we become more hopeful and joyful. We are stirred from our slumber – enlivened and energized. We are enthusiastic to tell others our good news and to dream with our friends and family about the possibilities this good news may yield.

But what is this news about baseball compared to the bad news all around us? What power does this report have to see us through and beyond the tragedies we encounter? Does the acquisition of Cabrera and Willis really make a difference in the grand scheme of life – or at least that subsistence we commonly settle for and refer to as life?

When confronted by the daily barrage of bad news, hope and happiness begin to fade away. Our spirits get heavy and we begin to trudge about each day, from point A to point B, listless, lifeless, as if we were sleepwalking. We keep to ourselves, become cocooned, insulated and isolated, and lonely. We learn to stop dreaming.

What sort of headlines would it take to stir our sleeping spirits to life again? Wouldn’t it be grand to read headlines like these: “Business Booming Again,” “New Home Sales Skyrocket,” or “Mission Accomplished: Every Soldier Returns Home Safe and Successful.” Instead, I noted headlines this week like these: “Holidays Are Here, But Times Are Tight,” “Special Report: Detroit Foreclosures,” and “Testing Toys for Toxins.”

Here’s a 2000-year-old headline that simply keeps getting better and better: “Good News of Great Joy for All People!”

But the angel said to them, “Don't be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: ¹¹ today a Savior, Who is Messiah the Lord, was born for you in the city of David. ¹² This will be the sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped snugly in cloth and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people He favors!” (Luke 2:10-14)

Skeptics and cynics may shrug their shoulders and ask, “Really? What’s so good about that? How does that make a difference today?” They remind me of the one melancholy verse by Longfellow:

Then in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said.
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
of ‘peace on earth, good will to men.’”

Consider with me these reasons why the angelic message is still today such good news. These are but a few reasons. I trimmed the list from 14 to these 5 for the sake of space!

A Savior is born. We can be free from sin and death to walk in newness of life!
He is Messiah (Christ). We have a Mediator, an Advocate in Heaven, Who connects us with Father!
He is Lord. He is in control. He is all-knowing, all-sufficient, and all powerful!
He is for all people. Jesus Christ is for you!
God favors us. He created us for His pleasure and our joy. He has made a way for us to experience His love!

So what should be the product of this good news?

Joy! Great joy! Angels and shepherds and magi all understood the meaning of the message and rejoiced!
Investigation. The shepherds went to see if what they heard was true (vv 15-16).
Energetic Witness. After verifying the headlines from Heaven, they told everybody they met about Him (v 17)!
Worship while you work. They returned to their places as changed men and praised God even at work (v 20)!
Contemplation. Mary took all this in and reflected on its significance, probably for years (v 19). How else do you suppose Dr. Luke would have received and so powerfully reported this news many decades later in such a way as to be so cherished for more than two millennia now?

Beloved, Jesus’ Advent is truly sensational news! His birth means God loves us, He keeps His promise to rescue us, He pays the price to redeem us, and He will return to bring us Home. So, Longfellow would follow up his sad “reality check” with a victorious reminder:

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep;
God is not dead, nor doth He sleep!
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
with peace on earth, good will to men.

Joy to the world, my friends! The Lord is come! Merry Christmas!

To the ends of the earth until the end of time!

Pastor Rob