“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
– Luke 2:10-12

One of my favourite Christmas traditions is the delight I feel when, during the annual Christmas Pageant, a kid dressed in white, possibly with sparkly wings on, steps up to a microphone and recites the bible verses above. It’s the perfect moment. Sometimes it’s too loud, or too quiet, too fast, or too slow. If they’re like me when I was their age, they get about 3 seconds into the line, someone laughs, and they run off the stage in tears. I’ve come a long way since then.

Week three of Advent celebrates joy. And biblical joy is much more than the delight I feel watching a nervous nine-year-old recite his or her lines; it is the joy human creatures feel when they are lovingly exposed to the glory of their creator, God.

Feasts of Joy

In the Old Testament, God gave his people special Holidays of celebration where joy was the focus,

For seven days you shall keep the feast to the LORD your God at the place that the LORD will choose, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful.
– Deuteronomy 16:15

The feasts were time set aside to remember and realize God loves us, provides for us, and has been with us. The only rational response is thankfulness and happiness. Almost every Psalm contains a command or recognition of this kind of joy. Psalm 16 has one of the most extreme examples of this,

You make known to me the path of life; 
in your presence there is fullness of joy; 
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
– Psalm 16:11

Biblical joy occurs when God’s people are drawn mind, body, and spirit into the presence of God. The Old Testament put these dates on the calendar to bring people back to the centre and source of true joy throughout the year.

Christmas Presence

The announcement from the angels was “good news of great joy” in a new way than was previously experienced by God’s people. In the Old Testament, there were places, times, and ways to approach God. But the joy of Christmas is not that man has approached God, but that God has approached us. Jesus, the Son of God, the same God who was hidden behind the thick veil of the temple’s curtain, was now outside of the veil, Emmanuel, God with us.

Jesus came on a mission of joy. A mission to give his people an experience of life beyond anything they had experienced before and greater than they were capable of by themselves. And it wasn’t just the angels that knew that mission, Jesus said it clearly,

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
– John 10:10

and,

“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
– John 15:11

Jesus is deeply concerned that his people are joyful. So much so, that he was willing to endure our painful and fragile existence in order to purchase true joy once and for all. Just as God invites us into the family business of peacemaking, he grows the fruit of joy in our lives by the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22). Jesus is not satisfied with people who dutifully give him worship, but those who delight in doing so through his own life, death, and resurrection.

Great Joy

At Christmas time, there are lots of measures we could use to gauge how successful our holiday was: number of presents given, number of presents received, number of turkey dinners eaten, or how many naps were taken. Instead, I suggest one simple, unchanging, ever-faithful metric: Do you know Jesus? Has the reality of what Jesus accomplished for you sunk into your heart in a way that squeezes out the devil’s attempts to make you satisfied in lesser things? Is your life and family different because Jesus has been gracious to you? If it is, then Christmas has been a success. Even if your Christmas table is not as full as it normally is, know that, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them (Matthew 18:20). And that gift of joy can never be taken away from you, no matter what happens (Romans 8:38-39).

The greatest gift we have the Advent season is not the presents under the tree, but the presence of God in our lives. The glorious gift of “God with us” is the gift we will enjoy for all of eternity and it can start this Christmas, in our Churches, our homes, and our hearts.

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
– Jude 24-25