Advent Series: Joy

OT Lesson: Habakkuk 3:16-19a (NIV)

I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled.
Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us.

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Saviour.

The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.

NT Lesson: Luke 1:39-45 (NRSV)

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”

Sermon

Introduction

Good morning, this is already 3rd Advent Sunday and this year is coming to an end in 20 days. Today’s theme is Joy. Last Sunday, I spoke a lot of Hebrew and Greek. That might have made you feel like you were in a seminary classroom, rather than worshipping at church. So today, I am going to control myself because self-control is one of the spiritual gifts. I promise that today I will not speak Hebrew, Greek, Korean, Japanese, or in tongues. You may not be able to tell speaking in tongues from Korean. So today, I will strictly speak only in English, I mean, accented English. That is not something I can control. Google, Alexa, Siri, they all do not understand my accented English, but you do. So your brain is actually way better than any super computers equipped with the latest and most updated artificial intelligence. If you get what I said, tab your shoulders.

Do Not Compare

Before I talk about the joy today, let me give you one tip about how not to ruin your joy. 

Until a few years ago, I used to drive Dodge Neon for almost twenty years over 300K miles. That car took me to forty-two states in America and six provinces in Canada. One day when I was in the seminary, the car’s heating system broke down. Hannah and I were freezing in the car, but as a seminarian, I could not afford the repairing. So we were freezing in the car a few more years. 

In 2016 December, I got a package from Amazon, which was a gift from my friends—plug-in heating pad for car. I was full of joy and so happy. My thoughtful friends didn’t want me to freeze in the car. The problem was, Hannah also got a gift the next day. When I compared my gift to hers, all my joys and happiness immediately vaporised and disappeared. 

Because Because her gift was a Lexus. Suddenly my previous gift looked crappy. One moment I was full of joy, and the next moment I was no joy. Nothing was changed. It was just me comparing. So the moral of this story is ‘Don’t compare with others. Not even with your own spouse.’

In the parable of Jesus that a farm owner in the harvest time went out to the job market to hire people, once early in the morning, late in the morning, around noon time, and late in the afternoon. When he hired them, he promised the wage will be $100. Those workers who were hired early in the morning was so happy that they had a job opportunity, and they will be able to bring some food home and feed their family. They were full of joy. But when they compared with other workers, they became full of complaints. They found the other workers who joined the team later also got paid the same promised wage. So comparing is the powerful magic which can turn your joys into complaints momentarily.

Christmas Joy Offering

One of the bulletin inserts is the information of Christmas Joy Offering, and you can find the envelopes back in the narthex. This offering is to help the pastors and church employees both retired and working. They can be in trouble financially such as having huge hospital bills to pay. And as far as I know, this fund also helps the seminarians. I told you before that I do not have a student loan debt. I never had that. During my college years in Korea, I worked and earned my living cost and half of my tuition. The other half was from the merit based scholarships. It was somewhat similar in the seminary in Chicago. I had two part time jobs at school—teaching assistant. Hannah worked full-time. And then I had several different scholarships. All these combined, it was enough to cover the tuition and living cost. Also Hannah and I were extremely frugal. For example, I went to Starbucks no more than once a year while most of my classmates went there like twice everyday. I was told many times that “You are not going to be rich from saving coffee money, and you should rather enjoy your life.” I agree. You should enjoy your life when you can, and you will not going to be a millionaire from simply not going to Starbucks. But going to Starbucks everyday costs you several thousand dollars a year, which I did not have. Saving money is not going to make you a millionaire, but it will not make you any poorer. I actually had some money from the scholarship that I received. But they gave me money to buy books, not to buy Frapuccino. Still I don’t really go to Starbucks, but whenever I go to Canada, I go to Always Tim Hortons. Well, my point is not that Tim Horttons has good coffee (they do), but my point is that Christmas Joy Offering helps many students including some seminarians. So by contributing to Christmas Joy Offering, we help future pastors and faithful leaders in this country. With that money, I hope they buy books, not coffee.

Joy of Habakkuk

I think it was enough commercial. Let’s get into the Bible. Today’s OT Lesson is a very beautiful Hebrew poem. The poet says many gloomy things such as ‘though the fig tree does not bud’ and so on. Many times a lot of people say things just to emphasise when they don’t actually mean it. For example in the Bible, a king habitually says to his favourite people like “even if you ask half of the kingdom, I will give it to you.” But trust me, if they actually ask for half of the kingdom, then they would get executed for sure. But now the prophet Habakkuk is not just saying it. It is a very probable and imminent reality. This prophet lived the same era with Jeremiah, so the Babylonian threat and danger was at hand. It was not just empty words. They actually came and destroyed the entire country. So keep that in mind, try to feel the words of the prophet:

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, 

Though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, 

Though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, 

yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Saviour.”

First of all, Habakkuk did not compare with others like, ‘Oh my goodness. The Babylonians have so much and I have so little!’ Habakkuk had joy in God even in that desperate, hopeless situation because he knew that God is the salvation. Getting something good makes you joyous. When I got the heating seat, I was joyous. But when you know that you will get something awesome soon in the future, you will be filled with joy in advance even before you get it. Habakkuk had that kind of joy. Because he knew that God will save him, and that God is an awesome God, he was full of joy in advance even in that worst situation. When we encounter God, then we will be full of joy.

Joy of Encountering God

Today’s NT Lesson is when Elizabeth met Mary, and they both were pregnant: one with John the baptist and the other with Jesus. And when John met Jesus, the God of salvation, John was filled with joy and leapt in his mother’s womb. When we meet and encounter Jesus, then we will also be filled with joy like the foetal John the Baptist.

2 Samuel 6 is the story of David that he brought the ark of God into his city after he became a king. And the Bible says, “So David went to bring up the ark of God…to the City of David with rejoicing. David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, while…bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts of joy and the sound of trumpets…King David was leaping and dancing before the Lord.”1 The Ark of God has two tablets of Ten Commandments, which is the Word of God. So the Ark of God signifies Jesus who is the Word of God became flesh. So the Ark of God coming in means that we receive Jesus into our heart. David was dancing and leaping with joy. When Jesus comes into our heart and when we receive Him, then we will be filled with joy just like David who danced naked.

Matthew 2 shows us the magi or wise men. And when they saw the star of Jesus, they were overjoyed. When we encounter the Saviour or even the signs of Jesus, then we will be filled with joy like those magi.

1 Kings 8 is the scene when king Solomon finished the construction of the temple, and dedicated it by bringing the Ark of God into the temple. Again, the Ark of God is Jesus Christ, and the temple is us. Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:16 and again in 6:19, “don’t you know that you and your bodies are the temple of God?”2 Again, the Ark of God coming into the temple means that Jesus Christ is coming into our hearts, inside of us. And then what happens? 1 Kings 8:66 says, “People blessed the king and then went home, joyful and glad in heart for all the good things the Lord had done for His servant David and His people Israel.”3 Joyful and glad in heart! When we receive Jesus Christ into our heart, then we will be filled with joy just like the Israel people who became the temple of God.

When the shepherds met the angels, they were first terrified. But when they found baby Jesus, they were filed with joy “glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen.”4 When we hear the true Gospel, and when we see and encounter Jesus Christ, then we will be filled with joy just like the shepherds who glorified and praised God. When we have joy, then we also have to glorify and praise God.

Harvard Study

There was a recent survey on young people: “What is the most important life goal to be happy?”5 Over 80% answered to get rich, and more than half said to become famous, like a movie star. I’ve never dreamed or imagined myself to be a star, but a high school girl I met wanted to be a star. But instead of saying celebrity, she said celibate. So I told her, “The convent is always open for you.” But she did not get it. Anyway, as a pastor, I cannot promote those two things that the young generations desire the most—money and fame.

Most of you probably heard studies about childhood development, but there is something called, Harvard Study of Adult Development.6 They have been conducting this study for over eighty years. They have been tracking seven hundred and twenty-four men from their early stage of life unto death since 1938. The researchers interview them regularly, talk to their family, check where and how they live, get the medical exams done thoroughly, check how they do financially and so on. They study on very diverse people. Those boys became—now all retired or dead—factory workers, brick layers, plumbers, drug addicts, doctors, lawyers, editor of Washington Post, and even one President of the United States (John F. Kennedy). So, what they found in over 80 years of study is this: Good relationship keeps people happier and healthier period. Loneliness kills. More isolated you are, the shorter your life will be, the health declines earlier in mid-life, and brain function declines sooner than those people who are actively involved socially like in church. But it is not about how many friends you have on facebook or followers on tweeter. You can still be lonely in the crowd. The quality of the relationship matters, not the quantity. They also found that high conflict marriage without much affection is very bad for the health, actually worse than getting divorced, while good relationship is very protective for your physical and mental health.

Two most important commandments

In Matthew 22, Jesus had a conversation with the Pharisees over the law of God. The conclusion of Jesus is this: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbour as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” When Jesus says to us to love God and our neighbours, He is telling us to build good relationships with God and with people—the good, productive, positive, healthy, constructive, and loving relationship. Why? Because God knows that good relationship matters, and because God wants us to have a healthy and happy life full of joy in Christ Jesus. And that is the shalom. Joy completes the shalom. Quiet life without joy is not shalom. A life full of joy from the good relationship is the shalom.

Conclusion

During the Christmas season, we give and receive many gifts. Again, never ever compare. All those gifts bring us joy. But among all the gifts, Jesus Christ is the greatest gift of all and fills all people with joy just like the angels told the shepherds, “good news of great joy for all the people.”7 This gift, that is Jesus Christ, the Lord of Christmas, gives us joy, life everlasting, ultimate forgiveness, restoration and reconciliation of the relationship with God and with our neighbours. Only through Jesus Christ, we can achieve the good relationship with God and other people.

Jesus Christ gave Himself to us so that we can be filled with joy. Friends, in this Christmas season, let us be the joy to our God by loving Him, and let us also be the joy to other people by loving them so that they can also have joys as we have joys in Jesus Christ our baby Saviour born on Christmas day. Amen.