All right, today is joy, and you'll notice on
our joy banner, our focus is on the magi, the
joy of the magi. And I've just been enjoying
their part of this story in the Bible, because
their story is a story of worship. Their story
is a story of joy. And so we read it at the beginning
as Carter was lighting our Advent candle. But
they were a group of people that were traveling,
weren't they? They were travelers. And that's
who we are. We are pilgrimage people. And so
when I'm walking in the woods, I like to walk
where there's trees and woods. And I usually,
in those moments, I don't like to listen to things.
I don't like to listen to podcasts or even music.
I like it quiet and silent. I think it resets
my brain and my spirit. But I've discovered every
once in a while. The Walking Song. Who were the
pre -Hobbit people? Who were they called? I know
you all don't know. You're not a nerdy bunch,
and Rachel's not here. She's my only other, like,
real Lord of the Rings nerd. And so the people
before they became Hobbits that settled, they
were a wandering people. Harfoots. Thank you.
Thank you, Charlene. And they were like a nomadic
people. And so whenever they were, oh, there
she is, Rachel. We're just talking about the
rings of power. Whenever they were traveling,
they would have walking songs that they would
sing. And so one day I was walking through the
woods, and I just had it in me, I need to listen
to this wandering song. And so I began to play
it. It was actually the Sunday that I took off
and said, I'm leaving you all and I'm going for
a hike in the woods. And I began to listen to
this song as I was hiking through the woods and
just felt the presence of the Lord. And it just
simply says, I trade all I've known for the unknown
ahead. Call to me, call to me, lands far away.
If I had a voice, I would sing it for you. Of
drink I have little, in food I have less. My
strength tells me no, but the path demands yes.
My legs are so short and the way is so long.
I've no rest nor comfort, nor comfort but song.
Sing to me, sing to me lands far away. Oh, rise
up and guide me this wandering day. My friend,
we have a land far away calling to us here today.
We are a pilgrimage people. This is not our final
home. There is a land that calls to us today.
There is a path that we are on that demands our
yes. And as I was listening to that, it was just
resonating. My eternal home, it was like I could
just hear it. Even as I'm saying it, I can feel
it. Hearing it call to me. Come on, Cammie. We're
waiting for you. We're waiting for you. Stay
on this path. And when I hear the call, I can't
help but, yes, I got to go. I got to go. Right?
We are traveling. ever toward our home and so
my question is what or who is guiding you on
your journey today we're celebrating the advent
week of joy and in that we are following this
company of travelers the magi who are on this
journey of joyful worship it was a journey marked
by joyful worship. And so before we talk about
their journey, I want you to envision for a moment
a tale of two kingdoms. I want you to take for
a moment and just imagine. I think God gives
us imaginations, and sometimes we just need to
stop and use our imagination. And so I want you
just to imagine for a moment the kingdom of darkness.
Some of you, that might be a very real, you don't
need to imagine anything. What you came out of
was just very real. But this kingdom of darkness
that's characterized by sin, by evil, by lies,
by misery and chaos, a waste of purpose, death,
hatred. Spiritual bondage. It's a real kingdom.
Right? We've seen it portrayed in all kinds of
movies, good and evil. And even now, in your
imagination, you might be imagining a scene that
you've seen that really replicates what that
kingdom of darkness looks like. It's a real kingdom,
though. It's not a fictional place. The kingdom
of darkness is real. And it operates in deception
and fear and rebellion. The tale of two kingdoms,
the kingdom of darkness and in opposition, the
kingdom of light. And it's such a contrast between
the two kingdoms, isn't it? The kingdom of light,
which is characterized by goodness and peace,
eternal life, divine purpose, righteousness,
joy. It's in such opposition to the kingdom of
darkness. It operates in truth and freedom and
love. Which kingdom would you choose in a tale
of two kingdoms? Right? I love, and Darren made
me years ago a porch swing, and he had engraved
on the top of it this verse out of Romans 14.
For the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace,
and joy in the Holy Spirit. This kingdom that
we are a part of should be a kingdom of joy.
And we're not talking today about an emotion.
So often we come into this thinking it has something
to do with our emotions, and it doesn't. However,
I want to read to you this. It was a study based
in Britain. And here's what they found, that
people older than 52, raise your hands. I'm not
there yet. I'm just turning 51, so I get to keep
my hand down. I think it shouldn't yours be up.
You're awfully. Okay, let me see them again.
You're over 52. Okay, here's your statistic.
Just barely. Doesn't matter. You're over. You're
over. People older, until I turn 52, and then
it'll be a different story. People older than
52 tend to be grumpier than younger people. Linda's
the exception. People, man, oh, the 52 -year
-olds are all rising up. I'm definitely not going
to the seniors group this week. Hey, I didn't
say this. The study said it. Okay, 52 tend to
be grumpier than younger people. The poll results
found that those over 50, so I'm in this group,
laughed far less and complained far more than
people under 50. You laugh less, you complain
more. I can tell you're all loving this study.
The study found, now listen, it's going to get
interesting. The average number of laughs per
day, now I've helped you with this today, so
here you go. The laughs per day declines as a
person ages. Infants, we've got an infant in
the room today. Infants generally laughed up
to 300 times per day. An infant will laugh up
to 300 times per day. While teenagers laugh an
average of six times a day. Hey, it just gets
worse from here. Don't be judging them because
it's getting worse for us. By the time a person
reaches the age of 60, the laughs per day had
declined to only 2 .5. Are we talking about being
a greeter at the Walmart door, Jill? Listen,
here's the takeaway. An infant laughs up to 300
times per day. I believe that we were created
with the capacity for great joy. And we have
let life and circumstances drain that capacity,
narrow that capacity down. And I believe as kingdom
people, And I know, and I believe this is why
some of you are like, no way, no way, because
we're kingdom people. And as kingdom people,
what does it say about our youth in Isaiah? It
gets renewed. I believe that we can begin to
laugh again as kingdom people, right? As our
youth is renewed, our capacity is restored to
laugh and to be containers of joy of the Lord.
And so today, I just want to say, let's increase
our capacity for joy. Let's increase and not
be a part of this world statistics and say, we
want to be a people that look a little different,
that are marked by joy. And so today's text,
we read a bit of it before, but I want us to
focus in on Matthew chapter 1, verses 10 and
11. They had been traveling, the magi, they had
been traveling looking for this child. And finally,
after their travels, it says they saw the star
and they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.
Not just joy, not just great joy, exceedingly
great joy. Why? They've been following the star
all along. They had seen the star all along.
But there came the moment when the star stopped
and marked the presence. And as it marked the
presence, the response that arose up within the
Magi was that of exceedingly great joy. And when
they had come into the house, they saw the young
child with Mary, his mother, and fell down and
worshipped him. These great, distinguished, educated
astronomers. They fell down at this child's feet
and worshipped. And then they opened their treasures
and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense,
and myrrh. Back in the 80s, there was a very
popular definition of joy, which some of you
probably remember. And it has stuck with me.
It used to be, I think, in the women's bathroom
of Faith Church when I was growing up in Washington.
And it was simply this. Here is a very simplified
definition of joy. Jesus, others, and you. Right?
In that order. J -O -Y. Jesus, others, and you.
Would you like to come and sing it for us, Jesse?
You can sing that to jingle bells, I hear. This
might be a good bingo night rendition for us
tonight. You're going to get it stuck forever
in your head. Jesus, others, you. And that might
seem like that's so 20 years ago. I guess I'm
older than that. 40 years ago. 40 years ago.
But there is truth in it. In this alignment,
there is joy. And so I want us for a moment to
walk through this. And it begins with Jesus,
his presence. The joy of his presence. And this
kind of joy is not anything that is self -generated.
I am not the originator of joy in my life. I
am not the source of joy in my life. There is
only one giver of joy, and it is Jesus. The magi,
exceedingly great joy, came to them as they observed
the star marking the place of his presence. There
is something about a life that has been marked
by his presence. It is a life that is marked
by joy. I want to walk through a few examples
of this because we hear and we even sang it today.
The joy of the Lord is my strength and that sounds
so good. But man, how do you walk in that? What
does that mean when everything around me just
is kind of stinky? Let me just give you a little
bit of inspiration. For what that can look like.
You've heard me talk about him before. But I
can't talk about joy in our daily life without
talking about Brother Lawrence. A 1700 monk who
didn't just pray in a chapel. He prayed while
peeling potatoes. He was the chef of the monastery.
And day in and day out. And it wasn't like today.
He didn't have KitchenAid, beautiful mixer that
I have, two of them, praise the Lord. He didn't
have a microwave. He didn't have a gas stove
to flick on. He had to go chop the wood to bring
it in and start the fires, right? And so it was
this kind of life, the day in and day out monotony.
He didn't worship just during services. He worshiped
while he scrubbed pans. And here's the key. Here's
what he said, Brother Lawrence. There was no
difference to him between the time he spent doing
business in life, between the time in the soapy
water, that was his business, and the peeling
of potatoes. There was no difference from that
to when he was on his knees in prayer. It was
all the same to him. He lived life marked by
the presence of God. God was in both places.
Susanna Wesley, she was one of my heroes as I
was raising my children, mother of John and Charles
Wesley, two of the most influential leaders in
church history, wrote many hymns. She had 19
children. This being in the chaos of 18th century
life. No tablets for her so that she could have
quiet time. No dishwashers, no air conditioning,
no Walmart grocery pickups. Here's what she did.
She would sit down in her kitchen. she would
throw her apron over her head and pray. That
apron became a holy place. It was her tent of
meeting. Everyone, every child in the house knew
when Mama's got her apron over her head, you
don't bother her. She's talking to Jesus, and
she did that every day, often up to two hours.
Not in a cathedral, not on a retreat, not on
a mom's night out, but in the middle of the clatter,
the crying, and the chores of 19 kids. She made
space. She had been marked by the presence of
God. In the early church, in the early centuries
of the church, before Christianity was legalized,
following Jesus was dangerous. It is around the
world today. Eyewitnesses recorded stories of
Christians led into Roman arenas to be executed.
And instead of cursing their fate, they sang
hymns. Not dirges, not laments. They sang songs
of joy. One of the most well -documented examples
was that of Perpetua and Felicitas, two young
women imprisoned in North Africa in 2003. Or
203, sorry. On the day of their execution, they
marched into the arena in dignity and sang. And
here's what shook the Roman world. The people
didn't just see martyrs die, they saw them die
singing, and many came to faith because of that.
They were singing songs of joy. The underground
church in China, one young woman had been imprisoned
for her faith and said, he was with me in the
cell, I was never alone. And I'm so happy to
be with him again in worship. Jonathan Edwards,
known to be a preacher of great conviction, of
gravity. You may have heard of his sermon, famous
sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.
It was reported that as the one local farmer
wrote, as they were walking home under the stars
following the service, they did not speak. For
the joy was too heavy for words. Jerusha, his
daughter, sitting in silence after a service,
her heart so full of joy, she feared it would
burst. For you sports fans, Reggie White, NFL.
He once said, I believe the joy that comes from
being with God is better than any victory I've
had on the field. He was known for encouraging
teammates, smiling during games, and carrying
himself with peace and confidence that didn't
come from stats or contracts, but knowing he
was walking with God. Richard Warmbrand. a Romanian
pastor in the communist takeover in the 20th
century. For preaching the gospel, was arrested
and spent 14 years in prison, much of it in solitary
confinement. Tortured, starved, and forbidden
to speak the name of Jesus. And he wrote about
his time in prison. He began to move into a place
of such joy that he said, I have danced for joy
in the cell. where I was kept for three years.
No music, no light, no Bible. He just danced
for joy in the presence of the Lord in that cell.
This man went on to found, you may have heard
of it, the voice of the martyrs, telling the
stories of believers worldwide. Listen, Psalm
1611 says it. It is in your presence that there
is fullness of joy. It is not for the ideal times.
These are just a few examples. You could go on
all day. It has nothing to do with your circumstances.
It has everything to do with his presence. And
I find it interesting that in neuroscience, we
have this thing called mirror neurons. And so
in your brain, there are parts that are fired
not just when you do something, but when you
see someone else do it. So it's why you see somebody
stub their toe and you wince, right? You watch
a sappy Hallmark movie and you start crying.
Not because of anything that's happening to you.
You didn't meet the man in flannel and give up
everything to go live on his farm. But you're
crying. Gotta love a guy in flannel. That's why
you wore that today, isn't it? Your brain mirrors
what it sees. So in a sense, we're wired, literally
wired for connection. And so when you are literally
feeling other people's experience in your own
bodies, when you are around a calm person, you'll
become calm. When you're around someone joyful,
you will begin to be joyful. So let's think about
that now on a spiritual level. What happens when
you spend time in the presence of the creator
of the universe? What happens when you spend
time with our perfect, loving, joyful father?
You are literally wired to begin to... reflect,
and mirror him. You are wired to emotionally
respond to the people we're with, and so spending
time in the presence of God should awaken joy
in us. He is joy, and we can't spend time with
him and not begin to experience joy. your brain
begins to be fired up and responds. It's not
a forced happiness. It's not an artificial cheer,
but it's a real soul -deep joy that mirrors the
heart of the Father. You were created for that.
And so joy doesn't come from your circumstance.
It doesn't come from you. It comes as you spend
time in the presence of our Lord. And so it matters
not what's going on. He is with you. He's with
you in the dark places and the broken places.
He is available to you at all times. And so as
you engage with the Father, joy. awakened. And
so we begin, always, always, the starting point
is joy comes from Jesus. Now, some of us like
to just have the joy of others. Some of us think
we can have just the joy with Jesus and we don't
have to bother with the others. But the truth
is, is that there is joy in community. You were
created. The term magi is not a singular term.
It is a plural term. This was a group of men
traveling together. They were a company of men
on a mission together. We were meant to do it
together. A diary was found in the home of an
elderly lady. who had passed away. The same line
was found for every day for the last years of
her life. Each day she had written down, no one
visited, no one called, no one cared. We were
designed to have others in our life. We were
designed to be in community. In fact, in the
words of Hebrews chapter 10, Verse 24, he says,
and let us consider how we may spur one another
on toward love and good deeds, not giving up
meeting together as some are in the habit of
doing, but encouraging one another. And all the
more as you see the day approaching, the closer
we get in our journey toward eternity, the more
we need one another. And so how we interact as
a community is important. We just read what Hebrews
said. Let me put it in a way that will get this
in your mind and you'll leave here with this
stuck in your brain. It's been in mine all morning.
In the words of Willie Nelson, you were always
on my mind. Maybe I didn't love you. Would you
like to come sing it, Darren? Maybe I didn't
love you quite as often as I could have. And
maybe I didn't treat you quite as good as I should
have. If I made you feel second best, I'm sorry
I was blind. You were always on my mind. And
maybe I didn't hold you all those lonely, lonely
times. I guess I never told you I'm so happy
you're mine. Little things I should have said
and done. I just never took the time. But you
were always on my mind. See, I wanted you to
get this stuck to remind you, as it goes through
your head this week, the little things matter
with one another. A quick text to somebody. Hey,
I missed you today. What does this let us know?
We are seen. We are seen. We are known by our
community. I love that Paul wrote to the church
of Thessalonica, for what is our hope and our
joy, the crown in which we glory, and the presence
of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you?
He's saying this to the church. You. Our joy.
Indeed, you are our glory and joy. You often
hear us talking about community here and the
need for the community of Christ. I think, though,
that one doesn't really believe that until one
really engages with that. And you suddenly realize,
wow. I need these people, and these people need
me. We need one another. It's part of the joy
we were created for. The Trinity, the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit had wonderful communion
with one another, relationship with one another.
But they wanted others brought into that. We
were brought into that. And so God himself was
set up himself for community. We are the image
of our father, and so also we need community.
A story comes to us of long ago of a king who
organized a great race within his kingdom. All
the young men of the kingdom participated, and
a bag of gold was to be given to the winner.
The finish line was within the courtyard of the
king's palace. The race was run. The runners
were surprised to find in the middle of the road
leading to the king's palace a great pile of
rocks and stones. But they managed to scramble
over it or to run around it and come to the courtyard.
Finally, all the runners had crossed the finish
line except one. But still the king did not call
the race off, and after a while one lone runner
came through the gate. He lifted a bleeding hand
and said, O king, I am sorry that I am so late,
but you see I found a pile of rocks and stones,
and it took me a while, and I wounded myself
in removing them. Then he lifted the other hand,
and in it was a bag. He said, but great king,
I found beneath the pile of rocks this bag of
gold. The king said, my son, you have won the
race. For the one runs best, who makes the way
safer for those who follow. We weren't meant
to make a wild dash toward our eternal home by
ourselves. As we read in Hebrews, we were called
to say, come on, let's go and do this together.
I'm going to kind of wade back here and catch
this person that's kind of having trouble, and
I'm going to help them along. There's joy in
the others. And what you begin to find when you
engage in the others, in the community, is the
treasure. The treasure that God has for us and
the one another. And so there's joy in the community.
So there's joy in Jesus, joy in community and
others. And finally, there's joy in you. And
Darren said it, didn't he, earlier. Sometimes
we have a hard time believing that God would
desire us. That God would care about my worship.
But the Magi, what did they do? Then they began
to open up their treasures and lay them at the
feet of Jesus. Listen, they traveled together.
They got to the presence together. But there
came a moment when they each had to bring their
own gift and lay it at the feet of Jesus. The
truth is, as much as we need others, nobody else
can stand in for you. Nobody else will stand
in the judgment seat, before the judgment seat.
It's just us and him, individually, right? And
so it matters. You matter to him. And we live
in this time. They traveled together, the Magi,
but in the end, they brought their own worship.
And we live in this. We say this term often because
I think it's an interesting one. An upside down
kingdom. It doesn't make sense to this world.
Because in this world we're all about self -care,
right? Putting self first to take care of self.
When John 15, what does it do? It calls us. It
says no greater love has anyone than this that
they lay down their life for their friends. And
so. In the end, here's the power of joy, is that
this circles back around to his presence. Because
it begins and ends with his presence in your
life. Self -care begins with your relationship
with Christ. So here's what I want us to do.
We are in this Advent season. I love Advent because
it makes a lot of space for us. It kind of forces
space into what can be a very crazy, chaotic
time. But my prayer for you in this Advent season
is that it would be a time for you to re -engage
with his presence. That it would be a time that
remembering that like the Magi, we're on a worship
journey. We're looking for something else, something
to come, the lands that are calling to us. Come
on, the path is demanding our yes. We're on this
worship journey that can only be a worship journey
if his presence. has marked our life. And so
as the team comes back up, I want to just conclude
by this reminder that we are a pilgrim people.
And Psalm 84, more and more and more, has become
a life verse for me. Blessed is the man whose
strength is in you, whose heart is set on pilgrimage.
Can I just ask the question, what is your heart
set on today? Is it set on this life? Or is your
heart set on the pilgrimage from where we're
going, our eternal home? It's up to us. We get
the power to set things in our life. Whose heart
is set on pilgrimage? And we refer to Nehemiah
8 .10 that said that the joy of the Lord is your
strength. And so when I take that and I go back
to Psalm 84, the man whose strength is in you,
I'm convinced that it is joy, the joy of the
Lord, that is what gives you what you need for
your pilgrimage. That without it, you will lose
heart. And when you lose heart, you will step
off the path. You will disengage from the journey
toward the Lord. And so today what we want to
do is we want to re -engage with his presence
in joy. Maybe, I know we laughed about it earlier,
maybe you found yourself grumbling a little more.
laughing a little less. Today, I want to encourage
you to make the choice to be a person marked
by the presence and the joy of the presence,
that you are going to be a kingdom person, marked
by presence, marked by joy. And you're not going
to let this world determine your joy level. You're
going to, in the presence, You're going to let
him determine your joy level. Amen? And so it's
nothing that is belittling your pain, nothing
that is belittling the struggle for where you're
at. That is real, and joy is not saying that
that is not real. Joy is saying it's in those
places that joy of the Lord becomes a very real
reality. Right? Nothing else makes sense that
I have this joy. I know it doesn't come from
the circumstance, because all I know is pain
and sorrow. But there's this abiding thing in
me, and it just gives me the strength to keep
going, to keep walking, and to not stop. It's
the joy of his presence. And sometimes we just
need to stop, stop bemoaning the pain, right?
We need to stop grumbling about the circumstance.
We just need to lean in and let the joy of the
Father. We need to start to mirror. Let those
neurons in your brain get fired up by His joy,
renewing your strength. Amen? And so here's what
we're going to do today. I've asked the team,
I just want us, that the altar response is going
to be as we just stand and we begin to celebrate
in joy. And as we do that, this is, remember,
nothing to do with your emotions. This is rejoicing
in the presence of God. This is rejoicing that
we're doing it with one another in community,
right? This is the joy of knowing that the God
of the universe sees you and takes joy in you.
And we want to reflect back joy to him. And so
this morning we're going to stand and we're going
to conclude our service time with a song of rejoicing,
a song of praise. And in a way, you're going
to have to disengage yourself a bit from your
circumstance. In a way, I need you to kind of
let loose your footwear. You got to kind of get
some lightness to your feet so that you can rise
up to where God is. and his great presence full
of joy. Amen? And so as the team leads us, this
is your declaration that I'm going to be a person
of joy. I'm going to be a kingdom -minded person.
I'm going to be a person marked by the presence
of the almighty God. Amen? So let's just worship
in joy for a few more moments.