Luke 2:8-20
Luke 19:1-10
“Joy Grows”
As I begin my sermon this morning, I want to give a shout-out to Stephen’s father in India. I don’t know what time it is where you live, or whether you are worshipping with us live or a little later on. But I know that you are enjoying the “From the Manger” theme that we are exploring during this Advent season, and I am too.
Thanks are due to “Illustrated Ministry” for the theme material that we are using this year, drawing our attention to the manger where the baby Jesus was laid. It’s meaningful and hopeful to think about the significance of the manger. It wasn’t just a young mother’s strategy for a safe and warm place to put her sleeping baby.
More than that, the manger is a powerful metaphor reminding us that Jesus came to be the Bread of Life for the world. Lying in a manger, a feeding trough, in the little town of Bethlehem, literally the “House of Bread,” Jesus came to feed our spiritual hunger, to fill us with hope, peace, joy, and love, and to transform the world into the kind of place where all people are fed – physically, emotionally, and spiritually nourished – by God who has come to be with us.
Today, we have already spoken and sung and prayed about the gift of joy that Jesus brings. And we’ve remembered the shepherds who were out in the fields on the first Christmas night. They heard the angels’ strange and delightful proclamation that the Messiah had been born, and then they went with haste into the town called “House of Bread” to see the child and share in the joy of the Holy Family.
It makes me think of the times that I’ve had the opportunity to be among the first to welcome a new baby into the world. Although mums don’t stay in hospital long after they give birth these days, I’ve occasionally managed to do a pastoral visit on the maternity ward… where exhaustion, joy, and anticipation about the future all mingle together in the hearts of parents, relatives, and friends. It’s the kind of scene that you leave with a spring in your step, and a strong feeling that you want to tell someone about it.
And I’ve witnessed little ones being greeted when they come to church for the first time too. Look at the crowd gathered around baby Samuel a year and a half ago on the day of his baptism. Simply by his arrival in our community, that child and all the other little ones too inspired joy and gladness to grow in our church family.
In the case of Jesus, of course, it was something more than just the everyday miracle of a tiny, perfect infant. But it was also the promise that somehow, this child would grow to be the Messiah – that he was sent from God, and indeed he was God’s very presence with us in the world, blessing us with the fullness of hope, peace, joy, and love.
After he grew too big to sleep in a feeding trough, became a little boy with big ideas and caused stress and worry for his parents, perhaps learned his father’s trade while also studying the Scriptures and exploring his faith, Jesus finally began the ministry in which he would live out his calling to feed the world with joy.
There have been many different depictions of Jesus in artwork and icons over the centuries, and in more recent times from movies. One of my favourites is this image of Jesus leading a crowd of disciples through the streets. His arms are in the air in a gesture of joyful delight at being alive and in community. I’ve had it on my computer for years, but I can’t actually remember which movie it was from.
Regardless, I think it’s a good depiction of what I imagine Jesus was like. Although he was a person of faith, he wasn’t dour or overly pious. He’s the one who got himself in trouble occasionally for breaking the religious rules. And he did that, not to be a rebel, but when compassion and love required something different than the letter of the law. We know that he turned water into wine to keep the party going at a wedding. And wherever he went, he shared food, enjoyed conversation, and made friends with those on the sidelines.
One of the wonderful stories that Luke’s Gospel tells is about the day that Jesus met Zacchaeus, the tax collector. Jesus already had one tax collector, Matthew, among his closest disciples, and yet the people who witnessed what happened that day were still surprised (even shocked!) when Jesus spoke to Zacchaeus.
It’s a delightful story for children to explore, because Zacchaeus wasn’t only a traitorous, selfish, tax collector who cooperated with the Roman occupiers and probably cheated the people by collecting extra taxes for himself, but Zacchaeus was also quite short.
Folks in the crowd who were waiting to see the famous prophet, Jesus, pass by probably wouldn’t let the “tax collector” into the front row. But he couldn’t see from the back, and Zacchaeus was just as curious as everyone else about this miracle-worker, healer, and wise teacher who was coming through their town that day.
So, Zacchaeus climbed a tree. I don’t know if he did that often or easily – whether he was a young man that you’d expect to do such a thing, or an older professional who looked ridiculous as he scrambled up there, huffing and puffing from the exertion.
And then, Jesus looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today!” That’s it. That’s all Jesus said. But I do believe, that those words of connection, acceptance, and love filled Zacchaeus’ heart to overflowing with joy!
He must have been so very used to the sneers and jibes of his neighbours, people avoiding his gaze, and pushing him to the back of any crowd. But now, Jesus was looking at him, and talking to him, and treating him like a person, and coming over to his house for lunch.
The commentary on this text from “Illustrated Ministry” notes that Zacchaeus receives Jesus at this house while rejoicing (chairon, in the Greek) and then it explains that there are about fifteen different words in Greek that describe joy, happiness, and gladness.
But the wonder of this story is not just that Zacchaeus rejoices – that he feels joy in that moment of grace and welcome from Jesus. “A more important takeaway from Zacchaeus’ story is that Zacchaeus finds a way to extend joy by living out the call from Jesus. For Zacchaeus, joy is more than a moment of feeling good.”
You remember what he does, right? He declares that he will give half his possessions to the poor; and if he’s defrauded anyone of anything, he’ll pay back four times as much.”
He says this, not because Jesus requires him to repent and turn his life around before Jesus will accept and love him, but because Jesus has already shown him mercy and love, and he is responding with joyful generosity.
One of the discussion questions in our Advent devotional this week asked us to consider, “What is the relationship between justice and joy?” And when I read that one aloud in our Tuesday night group, there was a long pause as we pondered it.
I had noticed that the devotional referred to the giving and re-paying that Zacchaeus promised to do as Zacchaeus’ “reparations.” And that made me think about the harm that settlers, and the Canadian Government, and the Churches have done to Indigenous people on this land, and the reparations that are a necessary part of the long process of healing and reconciliation.
As I considered the relationship between justice and joy, my first thought was that when we live in a world where justice is still lacking, where reparations have not yet been made, where poverty abounds, and the intergenerational effects of colonization are still pervasive and devastating, feeling joyful almost feels wrong. It feels like we are turning a blind eye to our struggling neighbours and ignoring the pain of the world.
But then, all of a sudden, I realized that the joy comes first. The joy is born in the manger, where God comes into our world in Jesus Christ bringing love, grace, compassion, and care for each and every one of us. From there, the joy grows when people like Zacchaeus, and like us, receive it and respond in joy and generosity, including repentance and reparations. Justice grows, and joy grows, and the two circle and spin together in a beautiful cycle of God’s love.
The Advent devotional suggests that “Zacchaeus’ reparations were one way that Mary’s song and the song of the angels, came true – a toppling of the system in the direction of justice; a true peacemaking.”
And then the devotional asks us the question, “How might those Advent songs echo in our own lives? How might the shepherd’s joyful journey inspire our own generosity?”
Friends, this is what Christmas is all about. It’s not about decorations, or family, or fancy meals, or shopping. It’s about receiving the love and acceptance of Jesus with joy, and finding ways to share, and give, and spread that joy far and wide in acts of justice and goodwill.
As we will sing together after our prayer, “God will delight when we are creators of justice and joy, compassion and peace. Yes, God will delight when we are creators of justice… justice and joy.”