The season of Advent and especially Christmas are seasons with joy as a focus. We use such terms as "merry" and "happy" to express this joy. Merry Christmas. Happy New Year. Have a joyous holiday season. We light an Advent candle of "joy." The songs of the season also reflect this joy. Joy to the World! Good Christian Friends, Rejoice!

For Christians, joy is an ongoing, essential expression of our faith. Or, at least it should be. It is the second fruit listed in the fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22. First, love, then joy. A natural result of faith in Christ should be everlasting joy. As stated in the quote on the cover of the bulletin this morning, "the great fruit of belief is joy." A by-product of faith ought to be an exceeding and everlasting joy.

But do we truly experience joy? Is it possible that in our Presbyterian way of everything done "decently and in order" we lose track of the joy of our faith? Joy sounds dangerously close to an emotion and we Presbyterians, the "frozen chosen," tend to be cautious about emotions. Yet over and over again, we are reminded that the fruit of belief in Jesus Christ is joy…and this season of the year especially reminds us of that.

The fruit of joy has also been a part of our focus in our Sunday school class that concluded this morning. I told the class they were going to hear repeated in this sermon some of what we’ve been talking about the last six weeks. I can’t help it. So much of what comes out in a sermon are the result of experiences the preacher has had and it’s hard to separate one’s self from that. In fact, it’s impossible and I don’t think we would want that anyway. So, some aspects of this joy that is ours because of our faith in Jesus Christ.

Simply stated, we have joy in our faith because God has smiled on us. We learned in our class, which was based around the blessing of Aaron in Numbers 6:24-26, that the phrase, "the Lord lift up his countenance upon you," literally means "may God smile upon you." And God has smiled on us in at least three ways: through the promise of God’s presence with us; through the promise that we will persevere through whatever trials we may face in life; and ultimately, through the victory that has been won by Jesus, the Christ child whose birth we celebrate in just a little more than a week. God’s joy, His smile has been poured out upon us in at least those three ways—and the fruit of that for us is exceeding and everlasting joy. Or, at least, it should be.

Let’s look for a moment at these three aspects of God’s smiling upon us and their connection to this season of joy.

First of all, there is the promise of God’s presence with us. In one sense, the story of God’s presence with His people is the story of the Bible. From Genesis creation to Revelation new creation, God is present. God is present with Adam and Eve, even in their disobedience. For it is God who seeks them out, who finds them, who provides a covering for their nakedness…and ultimately a covering for their sin. As Abraham journeys to a new land and a new life, God is present, calling and guiding Abraham all along the journey. As Moses leads the people out of Egypt, it is the presence of God—symbolized in a pillar of fire by night and a whirling cloud by day—that guides and provides for them. God is present with David in establishing a new kingdom in Israel. When that kingdom falls, God remains faithfully with Israel even in exile and points toward her restoration. That is the gist of our passage from Isaiah today—that even in the midst of disaster, God is present with Israel and will restore her. When that restoration takes place, under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah, God remains present with His people. The epitome of God’s presence takes place in Jesus Christ. The child born in Bethlehem is Emmanuel, "God with us," the pinnacle moment of God’s presence with His people. And he promises to continue to be present with us, an event for which we should be filled with joy. To his disciples in the Upper Room, as Jesus prepares them for the events to come, Jesus says, "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete," (John 15:11). In the Great Commission, Jesus promises to be with us to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:20b). Jesus is present with us. And like the joy we have in the presence of a loved one, like the joy you will feel this Christmas as loved ones from far away gather to be in your presence, so too should we experience joy in the continued presence of Christ with us.

Then our faith brings us exceeding and everlasting joy because we know we will persevere through whatever life brings our way. Again, this is the story of the Bible. Against seemingly insurmountable odds, Moses perseveres. Battling difficult opponents, including his own frailties and obsessions, David perseveres. Despite Israel’s disobedience, even rejection of God, she perseveres. And, ultimately, Jesus perseveres through great hardship and difficulty. So too, then, do followers of Christ persevere…and point with confidence to eventual perseverance even in the midst of difficult trials. Peter, for example, writes, "In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kind of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls," (1 Peter 1:6-9). Or, consider the words of the apostle Paul as he languishes in prison, his life very likely coming to an end, and writes a letter of encouragement to the church at Philippi, a letter, by the way, often referred to as Paul’s letter of joy, largely because of such phrases as this, "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" (Philippians 4:4). In prison, on the verge of death, Paul speaks of rejoicing. Or there is the confidence in persevering expressed by James, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance," (James 1:2, 3). How can one experience joy in the midst of severe trials? By standing on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ. The ultimate expression of perseverance is the book of Revelation, a book filled with images of trials and tribulations, yet a book of which the great theologian, Karl Barth, uncharacteristically succinctly summarizes in just two words, "Jesus wins!" Even in the midst of difficult trials and difficulties we can be filled with joy because we know we will persevere because of Christ.

That joyful perseverance is possible because of the third event of God smiling upon us—the victory that is won in Christ. This baby whose birth we will be celebrating has come for the primary purpose of gaining victory over those trials and tribulations we face in his world—even the supreme trials of sin and death. Again, to the disciples in the Upper Room, Jesus says, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world," (John 16:33). Of this victory, the apostle Paul joyfully writes in that great chapter on the resurrection, the 15^th chapter of 1 Corinthians, "The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ," (1 Corinthians 15:56, 57). And, finally, the apostle John assures us that this victory, and the inherent joy that comes with it, is ours, "…for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God," (1 John 5:4, 5).

What filled the people of God with joy, what led to their rejoicing was experiencing the blessing of God smiling upon them, even in the midst of dire circumstances. The people in the time of Isaiah could experience joy despite their circumstances because (1) they knew that God was present with them, (2) because of God’s presence, they knew they were going to persevere through their circumstances (the word "will" is used 27 times in just ten verses!), and (3) they were aware of the promised coming of God’s anointed one, the Messiah. That ultimate event of joy is what we celebrate at Christmas.

The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament speaks of that joy this way: "Joy is experienced through the salvation achieved by Jesus Christ in the past, personally experienced in the present, and confidently expected in the future. Christ is the basis for our joy."

So, this is, indeed, a season of joy…because the focus of the season is on Jesus Christ. The reason for the season is Jesus Christ…and there is exceeding and everlasting joy in that. Do you know that kind of joy in your life; a joy that exceeds every other kind of joy in your life, a joy that nothing in life can take away? A joy that is present in your life, more than that, a joy that exudes from your inner most being no matter the circumstances you face in life? You won’t find that joy in the things of this world, not even in the things of this season apart from Jesus Christ. Oh, those things can occasionally provide you with some joy, but it is not the exceeding and everlasting joy found in Christ. The gifts can bring you joy, the celebrations can bring you joy, the loved ones with whom you celebrate can bring you joy, but that joy will not last forever. Sometimes, those same things can bring you disappointment and heartache. The things of the world can bring you joy, but they can and will also bring you disappointment and heartache. But these are things of this world. So take heart, Jesus has overcome the world. Joy that is exceeding and everlasting can only be found in him. That is what we celebrate in this joyful season of Advent and Christmas. For our "silent" reflection this morning, let’s take a moment and sing again of this Christmas joy—joyfully singing, really singing of the joy that is ours in Jesus Christ—by singing again the familiar first verse of the Christmas carol, Joy to the World!