JOY: Too Good to Be Exclusive

Text: Luke 2:8-20

Grace, mercy, peace, and JOY be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

          Something exclusive is something that’s set apart. It’s special. By its nature it’s not available to everyone. In fact, one of the very definitions of exclusive is “not divided or shared with others.” The blessings we receive are certainly meant to be special, but for the most part they’re not meant to be exclusive. When we have something special, we have a couple choices of what we might do with it. We can hold on to it, cherish it, and never let it out of our sight. Or we could generously share it with those around us. Allowing the blessing to be enjoyed by many more than just ourselves. There are some things which are a little harder to share. Physical objects which would hold less value if separated. Heirlooms that are valuable to one, but worthless to another. But there is something that’s objectively valuable to all of us. The most valuable thing ever. The love of God sent into the world in Christ Jesus. He brings life and light. He brings JOY. The Joy that came into the world at Christmas in the baby Jesus is Too Good to Be Exclusive.

THIS JOY IS EXTREMELY SPECIAL, BUT IT’S NOT EXCLUSIVE.

          Last week we spent some time talking about how this JOY of a baby was Too Good to Be True for Abraham, Zechariah and Elizabeth, and for Mary. These were God’s people. Faithful, loyal followers who worshipped, knew their Scriptures, and did their best to abide by God’s commands. You could say that it’s not entirely surprising that if God wanted to bless someone with the JOY of the Messiah, these are the kinds of people He would bless. Of course the miraculous circumstances surrounding the births of Isaac, John, and Jesus were far beyond how any of them could have expected to be blessed, but if God was going to bless someone, these are the types that you’d think might be the recipients.

But our text for today reminds us that the JOY God sent into the world in Christ Jesus wasn’t just for those we’d assume he would bless. It wasn’t just for the faithful. It wasn’t only for the wealthy or the privileged. The Son of God coming into the world was an event that matters to everyone. It has eternal significance to each of us. This JOY is Too Good to Be Exclusive. It’s for everyone. Luke says to the shepherds, “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”

I’ve always liked nativity scenes. Big ones. Small ones. Ones of different sizes and shapes, with different animals. And ones from around the world. From different cultures. And one of the things I really like about these is that they almost always depict baby Jesus as looking very much like the majority of the people the nativity scene comes from. In Chinese scenes Jesus looks Asian. In African portrayals His skin is darker. In German and Scandinavian nativities, Jesus is a blue-eyed European. This is taking a bit of liberty with the account since there is an objective reality of what Jesus likely looked like as a Middle Eastern Jew. He almost certainly didn’t look like you or me. But what I like about these portrayals, and what I think they get right, at least in one sense, is that the angel came with the message of Good News for all people. “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” The baby Jesus is born to you; for you; He’s yours. And what we know is that the JOY He brings is Too Good to Be Exclusive.

It’s pretty incredible that the people who hear the Good News first, outside of Mary and Joseph, are the shepherds. Likely homeless and poor. Certainly insignificant in their culture. These shepherds get the news first. The Savior is born for those who are insignificant, stuck in our sins, whose hearts our homeless and poor in spirit, who feel like everyone else has got it all together. While He came for all, the first to get the Good News are those who don’t have it all together. The angel comes to them. He comes to us. And those shepherds, who weren’t the faithful, loyal followers, who didn’t know their Scriptures, immediately believed and were given a sign. “You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”

When the Son of God took on all of human nature in the womb of the blessed virgin Mary, He didn’t just become a man, He became man. He took all of humanity into himself in his incarnation. For He came to bear the sins of all humanity in his body. That includes every nation and race and people and language. Though Jesus was indeed a Jew, his birth reveals the truth that there is in fact only one human race, the fallen children of Adam. And in this newborn baby in the manger, every sinner is redeemed and restored to God. Jesus is the embodiment of all people from every corner of the globe, and in his body all people are put right with God again. And so, when Jesus is portrayed as the culture of the people portraying Him, theologically speaking that’s true. By becoming man, Christ becomes one with all people to deliver all people. The Savior is born to you, for you. He’s one of us, our very flesh and blood, our true human brother. There’s no one that’s left out of the new life that comes from his holy birth. He’s like you in every way, except without sin, so that you might become like him in every way and share in his divine glory.

This alone is the basis for the peace on earth of which the angels sang. It’s the reason for the JOY they proclaim. In Christ, God and sinners are reconciled. We sinners are no longer under God’s wrath; we’re at peace with Him again through his selfless mercy. Heaven and earth are at peace. God and man are brought back together in Jesus, for Jesus is God and man together in one person. Baptized into Christ, we’re put right with God. And living in Christ, we’re put right with one another too. The only peace on earth that lasts is the peace of Christ, forgiven sinners united as one in his holy body. It’s a JOY that’s Too Good to Be Exclusive.

Of course, there probably wasn’t much peace and JOY for Joseph and Mary on that first Christmas night. Not only did they have to deal with the stress and anxiety of traveling to Bethlehem for the census, but also of trying to find a place to lodge while she was in labor. And there was no place for them, except with the animals. Imagine a first-time mother trying to give birth under those conditions! The fact that Jesus was born in these circumstances is prophetic of his whole ministry, how he would be despised and rejected by men. John 1 says that “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.” People didn’t understand or grasp who He truly was. He was an outcast and an outsider. And yet John goes on, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

We all, of course, would like to think that if we were there that night, we would have made room for the Holy Family. But the truth is that our lives often say otherwise. We, too, have shut Jesus out. It’s not only those who stay away from Divine Service, those who don’t come to church, or at least not very often, who push Jesus away, who don’t have any room for Him in their inn. No, also those of us who are here regularly sometimes keep him closed in to the church and don’t have room for him out there in our day-to-day lives. We shut out the Word of Christ in certain situations. We shut out the people in whom Christ is present for us to love. We don’t want to have to deal with the inconvenience of letting Jesus in because of all the changes that might mean for us in the way we live.

Whatever the case may be, whoever you are, the message of this night is that Christ came for you to rescue you, to forgive you. He has made room for you by his gracious mercy. He was willing to deal with the indignities of his lowly birth and his humble life and his humiliating death in order that you might be dignified and exalted and lifted up with him in his resurrection to everlasting life.

To all of you, whoever you are, wherever you come from, whatever you’ve done, know this: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. In him, you are forgiven, you are put right with God. All is well. “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” This is, as the angels said, “Good News of great joy that will be for all people.” A JOY that is Too Good to Be Exclusive. Amen.

The peace and JOY of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.