“Oh, where shall joy be found? Where but on heavenly ground? Where the angels singing with all the saints unite, sweetest praises bringing in heavenly joy and light. Oh, that we were there! Oh, that we were there!” (LSB 386:4)
Oh, that we were there! That about sums it up this Christmas morning. If we had only been there with the shepherds to see the baby in the manger, that would bring us true Christmas joy. Or if we could be in heaven where the hassles and struggles of life are over, where sorrow or crying are no more. There, God Himself wipes away every tear and shares eternal joy and light. Oh, that we were there!
Indeed, we know, such joy is to be had. But we think it’s either at the manger or in heaven. It’s anyplace else but here. In other words, such joy is not in this world filled with so much heartache and fear!
That’s the real problem with Christmas. We are always yearning for a Christmas in some ideal setting. We’re always dreaming about the ideal Christmas, “just like the ones we used to know, where treetops glisten, and children listen to hear sleigh bells in the snow.” The Christmas we dream about is always better than the one we experience.
Perhaps, that’s why some of us have such a hard time with Christmas. We have such high expectations that maybe this time we’ll be able to put it together. It’ll be just the right combination of gifts, music, food, and people that will make this holiday merry and bright. But we can never pull it off with such perfection. And so, for so for many, Christmas is depressing, not joyful.
Of course, I’d like you to have yourself a “merry little Christmas.” Of course, I’d like your yuletide to be bright, and I’d like all your troubles to be out of sight. Merriness and brightness, after all, do have their places. But Christmas goes far deeper than that. Christmas is not for somebody else, some other place, or for some other setting. Christmas is for you, whoever you are, right here and right now.
The shepherds have much to teach us about Christmas joy. Because the shepherds play such a prominent part in our Christmas celebrations, we often think of them as prominent people. After all, King David grew up as a shepherd. But, in reality, shepherds were far down the social ladder of their day. Their job wasn’t an easy one. It meant constant vigilance, long days, and lonesome nights under the open sky. It wasn’t a fancy job. Most young boys did not dream about growing up to become a shepherd.
But these lowly shepherds were recipients of an honor no king or emperor ever had. God gave to them–not someone else–the angel’s message: “I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all the people. Today, in the town of David, a Savior has been born for you. He is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11). And then to top it off, the angel threw in an incentive to go find the Child. A manger, he said, would be the clue about where they could find Him.
God did not grant such privilege to Herod or Caiaphas. He, instead, granted this honor on the most unlikely of candidates: meager tenders of sheep, rough-hewn men with tough, weather-beaten skin, whose manners no doubt matched their appearance. In other words, these shepherds were down-to-earth, ordinary guys. But then, an angel of the Lord came to them and made them as valuable as the apostles, prophets. For they were children of God, and so are we.
The shepherds teach us that lasting joy can be found in the calling in which God has placed us. For when they had seen the child, Luke records, “they repeated the message that had been told to them concerning this child…. The shepherds returned to their flock, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. For everything had happened just as they had been told” (Luke 2:17, 20). There was a true Joy for them in the manger. But then they returned, taking their Joy with them as they went back to their work and daily routine.
Today or tomorrow you’ll return to your daily routine, as well. You’ll still be a husband, wife, son or daughter, homemaker, student, butcher, baker, or candlestick maker.
But whoever you are, abounding joy is for you this morning. This joy is not only tucked away for some future place and time. It’s for right here and right now. It’s not in that memorable white Christmas you remember from your childhood. It’s not in family gathered around the table or delightful friends, food, or fun, as precious as they are.
No, instead, such joy is to be found first in the face of a newborn in Bethlehem, which is the face of God. Such joy is in this One, Jesus, who bore the sorrows and the burdens of the entire world in His own heart, which is the heart of God. There is joy in this One, Jesus, who took all our hurt and guilt into His own body in His death, which was the death of God.
And there’s joy for you today, whoever you are, in His Holy Gospel, which is the Word of God. There’s also joy today in His Holy Supper, where He gives us to eat and to drink of the true body and blood born first of Mary and then given as the final offering and perfect sacrifice for sin.
The Joy of Christmas is right here, right now, whenever Jesus comes to us. That’s Good News. That’s the majestic joy of the incarnation. And it’s for you! Amen.
