Rejoice in the Lord always

Dear Friends in Christ Jesus,

            I was wondering how many of you have jumper cables in your cars? Here at church we keep a pair of cables ready just in case somebody’s battery needs a jump. Just leaving a door ajar, or listening to the radio or just a weak battery can leave a person with that horrible sound of click, click, click, or even worse just dead silence. A battery tester can save some troubles, for it will tell how good the charge is in the battery. I wish there was something like that for a Christian to use, to double check how much charge is left in their souls. It would be then a good reminder to recharge our spiritual batteries. 

            When the Apostle Paul tells us to rejoice in the Lord, sometimes I think our response is much like those batteries that leave that sound, click, click, click. Ever so often we need to jump-start our souls. The spark, the joy of being a Christian just isn’t there. When our text calls us to “Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again, Rejoice!” we may not feel like it, our energy is gone, we are weary.   How do we get that joy back? 

I.              The Draining of Joy

All you have to do is leave a dome light on and the next morning a battery has been drained dry. Perhaps there is another connection that is draining the batter even though the key is off. Perhaps the alternator isn’t working and the battery is not being recharged. Cars, iPods, and cell phones all can be drained of their energy. In the same way many things can drain the soul and spiritual life of an individual.

When the Apostle Paul writes, “Do not be anxious about anything,” he is well aware of what can drain joy from a person’s soul. The word anxious has the idea of remembering of things that have caused stress or hurt or disappointment.   Jesus uses the word five times in his Sermon on the Mount uses it as, don’t worry.  In other words it is what can fill our thoughts and minds and take away from the peace that Jesus wants us to enjoy in life. 

When you think about things that keep you up at night and drain your energy, joy and peace, isn’t it amazing how we can run over and over again things in our mind. We keep thinking about things and it saps the joy from the season. Finances are filling many people’s thoughts and can drain ones’ energy and joy. Relationships failed or fractured can weigh heavily on a person’s mind.   Cares for family members separated by distance or by war, can consume ones waking hours. Personal struggles with sins and frustration over spiritual failures and their consequences deplete the joy of Christmas. 

II.            The Power Source – The Lord

Can you imagine jump starting a car with another dead battery? You might as well connect the jumper cables to my big toes or to a couple of cheese burgers. It just won’t do any good. Many people want joy in their life, but they don’t know where the power source really is. Sometimes they look at themselves and wonder what is wrong. It’s like looking into a dead battery. The source of joy is not inside us. Others look for things of this world that seem to have a spark for a moment. But lasting joy will not be found in anything of this world. For anything of this world can be taken away from us. Here is an important thought to consider, happiness can come and go, but real joy cannot be taken from you.

            Real joy will be found in the Lord. When one looks at the Christmas story you will see it is really about what God has done. Mary, Joseph, Shepherds, Wisemen and Angels are just insignificant actors in the Christmas story. The real focus has to be on that new born baby in the manger. Here in strips of cloth a miracle of miracles, our God has taken on flesh and blood. Here in the most miraculous way our God has become one of us so that we would be saved. 

            Think of the power of his ministry. Jesus displayed his power over sickness, power over hunger, power over death, power over the grave, power over the devil. When that power was unleashed, think of the joy it brought to the people who experienced his workings. The sick, the hungry, those who had lost loved ones, those facing death, those struggling with sin and Jesus had good news for them. To this day, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. Our Jesus is the same Jesus, the same heart, the same compassion, the same power for our generation. 

III.           Connecting to the Lord

Here in the Saint Croix Valley we have a big power plant. Its chimney rises above the valley. When you look at it you can also tell which way the wind is blowing. When you have an electrical power plant, you need something else. You need the power lines to conduct the electricity from the plant to where it is needed.

When we look at Jesus we are reminded of all he came to do. But how does the forgiveness of sins, the hope of eternal life, the peace and joy get to our hearts and minds? Where are the power lines? What are the power lines? It is the Gospel in word and sacrament.  

Imagine when Jesus was born, nobody knew about it. No shepherds, no Wisemen. Mary and Joseph go back and quietly live their lives in Nazareth. But that was not God’s plan. He had good news, he had great news, the angels filled the sky, the glory of the Lord and the angels announced Christmas. 

The word had to get out. God made sure there were those who carried the good news, a Savior, Christ the Lord. 

            Last weekend Mark Enter, our stewardship chairman announced we are not as far behind as projected. Wouldn’t it be awesome if this week he could announce that we are debt free! Sorry to say, he can’t announce that. But I can! Not that our financial books have balanced, but that is the good news in Jesus, we all are debt free. Our sins our paid for, the wages of death has been paid. But people need to know the good news. 

            If you came to me and said, you have a new grandchild, I could say, yes, I know that, she was born last July 15. It is old news to me. Sometimes I wonder if the word about Jesus is treated as old news in our hearts and lives. Sometimes new Christians struggle, because the good news that made them so happy and excited seems to have lost its excitement. So with our ears we need to hear the Christmas story all over again for the first time. 

IV.          Completing the Circuit

With the jumper cables, you need the good battery, you need the good cables, you need them connected to the other battery. But the switched must be turned on, otherwise nothing is happening. The motor will not start. 

So it is with the Lord. People have been exposed to the greatest power in the world, the Lord God himself and the power of the good news of the gospel but there is one thing missing. The circuit is not yet complete. What is missing is Faith. Faith enjoys all the power of the Lord. Faith lays hold on the promises and joys from the Lord. The believer then knows to turn over all the problems to the one who can help.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. {7} And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.