The Year of the Lord’s Favor (2) - Isaiah 61 - December 16, 2012
As I begin this morning I want to invite you to take a moment to consider the first question in your sermon notes. That question asks you to complete this statement: “Happiness is ….” And then there’s a blank space for you to write in your answer. So what is happiness to you? The truth is that each of us could probably answer that question a little bit differently, couldn’t we? Heather tells me from time to time that, “happiness is chocolate.” I’ve heard my mom tell my dad, that, “happiness is diamonds,” but what about you? You see, year after year, across this nation, millions, if not billions, of dollars are spent, by people trying to buy themselves a little bit of happiness.
Here’s another question to consider: If our society is so consumed with the pursuit of happiness, then who would you say were the happiest people on earth? Would it be those who grant themselves absolute freedom – those who are constrained by nothing – those who have thrown away any code of rules, ethics, or morals - those who believe in nothing more than themselves? Some say that’s where happiness is found, and yet Voltaire, who believed in nothing outside of himself, said before he died, “I wish I had never been born.” Not the words of a happy man.
How about those who live their lives in the pursuit of pleasure – perhaps they could be considered the happiest amongst us? Yet Lord Byron, who pursued pleasure and sensuality in all things wrote, “The worm, the canker, and the grief are mine alone.” Indulging in pleasures of all kinds could not bring him lasting happiness.
What about the wealthy? Are the happiest, most content people in this world, are they those who have all their needs met, all their desires satisfied, those for whom nothing is out of their reach? Some would say happiness is found in the riches of this world and yet the American millionaire, Jay Gould, when he lay dying said, “I suppose I am the most miserable man on earth.” Not inspiring last words.
How about those then who have status and influence? Lord Beaconsfield, who had both in abundance, wrote, “Youth is a mistake; manhood a struggle, old age, a regret.”
Perhaps then happiness is found in our own glory? Yet Alexander the Great, who conquered the world in his day, having done so wept, “because there were no more worlds to conquer.”
Are the young, who have their whole life ahead of them, happier than the elderly? Or is it the elderly who are happier for they know that their days upon this troublesome earth are numbered?
Who are the happiest people in the world? A newspaper in Great Britain asked that question of it’s readers and the four prize winning responses were these: (1) “A craftsman or artist whistling over a job well done. (2) A little child building sand castles. (3) A mother, after a busy day, bathing her baby. (4) And, finally, a doctor who has finished a difficult and dangerous operation, and saved a human life.” (Source Unknown) That is an interesting list – not so much for what was said, but for that which was not said. You will notice that there are no millionaires in that list. There are no prime ministers, presidents, or kings - in fact wealth and status don’t seem to have figured into the answers the newspaper received at all.
Where, then, is happiness found? Well, you see, that’s the trouble with happiness. People are constantly pursuing it because happiness comes and goes as the blowing of the wind. It is here today, yet gone tomorrow, yet will come again. Christians and non-Christians alike have moments of happiness. But most of us find ourselves wallowing somewhere in between – we are not completely miserable but nor are we completely happy. And for a lot of Christians this is a problem because it clashes with their expectations. “If I’m a Christian, how come I don’t feel happy all the time?”
Some years ago I asked a pair of missionaries who had showed up on my doorstep, what our purpose in life is. Their answer was this: “To be happy.” According to them the ultimate goal of my life is to be happy day in and day out. Apparently it’s all about me and my pleasure. And that’s how many people live their lives, isn’t it? They spend themselves in the pursuit of happiness and yet I want you to understand that even your richest happiness is fleeting. And when we pursue something that is fleeting, and constantly changing, we are running after the wrong thing.
See, as I read God’s word, I don’t see the evidence that the ultimate goal of our life is the pursuit of happiness and pleasure. What I do see is the promise of persecution and trial and hardship. We are told that the world itself will “hate us” because it first hated our Lord, and so it is that it will hate us who are called by His name.
Does God then begrudge us our happiness? Most certainly not! After all He is the One that is the creator of the smile and of laughter. One of my favorite sounds in the world is the giggle of young child – it’s a marvelous sound that brings great happiness to my heart – and it’s a gift created, and given, by God. When we see pictures of Jesus they are almost always of someone somber and serious looking and I’m sure at times He was. But my favorite images of Jesus are those that portray Him laughing and celebrating and delighting in the world He created! Just as Jesus wept and knew sorrow, so too did he laugh and know happiness!
But I don’t see the promise of happiness in the pages of God’s word. What I do see though, is the promise of joy. And I would suggest to you this morning, that instead of pursuing happiness, what we would do better to seek, is the joy that Scripture talks about. Samuel Gordon describes that joy in this way saying, “Joy is distinctly a Christian word and a Christian thing. It is the reverse of happiness. Happiness is the result of what happens of an agreeable sort. Joy has its springs deep down inside. And that spring never runs dry, no matter what happens. Only Jesus gives that joy. He had joy, singing its music within, even under the shadow of the cross.” Joy, is the reverse of happiness. Joy, does not depend on our outward circumstances – happiness does. Therefore joy is the far better of the two to have, for it will be with us whatever may come.
With that thought in mind I’m going to ask you to open your Bibles to the 61st chapter of the book of Isaiah and hear the promise of joy in the message of these verses. This is what we read there, beginning in verse 1 … “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. Aliens will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards. And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast. Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs. “For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity. In my faithfulness I will reward them and make an everlasting covenant with them. Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed.” I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with jewels. For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.”
Now that is a beautiful passage of Scripture describing the restoration of that which has been devastated and laid to ruin, of the lowly and humble being rewarded and honored, of freedom where there was once captivity, and of comfort where once the people mourned. Prosperity replaces destitution, and sorrow is replaced by joy.
But the prophetic passages of Scripture, like this one, are frequently difficult to understand. Rarely are we given timeframes when it comes to the prophetic word, and so as we read this passage, we need to ask if these events have already happened, if they are happening now, or if they are yet to come to pass.
Fortunately we have a pretty good indication regarding the first few verses of this chapter. As to who it is that is the Lord’s anointed in verse 1, we find the answer in the Gospel of Luke, Luke 4:16-20. Luke wrote these words, saying of Jesus that, “He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him.
Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’ Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, ‘Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’”
And that shouldn’t be a surprise to us, should it? We know that it is Jesus who came bearing the good news, what we call the Gospel, to the people of Israel. He, Himself, is the good news. It’s through Him that we have forgiveness of sins and eternal life. It’s He who freed us who were prisoners to sin, setting us free, through His death and resurrection. It’s He who restored sight to the blind and it’s He who released those who were oppressed by evil spirits. It’s He who came to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. Not a literal year, but an allusion to the Year of Jubilee, one year out of every 50, a time when all debts were cancelled, all slaves were freed, and all property returned to its original owners. No crops were to be planted, nor unnecessary work done, for it was to be a year of celebration and thankfulness. Jesus came to proclaim the Lord’s favor – forgiveness and restoration and wholeness, peace with God and hope everlasting!
But I want you to take note that Jesus stopped reading after speaking of the Lord’s favor. He didn’t read the rest of the passage that I read a few moments ago – that part that speaks of vengeance and so on. Why not? Because that is part of His second advent. “Advent” is a word that means “coming.” We are celebrating the season of advent in these weeks – the season of God’s coming to us in the person of Jesus - the birth of the Savior. But there will be a second advent as well – a second coming. Jesus will come again. That’s why He stopped reading when He did. The verses He read were verses that He would fulfill in His day. That which He did not read, is that which is yet to come. Now is the year of the Lord’s favor – now is the time given to us for salvation. Now is the time to repent of our sins, to get right with God, to accept the work of Jesus, the cleansing by His blood. Now is the time to enter into new life and to receive the gift of grace that God offers us in Christ Jesus our Lord. Because when He comes again, it will be to ultimately proclaim the “day of vengeance of our God.”
And the day will come when the tables will be turned. When those who seek to destroy Israel, who seek to destroy the people of God, will bow in recognition of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and know that Israel truly is blessed of the Lord. And in that day, God’s chosen people, His faithful remnant, those who mourn, will be comforted and provided for, their mourning will turn to gladness, people will be full of praise rather than despair, the faithful of Israel will rebuild, they will receive a double portion of the inheritance the Lord has for them and, as verse 7 tells us, “an everlasting joy will be theirs. … and all who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed.”
In verse 10, God’s anointed one, says, “I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness.” That delight, that joy, that rejoicing of one’s soul in God, is yours today if you have accepted the salvation that Jesus offers you. Christ is our joy. In the Gospel of John Jesus tells His disciples that the things He has told them, He has told them in order that “his joy may be in them and that their joy may be complete.” Is your joy complete? Do you know the joy that is Jesus?
You see we will never find the joy we seek in ourselves. “Many years ago a young man went to a renowned doctor in Paris complaining of depression. He asked what he could do to get well. The doctor thought of a well-known young man named Grimaldi, a leader of café society who was well known for his joviality and who cut a wide and lighthearted swath through Paris nightlife. The doctor told the young man, "Introduce yourself to Grimaldi. Let him show you how to enjoy yourself and you will get well." The downcast young patient looked up with a sardonic smile and said, "I am Grimaldi." (Source Unknown)
You see, the joy we bring to our own life is temporary, fleeting, for it is created by finite and sinful man. But the joy given by God is pure and everlasting and can not be taken from us by the whims of the world. It is the joy that stems deep from within knowing that our every moment is in God’s care. It is the joy of knowing we are forgiven. It is the joy of salvation. It is the joy that is Jesus. It is the joy that can be yours.
Long ago there was “a man who got lost in the desert. After wandering around for a long time his throat became very dry, about that time he saw a little shack in the distance. He made his way over to the shack and found a water pump with a small jug of water and a note.
The note read: "pour all the water into the top of the pump to prime it, if you do this you will get all the water you need". Now the man had a choice to make, if he trusted the note and poured the water in and it worked he would have all the water he needed. If it didn’t work he would still be thirsty and he might die. Or he could choose to drink the water in the jug and get immediate satisfaction, but it might not be enough and he still might die. After thinking about it the man decided to risk it. He poured the entire jug into the pump and began to work the handle, at first nothing happened and he got a little scared but he kept going and water started coming out. So much water came out he drank all he wanted, took a shower, and filled all the containers he could find. Because he was willing to give up momentary satisfaction, he got all the water he needed. Now the note also said: after you have finished, please refill the jug for the next traveler.” The man refilled the jug and added to the note these words: “Please prime the pump, believe me it works!”
We have the same choice to make, … [because you and I will only draw as close to Jesus as we want to. And so often we hold parts of life back, saying to God, “Do not touch! Do not change! Do not transform!” because we’re scared to trust God with everything we are, and have, and ever hope to be. Yet the joy that is Jesus belongs particularly to those who are walking closely with Him. It belongs to every Christian to some extent, but it is only found in each according to how closely they seek to draw near to Him. In the Gospel of Luke we read that Jesus was “full of joy through the Holy Spirit.” Scripture urges us to continuously be filled, a constant refilling, with the Holy Spirit, for joy is a fruit of the Spirit, and we do this by spending time with God. Time in prayer, time in His word, time just being still and knowing that He is God.] We need to pour in all the water, trust God with everything. Then once we have experienced what God has to offer, the living water, we need to tell other people, “Go ahead prime the pump, believe me it works!” (Randy Leckliter, www.sermoncentral.com, Illustrations)
If the joy has disappeared from your walk with God, stop in your journey a moment and look around. Because there are killjoys out there. A killjoy, as I’m using that word, is something that does that very thing – something that kills the joy you are meant to have as a Christian. Scripture tells us that Satan comes to “steal and kill and destroy,” but Jesus has come that we may “have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10, NIV) Yet if we’re not careful we give Satan a foothold into our lives and he will use that to seek to rob you of the joy that you are meant to know in Christ.
So what are the killjoys in the life of a Christian? I’m going to suggest three of them to you this morning and I’m indebted to a pastor by the name of Brian Bill (Journeying to Joy, Brian Bill, www.sermoncentral.com) for the work he has done in naming these three things.
The first killjoy we encounter is that of our Unsatisfied Expectations. If you’re not careful, discontent can eat away at your joy until there is nothing left. You look around you, you see what others have, and you grow dissatisfied with what God has given you. Maybe the job isn’t all you thought it would be. Or your marriage hasn’t worked out the way you hoped it would. Perhaps you just aren’t able to live the life you always dreamed about because you just can’t afford the money, or the time, or health problems have taken their toll. In the midst of all these things you have grown discontent and the joy you once knew has been eaten away bit by bit with the passing of the years.
There is nothing wrong with having great expectations – that’s what dreams are made of - as long as you can be content in all things. Listen to Paul’s words from the book of Philippians where he writes this, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” (Philippians 4:12, NIV84) Paul understood that true life isn’t dictated by what we have, or by what we don’t have, but that it’s found in relationship with Jesus. We make this world about so many other things, and in doing so we grant Satan a foothold into our hearts, but if we keep it about Jesus, fixed on Him, focused on Him, if we find worth and life in relationship with Him, we ought not to grow discontent and our joy ought to overflow.
A second killjoy we’ve all encountered is that of Unresolved Conflict. Most of us dread conflict and for many of us the only thing worse than conflict itself, is unresolved conflict. It eats away at us night and day, if affects our ability to sleep, quenches our appetite, steals our peace, fills our heart with anxiety and bitterness, and destroys our joy. Why does it destroy the joy?
Because as unresolved conflict weighs on our mind, it pushes out all thoughts of God. Instead of responding to God in worship we mutter curses against our fellow man. Instead of spending time with God we spend time plotting revenge, or trying to figure out how to destroy our adversary, or reliving our hurts. We become consumed with the conflict and we lose sight of God in the midst of it all. In the book of Hebrews we read these words … “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” (Hebrews 12:14–15, NIV84) Unresolved conflict is liable to steal your joy because it takes your eyes off of God.
And then the third killjoy is that of Unrepented Sin. When we know we’ve done wrong, when we’re continuing to live doing the wrong, when we insist on walking in rebellion before God, we forsake the fellowship we have with Him. And the further we push God away the farther joy moves from us as well. The two are tied together. Listen to David’s words from Psalm 32 …
“Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”— and you forgave the guilt of my sin.” (Psalm 32:1–5, NIV84)
David was tormented by his guilt. The joy he once knew in the Lord was gone because of his sin and his refusal to confess and repent. You will not know the joy of the Lord if you insist on knowingly walking in sin. If your heart is hard towards sin then your heart is hard towards God. And so it was for David. Yet when he confessed his sin, turned from it, listen to what he writes at the end of Psalm 32 … “Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!” (Psalm 32:11, NIV84) His joy has been restored! Why? Because he did business with God. He humbled the heart, confessed the sin, and brought his life back into alignment with God’s word, and God’s will, and in doing so, he once again knew the joy that we so long for!
Unsatisfied Expectations, Unresolved Conflict, Unrepented Sin – three things that will certainly destroy the joy that we are meant to have in Jesus. And I don’t know if you caught it, but there is a common theme that runs through all three of those killjoys. Each one eats away at our joy because it eats away at our closeness with God.
Jesus came to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor – God was going to do that which resulted in a great and lasting joy for His people. And there is a close connection between God’s presence, and knowing God’s favor, and therefore the joy, that Scripture speaks of. Listen to the angel’s words to Mary when he announces to her that she will give birth to the Messiah. “In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”” (Luke 1:26–28, NIV84) Why is Mary highly favored? Not just because she was chosen to give birth to the Messiah, but because the Lord was with her. And later on we are told that, because the Lord was with her, that she rejoices in God her “Savior.” Joy is the outflow of being with the Jesus.
Brothers and sisters – we too are highly favored, for the Lord is with us, in the person of Jesus. He is called “Immanuel,” meaning, “God with us,” and that is cause for great joy! Therefore my prayer for each of us this advent is that we would know the joy that is Jesus. For His is a lasting joy that withstands the hard times in life, which endures when happiness has fled, and which is God’s gift to us in the midst of a broken world filled with trials and troubles and sorrows and griefs of all kinds. So hear now the words of Jesus, words He spoke to His disciples so long, as He says this, “I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.” (John 16:22, NIV84) The Lord has come, and the Lord is coming again, may the joy of the Lord be yours!
Let’s pray ….
