Christopher H. Edmonston

Howard Memorial Presbyterian Church

Isaiah 9: 2 – 7

Talkin’ ‘bout JOY

I want to begin by re-reading two verses of Isaiah 9 once more.

2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness-- on them light has shined.

3 You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as people exult when dividing plunder.

Is there anything more necessary to life – I mean LIFE – not just the beating of a heart, the coursing of blood, the firing of neurons and protons in the nervous system – I mean LIFE in all its triumph and beauty – is there anything more necessary to LIFE than joy?

Isaiah 9 most perfectly captures the movement from darkness to joy – I might argue that this text captures the movement from despair to joy better than any other in scripture. The enemies armies’ battle flags will be burned. Darkness will give forth to light. Joy will be increased and justice will rain like manna and righteousness an ever flowing stream.

To think of the kind of joy we are talking about –

Ø think: shepherds running;

Ø think: a long time drought ended by cool steady rain;

Ø think: a young couple who have prayed and prayed and prayed to have a child and their doctor at last confirms their pregnancy;

Ø think: that picture in New York city on VE day back in May 1945 – that sailor and that well dressed lady sharing a victory kiss;

Ø think: a long-lost son returns home;

Ø think: a college degree earned; a promise come true;

Ø think: the promotion finally arrived; the weight of the world lifting off of your shoulders

Ø think: ever after finally arriving.

That is the kind of joy that we are talking about in Isaiah 9. We are not talking about joy – we are talking about JOY! One Methodist missionary perhaps put it best – “When I met Christ I felt that I had swallowed sunshine.” (E. Stanley Jones). The kind of joy in Isaiah 9, the kind of joy that you are supposed to feel and pay witness to on Christmas morning is joy that feels like swallowing sunshine. That is JOY!

For his part Handel took Isaiah 9 and gave us movements 11 and 12 in Part I of The Messiah, his masterpiece. He perfectly captures this movement from the terror of darkness to the lightness of joy – as the baritone in movement 11 sings the first half of the verse for us – “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” It is heavy and somber and serious because Isaiah’s people as he wrote those words were enslaved to a sister nation and subject to a false God. Lost in the wilderness. Trapped in the darkness of depression and despair.

And then Handel sets loose his greatest melody – movement 12 the second half of this verse – a prediction of better days of a promised child of a just king of a righteous Messiah:

6 For unto us a child is born, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7 His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

And it is sung by the high voices, the sopranos and the tenors, and the somber mood is lifted and joy streaks through the orchestra, the singers, and those who listen. We can feel the relief of the Israelites, the shepherds, those subject to Herod and to Rome – we can feel the release of prophets and priests long tormented and oppressed – we can sense the darkness losing its grip.

Miroslav Volf, a Balkan by birth and a former teacher at Yale Divinity School recently took this Isaiah text into consideration. He writes about this tension between darkness and light, and the light that God provides: “This is what Christmas is all about – something radically new that cannot be generated out of the conditions of this world. It does not emerge. It comes. We do not extrapolate it. God promises it. If darkness has descended upon you and your world, you need not try to persuade yourself that things are not as bad as they seem or search desperately for reasons to be optimistic. Remind yourself of this simple fact: the light of the One who was in the beginning with God shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”[1]

That is as fine a word as any I know. And the hope of Jesus, though shop-worn the claim might sometimes be, is the great light of the world. May we all take this to heart, and be filled with His Christmas JOY. Rejoice – he is the wonderful counselor, the mighty counselor, the prince of peace! Listen to the refrain from more than a millennium and one half ago – as St. Augustine captures the essence of Christmas joy – of light into darkness – of life in the midst of death.

“Rejoice you just, it is the birthday of the Justifier.

Rejoice you who are weak and sick; it is the birthday of the Savior, the Healer.

Rejoice, captives: it is the birthday of the Redeemer.

Rejoice, slaves: it is the birthday of the One who makes you lords.

Rejoice, free people; it is the birthday of the one who makes you free.

Rejoice, all Christians; it is the birthday of Christ.”[2]

Now, I do not know where you are – spiritually, emotionally, mentally – at Christmas in 2007. You might be in the best place you can imagine – healthy, happy, whole and wise. And God be praised for it. But I assure you that you have had moments of darkness – the phone call you dreaded, the “pass-over” at the office, the funding that didn’t come through, the guarantee that was anything but, the promise left perpetually unresolved. And maybe you are in this second group this Christmas. But if you are in the group of folk that have lived through tough times, I ask you a simple question – what was it that saw you through? You must have thought on some of the days that it would get better – how did you know? What was it you held onto? What promise to you was kept?

I would suggest it is nothing less than the promise of this and every Christmas. That promises that no matter how dark it gets – God will in God’s time bring you light. No matter how long the odds – God will in God’s time reconcile the desperation. No matter how desperate your struggle – God will in God’s time give you peace.

If that is not cause for JOY – life gripping, life changing, life altering, life inspiring JOY, then I do not know what is. And Isaiah – the prophet of old – says that God will increase it. God will take that joy and make even more of it. No wonder the angels sang, the shepherds ran, the magi, the wise men, walked so far to bring him gifts and pay him homage.

So JOY to the world, the Lord is come, let earth receive her King! Let every heart prepare him room and heaven and nature sing! Sing a song in gratitude for the LIFE and light he brings! For the joy he offers to all whom he would call his own!

Thanks be to God that Christmas is about a King, a mighty god, a wonderful counselor;

Thanks be to God that this Christmas King is a King whose empire is love;

whose currency is grace;

and whose offer of acceptance and LIFE is forever.

Love, grace, acceptance, LIFE!

That is cause for joy indeed.

Amen.

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[1] Miroslav Volf. “Not Optimistic.” The Christian Century, December 28, 2004. I used this quote three years ago – it is still good and worthy of the recycle.

[2] As quoted from scholar John Witvilet, on Christianitytoday.com, 12/22/2004, “Preaching the Christmas Gospel.” Same thing here – a recycle worthy of the reuse. Sometime remind me to tell you all about the legendary quote from Ben Lacy Rose about recycling sermons (which as far as I am concerned applies to quotations as well). I think about committing this refrain to memory quite often.