One of my favorite Christmas carols is "Joy to the World". Joy to the World is actually not really a Christmas song because there is only one line in the hymn that says anything remotely related to the coming of Christ and that is, "the Lord is come." It is a mystery how it became so associated with Christmas. What is not a mystery is the author of the hymn, Isaac Watts. In 1719 Isaac Watts, was the son of a deacon in the Congregational Church of England. Watts was raised in a family rooted deeply in a Christian faith very similar to what we as Baptists believe today. These beliefs, which we often take for granted, caused his family much rejection and eventually the imprisonment of his father. Yet these trials rather than cause Isaac Watts to deny his faith only deepened it. He has penned such hymns as "Alas, and Did My Savior Bleed," "Am I a soldier of the Cross," "Jesus Shall Reign Where’er the Sun," and "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross." Because of these and over 600 others, he has been called the "Father of English Hymnody."

What you may not know about Watts was that his hymn writing was perceived in his day the same way that some perceive those who write choruses or praise and worship music today. In Watts’s time it was customary for those in church to sing only the Psalms. Watts found the hymns uninspired, monotonous and irrelevant to his generation due to the archaic language that was used. Rather than keep quiet he complained to his father who took great pride in his son’s rebellious spirit and challenged him to "sing a new song to the Lord". For this Watts was treated with contempt, thought to be a heretic and his music a tool of the devil. Yet he continued to search the scriptures as well as seek the face of God to find the words to express for his generation the music that would lead them to worship. (Stories Behind the Best Loved Songs of Christmas, Ace Collins, p.108-113)

In 1719 Watts, while studying the 98^th Psalm, became focused on verse 4, "Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises." The psalm proclaims praise to our God because He has done wonderful things. He was inspired to then take virtually the whole Psalm and reproduce it in the hymn that we know today as "Joy to the World". This carol announces to the world that the Savior, the King, the Lord has now made His appearance. The Lord who has come has come to reign and rule. Now because of His coming the entire universe stands to welcome His majesty and glory.

Watts wrote: Joy to the world! The Lord is come!

While our church celebrates the season of Advent we really don’t do it liturgically. For if we truly celebrated Advent as it was intended then we would not sing any carols relating to the Lord’s birth until Christmas Day. While we have already sung this magnificent hymn this season there could be no better hymn for this day as we celebrate both our Lord’s coming as an infant in the manger and his sacrifice as our Savior on the cross. This morning our hearts are encouraged to be filled with joy. Joy because the Lord has come into our world making his salvation known and into our hearts making our eternity secure. Yet we recall in the supper that our joy has come with a terrible price—the death on the cross of Jesus, our Lord, our Savior and our King.

It seems only right for there to be joy when any baby is born. Our oldest daughter Jennifer loved when she was very small for us to tell her the story of the day of her own birth. Her favorite part was when I would say, "And the doctor said, ‘It’s a girl,’ and the nurse said, ‘What’s her name?’ and I said, ‘Jennifer Leigh.’" Joy and birth of any child is always special. The joy of birth, especially the birth of the Savior, was what Isaac Watts saw when he read Psalm 98. He knew, as we know, that the birth of Christ brought to the world the possibility of a great salvation for the world. That mankind could be salvaged. That we could be saved from the wasted life we were enduring and from the eternal destruction for which we were destined. Joy to the World! This child’s birth can make a difference in eternity!

In verses 1-3 the Psalm encourages unrestricted joy because of the revelation of the salvation of God. This salvation would bring right to all that was wrong, mercy to the sinful and unworthy restore trust between God and his creation. Right for what was wrong, mercy for all, and trust that God can be counted on. We may wonder what the psalmist meant when he thought of the salvation of God. We have, though, absolute knowledge that the revelation of the salvation of God began in manger in Bethlehem and was finished on cross on Calvary.

What is the response of the creation? In verses 4-6 the psalmist describes unhindered worship. He calls on all the earth to shout with joy and sing with joy. He commands that every human voice and man-made instrument is to announce the goodness. The psalmist cannot imagine anything in creation not being accessible for such expression of worship and praise! That worship is so broad that the participants in the worship are unlimited. Verses 7-9 describe the seas roaring their praise, rivers clapping in rhythm, mountains joining the song and the whole creation both human and otherwise joining together to declare praise to God for his salvation. John wrote similarly in his Revelation, "Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? For Thou alone art holy; For all the nations will come and worship before Thee, For Thy righteous acts have been revealed." (Rev. 15:4)

Joy that was unrestricted, worship that was unhindered and participants of worship that were unlimited this was the praise that Watt’s knew was worthy of God for the revelation of his salvation through the coming of Christ. Joy that is unhindered and filled with excitement is the theme of Psalm 98 as well as the hymn that Watts wrote.

Yet the birth of our Lord was accompanied by a shadow, a cloud, a warning that even though angels would announce His birth, a prophet would proclaim his death. When Joseph and Mary took Jesus to Jerusalem to be circumcised 8 days after his birth, the prophet Simeon proclaimed that this would bring salvation, but that joy-filled salvation would come at a tremendous cost. Luke records that Simeon was a very godly man who looked anxiously for the Messiah to come. God had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah. When Simeon saw Joseph and Mary with Jesus he immediately began the kind of ecstatic praise that Psalm 98 describes. He took the child in his arms and said, "Now Lord, Thou dost let Thy bond-servant depart In peace, according to Thy word; For my eyes have seen Thy salvation, Which Thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples, A light OF REVELATION TO THE Gentiles, And the glory of Thy people Israel." (Luke 2: 29-32)

The parents were amazed at the things that Simeon said about their son but he didn’t stop there in fact it says that he continued by blessing them. Then he gave what was a very mysterious warning to Mary, "Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed-- and a sword will pierce even your own soul-- to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed." (Luke 2:34-35) Mary was warned that something about this child’s destiny would cause her to feel as though a sword had cut deeply into her own heart. The old prophet was telling them that the world’s greatest joy would come with an awesome price.

That is what we recall this morning. We celebrate the birth of an infant whose gentle brow would one day be pierced by thorns, whose tiny hands and feet would be nailed through to a cross, whose soft voice that would cried at birth for nourishment from his mother would at his death cry out for comfort from his Father. Blood that gave life to his infant form would drip from a torn side. Great joy came with a horrible price. One cannot face the cradle without seeing there the shadow of the cross.

Twelve years before Isaac Watts wrote "Joy to the World!" he wrote of the price, the cost that that great joy would bring.

"When I survey the wondrous cross,

Today the salvation of the Lord has been revealed in both the manger and the cross. Within our hearts is a feeling of inexhaustible joy because of the gift. At the same time we know that this joy came at the cost of the life of the one we celebrate. So today we share a meal, The Lord’s Supper—a piece of bread, a cup of juice reminding us that the joy we know in the infant king would eventually mean a cross. Yet that cross would be the reason for our unceasing amazement at the wonders, the wonders of his amazing love for you and for me.

Sunday, December 31, 2006

Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor

First Baptist Church

Jonesboro, Arkansas

btippit@fbcjonesboro.org