Rejoicing in God's Love

Joel 2:23-32; 1^st John 4:7-19

Rev. Chris Harbin, Rocks Baptist Church—Pamplin, VA

11 December 2005

Christmas is a season of rejoicing—on the surface, that is. Giving gifts, singing of wonder, merrymaking, and decorating with splendor and sparkle should lead us to rejoicing in the very festive character of activity on every hand. Yet many find in Christmas more humbug than joy, more pain than gladness. Some bow under the strain of grief so heightened on holidays. Others fail to recognize the reason for rejoicing. Can God’s love be sufficient reason for our rejoicing?

Joel spoke of something far away. It was a distant reality for which he yearned. The nation lived under the imminence of exile—the threat of deportation into certain desperation. Fear was the order of the day. Uncertainty loomed large in the hearts and minds of the people. Joel spoke of the looming ills, but also of hope.

From the context of a desperate time, the essence of hope could flower. He could better understand the importance of the joy to come from the contrast of the nation’s plight. Hope called for a reason to rejoice in a future that God would yet reveal. Some new day was coming. It would all be worth the wait. The suffering and crisis of domination, deportation, and destruction would give rise to a new context of life from amid the ashes of despair. God had not forgotten the people. God would not forget. God would bring about a whole new era, a whole new reality.

Promise in the past had come to fulfillment. They had left Egypt to enter the “land flowing with milk and honey.” Yahweh’s new plan would go beyond that experience of provision. God would provide for the physical needs of the nation, but also for a different sphere of spiritual fulfillment as well. God’s love and presence would be manifested in a much more direct manner, freely available to all.

Baptists have long spoken of the priesthood of the believer. We have claimed the fact that each believer has access to the throne of heaven with no need of mediation. The words are known so well that we have perhaps forgotten their import. Joel’s audience would not have missed the impact of his words. The reality presented was shocking beyond imagination!

Joel claimed that Yahweh would not simply bless the nation with agricultural abundance, but would pour out God’s breath upon all without distinction. Joel book mentions no prophets. Perhaps this is to reinforce the impact of this message we have read. God’s presence would be manifest to young and old, male and female, slaves and free alike. This would be an entirely new reality. God would be so immediate that there would be no more need of prophet or priest. The whole nation would have equal access to God, for they would experience God’s presence individually as well as corporately.

Joel’s words were a message of joy and hope. They were also chilling to the core. For many, they struck a note of fear at being in the presence of the Most High. Back in the wilderness, the people had been afraid to enter Yahweh’s presence. They begged Moses alone go before God. There was uncertainty in having God so near. Joel saw no fear, however, only blessing, comfort, and joy. God’s immediacy would be a manifestation of God’s love and a reason for rejoicing.

Joel spoke of something off in the distance. John spoke of personal experience. Joel hoped for a future. John described his own reality. Each rejoiced in the plans and action of God. Each found hope and a reason to rejoice in God’s abiding presence. Amid the despair of encroaching exile and destruction, Joel rejoiced in hope. Amid growing persecution and oppression, John rejoiced in the presence and love of God. From two different sides of the promised fulfillment, each rejoiced in the love displayed by God’s gift of immediacy.

John categorized the Spirit’s indwelling as a sign of God’s love. Since God has so loved us, there is nothing left to fear, he cries. The unmediated presence of the Almighty abides within the believer. What should we then fear? A society steeped in animism finds pervasive threats in the lurking ill of spirits, curses, and enemies. Society steeped in the human quest to overcome the elements of a natural world finds little threat from a spiritual reality, yet fear arises strong from the uncertainties of that natural world. We may not fear forces of a spiritual realm, but we fear natural forces: cancer, hurricanes, death, terrorist plots, and schemes of the power hungry. Society steeped in a growing sense of change fears the loss of stability, order, and the very fabric of life’s meaning. Fear of the unknown surrounds us at every hand. How should we rejoice?

Joel found joy and confidence in the promise of God’s coming immediacy. This message of hope arose in a display of unmediated love. Such love was enough to overcome the myriad reasons for despair, fear, and anxiety. John writes a new population of believers, reminding them that this display of love had become reality. They still needed to avail themselves of the reality of God’s love to experience freedom from oppressing anxiety. They had not yet understood the meaning of God’s presence in their lives. Love was some nebulous quantity, while fear drove the decisions of their daily lives.

John said love was the key to life. Love was the very manifestation of God. This was the very One who had created life by the pronouncement of divine will. The universe was subject to God’s desire. If this same God took on flesh at Christmas and now lives within and through us, what do we have to fear? We need not fear the world of spirits and curses. We need not fear being overcome by the natural world. We need not fear any loss of stability through change. There is but one thing left to fear—the loss of our sense of control.

If God is for us, who can be against us other than ourselves? The forces arrayed against us are of no consequence when God abides within. John writes believers who were anxious and threatened by that which was no threat at all. God lived within them, but they had not grasped the reality and greatness of that blessing. They had not laid claim to such a great demonstration of love, grace, forgiveness, and reason to rejoice. They were still concerned with their old system of living. That way of live did not reflect the presence and love of God in their lives. They could not truly rejoice in God’s love until they gave God control. Only then could they rest in the full acceptance of God’s care and provision.

They celebrated the festivals, but missed out on true rejoicing. They spoke the truths of the new gospel they had received enthusiastically, but failed to apply the meaning of good news to their daily reality. They had not learned to allow God’s love to live and flow through them. They were still grasping for control amid their anxieties.

Many call us to celebrate the season. There are many reported reasons to celebrate with laughter, parties, songs, presents, food, and family gatherings. For many, rejoicing will be a contrived event devoid of meaning and purpose. We have a reason to celebrate, however. We have a message worthy of sharing, but we must surrender to its meaning to rejoice in its essence. Can we surrender fully to the display of God’s love in Christ Jesus? It is only in full surrender that we can truly rejoice in God’s love.

—©Copyright 2006 Christopher B. Harbin

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