Worship

Christmas Day                     December 25, 2025
Isaiah 52:7-10                      Pastor Wolfe

Sing a Song of Joy to the World!

When was the last time you heard Joy to the World outside the Christmas season? I mean, it has to be a part of every Christmas service, but I’ve chosen to sing that hymn in worship at other times of the year and I always get questioning looks and interesting comments. But if you think about it, Christmas joy shouldn’t get packed up along with the Christmas ornaments and set out on the curb with the tree. And Christmas joy is about far more than favorite songs, family traditions, and cozy feelings. In fact, I wonder sometimes if the warm fuzzies that have come to be associated with Christmas actually take away from the meaning of the day. It’s not just retailers and skeptics that can drain Christmas of its meaning – we can do it too if we take our focus off what Christ in the manger means.

Christmas is about the power and love of God made known to sinful mankind. There’s a lot more happening in that manger than warm fuzzies. So this morning, we sing a song of joy to the world, because at that first Christmas in Bethlehem we received exactly what we need – indeed, what the whole world needs.

The part of Isaiah that we heard earlier might be one that you’ve heard before. It’s a relatively common section to use as we talk about pastors and missionaries going out into the world to share the gospel. The “beautiful feet” of those that bring good news. The watchmen and the people of God bursting into songs of joy even as they stand in the ruins of Jerusalem. God laying bare his arm for all the world to see. And it’s perfectly fitting for a ministry kind of theme. But it’s really more than that.

Isaiah’s message here is really a 2,500 year old Christmas greeting from God. God originally sent this greeting through Isaiah to his people Israel 700 years before the birth of Christ. It was a message with two audiences: Exiles who had been forced from their homes now living in Babylon (present-day Iraq) and also to the impoverished handful of people who remained behind in Jerusalem, a once-beautiful city that now laid in ruins.

Can you imagine the mindset of the people? Whether they were hauled off to Babylon or remained in the ruins of Jerusalem – it must have seemed that their whole world was out of control. They had been the people chosen by God! Abraham was their ancestor. Now? Their land was taken away. Solomon and David’s empires were a thing of the past. The temple itself had been torched and trashed. They had turned away from God again and again, and finally God brought the judgment on the land he had promised for that sin. For the faithful remnant that now listened to God’s prophet, there must have been an ache in their hearts as these people prayed to God.

Is this how God’s promises to Adam and Eve, to Abraham, and to David would end – with a whimper in the desert of the ancient Near East? Of course not. God is faithful. He sent a greeting of hope to these hopeless people: “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” The God of faithful love and mercy came to his weary and lonely people with a message of good news. “Your God reigns!” Deliverance is coming. And that’s exactly what God would do. After 70 years of exile God brought proud Babylon to its knees. The exiles would return home and rebuild. How welcome would the feet of the messengers be who brough that good news of hope and peace!

Of course, we recognize the greater prophecy in these words too, don’t we? Every sinner is, in a sense, a spiritual exile from God – cut off by our own sinful hearts and desires. And perhaps we may think we have the world under control at times. I mean, look around. We have tinsel and toys, sort-of snow and presents. We hear Christmas carols on the radio, the lights on the trees. We’ve sampled our Christmas cookies and received a peck on the cheek underneath the mistletoe. But we all know by nature that’s not enough. Those things can’t fill our hearts with peace or bring us any kind of lasting joy. I saw it on TV again yesterday. Did you know that Christmas is the time of year with the highest rates of depression and anxiety? It’s when people feel most alone, whether it’s distance or death that separates us. The glitter of the holidays isn’t enough to keep peace in our hearts. And if that’s all Christmas were, our song could never truly be Joy to the World.

But listen again to God’s Christmas greeting in Isaiah 52. “Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem.” This is why we sing Joy to the World. Because the Lord has come. The God of history, our all-powerful and merciful God, intervened in the most powerful imaginable. This time he didn’t just use another worldly power to take out Babylon. He came in power himself. That baby in the manger is power. That small and helpless child is our Lord and God, as Thomas would proclaim in joy some 33 years later. As great as Joy to the World is, there’s another Christmas hymn in our service that I want you to pay special attention to as well. It’s our first communion hymn this morning. O Jesus Christ, Your Manger Is. One of the truly great Lutheran hymns written by one of the truly great Lutheran writers, Paul Gerhardt, this hymn doesn’t just tell us to have joy – it tells us why. Every verse is perfection but let me ready the heart of the hymn from verse three. “Dear Christian friend, on him depend; be of good cheer and let no sorrow move you. For God’s own Child in mercy mild, joins you to him – how greatly God must love you!”

This is Christmas. Not the decorations or the gifts. Not even the worship traditions and the services. It’s the arrival of the Son of God into our world to keep every promise God ever made. What else could we do but burst into songs of joy together. Christmas is all about needy people (us!) and how God has supplied all our needs. IN verse 10 Isaiah says, “The LORD will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.” Christmas would mean nothing without Good Friday and Easter Sunday. But because this child did indeed live perfectly for us and die innocently for us, today we celebrate not a moment in the past but peace in our present right not and certain hope for an eternal future to come.

There’s more to this prophecy of Isaiah than you see because we have to read it in English and not Hebrew. Isaiah tells us that all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God. The Hebrew word for “salvation” is “Yeshua.” Literally the name Jesus. One day every person on earth will bow before our Lord of Glory and see that his promises of salvation were true. That the Son of Mary was delivered into the world to deliver us into heaven. Sing a song of joy the world!

So as you look into the manger on this Festival day, recognize the power behind this quiet and humble scene. Here God rolled up his sleeve, showed the strength of his arm, and began the necessary work to deliver us from sin. Our Lord unwrapped his glorious might by wrapping himself up as a small child in a manger. The Savior laid bare his powerful arm by covering himself in flesh. He revealed his splendor and strength by living, dying, and rising for you and me.

This Christmas season we’ve once again heard the good tidings of the angels. We’ve seen the joy of the shepherds. We’ve knelt beside Mary on a silent night. But this is so much more than a story. These messengers come with beautiful feet bringing wonderful news of deliverance from sin, death, and the devil. They come with a promise of heaven to all who know and believe.

So now, we sing. The Lord has returned to Zion and we are the watchmen who see it with our own eyes. Hear again the words of Isaiah, and know that he speaks to you and to me.

Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices; together they shout for joy.
When the LORD returns to Zion, they will see it with their own eyes.
Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem,
for the LORD has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem.

Brothers and sisters, let heaven and nature sing the Christmas song of joy. And may God make our feet beautiful by leading us to share the good tidings – the salvation of our God. May you have a blessed and merry Christmas, and a joyful one too. Amen.