Psalms 126

1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed.2 Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” 3 The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.4 Restore our fortunes] Lord, like streams in the Negev.5 Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.6 Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.

Psalm 126 is one of 15 psalms known as the psalms of ascents, meaning “to go up” and refers to the going up to Jerusalem. Because as you approached Jerusalem from the lower countryside you have to ascend in order to get to Jerusalem. According to the Law of Moses, all the men of Israel were to go up to Jerusalem three times a year to celebrate the feasts of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles.  It was these psalms of ascent that the pilgrims sang as they traveled toward Jerusalem. In this Psalm of praise we see that the joy is past, present, and future: “We were filled with laughter” and “songs of joy”, vs 2; “we are filled with joy”, vs 3; and we “will return with songs of joy” vs 6. It involves a reflection of their past, the reality of their present and an anticipation of the future. Today just like those traveling on a pilgrimage of praise, we must reflect on God’s past provision, His present presence and His future promise. As we approach the Christmas season we find ourselves looking back at His past redemption and forward to His promised return. You see the Christian life is lived looking back at His redemption, not our regrets, and focusing on His future return not our failures. Living in this time between the provision and the promise means both pain and pleasure. It means living in the twin realities of tears and triumph, weeping, and worship. The first three verses of psalm 126 reveal a sigh of relief, as they remember their release from captivity in Babylon. They describe God’s deliverance as a dream come true because His promises were just about all the people had left of their religious heritage as they were held in slavery in Babylon. There was no temple for worship, and during those 70 years, those who remembered Jerusalem told their children about a land their children had never seen. Jerusalem was no more real to the children of the exile than a fable, or a story of the past. The only thing left to them was God’s promise to redeem his people out of slavery. All they had was the dream of deliverance, they knew about the promises but when the actual moment of provision came, it overtook and overwhelmed them with praise.  God’s joy was lavished on Israel, giving the nation a reputation of being blessed, vs 2: “Then it was said among the nations, ‘the Lord has done great things for them’.” The rest of the world witnessed God’s special work of sanctification, the setting a part of what had been separated, the bringing back into love that which was lost. All of creation could clearly see that they had a God who communicated His care and compassion not just in words but also in mighty works. As He reached to rescued, so great was His act of restoration that the rest of the nation’s heard about it, even without the invention of radio, TV, or internet. You see when God intercedes it’s not just impressive its immense; even the ungodly admitted that He accomplished “great things”. What great things has God done? The record of our great God and His redemption is revealed on nearly every page of Scripture. Every divine act is a mighty and miraculous intervention. Eugene Peterson says that “Joy has a history, Joy is the verified, repeated experience of those involved in what God is doing. Our Joy is nurtured by looking at and living in this history, by building on this foundation of blessing. You see just like psalm 126 where the Lord restored the fortunes of His people the New Testament opens with the announcing of advent. God’s great work of redemption, the sending of His One and only Son Jesus Christ to save us from our sins. For centuries, the prophets had preached the message of the coming Messiah and now the Angels were announcing His arrival. Yet at first only a few dared to dreamed, in fact for a while only one person in the whole world, the virgin Mary, knew and understood the peace that God had planned. Over time others were invited to dream, Joseph, Elizabeth and Zacharias, the shepherds, the Wise Men. The opening words of Psalm 126 have become for Christians one of the most fitting exclamations of their understanding of what God did in sending his Son into the world to die for sinners. And, what began solely in the song of Mary is now sung by millions upon millions of the redeemed around the world this time of year . We join the voices of those who sang Psalm 126 for centuries before Christ was born, when God brought back the captivity of Zion, when God entered the world to redeem it from sin and death, we were like those who dreamed. The Lord has done great things for us and we can proclaim His praise.This Christmas season we have the same opportunity to praise as God’s people did in the past. As we celebrate the coming of Christ, the King who came to conquer the chaos. The question is, are we going to look to the past, to see His provision of peace and participate with praise in the present? Are we going to get caught up in celebrating Christ or are we going to cry over our current circumstances? Christ came to deliver us from the chaos, to replace our weeping with reaping, yet today instead of Christmas being a celebration of His coming for many it’s a crazy circus. Instead of Christmas being a celebration of being delivered from chaos we have created a season catered to the chaos. Our Christmas circus is more of a juggling act than joy in Jesus, instead of the Messiah we have mission impossible where we hope to jump through the flaming hoops of hype without getting burned. It’s become a credit card melting circus, where instead of the focus being on the everlasting One it’s on economics. What should be the most wonderful time of the year has become the most worn out time of the year. Where when it’s over instead of being filled with the presence of His peace we want to fill a prescription for Prozac. Christmas is about the Almighty not high wire aerial acrobatics, it’s about worship not a worry workout.  What if this Christmas we took time to reflect on our redemption? What if just like the pilgrims who journeyed to Jerusalem in the Joy of worship we also made it really was a day dedicated to celebrate Christ. You see just as their release was a dream realized, so is ours. What may seem like a dream, something too good to be true is really reality, we don’t have to dream we can wake up and worship. This is redemption realized, the released from the bondage and penalty of sin. Other world religions offer rules, but our Redeemer offers redemption, which is more than just release from sin it’s a relationship with the Savior.  Joy is the outcome of the Christian life; we don’t generate it God does. Today many are trying to gain joy through temporary pleasure; our enormous entertainment industry stands as a sign of what we are really seeking. We are attracted and addicted to artificial joy. I’m not saying that it’s wrong to be entertained, but it’s foolish to think we will find joy from our entertainment endeavors. Joy is not a commodity, it comes from Christ, it can’t be purchased, it’s a product of our pursuit of Jesus. We don’t need a distraction from our stressful lives, we need a cure, and the only cure comes from a living relationship with Jesus. Our need and desire for joy is legitimate, but how we get that need met often isn’t. So this season stop and savor your salvation, soak in God’s One and only Son.

Philippians 2:1-8

1 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!

The last step in finding joy in our relationships through reducing conflict and increased cooperation has to do with developing the:

• Character of Christ

As Paul encouraged the Philippian church to be unified he reminded them that it was only possible to have peace by having the mind of Christ. But what is the mind of Christ? As Paul uses that word “mind” throughout the first two chapters of Philippians he is not using it like we typically would. When we use the word mind, we usually refer to some sort of mental exercise. But the way Paul uses it reveals something much deeper. It includes not only our conscious thoughts but our collective attitudes and actions as well. Paul is dealing with our demeanor, and the way we live life. Which includes both our internal thoughts and attitudes as well as our external actions. It involves how we think, feel, and act. Paul doesn’t just want us to see the mind of Christ, he wants us to have the mind of Christ. Paul is saying that we need to fix our attitudes, actions and mindsets on Jesus, which sounds good in theory but what does it mean in our day-to-day lives? It means that Jesus is our model, and our example. This is more than just what would Jesus do, its what if we would be Jesus. This is about developing the kind of mind that it took for the Son of God to step out of eternity and into time. I want you to take a trip with me that will involve every bit of your imagination and wonder. I want you to journey with me to His home in heaven. No not the home of harps that we have painted for people but the royal eternal dwelling place of God Almighty. Revelation 21 describes the breathtaking beauty, streets of gold, twelve gates made of one pearl a piece, foundations and walls constructed of every gemstone imaginable. But the beauty isn’t in the buildings, you see even the most beautiful, costly and rare precious materials we can experience here on earth are common compared to the real, true, precious beauty we will experience there. What if fascinating is that the most precious thing you can imagine here on earth will barely be noticed there because we will be in the presence of true beauty. We will be in the presence of the triune God. Revelation 21:23 says “And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light” Picture the most beautiful scene that you can, now imagine that scene so overwhelmed by the glory and beauty of God that it’s just a background, barley even noticeable. The song turn your eyes upon Jesus says it best, “the things of earth will go strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.” This is what Jesus gave up, the riches and the relationship to come and redeem us.  Jesus was willing to let it all go so that I could have God.  It’s the complete opposite of what Satan said, “I will be like the Most High.” Isaiah 14:14. Out of his pride, he tried to grasp something that wasn’t his, yet Jesus out of His humility let go and gave up what was rightfully His and His alone. He made Himself nothing, which literally means that He emptied Himself.  Jesus willingly chose to empty himself of His position in Heaven. He willingly chose to empty Himself of His dwelling place in the glory of God. He willingly chose to empty Himself of His completely intimate relationship. As God in the flesh, He willingly chose to limit His divine attributes. He limited His omnipresence; He was not everywhere at once. He limited His omnipotence, He became tired and hungry living in the limits and boundaries of a body of flesh. He chose to make Himself of no reputation, leaving His rightful place in Heaven and taking up residence in a dirty weary world. He traded a throne for a trough; He was willing to be stripped of His glory trading it for scraps of cloth. He traded power for poverty. He traded His omnipotence for the utter helplessness of a baby. He traded His omniscience for the mind of a baby. He traded his omnipresence for being moved only when someone picked Him up. The One who spoke the universe into existence had to learn how to talk. The One who fills everything with His presence had to learn how to walk. Jesus didn’t selfishly grasp onto His place and position of power. If you want to know how to get along with people, even those who are hard to get along with don’t just look to the example of Jesus live it. You see Jesus had a servant’s attitude, do you? How do you know if you have a serving attitude? Well how do you respond when people treat you like a servant? Do you get up-tight and demand your rights or do you serve? Jesus was willing to sacrifice Himself for others, are you, do you? Most of us spend our time grasping and grabbing instead of giving, no wonder our relationships are so worn. We love John 3:16 but do we live 1 John 3:16 “We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters” You see Jesus did everything that He did for one purpose. He willingly left His glorious place in Heaven for one reason. He emptied Himself and became a man for one reason. Was it to die, ultimately yes, but it was so much more, because if death was the only thing He could have shown up on the day of His crucifixion. Yes, Jesus humbled Himself and died on the cross and this is very important, but it’s not the focus of the verse. The focus of the verse is why He humbled Himself, why He went to the cross. He did it because He was obedient to the will of the Father. Jesus humbled the will of His humanity and subjected it to the will of the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane as He prayed “Father, not my will but yours be done.” Jesus served out of submission and obedience to the Father. The truth is we are afraid of serving because we are fearful that we will become servants, and that we will no longer be in control. So we limit our obedience to serving without sacrifice, to serving without being a servant. Why don’t we submit to His Will? Because we are afraid that we will become door mats and others will wipe their feet on the face of our obedience. So we have settled for service without servant hood, observation of obedience instead of complete compliance. The real issue is we don’t let go of control because we don’t trust Christ. You see to have the mind of Christ means to want the Will of the Father. What does He want He wants us to stop grasping and start giving. What if this year you shared the greatest present of all the character of Christ? What if you replaced the strife with serving? What if you allowed His peace to penetrate your personal relationships? Will you allow Christ to take control of your mind, attitudes and actions? Whose will do you want?