Mike Novotny - Joy to the World
The Unwritten Rule of Christmas Eve
There’s this unwritten rule that you can’t find anywhere in the Bible, and they don’t teach it to you officially at Bible college when you’re training to be a pastor, but they really should. The unwritten rule is this: at Christmas Eve church, you have to sing «Joy to the World.» It is in everyone’s best interest if the worship leader or the pastor makes sure that either at the beginning or the end we sing «Joy to the World.» You can ignore this rule at your own risk, but I can guarantee you that if you ever become a pastor and you get to pick the music for Christmas and you skip «Joy to the World,» even the nice little old church ladies will give you the stink eye in the lobby afterward. Like, everyone thinks when they come to church on Christmas, «You know we’re not going to sing some song we’ve never heard before; some obscure new tune the pastor or the worship leader made up.» You’re going to sing the classics— the nostalgic songs from childhood Christmas; the ones you hear on the radio, even if you’re not really a church person.
That’s why I just want to calm your nerves today and let you know that before this service is done, we will be singing «Joy to the World.» So you don’t have to give me that threatening look like, «We haven’t sung it yet, Pastor,» right? It’s going to come, and we’re going to sing it. But today, I don’t just want us to sing that song; I want us to take a second to study that song. «Joy to the World» is over 300 years old. I think it was written in the year 1711, and it has survived generations and countries and continents of Christian worship, not just because it’s nostalgic or classic, but because it is packed with a message that all of us here today care аbout: joy.
Our Universal Longing for Joy
I may not know your whole spiritual story or your life situation, but I think the one thing that all of us have in common is a deep longing for lasting joy. If you’re a member of this church who’s here every single Sunday, if you’re the occasional Christmas and Easter kind of spiritual person, if someone invited you to the service or dragged you along to the service or if you’re doing this to make Mom or Grandma happy— I bet, no matter what your background, this is true of you, and it’s true for me: we want more than anything in the world to have joy. We want a kind of happiness that doesn’t fizzle out after the Christmas feast is over. We want something that gives us hope to wake up in the morning and peace through all the ups and downs of life. The one thing that all of humanity has in common is this deep craving and longing in our souls for joy.
So if I could ask you a kind of personal question this Christmas, how’s your joy? If I were to do a quick focus group with your family and friends and ask them about you, «Is she a joyful person? Is he the kind of guy who’s full of joy?» If your heart was a gallon jug, how far up would the joy get? And if I asked all of you that question, if we had time to pass a microphone around, I bet the answers would really depend on what kind of year it’s been for you. It depends on what’s going on with your body and your physical health; it depends on what’s going on with your bank account and your finances; it depends on what’s going on with your family and your friendships, your relationships, whether you’re dating if you want a date, whether you’re getting married if you want someone who will commit, whether you’re holding a baby in your arms this Christmas if you want to expand your family. I bet if you talked to me about work, you talked to me about life, you’d talk to me about a thousand different things, and your joy would be dependent on those things.
Why Joy Is So Elusive
Which is the tricky thing about joy, right? You want it, I want it; we ache and crave for it, but joy is pretty tricky to get and then to hold on to. And if you’re taking notes in your program today, I want to explain to you why. If you’re watching at home, grab a pen; write this down. I think one of the reasons that so many of us have so little joy is that the people who would help us get more joy, they can’t, and the people who maybe could help us get more joy, they won’t. Let me say that again: I think you and I would have a lot more joy if it wasn’t for this fact— that the people who really would love to help us be happier and improve in life, they can’t fix our problems; and maybe the people who could fix our problems, they don’t have the passion or the desire; they won’t. The people who would can’t; the people who could won’t.
Let me give you a few examples. Let’s imagine this Christmas you’re stressed because of finances, right? You can’t take the Christmas vacation, you can’t buy the gifts that you want; you’ve got credit card debt; you’re struggling to pay the rent. Maybe you live in a nice home, but people just don’t know the pressure of business and payroll and all the bills and the braces and the tuition. Like, you would be happier; you would be trying to sleep in heavenly peace, but you toss and turn because you’re broke. Well, I bet there are a whole bunch of people in your life who would love to fix that problem, but they can’t. You share your financial situation with your best friend over coffee, and she wishes she could fix it— pull out a checkbook and write a six-figure check— but she can’t. It breaks your mom’s heart, but she’s paying her own bills. You’re not related to Elon Musk, so yeah, there are people who love you, who would love to take that burden off your shoulders, but the fact is they can’t. And there are people who could fix that problem, but they won’t.
Elon Musk could be waiting in your driveway when you get home after church today. He could just give you a blank check for whatever you want— nine figures— who cares? But don’t hold your breath; he won’t. There are millionaires, there are billionaires who could give 1% of their wealth and end all your financial problems forever, but will they? Now you see the problem with joy. The people who would can’t; the people who could won’t.
Or a second example: let’s think about your family situation. You know, not everyone needs to date or get married or have children; Jesus didn’t, and that was cool. But lots of us want that happy family, want to meet that someone, fall for them, want them to fall for us. We want to commit to them; they want to commit to us. We want to have two kids, maybe three— it’s like those Christmas cards. Do you get as many of those as I do, with the dad who’s surprisingly handsome with the perfect hair and the wife at his side? They look so close, and they have the kids, and the whole family is wearing these matching lumberjack jammies. Do you get these? These cards are so adorable; it’s like the perfect family. And maybe you want that, and you don’t have that. And the people who would love to help you get that, they can’t.
Your mom maybe wishes her son or her daughter would meet that special someone, but she can’t control who falls for you or who commits to you. Your best friend maybe wishes you could have a baby like she did, but she has no control or authority over human fertility. They would, but they can’t. And maybe the people who could, you know, the girl you really like at work or the guy that you’re dating, they could DM you during the Christmas service and bring joy to your world. He could propose this Christmas Eve, but you can’t; you can’t force people to love you. And so we try to find joy in the perfect relationships and family, but would, could, can’t, won’t.
Or maybe this year you did something, honestly, that you really regret. Maybe you relapsed into an addiction. Maybe you just had a falling out with someone in your family, and you wish there was some like rewind button— and your best friend does too, but she doesn’t have a button like that, and you don’t have an app like that on your phone. You can’t go back and make better choices; you can’t rewind and not say those things and sin. And I can give you ten more examples— all of us in so many areas of life would love to live with joy in our world, but there’s this human dilemma that all of us end up in: the people who would help us can’t; and the people who could help us won’t.
What If Someone Both Could and Would?
But what if— here’s my big question for tonight— what if there was someone who both could and would? What if there was someone you could meet this Christmas who could? Someone who had the resources and the connection, the power, the ability, the authority— who could help you with your worst problems? And what if that same person would— like they wanted to help you? They cared about you; they wouldn’t ignore your calls, your emails, your requests. What if there was someone who was like the perfect combination of power and love, who had authority and concern— if it came with all the authority needed, and yet all the compassion for you as a person? What if there was a person like that?
Well, Merry Christmas everyone, I know a guy. I know a guy; his name is Jesus. And if you don’t know much about Jesus, you’re going to learn a lot about Jesus before I say amen tonight. I have a singular goal, and it is this: to prove to you that Jesus can and Jesus will. That if you follow Jesus, if you trust in him, write down these words that Jesus can— he is totally capable, absolutely powerful, omnipotent, and authoritative. He is a King and a Lord; he is the very Son of God— he can. And what makes the same Jesus so amazing is that he will. He wants to help you; he cares about you. Even if no one else in the world does, he loves like no one loves; he feels like no one else feels. He reaches out when no one else is reaching out.
Today, I want to preach to you the name of the Jesus who can and the Jesus who will. So here’s what I’m going to do: I’m going to go back to that classic song we all love to hear on Christmas, «Joy to the World.» I’m going to break down the three stanzas, and I’m going to show you, within that song, this message of incredible joy that you too can find in Jesus, because he can and he will.
Verse One: The Lord Has Come
So let’s jump into stanza one, verse one of the classic hymn «Joy to the World,» which says this: «Joy to the World— the Lord has come! Let earth receive her King; let every heart prepare him room,» and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and heaven and nature sing.
Okay, heaven and nature are singing; they’re joyful; they’re singing! Singing— what are they singing about? Well, here’s what they’re singing аbout: «The Lord has come! The King of the earth has finally arrived.» The song, from the very start, wants to remind you that Jesus might look like a little baby in Mary’s arms, but he’s actually a very big baby. Alright, we call him the little Lord Jesus; don’t get distracted by the little— because he is the capital L Lord. He’s just a little kid there with ten fingers and ten toes, but he’s not just a little kid; he is not just a king— he is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
If you could shop for Jesus, you could not buy him at the dollar store; you’d have to go to Costco— because he is a big Lord. If you’ve watched «The Office,» I would say to you this: the kid in the manger is not the assistant to the regional manager, alright? He is a king-sized Christ, a double XL Lord. The Bible calls him Emmanuel, which means «God with us.» Right? The reason that Jesus can help you and bring more joy into your life is because he’s not just some guy; he’s not just a good friend, he’s not just a counselor— he is God in human flesh.
And that means that you better pay really close attention to this: the line from the song, «Let every heart prepare him room.» You ever notice the capital H on that word? Jesus wants to find room in your heart— in every single heart. It doesn’t matter how broken or bad you’ve been; Jesus wants to move in right here in your heart. But here’s what you need to know: if Jesus comes in, he’s going to take a lot of room, right? He’s not some Google God you stick in your pocket and search for spiritual answers when you’re in distress. He’s not some on-call counselor whose number you save— «Hey Jesus, I need your help!» Nope! If Jesus is going to live in your heart, he’s going to come with all of himself— with his bigness, his lordship, his kingship, and his authority.
The question you need to ask yourself at Christmas is: is there room in my heart for a Jesus who’s that big? Kind of makes me think of the Jesus who lives in my house. A couple of years ago, my family and I found this on Amazon. This is a 12-inch stuffed version of Jesus, and he currently lives on my youngest daughter Maya’s bed with, I think, like 47 other stuffed animals. Parents, do you have kids like this? This little Jesus is so small; like we love him, a little smile on his face, but this Jesus is so small that we lose him all the time, right? He gets lost under the sheets, he gets lost under the pillow, sometimes he slips behind the crack in the bed, sometimes he’s underneath a bunch of sloth stuffed animals. He’s Jesus, but he’s so small; we sometimes lose him— he easily fits.
But a couple of years after we bought this Jesus, we bought another Jesus. I should show them to you; I found this on Amazon too. We call this guy Jumbo Jesus. I’m like 6'1», 6'2». This is a six-foot tall Jesus! We actually bring Jumbo Jesus on all our family vacations and road trips with us. He sits in the back seat; the best part is whenever I’m in a big metropolitan city in kind of a sketchy parking spot, I always put Jesus shotgun. And if anyone tries to break into my car, they have to steal it under the watchful eye of our Lord and Savior. In fact, most of the time, I put a little Bible open on his lap, and he’s pointing right to the passage that says, «You shall not steal.»
So, this brings us tons of joy. You know, I’m driving the minivan; I look in the rearview mirror, and here’s his big old smile— Jesus looking back at me. But here’s what I’ve learned about Jumbo Jesus: he takes up a lot of space! When you’ve got to squeeze in the wife, two kids, four suitcases, and the coolers and the backpack— sometimes, there’s just not room for a Jesus this big.
And we’re planning a camping trip, so we’ve got to bring the sleeping bags and the sleeping pads and the tent and the portable stove, and I’m starting to think, «Is there going to be enough room for all the stuff we want and a Jesus of this size too?» Do anyone get where I’m going? The question all of us have to ask at Christmas is: what size Jesus do we believe in? Right?
Lots of us want a big Jesus who has might and power; he has the authority to work out plans for our life, help us, forgive us, save us, get us to heaven. But the question is: if that kind of Jesus exists, does he exist in your heart? He’s not going to come in a small mini form; he’s going to come with bigness and with power and authority. So, I’m going to set this Jesus away because I actually need to ask you a really huge question.
The song that we’ve been singing says, «Let every heart prepare Capital H him room,» and the question is: is there room in you for a Jesus of that size? A king who comes and gives commands to how you should live; a Lord who will listen to your every word, but in the end, he always gets the last word— because he’s God. A Jesus, to be honest, who kind of smirks when we use the phrase «my truth,» because he is the truth. A Jesus who cares about what you’re going through, but you’re not going to outvote him or change him; instead, he will change you.
Is there room inside of your heart for a capital J Jesus? Alright, let me get specific and make it a little uncomfortable. If the real Jesus, through his word, looked at the priorities in your schedule and in your life and told you that things needed to change, would there be room in you for a Jesus like that? If he looked at you and said, «Well, you claim to follow me, but how much time do you actually spend following me?» would you listen to him or kick him out of your heart?
If Jesus frankly said to some of you, «You’re going to listen to my word once a year— Christmas—and then not again and claim we’re good?» Would you have any relationship that works on one a year? If he told you to change, would there be room in you for that? If Jesus wasn’t listening to what the world says, but what the Word says, and he wanted to talk to you about sexuality and marriage and relationships, and he said that this is good and this is not, that this is of God and this is not— would you change what you think, what you believe, and how you behave as you bend the knee to an authoritative king, or are you so used to the authoritative voice being yours? If a big Jesus would come to your next holiday party and tell you to love her even despite the things that she said; to forgive him for the thing he did years ago— would you listen to him? Would you try, or would you go on doing your own thing, living your own life, abiding by your own truth?
Yeah, this is always the question that Christianity has asked: if you want Jesus, you can have him, but there is no miniature version of Jesus. There is just Lord and King, Savior and God. My fear for too many people today is that their hearts are just like that in Bethlehem— there’s just no room. So today, just like me, we’re going to have to decide: will every heart prepare him room? Will we shrink Jesus down to some size that we can control so we feel spiritual, even though we’re being our own Gods? Or will we repent, will we change, will we confess to him, and follow his name?
Verse Two: The Savior Reigns
Now before you answer that question, I need to share what verse two of this classic song says. Maybe at this point you’re thinking, «This doesn’t sound very joyful; Jesus is telling me what to do. Jesus is telling me how to live; Jesus is saying I can’t do that anymore. Jesus is trying to change me; that doesn’t sound like joy to my world.» That’s what you’re thinking.
Listen to what verse two says: «Joy to the World, the Savior reigns; let men their songs employ. While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy, repeat, repeat the sounding joy.» There’s a lot of joy in that verse, isn’t there? They repeat it and repeat it; the men and the fields and the floods and the rocks and the hills and the plains keep singing «Joy to the World.» And here it is again because he’s reigning; he’s ruling with authority and power. Why would they be so joyful about someone telling them what to do?
And the answer, did you see it? It’s in the wording of who is doing the reigning: not «the Lord reigns,» not «the king reigns,» not «God reigns,» the song gets to the heart of Christian joy by saying, «Joy to the World, the Savior reigns.» The joy of Christianity is in the fact that the one who has all the power and all the authority is so loving and compassionate that he came to save. He could have just chilled on the couch in heaven, scrolling TikTok, watching Hallmark movies, staying comfortable. He did not; instead, he came down, giving up everything that was rightly his to rescue you, to save you, to take everything you regret, everything you’ve done wrong, everything you can’t rewind and undo. Jesus wanted to highlight all of it and push delete.
That’s why he came; that’s why the angels on the day that Jesus was born said this: «Do not be afraid; I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. See, if you can catch it today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.» What causes great joy is when the Lord is your Savior. Your friend can’t save you, not from your sin, but a Lord could. Your mom might love you, but she doesn’t have the authority to get you to heaven. But the King of Heaven does.
If Jesus comes with all this authority and speaks words not to hurt us, or judge us, or condemn us, but to save us, forgive us, and cleanse us, then we can sing with joy in our hearts, «Come into my heart, Jesus, take all of me, change me.» Because I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you want what’s best for me. When I think of this kind of Jesus' power, love, Lord and Savior, I obviously think of iconic Mexican actor Danny Trejo. Recognize that guy? He’s been in like 186,000 different movies! It’s this really tough, beefy bad guy that you don’t want to mess with or meet in a dark alley.
I recently read Danny Trejo’s biography, and in it, his friend Donald tells an amazing story about Danny’s power and his love. It turns out they were shooting a scene on the old movie «Reindeer Games"—might sound familiar to some of you. And the director on the set was incredibly stressed; daylight was fading. They had one last chance to get the shot right, and in this particular shot, Danny and Donald were climbing the snow-covered ladder. The set people kind of put freshly fallen snow on it, like no one had climbed it; they were running away from the bad guys. I think they got one last shot; everyone knows if we mess this up, the sun’s going to set, we’ll be done for the day. The director is already ticked; he’s going to snap; it’s going to be a terrible thing.
So they’re getting ready, seconds away from the shot, when Donald slips, loses his grip on the snowy ladder, and starts to fall. If he does, he’s done; early in his career, the director would have blackballed him— he would have been done. He was falling with no way to catch himself, but that’s when Danny saved him. With one mighty Mexican arm, Donald says, Danny Trejo reaches out and grabs him by the scruff of the coat, hanging onto the snow-covered ladder with the other. With one arm, he holds up his 200-pound friend— 200 lbs— with one arm! The director doesn’t see a thing; Danny Trejo is holding his friend in midair. And before the director can see, he sets him back on the ladder, leans over, and whispers, «I got you. Action!»
All the power and so much love, and that’s why I love Jesus. He has so much power; he can take the hardest parts of this year and he can turn them for good. He can take your struggles with mental health, a death in your family, the divorce that you’ve been through, the pain in your body. He has so much authority, he can actually work out human history to work it for good. Or when you slipped and you fell this year, when you did something morally, said something you can’t take back that you know is not good and it wasn’t of God, you can’t catch yourself from sin. So Jesus reaches out and, with all of his power, he grabs you before you plunge into hell. He sets you back into the family of God and he whispers, «I got you.»
Christians love to obey Jesus; we love to submit to Jesus; we love to follow Jesus. As challenging as that might be, because when we slip, Jesus uses his power and his love to catch us. And I’m going to tell you this today: that same Jesus is coming back soon, and he’s going to use that same power and love to fix everything. Two thousand years ago, Jesus came with power and love to save you from your sin, and sometime very soon— maybe before this year is over— he is going to return to end everything wrong with life.
That’s actually what «Joy to the World» is about. Can I kind of crash your Christmas party? Do any of you here know «Joy to the World» is not a Christmas song? Isaac Watts, the original author, was writing a song based on Psalm 98, and Psalm 98 is not about cows and mangers and a virgin giving birth; it’s about the return of the King of kings and Lord of lords, who comes with power and love to restore the universe. So heaven and nature sing, the rocks, the hills, the plains, and all of mankind who knows and follows him burst in joy— because death is over and pain is over and loneliness is over and depression is over. The struggle is over; anxiety is over; back pain is over; migraines are over. Our Jesus, with power, strength, and love— he came once; he is coming again to make everything new.
Verse Three: Rules with Truth and Grace
And so I want to tell you today, he is not just the Lord— he is the Lord of love. That’s why verse three of this classic song puts it all together. I’ll go quickly. It says, «He— this Jesus— rules the world with truth and grace and makes the nations prove the glories of his righteousness and wonders of his love.» You catch it? He rules with truth— he’s King and Lord— but he rules with truth and grace— undeserved love, forgiveness of sins given at a cross.
And that’s why people around the world and many nations who are gathered in this room right now are proving that he’s worth it; we’re singing the glories of his righteousness. How wonderful is the love of Jesus? I can think in this room right now are people from America, Mexico, from Bangkok, from Brazil, from Italy, from Vietnam— and it’s not just us this weekend. Think of this: billions of people— with a B— billions of people will likely sing these same songs, lifting up this same name; because there’s only one name among all the nations who has so much power and so much love to save you from everything wrong— Jesus is the secret to joy to the world.
That’s why I have a Christmas gift for you today. There’s a little book waiting for you in the lobby called «The Basics.» If you’re a guest here at our church, I would love for you to grab a copy. We have hundreds and hundreds of them stacked up— one for every single family. This is a little book that’s going to tell you how faith in Jesus gets a person like you to God. If you’re watching online, you can find your copy for free at timeofgrace.org. I want you to pick this up, because last year at Christmas Eve, we saw this little book bring joy to a young man’s world.
I met him; he was sitting in the back row, right about there. I made the same offer: «Hey, if you’re a guest, grab one of these books.» He did; he went home, and his family later told me the rest of the story— that while they jumped back into the Christmas traditions, the food, the festivities, the presents, the gifts, he grabbed the book and found a quiet place in their home, and he started to read it.
Turns out this young man wasn’t raised with room for Jesus in his heart; his family was atheist, and they taught him to be the same. That religion was evil, that church is bad, that God is a myth. But this kid read page one, then page two, first chapter one, and then chapter two. Apparently, he came out of the room where he was reading to get a pen, went back in the room to write notes; he binged the book in a single session, and not long after the New Year, he came back to our church. He and I had exchanged small talk, but I didn’t really know anything about him until in the lobby, right over there where you get the coffee, this young man stops me and says, «Pastor, I used to be an atheist, but now I believe in Jesus.»
And there was so much joy in his world. If you could see his face, you would have seen it too. He did not think he was losing something— his autonomy, his own authority— he knew he was gaining infinitely more: a God who would love him despite his sins, a God who would go to a cross to cleanse him from everything wrong he had ever done, a God who would save him now and would come again to save him a second time.
I want to tell you today, no matter who you are, no matter how this year has gone, no matter what you’ve done, where you’ve been, how you were raised— Jesus wants room in your heart. He wants to come as Lord and Savior to rule over you with truth and grace to save you now from your sin and forever from your pain. So brothers and sisters, make room— because Jesus, and only Jesus, brings eternal joy to your world.
Prayer
Dear Jesus, you are the King of all Kings. That’s why we don’t have to be afraid of anything. You’re sovereign and authoritative and powerful over our bodies, over governments, over countries, over years, over millennia. There’s nothing, nothing that escapes your notice, and there’s nothing that is not under your control. Whenever we worry, God, you are not worried. Whenever we feel anxious, you’re never anxious; you’re absolutely in control. And if you are a God who can do that much, we never have to be afraid. And if you’re a God who loves us when we don’t deserve to be loved; if you’re a God who didn’t stay way up in heaven but came down to the bottom to find sinners like us, we can know who we are— your children— and we can know where we’re going to spend forever with you.
So I pray, God, that everyone who’s here today would have hearts that are filled with joy— hearts that have room for Jesus, hearts that are ready to sing «Joy to the World,» because the Lord who is also the Savior has come. It’s in his glorious name that we pray all of these things, and all God’s people joined their voices and they said, «Amen.»
So I pray, God, that everyone who’s here today would have hearts that are filled with joy— hearts that have room for Jesus, hearts that are ready to sing «Joy to the World,» because the Lord who is also the Savior has come. It’s in his glorious name that we pray all of these things, and all God’s people joined their voices and they said, «Amen.»