Week 3 | Joy
Is this not the easiest of the Advent themes? Joy is baked in to the whole ethos of the Christmas season. It’s hard not to feel happy when watching a favorite holiday movie, dancing to a carol, sharing a special meal, admiring lights and decorations, and the delight of getting exactly what you wished for or giving the perfect gift.
But the distinguishing nuance of joy is that it lasts beyond the moments of happiness. It can be present when the shine of Christmas cheer dulls or even tarnishes. Biblical joy is an attitude that God’s people adopt, not because of happy circumstances, but because of our hope in God’s love and promises. It is a perspective that is far broader than the fleeting delight that butterfly-like visits briefly, but then is gone.
In the Bible, rejoicing is often paired with thanksgiving. Gratitude is a way of cultivating joy. Or fertilizing it. (I may have grown up in a very rural area, but I did not inherit my grandmother’s green thumb, so my agricultural metaphors have their limits.) But there’s something to reminding ourselves of the unmerited grace of God, the Giver of every good thing, that can produce in us a joy that perseveres in the darkest of circumstances.
And isn’t that the paradox of the Christian joy? That the presence of God with us is true in the midst of sorrow, grief, pain, sickness, and delight. That is good news worth singing, shouting, and dancing about.
— Kala
Historical Reading
“‘The light of God’s face’ denotes his serene countenance, just as, on the other hand, the face of God seems to us dark and clouded when he shows any sign of anger. This light, by a beautiful metaphor, is said to be lifted up, when, shining in our hearts, it produces trust and hope. It would not be enough for us to be beloved by God, unless the sense of this love came home to our hearts; but, shining on them by the Holy Spirit, he cheers us with true and solid joy. This passage teaches us that those are miserable who do not, with full resolution, repose themselves wholly in God. The faithful, although they are tossed amid many troubles, are truly happy, were there no other ground for it but this, that God’s fatherly countenance shines on them, which turns darkness into light, and, as I may say, quickens even death itself.”
— John Calvin, Commentary on the Psalms (16th Century)
Prayer
My thankful heart with glorying tongue
Will celebrate your name,
Who has restored, redeemed, re-cured
From sickness, death, and pain.
I cried; you seemed to take some pause,
I sought more earnestly.
And in due time you supported me,
And sent me help from high.
Lord, while my fleeting time still lasts,
Your goodness let me tell.
And new experience I have gained,
My future doubts repel.
A humble, faithful life, O Lord,
Forever let me walk;
Let my obedience testify,
My praise lies not in talk.
Accept, O Lord, my simple gift,
For more I cannot give;
What you bestow I will restore,
For of your alms I live.
— Anne Bradstreet (17th Century)