Joy
Isn't it sort of odd that we (well, many of us, anyway) wait until Christmas Eve to sing "Joy to the World"? In every church I have served, "Joy to the World" was the customary "finale" to the Christmas Candlelight services. And it's a fine ending, even if it wasn't really written as a Christmas song. There is joy when we celebrate the birth of the Christ child.
And yet, it is the third week of Advent, not the fourth, that is focused on "joy." This week. Right in the middle of the month. Right when, at least for those of us in the upper northern hemisphere, it's starting to get cold and dreary. Right when the season is really rounding the corner toward home plate and our final days of shopping are kicking into high gear. Right when people tend to be most irritable and grumpy because there are too many tasks left to do and not enough days to do them in. And right when preachers start realizing how many sermons they have to do and how many services there are to plan and...and...
That's why "joy" arrives.
Not at Christmas. Right now.
Right now—when joy is most needed to be found. When we most need to be reminded what this season is all about. You see, in my experience, most of us start Advent with great expectations and high resolutions. This year, I will not lose focus. This year, I will not spend so much time buying and baking and decorating. This year, I will remember the real reason for the season. I will give more. I will serve more. I will worship more.
And then Advent actually begins. And there are so many things for us to do. There are expectations to be met. There are things to plan. (Isn't it amazing how much time and energy we put into planning and preparing for the celebration of an unexpected pregnancy and a birth that happened in the midst of a cattle stall which had no decorations?)
And then comes joy. Right when we most need it. Right when we need a reminder that this season is not about meeting expectations or having everything perfectly put together. This season is about a baby who came to bring joy. Deep down confidence that life is good. Hope, peace and joy. We need that just about now.
It makes me think of that perennial Christmas classic, A Charlie Brown Christmas. In the midst of the chaos that their Christmas play becomes, Charlie Brown cries out, "Doesn't anyone know what Christmas is all about?" I resonate with his frustration, don't you? I want to scream that out about this time of the season, too. Doesn't anyone know what Christmas, what Advent, is all about?
And then, along comes joy. In the story, it shows up in the form of Linus, reciting the Christmas story from memory. "That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."
Joy does that for us, right in the middle of the season. Joy comes and reminds us, "That's what Christmas is all about."
P.S. However, if I hear "Marshmallow World" in one more store this year, I may lose whatever joy I have found.
And yet, it is the third week of Advent, not the fourth, that is focused on "joy." This week. Right in the middle of the month. Right when, at least for those of us in the upper northern hemisphere, it's starting to get cold and dreary. Right when the season is really rounding the corner toward home plate and our final days of shopping are kicking into high gear. Right when people tend to be most irritable and grumpy because there are too many tasks left to do and not enough days to do them in. And right when preachers start realizing how many sermons they have to do and how many services there are to plan and...and...
That's why "joy" arrives.
Not at Christmas. Right now.
Right now—when joy is most needed to be found. When we most need to be reminded what this season is all about. You see, in my experience, most of us start Advent with great expectations and high resolutions. This year, I will not lose focus. This year, I will not spend so much time buying and baking and decorating. This year, I will remember the real reason for the season. I will give more. I will serve more. I will worship more.
And then Advent actually begins. And there are so many things for us to do. There are expectations to be met. There are things to plan. (Isn't it amazing how much time and energy we put into planning and preparing for the celebration of an unexpected pregnancy and a birth that happened in the midst of a cattle stall which had no decorations?)
And then comes joy. Right when we most need it. Right when we need a reminder that this season is not about meeting expectations or having everything perfectly put together. This season is about a baby who came to bring joy. Deep down confidence that life is good. Hope, peace and joy. We need that just about now.
It makes me think of that perennial Christmas classic, A Charlie Brown Christmas. In the midst of the chaos that their Christmas play becomes, Charlie Brown cries out, "Doesn't anyone know what Christmas is all about?" I resonate with his frustration, don't you? I want to scream that out about this time of the season, too. Doesn't anyone know what Christmas, what Advent, is all about?
And then, along comes joy. In the story, it shows up in the form of Linus, reciting the Christmas story from memory. "That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."
Joy does that for us, right in the middle of the season. Joy comes and reminds us, "That's what Christmas is all about."
P.S. However, if I hear "Marshmallow World" in one more store this year, I may lose whatever joy I have found.
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