Advent – Joy
On the third Sunday of Advent we reflect on the joy of Christ. After the last few years, joy has not been easy to find. But in Christ, we find the courage to laugh, to smile, and to hope despite the chaos around us and in us.
We don’t have to look farther than the pandemic to know we have a hard time waiting. I remember when we were in lockdown how many people struggled with waiting: waiting for parties to resume, for restaurants to open, for life to get back to normal.
And yet, it seems the entire point of advent, nay the majority of the Christian faith is a life of waiting. So the question remains, how will we wait? How will you wait? Will you wait with hope, peace, joy, and love? Or will you wait in despair, turmoil, fear, and hate?
In today’s passage, we learn that there are two ways to wait, to wait in fear and to wait in joy. –
1 You will say in that day: “I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me.
2 “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”
3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
4 And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted.
5 “Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth.
6 Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.” – Isaiah 12:1-6
HISTORY OF ISAIAH
Written more than 700 years before the birth of Jesus, the prophet Isaiah is quoted more in the New Testament, by Jesus and his followers than any other prophet in the Old Testament.
The Tribe of Judah has split from the nation of Israel and has formed its own nation.
Isaiah 1-5 | Accusation of city leaders
Isaiah 6 | Vision of the Temple
Isaiah 7-11 | Prophesy to King Ahaz
ISRAELITES FEAR
Their king and nation leaders were corrupt and unjust. The Assyrian nation was quickly inching closer to taking them captive, conquering their lands, removing them from their homes, taxing them, and even enslaving them.
And yet, after sketching all of the despair that will befall the Israelites in Chapters 6-11, Isaiah encourages the people in Chapter 12 to not wait fearfully.
“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” – Isaiah 12:2
FEAR EASY
“[t]he brain is like Velcro for negative experiences, but Teflon for positive ones.” Based on his research, it takes 3 seconds for a negative experience to implant itself onto the brain and 14 seconds for a positive experience to do the same. Hanson says the result is this: a brain that is tilted against lasting contentment and fulfillment.” – Rick Hanson
Our brains are literally wired to dwell on the glass half empty instead of the glass half full. Our brains are wired to focus on fear instead of joy.
So how do we choose to wait joyously instead of in fear as Isaiah and later on Jesus instructs us?
CHOOSE JOY
“Joy does not simply happen to us, we have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.” – Henri Nouwen
“The decision to set the mind on the higher things of life is an act of the will. That is why celebration is a discipline. It is not something that falls on our heads. It is the result of a consciously chosen way of thinking and living.”
– Richard Foster,
PHILIPPIANS 4:4-8
Paul is writing from a Roman prison and therefore has the best excuse to wait in fear and not in joy. And yet, in his letter to the Philippian people, he says:
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. – Philippians 4:4-8
Paul instructs us to first:
Give thanks!
Draw near to God in prayer.
Redirect our thoughts.
To wait joyously we must give thanks, draw near to God in prayer, and redirect our thoughts.
DEVELOP YOUR OWN SONG OF JOY
Develop your own Isaiah-like song. Isaiah says in ch 12:
4 “Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted. 5 “Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth. 6 Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”
–Isaiah 12:4-6
