Advent 2: Joy

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all people. The Lord is near.
- Philippians 4.4-5

We live in troubled times. We hear stories in the news about extreme poverty, the aids crisis, and the world’s ecological crisis. We live in a world of growing isolation, frantic activity, desperate violence, and terrible injustice. And yet, we often (and paradoxically) find ourselves longing for intimacy and community, and longing to experience a sense of hope and joy. This type of tension-filled longing is what the season of Advent is all about.

In Advent, God does NOT call us to bury our heads in the sand and pretend that the world is a nice old place. No. This is a time to face the darkness and to pray that God will shine forth the Light of his loving grace. Standing firm, having shod our feet with the readiness of the gospel of peace, we face the darkness and sin within us and outside of us. We embrace our new identity in Christ: "now you are light in the Lord" (Ephesians 5.8). And so, we walk as children of Light, taking no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead exposing them (Ephesians 5.11). Beautiful!

In my reflection last week I talked about Christian hope. This week I’ll talk about joy - another major theme of Advent.

Advent is a time when we joyfully celebrate the coming of the Messiah Jesus. “Cry aloud and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 12.12).

Joyous celebration characterizes the infancy narratives in the Gospels. The angel of the Lord tells Zechariah that he “will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice” at the birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1.14). The angel Gabriel tells Mary that she will give birth to God’s Messiah and her response is one of joy, thanksgiving, and worship (Luke 1.46-49). The angel announces “good news of great joy…for all people” to the shepherds (Luke 2.10-11). And when the magi find the house where Mary and Jesus are staying they “rejoice exceedingly with great joy” and “fall to the ground and worship Jesus” (Matthew 2.9-11).

Although the world is full of evil and darkness, they will not win the day. In the face of evil, God reveals his saving grace in the Messiah Jesus and the Holy Spirit. And nothing short of joy and thankfulness characterizes our human experience when we encounter the living God!

Christ, the Light of God, has come into the world to dispel the darkness and to fill us with the joy and peace of the Holy Spirit. Joyful celebration is not distant admiration. Joy is an intense love for God and neighbor, made known through our acts of faithful service. The peaceable rule of God has come in Christ and it’s our responsibility to embody that rule in the strength of the Holy Spirit.

During Advent, and beyond, I pray that we will focus our attention on our call to joyfully embody God’s love in the world. In thousands of small and big ways, let us follow God in practical acts of love. And during these Advent days of waiting, let us joyfully savor every sign of God’s loving presence as we seek God’s peace in the world!