What brings you joy?

A few weeks ago, I was getting ready to check out of Meijer when a magazine caught my attention. It was a Time Magazine special edition entitled, “The Power of Joy.” I was curious to see what a secular magazine would say about such a spiritual and powerful emotion. It drew me in and I found myself going back later to purchase it.

Joy – as we enter into the third week of Advent our focus turns to “Joy.” What is joy? When have you experienced joy in your life? What brings you joy?

Advent and the Christmas season is often a time associated with much joy. As we reflect back on Christmas’ past we can often remember experiences from our own lives filled with joy and love - times in our life surrounded by special surprises where we felt truly listened to and cared for; memories of treasured moments with those we have loved; intimate moments when we have been filled with God’s wonder and peace; and even our own experiences where we have been given the pure gift of watching another’s joy and excitement in this season. From this, I believe these special memories lead us as a people to lift this time of year up so highly in our desire to create and recreate these feelings of joy that we will often overextend ourselves and wear ourselves out in this season. I wonder how much our deep need to experience joy drives us in this season.

And suddenly Advent and Christmas becomes a time of spending more money than we have, not take care of ourselves as we know we should and stressing ourselves out in trying to recreate and force these experiences and memories that we hold so dear. And thus, we can suddenly find that we are creating the exact opposite experience we are so deeply yearning. I wonder how often it occurs that when we don’t experience that same joy, this same magic we have experienced in our past, that it leads us to darkness, confusion, depression, anxiety and even faith crisis when it is not felt or experienced the same way.

And yet, in reflecting in the scripture today, the joy that Elizabeth, the unborn baby within her and even later Mary expresses is surrounded by many unknowns and uncertainties. They have been given gifts but ones that will take much sacrifice, excruciating work and pain. And yet, even knowing this, they experience joy.

In the Time Magazine Joy Special Edition, Rev. Douglas Mcarthur a retired Methodist minister writes, “Joy is different. Joy is a gift. It is not something we earn, strive for or take credit for. Since it’s a gift, we do not know when it will come. It arrives unexpectedly, in its own way. Joy erupts under difficult or pleasant circumstances. But one thing is for certain, when it comes into your life, you know it.”

We all know that this year our Christmas will be different. Many of our favorite traditions we hold to and yearn for will not be able to happen the same way. We won’t be able to see all of our loved ones and gather in all of our big Christmas gatherings. The joy we anticipate will not necessarily come the same. And yet, Christmas will still come. Christmas cannot be cancelled, taken away or even stopped because Christmas is something much more. It is a gift of God breaking into our world and bringing a joy that will never be taken away.

Join us this Sunday for worship whether in person, virtually through our live streaming or in our zoom room, on YouTube, or even on TV (Spectrum1020 at 10:30) or the radio 98.5FM for those in Delaware City as we thank God for this gift of joy in our world even when we can’t feel it or see it. My prayer for each of you is that this season you may experience the gift of joy like John did leaping for joy at the sound of God’s promises, like Elizabeth did being filled with the Holy Spirit when Mary came to her, and like Mary did rejoicing and singing when she heard God’s blessing through Elizabeth.

In Christ’s love and service,
Pastor Wendy