Advent Week Three: Joy

Week Three: Joy
Matthew Campbell, MD (1999)

Advent is our traditional season of preparation for the arrival of God on Earth. The four weeks leading up to Christmas Day traditionally have themes of hope, faith, joy, and peace. What role does joy play in a season of anticipation and preparation then? Where does it come from? To what or whom does it point? How is it experienced?

Dictionaries have defined joy in a number of ways, most often failing to distinguish it well from mere feelings of happiness, pleasure, or well-being. The Scriptures, however, ascribe a greater weight and virtuous depth to joy. The Apostle Paul counts joy among the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22), but warns that the love of mere pleasure is contrary to the love of God (2 Timothy 3:4). How can two things that feel so similar be so different from one another, even opposed to one another, in their essence? How can we as Jesus’ disciples avoid mistaking one for the other? What happens in us when we do?

In January of 1996, I was a freshman at what was then called Huntington College taking my first J-term course. Having just finished a semester heavy in math and science, I decided to branch out and take Dr. Paul Michelson’s course on C.S. Lewis, some of which was spent sipping tea and discussing all things Narnia in his book-strewn home on Jefferson Street. As we collectively delved into Lewis’ major literary themes, the concept of joy and the role it played in Lewis’ own personal testimony stood out. It was experiences of Joy and awe (which he calls the “numinous”) that ultimately led him into his Christian faith, even as his mind was set against it.

In his autobiography, “Surprised by Joy,” Lewis offers that joy “is valuable only as a pointer to something other and outer.” In and of itself, it quickly loses its meaning. But since its object is outside of itself, he says it “must have the stab, the pang, the inconsolable longing” for that to which it ultimately points. This outward focus allows joy to transcend our pain while seeking the benefit of others. It was “for the joy set before Him” that Jesus endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2). During advent, the object to which our joy points is the coming of Christ.

The Scripture readings selected for the advent season by various liturgical calendars are a mix of Old Testament prophecy (usually about the coming of God’s Kingdom) and New Testament accounts of Christ’s birth. In the time of the prophets, these were most often lumped together as a single event, whereas we now generally understand that such prophecies are fulfilled in two distinct “comings” of our Savior. As we live in the time between Jesus’ arrivals, so our advent reflections involve both looking back and looking forward.

Professor Lewis offers pertinent insight; “All joy reminds. It is never a possession, always a desire for something longer ago or further away or still about to be.” It is this two-fold focus on the “longer ago” of the nativity with the “about to be” of God’s Kingdom that brings fullness and understanding to our advent reflections, lifting them far above mere sentimentality. During this season, I pray you will be warmed by the generosity of His birth even as you experience the pang and longing for the fullness of His rule.

Monday
Read Isaiah 35:1-10. Take time in quiet to read this passage a few more times and envision the future it describes. Find joy as you contemplate someday inhabiting such a reality.

Tuesday
Read Psalm 146:5-10. This psalm bends over backwards to include in God’s future many of the people who appear to have been left out of His present blessings. Ask God to specifically bring to mind those people who might be feeling left out during this season. Ask Him how you might be able to share the joy of advent with them.

Wednesday
Read James 5:7-10. When we compare our present age to the coming glory of God’s Kingdom, we can become as impatient as a child waiting to unwrap gifts under the tree. Here, James admonishes us to wait patiently, mostly by being patient with each other. What does this patience look like during the hurry of the holidays?

Thursday
Read Matthew 11:2-11. Even John the Baptist, imprisoned by Herod, had his own doubts about whether or not Jesus’ kingdom ways could truly be victorious over the oppressive reality of the present. Often, the workings and happenings of Jesus’ Kingdom might be hidden in plain sight by the immediacy of our own circumstances. Ask God to show you where He is presently at work in making His coming Kingdom rule a reality in the lives of those around you.

Friday
Read 2 Peter 3:1-18. Jesus is certainly taking his good old time in waiting to come back in His fullness. Peter tells us that His patience itself is an act of mercy. In light of that patience, what kind of people does He encourage us to be that might “hasten the day” of His return?

(The passages selected above are those listed in the Revised Common Lectionary for the third Sunday of Advent for 2019.)