Gathering: Joy
Joy is Grounded in God’s Promise
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
Rev. Tim Callow
Preached Sun. December 13, 2020
For a few years now I’ve taken on a discipline during Advent. Unless it’s an emergency, or otherwise work related, I shut off all electronics in the house once the sun sets and there is no light on the horizon. That means my phone, my TV, my computer, are all put aside. The days are very short during Advent, in fact, they’re at their shortest around this time. At first it’s something of a hardship. I absent-mindedly pick up my phone only to quickly put it down. I grow restless. I try to think up various excuses for why it’s ok for me to check one last message. But after the first week I settle in. I come to enjoy quiet evenings with a book in front of the fire. I relish getting to bed early, and waking up early. What begins as deprivation turns into a simple pleasure. A simple pleasure I, of course, quickly give up as soon as the Christmas bells ring. But a pleasure I cherish each year I have opportunity.
Life is full of simple pleasures such as a quiet evening, a good cup of coffee, a hearty breakfast, a loving hug. As I’ve aged I’ve come to appreciate them more deeply. But the thing about earthly pleasures, simple or otherwise, is they are all momentary and fleeting. Eventually the coffee will grow cold, the night will grow long, the hug must be released. And as enjoyable simple pleasures may be, I don’t think they make up for the various ways we may suffer either. Live, laugh, love is a glib response to loneliness or grief. It’s simply not enough.
God wants more for us than pleasure. As Augustine points out in one of his sermons on the Psalms, God makes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust alike. So God, in his profligate liberality, gives wealth, health, and beauty indiscriminately. To the point we may wonder why some people are so blessed in the earthly pleasure department. But God reserves the greatest gift for those who fall in love with him, his own presence, the power of his grace, and true joy.
Today is Gaudete Sunday, the third Sunday in Advent. Gautete is latin for “rejoice!” Traditionally we’d light the rose candle on the advent wreath, and meditate on the joy of God in the midst of waiting. Today I want to reflect on the joy God gives us. Joy that is more than a simple pleasure. While pleasures come and go, we can truly “rejoice always” as Paul exhorts. We can rejoice always because the source of joy is not in ourselves, but it is the work of God. Our joy is in the gospel.
In our Old Testament reading for this morning Isaiah says, “The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Jesus would quote this scripture for his first sermon at Nazareth. The sermon was very short and simple. He simply sat down and said, “these words are fulfilled in your hearing.”
Jesus is the anointed one, the messiah, who bears good news. He is the gospel in flesh. Gospel, of course, meaning good news. By Christ we receive good news, we are released from the bonds of sin, and we are given true liberty. We are set free to know the love of God. By the blood of his cross the price is paid, by his example and teaching we know the way that leads to life, by his grace we may be built up. “They shall build up the ancient ruins” Isaiah says, we may think of this as our hearts burdened and conquered by sin, “they shall repair the ruined cities.”
As God promised restoration to the people of Israel, he promises restoration for us as well in Christ. The healing of our hearts, and the healing of our communities. As God restored Israel to Zion, we too may be restored in Christ and know the joy of salvation. As Isaiah says, “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bridge adorns herself with her jewels.” We may rejoice not simply that our sins are forgiven, but that God desires to clothe us in righteousness, to adorn us as his own. Salvation is not bandaging up a wound. Salvation is truly healing the wound.
Surely no greater gift has been given. The infinite life of God, shared with us in Christ.
In less than two weeks it will be Christmas. I have already packed presents under my tree. I put a lot of care in the presents I purchase. I want them to be meaningful, somewhat surprising, somewhat joyous, and perhaps a little more expensive than they should be. I get joy from sharing joy. I, of course, also get joy from getting presents too.
The joy the gospel gives is analogous to the joy we feel when we receive a gift. The gospel, the good news of God, is always being announced to us in the word of God and in prayer. Daily we can be reminded of the greatest gift of them all: Christ and the life he brings. An eternal life that can be experienced and known in the here and now, because Christ calls us in the here and now and wishes to make us his own today and tomorrow, and hereafter.
The joy of the gospel, then, is greater than the simple pleasures of Christmas because it is grounded in the promise of God. The joy we feel is our response to having received the great gift. The gift of God’s promise. Of God’s presence. Of the Holy Spirit. A gift far greater than any of us deserves. A gift that washes away our sins, transcends our loneliness, and makes us one in Christ. A gift that elicits joy, joy that can be known in all circumstances.