Church, we are celebrating the Third Sunday of Advent this week and will light the Joy Candle.  Joy in scripture is more than just happiness; it is complex and rich.  Joy is abiding and fills us with contentment and longing at the same time.  We often look at Mary, the mother of Jesus, who accepts the burden of carrying the Christ Child in her womb, though she risks her engagement and her honor as she is unwed.  Yet, she is considered joyful in her pregnancy.  Then we meet Mary’s older cousin, Elizabeth, and her husband, Zechariah, who have been unable to conceive and now are expecting a Son, who becomes John the Baptist.  And they are filled with joy at what God is doing. 

In scripture, we almost always find joyful people; it is not because of something they have done but because they recognize what God is doing in and through them.  And that is the secret: even when what is happening in our life presents difficulty, if we can look for and recognize that God is at work, we can find Joy in it; we can be Joyful in the midst of difficulty when we know God is present and God is at work.

Sometimes, God calls us to do difficult things, and we can feel uncertain and dismayed, but when we look to God and see He is working things out for good, we can find joy even in difficult moments. 

For more on Joy and its deeper meaning, check out this article at https://saturatetheworld.com/2018/12/16/the-meaning-of-joy/.

Peace,

Pastor Burt