Big-Picture Joy - Sermon for the Third Sunday of Advent (December 15, 2024)

Scripture Readings: Zephaniah 3:14–20 | Isaiah 12:2–6 | Philippians 4:4–7 | Luke 3:7–18

​“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.” 
(Philippians 4:4).

Well here we are already: the Third Sunday of Advent. More than halfway through the season of preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ. And this Sunday we take time to reflect on the theme of Joy in connection with Christ and His coming Kingdom. 

And while Joy itself is a big part of the New Life of God, and the Good News of Jesus Christ, and even though it is something that most people in our world are longing for in one form or another… I personally find that Joy is one of the hardest Advent themes to discuss… to clearly define what it is, and how we can prepare to experience it.

I think that at least part of the reason this is so hard is because we tend to confuse Joy with Happiness. The two are of course, deeply related, and yet there remain some important differences. And so before we go too much further, I’d like to suggest the following distinction between Happiness and Joy that I hope will be helpful:

Happiness we could say is a feeling of positivity that depends on the ‘close up’ story… on our present, immediate circumstances. We feel happy when we experience moments or seasons of comfort, security, pleasure, satisfaction, fun, and so on. These are all good things… but in this life, they are also all temporary. And so because feelings of happiness are closely bound up with the experiences of the moment, they can be easily lost when our circumstances suddenly change… when we come face to face with serious conflicts, challenges, or loss. 

But if happiness is the experience of the close-up moment, Joy has more to do with living in the ‘big picture’ story… the uplifting feeling that comes when we are deeply connected, not just to our current circumstances, but when we are able to take everything into account, and start to experience our place in a much wider context. If we think of it like a movie: happiness is what we feel when we’re watching a positive scene… but joy is what we feel when we can see that the whole film is heading towards a positive ending. Even if the current scene may be difficult to watch, we can still experience joy when we recognize that the story’s far from over.

This may sound fairly simple at some level, but joy can be hard to hold onto at times, especially as our lives become more complicated, and challenging.

Generally speaking, we could say that children tend to experience joy a bit more easily, in part because their world is smaller: their perspective on life doesn’t need to be as comprehensive or detailed as adults… who are easily caught up in other concerns… and juggling lots of pressing matters. The more we see about our world, and the more problems we seem to encounter… the more people tend to feel overwhelmed and disheartened by the story of our world. 

This is why some people attempt to find joy by trying to shrink their world… by ignoring or downplaying all of the negative or challenging parts of life, and pretending they have no part to play in their stories. Of course, the problem with this kind of denial is that reality always finds us sooner or later. The truth is: there are lots of moments or seasons of life that are far from happy.

And this is why joy is so important… and so needed these days. But Christian joy is not about living in denial, or trying to shrink our world… trying to mimic a childlike innocence that is largely ignorant of the big problems we all must face.

No, in fact Christian joy is actually about getting an even bigger perspective… it’s about seeing how all of our hopes and fears… all of our lives fit within the Good Story of God’s saving love… and responding to this wonderful reality with how we live everyday.

In our first Scripture reading today from Zephaniah, and in our responsive reading from the book of Isaiah, we heard two of Israel’s prophets calling for God’s people to rejoice: to respond to the great works of the Living God by lifting up their hearts in joyful praise. 

“Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! 
Rejoice and exult with all your heart, 
O daughter Jerusalem!” (Zephaniah 3:14).

“Sing the praises of the Lord, for he has done great things,
and this is known in all the world.
Cry aloud, inhabitants of Zion, ring out your joy,
for the great one in the midst of you is the Holy One of Israel.” (Isaiah 12:5-6).

Now neither of these prophets could be accused of being oblivious to the real world issues of their day… they were witnesses to Israel’s deep struggles, and anticipated the world-changing issues God’s people would have to face. 

And yet, even as they warned God’s people of the great perils to come because of their unfaithfulness to the Living God, their messages also gave Israel reasons to rejoice… to remember that what they could see around them in any given moment was not all that there is to consider. To remember that the One who was with them through it all, and who would still see them through, if they would only trust in Him, was stronger than any adversary they could face, and that one day His good Kingdom would be victorious.

The prophets call us to remember what the Living God has already done… the mighty acts of His saving love, and they also point us forward to what He will do in days to come. 

Turning now to our Gospel reading for today, and the challenging words of St. John the Baptist, as he fulfills his ministry preparing the way for Jesus the Messiah.

Like the Old Testament prophets before him, John is well aware of the complexities and challenges of life in general. But here in Luke Chapter 3, we see him delves straight into the complicated realities facing the individuals around him.

And a key part of his message… his ministry, preparing the way for Jesus, was to call God’s people to repent… to change and turning around… not just in mind and heart, but also in their actions… choices… and all of daily life.

Of course, this is an important lesson for all of us today: Joy does not simply fall from the sky. It is a gift, but one that comes to us along with lives shaped by faith… as we believe the Good News of God’s saving love, and take action according to those beliefs.

In other words, joy is a byproduct of the life of faith. Real joy can’t be manufactured… it flows from our trust in the Good News, and our trust in the One the Good News calls us to follow… trust that reshapes all that we say and do as we seek to live within the story of God’s saving love in Jesus Christ.

Of course, this isn’t always easy. Sometimes the troubles we face really shake our faith, and the choices we’re called to make as Christians can at times feel overwhelming. Where do we turn when we can’t seem to see a way forward anymore, or when the Lord’s saving love feels far away? 

How can we experience joy in the midst of our struggles?

Joy is not based on, or limited by our circumstances… it is a result of our connection to the Living God. And so, as St. Paul reminds us in our second reading today from the Letter to the Philippians, when we’re struggling, and our faith is shaken, we are able to turn to God Himself to help us remember and trust in the Big Story of God’s saving love: the Good News of Jesus and all He has done for all of  us.

Philippians 4:4-7, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” 

In prayer and supplication, we are always invited to turn to the Lord with all that is a burden to us. We are invited to believe in His great compassion and infinite mercy, and to go to Him with all that is on our hearts and minds. Trusting that, no matter what we might face, and even if we must go through the valley of the shadow of death, as Psalm 23 puts it… the Lord is near. He is with us… and He will turn all of our sadness into joy.

And we can believe this because of Jesus. Because He already upended the powers of death and darkness, and sin and “who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2).

Jesus endured the cross because He knew the ending of the story of God’s saving love. And because of His resurrection from the dead, so do we!

In Him, we can have joy even now… knowing that God’s love is even stronger than the grave. That His life-giving power can turn the worst failures into truly world-changing victories. We can have joy knowing that we are invited to be a part of Christ’s story… turning darkness to light… despair to hope… and brokenness to peace. 

But as Christians, our joy is to be a Christ-shaped joy… joy that flows from being faithful to the Living God… joy that is the fruit of God’s Holy Spirit at work in us, reshaping our lives to share in Jesus’ own life… walking in His ways.

If we seek the joy that comes from being connected to the big picture of God’s saving love… the story of Jesus Christ, and the Good News of what He has done… then by God’s grace, our lives really must become a part of that story… sharing in and shaped by the life of our Saviour King.
Turning back to our Gospel reading again:

How did John invite the people he baptized to get ready for the Messiah? How were they as individuals meant to prepare to share in the story of the Christ and His coming Kingdom? What does John tell the people to do? 

Those who have more than enough should share with those who don’t. Tax collectors should not try to cheat their neighbours, and soldiers should not use their power to extort others either. Essentially, John tells the people to stop being so selfish! Stop being self-centred, and instead turn to their neighbours with compassion and self-giving love. And this is how we too are to live within the Big Story of God’s saving love: by loving those around us. By sharing God’s holy, self-giving love with the people in our lives. 

If we want to experience real joy today, to be shaped by the big story of God’s saving love freely given to our world in Jesus Christ… then we must step into this story, and choose again and again to stay in this story.

We must choose to believe, to trust in what Jesus has done for us, and why: that is, God’s saving love… and let this reality sink in, and shape the ways we relate to the Lord Himself, to those around us, and even to ourselves. 

We can rejoice always because we know that Jesus loves us, and He invites us to let Him rearrange our lives around God’s saving love.

We can rejoice, even when things are bad, because we know that we aren’t facing these challenges alone… and we can always turn to our Heavenly Father and bring all of our burdens to Him.

We can rejoice with one another, sharing in the fellowship of God’s family, united forever as sisters and brothers by God’s Holy Spirit.

So let us rejoice always, as especially as we celebrate Advent, sharing in the joy of our Saviour King, as we prepare for His return. Amen.