God's Joy

Good Morning Bethlehem Trekkers,

So much this holy-day season is here to bring us joy. But I also know that so much else is here to rob us of that joy. A few weeks ago I didn’t know whether to laugh or be greatly concerned when I heard about a church who, after several years of someone stealing the baby Jesus from their outdoor Nativity Scene, attached a GPS to the baby Jesus. But every year somebody out of guilt or simply a silly prank, returned him to his rightful place on Christmas Eve. Maybe the would-be Grinch was like some of the rest of us who know quite well that you don’t put the baby Jesus in the manger until Christmas Eve! :) I take heart in the idea that the thief even knew that the baby Jesus was important enough to steal it in the first place.

Last Sunday, everyone present, received God’s gift of joy through the music of our Christmas Cantata. Joy was on the faces of those who played, sang and directed as well as on the faces of those who were privileged with hearing the beautiful music. Joy was there in the giving and the receiving. Sometimes though, joy doesn’t come to us as readily. Joy is oftentimes elusive. We seem to only brush up against joy —almost as if we were being teased with it; as if we were only flirting with experiencing joy. And so as we make our way to Bethlehem, we are greatly encouraged to be on the lookout for joy, along with hope, peace & love, as we focus our prayers and thoughts and meditations on what these gifts mean to our lives.

So often we set ourselves up. We don’t mean to, but we raise the bar so high on what we expect to get from this special time of year. We fall so deeply into the seductive trappings of the season that we diminish for ourselves, or we completely miss, the depth and the mystery of Christmas. And I think some the elusiveness of joy is because of our tendency to confuse joy with happiness.

A dear woman from my past, Frances, said it best, “Happiness is fleeting; it can come and go in your life. But joy is what you feel deep down inside your very soul.” “At its root,” writes Sam Purdum, “Joy is a testimony of the heart.” Joy is a gift and with all gifts, we must learn to be gracious receivers—to receive God’s grace—to receive God’s joy—to allow joy to enter your life— Joy comes from knowing that no matter what comes our way, God will make all things right—somehow and for better or worse, in God’s own time. But I also know when we allow God to enter our experiences, God is right on time…

In the midst of the “stuff” of life, we must get a grip on trusting and believing that we are really on our way to something far better and more wonderful than we can ever imagine—all because God loves us this much—all because our faith journey, our moving into God’s future, will be all that God desires for us…The joy in our song, the joy in our soul, allows us to drink from the well of God’s love, God’s joy, supplying and re-supplying all that we could ever need; all that allows us to never to hunger or thirst again.

When Paul told the Philippians “Rejoice always; again I say rejoice!” he wasn’t simply telling them, “Don’t worry; be happy…Put on a happy face.” He was telling them to allow themselves to enter into the joy that God has for them—to be open to experiencing the joy that fills life to overflowing of anyone who is in Christ Jesus. And the evidence of such a joy-filled faith comes to us from Jesus himself, when he spoke of joy during the Last Supper when he told his closest friends he would soon be crucified- hardly a time of joy for those hearing these words: “Abide in me as I abide in you…Abide in my love…I have said these things to you so that MY joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.” (John 15:4, 9-10)

Joy to the World! Joy to you! Blessings, Joanne