Isaiah 35: 1-10; Matthew 11: 2-10
I saw a joke the other day that said, “I faked having an illness to leave work early. The next day, 3 more colleagues called out because they caught it. What a sorry bunch of liars they are.” Tis the season these days for contagious things to swirl in our lives. With the cold weather, the cold virus, crowds, events, and just winter in general, tis the season to need your cough syrup. We tend to see the word contagious in a very negative light. It’s almost exclusively referring to something bad or infectious. But good things can also catch on from person to person. Joy is one such thing. Too often we see folks come into this sacred space and sing “Joyful, joyful we adore thee,” like they’re singing about cleaning the bathroom in a gas station.
Or we sing “Joy to the world, the Lord is come” like our sad aunt Sandy showed up unexpectedly at Christmas. The Season of Advent is a time of waiting for the ultimate joy of the whole world, a Savior come to save us, love us, and give us hope for all eternity. There are three things we must remember from our lessons today: Joyfulness may be a bit hard to find, joy and hope are interwoven together, and joy is a shared experience.
Joyfulness is sometimes a bit hard to find. Jesus asks in our Gospel lesson what the people expected from John the Baptist. Did they come looking for fancy robes and great palaces, a weak man who said his peace then cowered away? Instead, Jesus says they found the prophesied messenger who hailed the coming of a Savior. I am certain that John the Baptist is not what people expected. Frankly, he would have looked like a crazy, rambling, homeless guy. And yet there was authority and a spiritual strength in his voice and words. Sometimes, God speaks good news or words of wisdom from the most unlikely of places.
In the dark and cold of winter, as we prepare for the longest night and the coldest arctic blast of the month, we may be slightly more annoyed than joyful. If we are adding up how many people we have to buy gifts for and looking at our bank account to buy gifts, we may be frustrated that everybody may just be gifted our presence and not actual presents this year. We may be estranged from family or have lost many members of our family. We may have illnesses, struggles, or just general seasonal depression at this time of year. The people in Jesus’s day expected a lot from the herald of the Messiah and from the Messiah himself. Neither John nor Jesus was what they expected. And yet, in spite of the confusion and unexpectedness of it all, there was Good News of great joy for all the people. Joy can be hard to find, but if we look, it may be all around us.
That is because joy is more than a happy feeling. It’s a spiritual gift rooted in hope. Jesus tells the disciples of John the Baptist to report the Good News, “The blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.” The whole point of this message was to offer hope to John the Baptist in prison that salvation of the people who walked in darkness was happening. It is that hope which could bring him joy in prison. Without that hope, John’s life, freedom, and message would have been a waste. But it was the hope found in Jesus’s work which brought him joy. His suffering and his preaching of the Good News were not in vain. The Messiah had indeed come.
We miss out on joy because we live without hope. I remember Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh, saying in an episode, “End of the road. Nothing to do. And no hope of things getting any better. Sounds like Saturday night at my house.” I see too many people who share this same sentiment. Nehemiah, when the people needed encouragement, said, “Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!” As Christians, no matter what the world hands off to us, we live in the joy of Christ for we have hope in all circumstances, and the joy of the Lord is our strength!
When the angels came to the shepherds, they told of “Good news of great JOY for all the people.” That joy wasn’t based on having a good feeling, or getting everything they wished for in life, or anything at all like that. The good news of great joy was found in realized hope. The Savior, the Messiah had been born that day, love incarnate, and hope for all of humanity. Isaiah’s prophecies testify to the hope that brings joy: encouragement, strength, springs in the wilderness, overcoming evil, overcoming fear, the end of sorrow. All of these are depictions of hope and are found in the Good News of Christ. Joy is rooted in hope.
Finally, joy is meant to be shared with others. One joyful and laughter filled moment was sitting in a Christmas service and hearing the minster say with conviction that Jesus was born in Birmingham. Now I’ve shared the humor with you. In that instance the hope was that he would keep saying it. [S9] Joy is watching one of your best friends walk across the stage, ironically in Alabama, to receive his hard earned, 5 year-long doctorate degree. It was a moment of joy shared by everyone in his life who loves him.
A friend of mine has an elderly pitbull who is in the last stages of life. Despite the temptation to focus on every negative thing, he focuses in on making his dog’s last days filled with joy. That simple act brings joy to them both. In a world where we talk about colds, the flu, and covid being contagious, I pray we are the ones who make joy, laughter, and hope contagious. After all, we too have good news of great joy found in a small child in Bethlehem, or Birmingham, depending.
For us as disciples of Christ, that Good News of great joy should be at the forefront of everything we say, every day we live. If we are going to proclaim that we believe in Christ then we must live it, no matter how hard life is, nor what circumstances befall us. Because as bad a life can get, there is hope in God’s promises to us. And in that hope, we find our joy.
I found joy this week in a good friend finding hope. A buddy of mine immigrated to Miami last year. Since that time, he’s been in two major car accidents, struggled to get his business to flourish, and had his marriage break down shortly after they came here. A few weeks ago, he said, “I’m tired. I’ve failed, and I’m going back home. There’s no hope for me.” He told me he was praying for a sign. Out of nowhere, he got hundreds of orders in one week fueling his business again and allowing him to buy a car. He texted a few days ago that he is ready to extend his visa, open a brick-and-mortar store, and asked me to help him learn English, so he can make a more permanent life for himself. He found hope, and in that hope, he also found joy.
Growing up, we used to sing a song about joy in Sunday School. It says, “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart, WHERE? Down in my heart. I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart, WHERE? Down in my heart to stay.” Let’s try it. The truth is the hardest part is the last two words: to stay. Life can steal our joy and make us think hope is gone. May we remember in this Advent and Christmas season that we have Good News of great joy, in our own hearts and for all people. Amen.
Worship Service Video https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/3263419443826719/