The Joy of Advent

Joy is in you because joy is a part of God …who is a part of you. All of creation can rejoice because everything God creates carries divine DNA. ​

Last weekend our niece and nephew were over, and in the Christmas spirit, we put on How the Grinch Stole Christmas. 

​You know the story: this grumpy, green guy decides he’s had enough of all this holiday cheer and sets out to steal Christmas—not the day itself, but the joy.
 
In the middle of the night on Christmas Eve, the Grinch sneaks into Whoville and swipes the trees, the presents, the roast beast. He takes all the shiny stuff he thinks joy is made of.

But when the Whos wake up to nothing but bare walls and cold floors …. they do the unexpected—they come together and start singing.

​The Grinch looks down from his mountain lair, expecting misery, but what he finds instead is joy. And it changes him.

​While today’s reading might seem out of place for the holiday it directs our attention back to John the Baptist who, like the Whos, reminds us that joy doesn’t come from what can be taken. It come from the One who shows up weaving us together in love.

When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, those with a skin disease are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.” As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What, then, did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What, then, did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.  This is the one about whom it is written, ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’ Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist, yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.     
                                                                                                 ​Matthew 11:2-11

We first meet John at the beginning of Advent—the long-awaited miracle child of Zechariah and Elizabeth. Like his father, John becomes a priest.

But his ministry isn’t inside the Temple. It’s outside—in the wilderness, of all places. There among the wanderers, the wounded, and the ones society writes off, John calls people to repent— to wake up and be cleansed of their old ways of thinking and doing — and step into something new.
 
Now we find him somewhere completely different—in prison. Because a deeply insecure king, didn’t appreciate John’s critique of him, so he was arrested.
 
When John’s disciples visit him, they share news about Jesus. We don’t know what they said, but whatever it was, it shook John’s faith. The same man who had publicly pointed at Jesus and said, “This is the One,” now sits in the darkness not so sure.

This can happen when your joy feels like it’s been stuffed in a sack and dragged away by the Grinch.
 
But it shouldn’t surprise us how easy it can be to miss the Messiah. I mean, God slipped into the world as a baby unnoticed. And we still have trouble seeing the divine among us.

But in all fairness, if I sent you to find the Messiah, what would you look for? A miracle worker? A warrior? A TED-talking influencer with millions of followers?
 
I think one of the problems is Jesus doesn’t fit the job description. We often miss Christ among us because we’re usually looking for the wrong messiah. (Rohr) We want one who blesses our plans and spites our enemies. But Jesus isn’t that kind of Savior.
 
So when John’s disciples ask him, “Are you the One?” Jesus doesn’t tweet his accomplishments or send out his press secretary to embellish the truth. He just says, “Look around. And go tell John what you’ve seen.”

And the list is extensive: The blind are seeing. The lame are walking. The outcasts are coming back. The dead are living. And the poor are finally receiving good news.
 
Jesus is basically telling them, wherever life is being stitched back together, wherever love is shared—you’ll see who Jesus is, what salvation is about. And wherever Christ is, joy abounds.
 
Scripture is full of examples: all those folks who ran off rejoicing after Jesus healed them, disobeying his orders not to tell anyone; the numerous psalms that talk about creation rejoicing all around us; the prophet Isaiah wrote, “The mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands” (Isaiah 55:12).

All this tells me that in the space between our suffering and healing, there is joy because God is here with us; even in the darkness that always seems to come before the dawn.
 
Now, another reason I think we miss seeing joy around us is we tend to confuse it with happiness. They might look similar, but they’re woven from two very different threads. The Bible speak about happiness less than a dozen times. But joy, in one form or another, appears over 430 times.

Happiness is a mood; joy is a presence. Happiness visits. It comes and goes. But Joy abides even when we can’t see it or feel it.
 
Jesus asks, “What are you looking for? What were you hoping to find? Someone who bends with the wind? Someone wrapped in soft robes living the good life?”

The thing is, we tend to look for Jesus, and joy, in all the wrong places: like among the rich and famous; and politicians whose opinions shift with whatever’s trending.
 
If you want to find Jesus, Rohr says, “Don’t look up. Look down.” Look at the lowly. Not the wealthy. Look at the one’s you try to avoid, not the one’s you want to emulate. This is where Jesus keeps relocating himself. And wherever Jesus is you will find joy.

Saint Francis knew this. Mother Teresa knew this. Dr. King knew this. They didn’t show up for the poor out of guilt. They showed up because that’s where Christ keeps showing up.
 
Christ’s joy is in the immigrant looking for a safe place to land. In the addict begging for one more chance. You’ll find Christ’s joy is in the LGBTQ+ teen who wants to dance without fear. And in the neighbor whose politics piss you off. Christ’s joy is in you, even when it seems fleeting.
 
Which brings to another problem. I think we spend too much time looking inward to find our joy. And when we can’t easily find it, we’re left feeling empty, or like the Grinch who wants to rob others of their joy.
 
Jesus says, look outward. Pay attention. What do you see? He wants us to rejoice together like the Whos did in Whoville. Joy was never meant to be a solo act. It’s a part of God that runs through everything. But it often hides in the very places we resist, waiting to rise whenever love gets a chance. Which tells me that whenever love becomes visible, joy becomes tangible, within our reach.
 
Facing his own darkness, Jesus tells his followers, “I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete” (John 15:11).

This isn’t something we manufacture. Joy is the Christ Light within us, illuminating from us. And all around us. But this can be hard to see when our light is dimmed, imprisoned in our darkness. And I think this is why we’re given this reading for our Advent message.
 
In the days when life doesn’t seem so merry and bright, when we find ourselves questioning our faith or wondering if we have what it takes to make it to Christmas, Jesus offers, us this assurance: While John was the most blessed among those born, “even the least in the kingdom is greater than he.”
 
Joy is in you because joy is a part of God …who is a part of you. All of creation can rejoice because everything God creates carries divine DNA. 
 
Which is why the Grinch couldn’t steal Christmas. Or rob The Who’s of their joy. They knew it wasn’t about decorations and delicacies. It’s about the One who weaves us together in love. And that love isn’t something you can swipe from a house. Or steal from someone. Because joy, like love, resides in a heart divinely stitched into God’s own.
 
As we look at these lights, let us remember that we’re a part of God’s heart. The one that gives life and purpose to Christ’s body. As parts of that body, we aren’t just called to sing “Joy to the World.” We are called to bring joy into the world in all the ways we love God, love others and serve both.
 
As we wait for Christmas to come, we can rejoice, no matter what, because Christ has already come. 
 
So let’s take our light out into the world to illuminate the darkness until even the grinchiest Grinches around us rejoice. And their voices join ours in a heavenly choir that sings “Let earth receive her king.”
 

​Work Cited:
Bartlett, David L., Barbara Brown Taylor, eds. Feasting on the Word: Year A, Vol. 1. (Westminster John Knox: 2010)
Maliaman, Irene. Expectations. December 5, 2011 (Accessed on December 10, 2022).
Rohr, Richard. The Qualities To Look For. December 14, 2012  (Accessed on December 10, 2022).