A Sign to Joy!
This Sunday is Gaudete Sunday – the third Sunday in Advent, with the theme – joy. We light our pink candle and are invited to ask, where is joy? what brings us joy? How does God bring joy into this world through you?
A couple of years ago I talked about some research by
Sonja Lyubomirsky quoted in “The Book of Joy - Lasting Happiness in a Changing
World” by Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu and Douglas Abrams. Using this research,
they talked about the three ways of being joyful as; the ability to reframe a
situation positively; the ability to experience gratitude; and being kind or
generous.
Last week we were encouraged to “Wake up!” I was asked
during the week what I thought we needed to wake up to? I’m not sure I gave a
very coherent answer, but John the Baptiser gives us a very good response. We
are to wake up to the presence of God amongst us.
Advent is a time when we consciously wake up and pay
attention. In doing so we nurture the seeds of love, hope, joy, and peace that
God plants within each of us, and allow these seeds to root and grow in our
lives. It is surprising how often these three ways of nurturing joy keep coming
up from the spiritual traditions of both Buddhism and Christianity as ways to
pay attention to, and water and nurture the divine gift of joy. As we do this
we nurture our ability to pay attention, and to take hold of Paul’s affirmation
that God alone is the source of our joy.
But Advent is more than OUR love, hope, joy, and
peace. Ultimately, as today’s readings remind us, it is about what brings God
love, hope, joy, and peace. Today we particularly ask what brings God joy. And
Isaiah 61 offers a stark vision of God’s joy in God’s faithful transforming the
devastation of post exilic Jerusalem.
As we look back on this year, and look forward to an
unknown future where might we find this God of joy? Following in the footsteps
of the baptising John the Witness (of John’s gospel) how do we live that witnesses
to and points to this God of joy?
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