Joy Finds a Way

Philippians 4:4-7

Advent 3, December 15, 2024

Holy Trinity Cathedral

“Joy Finds a Way”

“Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I say: Rejoice!”  Today we are not being told by Scripture to be happy.  Nobody can manufacture that feeling.  But we are being invited to find joy.  And today, the third Sunday of Advent, is about living into God’s future as if it were already present.  Welcome to Gaudete Sunday.

This is the midpoint of the Advent season.  Traditionally, it marked a shift in emphasis.  The weeks before Christmas have a penitential flavour, as we get ready for the coming of the child to be born as the Christ.  These days, that seems to have more to do with the stress of the holiday preparations.  You may be figuring out what you can give family and friends or how to mail parcels in the midst of a postal strike, or how to cope with the additional expenses that come with expectations.  In the Church, preparing the way of the Lord isn’t so much decorating the building and putting on concerts as it is preparing our hearts.  We are encouraged to mend our relationships and strengthen our spiritual practices, and to be generous in responding to need.  For those of us with busy lives and many commitments, this adds another level of stress.  How do we fit it all in?  And then comes Gaudete Sunday: the Sunday of Joy.  And we are reminded that the reason for the season is the expectation of God present. 

Growing up, my Sunday school often named the candles for the participants in the Christmas story.  There was a candle for the prophets, and one for the shepherds, and another for the wise men.  They were blue (or purple if the Church used the older penitential colour for Advent.) I thought that the rose (or pink) candle on the Advent wreath was the girl candle for Mary.  But the readings for Mary don’t come until next Sunday, and this week, rose signifies joy.  In spite of what is happening around us.

When Paul wrote, “rejoice in the Lord always”, he was in jail.  How could he be so positive?  From his cell, he encourages a little house church in the town of Philippi which he had previously visited.  The tone throughout his letter is warm and affectionate.  The faith community had welcomed the gospel of Jesus Christ and Paul as an apostle.  Now that he had been arrested by the Roman authorities, they continued to support him both financially and pastorally.  The church sent one of their members, Epaphroditus, to attend to Paul’s needs in prison.  Now Paul is commissioning this individual to be his letter bearer back to the community.  Out of his own experience of God’s goodness, Paul tells them to not worry about anything, to pray unceasingly, and to allow the peace of God to guard their hearts.  There is an amazing grace in operation here.

Paul doesn’t have to feel happy, or secure, or content with what the world has thrown at him.  His joy is grounded in the nearness of the Lord.  It is an attitude rather than a feeling.  He is open to the possibility of glimpsing the goodness and beauty of the Divine in the everyday.  And he is ready to respond with thanksgiving and praise when it happens.  When you or I are similarly open to the gift of God’s presence, we know joy.  Joy is about something beyond ourselves.  

Have you ever wondered why cats purr?  Physiologically, they are responding to contact to a desirable object.  It may be a chin rub, a bowl of kibble, or a sunbeam.   Sometimes we have no idea how it is directed! But in that presence they feel safe, connected, or familiar.  It could be a sign of contentment, a greeting, a demand for attention, or a request for care, but it is an audible sign that something is going on.  Purring is an expression even when things are not all well.  A sick cat may purr to acknowledge that you are present even if it is in pain.  I wonder whether we humans can develop an ability to purr spiritually through joy?  To reach out and acknowledge that the Lord is near, even if the world is not all well. 

As we move closer to the holy feast of Christmas, let’s not close ourselves off from the joy of the season.  The peace that passes all understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, if we are open to his presence.  Joy finds a way.  Amen.