The Scripture Readings this week are:
- Zephaniah 3:14-20
- Isaiah 12:2-6
- Philippians 4:4-7
The Sermon title is Jesus is Coming, Relax Into Joy
Early Thoughts: What does Joy mean to you this year? Where does joy fit into the chaotic world in which we live?
I think that when defined in a faith sense joy is not about being happy. I think it is about trust. Earlier this fall I saved this quote with the thought it might come in handy this week:
We are called to be joyful not by ignoring the chaos of the world but despite the chaos of the world.
Our Joy rests in the knowledge that we are not alone. Joy comes with the promise that God is at work transforming us and transforming the world. Joy comes with the reassurance that the powers of death and destruction will not have the final victory. Joy, as one of our Easter hymns tells us, comes with the dawn, with the morning sun, with the empty tomb.
All three of our passages this week talk about rejoicing, about being joy-filled. And in each of the presence and work of God is a key part of the call to rejoice.
As we go through Advent, as we move closer to the day when we will listen for angel song and eavesdrop and the angel says to the shepherd "I bring you Good News which shall be for all people" we await God breaking into the world yet again. When God breaks into the world, when God acts decisively in our lives we are called into joy.
Can we trust in God's presence and action enough to allow us to relax into Joy in the midst of a broken world?
--Gord
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