Wednesday, December 9, 2020 m – Thoughts for Advent Three

“Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute! Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.”  (Philippians 4: 4 -9, The Message Bible)

                I had the privilege of being a classmate of sorts with Sister Miriam Therese Winter at the McMaster Divinity College. She had come to the College from Philadelphia to work on her Masters of Religious Education. Back in the late sixties and in the seventies, Sister Miriam and three other nuns were very popular as the Medical Mission Sisters, a singing quartet. Miriam wrote the words and music - catchy, lively, thoughtful, contemporary and meaningful – a precursor of contemporary Christian music but with a lot more depth and nuance.

                One of my favourite songs from their repertoire is I saw raindrops. It speaks or sings to the experience of finding real joy even in the midst of pain and hurt. “I saw raindrops on my window, Joy is like the rain. Laughter runs across my pain, slips away and comes again.  Joy is like the rain.”

                As we prepare for Christmas by lighting the Advent Candle for Joy this coming Sunday, it isn’t hard to argue that all the joy has almost been sucked right out of this Christmas and the year 2020. Even as the promise of vaccines now appears to be more of a reality, we are, understandably, cautious and perhaps even a little skeptical or worse, cynical about the future, post-Christmas. It may be taking a lot to simply put a smile on our faces right now.

                But out text invites us to continue to rejoice at the promise of a coming Messiah, as we wait and anticipate the fresh, creative arrival of God’s Kingdom which puts all things right. We can celebrate with joy, thanksgiving, hope and confidence that the incarnational grip by which God has hold of the whole world is going to bear fruit and take charge of the world once and for all.

                That is very good news - “good news of a great joy” as the angel said to the shepherds - for all the people, for us!  It bears repeating: “Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.” 

                In other words, don’t let sadness, worry, even grief invade your Christmas. Of course, there is sadness all around us, but this doesn’t mean that we allow unhappiness to take over our lives and push us into despair or darkness. We may  look for and find joy in many of the  little things which pop up in our lives.  But allow those sparks help  ignite a richer, deeper, more intense spirit of God’s Joy flowing through us.

                Joy is the gift of knowing of God’s loving presence and encouragement: “they shall name him Emmanuel which means ‘God is with us.’” (Matthew 1:23)

Do you hear that Christmas message – God is with us. And if God is with us, who can be against us or what chance do such things have to defeat us?

                “I saw raindrops on the river, Joy is like the rain. Bit by bit the river grows, ‘til all at once it overflows. Joy is like the rain.”

               

Dale