Monday
Philippians 4.4 “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”
I don’t know about you, but all the hyped up excitement and happiness in the long conveyor belt of TV entertainment shows, actually annoy me! By contrast, Paul was in prison, his life at risk, separated from his usual supportive network. Yet he emphasises the importance of rejoicing. This is a man who learned to sing his way out of prison! To rejoice in the Lord is to make time to give thanks and find reasons to praise God. We count our blessings, not because they cancel out our troubles, but because “Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Tuesday
1 Chronicles 16.31-33 “Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; Let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them! Let the trees of the forest sing, let them sing for joy before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth.”
David has brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. His Psalm is one long hymn of joy, praise, thanksgiving and worship. This is pure joy composed into a song. The oceans, the land and the forests provide Creation’s chorus to the Creator. Joy and gladness have their foundation pillars plunged deep into the reality of who God is as the one who reigns in justice, mercy and steadfast love. The Ark of the Covenant is the seal and sacrament of God’s presence, that greatest of blessings in which we have fullness of joy. The whole Psalm works well as a morning prayer.
Wednesday
Isaiah 35.1 “The desert and parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.”
What turns a desert into a flower meadow? Who can turn a wilderness into a blooming miracle? These words of promise are first uttered by Isaiah to exiles whose lives had been stripped of all that enabled a human community to flourish. But God was on the move, and soon so would they. These are words of promise for every child of God experiencing wilderness, an existence that seems parched, life hemmed in and wondering how to recover the greenness of new growth. This whole chapter is nourishment for withered hope and struggling faith. When joy seems impossible there will be streams in the desert, and a return of gladness to the heart, because we will again see the splendour of our God.
Thursday
Isaiah 35.10 “They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.”
The desert is glad, the crocus blossoms, the glory of God is revealed and life is changed forever. These last lines are about the ultimate and final joy of the people of God. Just as God delivered his people and returned them to Jerusalem, so Christian hope looks forward and anticipates the gathering of all God’s people before the throne of the God who reigns. The great vision of Revelation when people of every tribe, language, nation and people bow in worship before the Lamb, is traceable to Isaiah’s visions of the new people of God being overtaken by gladness and joy!
Friday
Luke 1.47 “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.”
The first lines of the Magnificat, Mary’s Psalm of praise to God after visiting her cousin Elizabeth. The combination of giving glory to the Lord and rejoicing in our Spirit are two of the great themes of the Christian life. When Christ comes into the world, and into our lives, we are caught up into the angels’ song of good tidings of great joy for all the people. Mary anticipated this, and celebrated the liberation and lifting up of the poor, the hungry and the powerless. As Advent approaches the Magnificat is our reminder that Jesus recalibrates power towards justice and mercy.
Saturday
Romans 12.12 “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”
The realism of this brief verse is breath-taking. Joy is not about closing our eyes in denial of life’s hard knocks – affliction comes to us all one way or another. Nor is joy an escape mechanism as if we can talk ourselves out of anxiety, suffering and loss. Faithful prayer is that determined honesty before God about what is happening, how we feel, and asking the Holy Spirit’s strength for our faith and resilience for our hope. To be joyful in hope is to face whatever comes at us in the strength of Christ, kept hopeful by faithful prayer, and kept secure by the power of God.
Sunday
O come, O come, Immanuel, and ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Thou dayspring, come and cheer, our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, and death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel shall come to thee O Israel.
The word “Rejoice!” is an imperative, a command to lift up our eyes, lift up our hearts, and lift up our minds. Advent is how the Church reminds itself of its mission to be the light of the world, powered by the renewable energy of Christ the Light.
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