Joy to the World: Advent 2010

This fourth week of Advent is all about Joy.

What brings you joy?

Have you ever been asked that before? Have you spent anytime thinking about it?

Not, "what makes you happy?" but, "what brings you joy?".


When we were kids the thought of those gifts under the tree made us happy... especially the ones with our names on them.  On Christmas morning, our happiness exploded as we opened that toy we were really hoping for... or it diminished when, instead of the cool new toy, we got something "practical'. 


You know... that sweater.  


Have things changed all that much for those of us who consider ourselves "grown up" and "adult"?  Not always.  And it's not just on Christmas morning that "stuff" can so impact our happiness.  


But, what about your Joy?
There is a difference, you know. Sure, we most often use the words "happiness" and "joy" interchangably, but it seems to me that there is a qualitative difference between the two.  You see, joy trumps happiness. And its not because joy is a lot of happiness or even an over-abundance of happiness. That would be a quantitative difference. But it's a qualatative difference that sets joy apart.

Happiness is circumstantial. It is what happens to us, and the things we do that make us happy or unhappy. The circumstances of life move our sense of happiness up or down depending on our emotional reaction to them.

Joy, though... joy is deep, abiding, settled. Joy rests, not in the circumstantial and temporary, but in the substantial and eternal. Joy is one of the graces named in the New Testament letter to the Galatians as the fruit of the Spirit.  


When the People of Israel had begun to rebuild Jerusalem after their exile in Babylon, their leader, Nehemiah, encouraged them by saying "the joy of the LORD is your strength".


The Apostle Paul reminded the Christians in Rome that the source of joy is far deeper than those things that often bring us happiness - "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."  


Are you getting a sense from these biblical ideas that joy is more than happiness?  Deeper.  Enduring.  Not our doing.  Holy.


Joy comes  from God.  It is His gift to those who will receive it... for those who will "unwrap it".  It is true today... it was true that night in the fields outside of Bethlehem as the shepherds looked up in wonder and the Angel announced:

“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."

The joy whose candle is lit this week is beyond circumstances, it  is beyond happiness.  It is deeper.  It is abiding.  It finds its source, its strength, its enduring in God.  


It is good news of great joy... for all people.  It is the gift of God to be opened...

On The Potter's Wheel.

Letting Love Light our Way - Advent 2010

"I love baseball!" "I love a good pizza." "I love finding a bargain." "I love it when a plan comes together."

We hear people say it all the time. I could add my own items to the list:

I love vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce and peanuts. I love a good mystery novel. I love sci-fi movies. I love watching my kids have fun together. I love my wife.

It amazes me how many ways we use that word.

Love.

Don't get me wrong... it's a great word. I just think we misuse it sometimes. We use it to express how we feel about things from the mundane to the profound. I worry that we may cheapen what it is all about by how freely and - to be honest - flippantly we toss the word around.

There is a vast difference between how I feel about ice cream, sci-fi, and my wife. When I tell her that I love her, there is a depth there that is unique, abiding, and truer than any connection I have to dessert or movies.

What do we mean we we say "I love..."?  How do we define it? 

This third week of Advent is all about Love. God's love... what it means for us... and how it can transform our lives and our love.

God's love is the most profound reality in life (aside from the reality of God's existence, that is). And, God's people have been resting in and relying on it from the beginning of time.

The Psalmist reminded the People of Israel - "But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him..." - Psalm 103:17

God spoke through the Prophet to give His people hope even in the midst of trying times - "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you." - Jeremiah 31:3

In this season of the year, we remember the amazing lengths to which God's love would go for us as a continuation of that same faithfulness - "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son..." - John 3:16

Without a doubt, the Love of God is the greatest gift - Christmas or otherwise - that anyone could ever receive. If you remember nothing else this Christmas, remember that God has already sent you The Gift - His Son - the embodiment of God's love.

And, just like when we were kids and couldn't wait to tell our friends about the great stuff that we unwrapped on Christmas morning, let's share this Gift with our family and friends. And remember, they not only need to hear about it from you... they need to experience it in you too!

"Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." - 1 John 4:11

May this gift of God's love light your life in all the days ahead...

On the Potter's Wheel.

Looking for Peace... Advent 2010

Late Thanksgiving night this year my wife, oldest son, and I took part in what has become an American tradition... or rite of passage. I can't decided which. (I say it's an American tradition or rite because I can't imagine people in other countries being so, well... obsessed... driven... odd.) We went to a well-known national Mega-Mart for their midnight "door buster" sale.

I'd call it a zoo, but I don't want to insult the animals.

In the seventy-five minutes we were in the store - most of which we spent in line - we saw people pushing other people out of the way, heard them arguing with language a bit too colorful for a family-oriented store, and we saw one of the four fist fights that took place between midnight and 1:00am.

Yes... fist fights - four of them - while Christmas shopping.

As we stood in line, and watched the combatants of the fourth fist fight being escorted from the store by several of Pierce County's Finest, I looked at the folks in line with us and, shaking my head, said "And all in the name of getting gifts to celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace."

That scene has been replaying itself in my mind ever since. It bugs me. It makes me sad.

The second candle on our virtual Advent Wreath is the candle of Peace. Oh how we need it. The craziness at the Mega-Mart is just one of the many places our society's lack of peace bubbles to the surface... revealing the truth beneath the calm surface facade we've gotten so profecient at presenting.

We want peace in our lives. We know we need it. We make some pretty valiant efforts at looking peace-full. But, truth be told, for far too many of us, of our families, of our neighbors, friends, co-workers and fellow church-goers, real peace can be elusive.

Over the years I've noticed that a fairly common phrase carries a deeper reality with it. How many times have you been frustrated by someone's words or actions and heard yourself saying, "I'm gonna give them a piece of my mind!"?

(or maybe you've just heard someone else express that)

Have you noticed what happens all too often in those times? We end up giving not just a piece of our minds, but the peace of our minds. We get so wrapped up in how the other person has hurt and offended us. We rehearse not only what they did or said, but all the ways we can respond to them (many of which are less than reconciling). Whatever sense of peace we may have had gets eaten away by our own hurt, anger, and warped sense of what is right (often a self-centered definition).

This second week of Advent is about peace. Peace between people. Peace between nations. Peace between people and God. Peace within our own hearts and minds.

It is not a fairytale peace. It's a costly peace. It's a peace that requires something of us. It's a peace that can only come from God.

Romans 12:18 says,

"If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all." (ESV)

Living in peace takes some effort on our part. Not that we make the peace. Not that it is something that rises from the wellspring of our goodness.

Living in peace requires us to live, behave, and relate as citizens of a different kingdom. Not the kingdom of me. Not even the kingdom of you. The kingdom of God. The kingdom ruled by the One called the Prince of Peace... who's coming Advent and Christmas is all about.

What happens when we live as subjects and servants of the Prince of Peace? Great things. The Apostle Paul tells us in Philippians 4:6-7...

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (ESV)

We can have that peace. It's God's gift to you and to me. It's a peace that doesn't always make sense to those who havent't experienced it ("surpasses all understanding"). It's the peace that protects us even when we're hurt, offended, and frustrated ("will guard your hearts and minds...")

Isaiah 26:3 reminds us of God's role in all this...

"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you." (ESV)

Peace. Real peace. Lasting peace. Peace for our hearts and minds. It can be ours...

On the Potter's Wheel.