Reflection on Joy

Joy’ is a word which crops up less frequently than ‘happy’ at Christmastime – ‘happy Christmas’ we often say, but less often ‘Joyful Christmas’.

Interestingly, though joy is mentioned three times in this service and no less than 67 times in the New Testament, ‘happy’ occurs only once and refers to Zaccheus being happy to come down from his sycamore tree to welcome Jesus into his home

So it seems that joy is not the same as happiness. Of course, happiness is a good thing to have, but it is transitory and we are often deceived in the things we think will make us happy

It’s interesting that our word ‘happy’ has its origins in a Viking word for luck or chance. That is typical of happiness, it is not rooted in anything more secure than chance. And the problem with chance and luck is that we can go chasing after them but never catch them, and disappointment follows

So what is joy and why is it different and where in these difficult times is joy to be found?

If happiness is the result of our changing circumstances, joy seems to come from somewhere else – in fact from someone else.

Joy is one of the fruits of the presence of the Holy Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Where the Holy Spirit of God is present, there we expect to find joy.

So it seems that joy is not something that we can chase after, not something we can capture from the world around us. It is a gift which is on offer to anyone, a gift from God

Jesus says: “if you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete”; and ‘until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete’.

So it seems that joy is there for the asking and is part of trusting and knowing that we are loved. To be joyful, full of joy, is to know that God who is love, knows us and wants to give us this gift. We only need to keep close to God and to trust that through thick and thin, God is – and that God shows himself to us in Jesus

Which of course brings us to Christmas – Jesus the reason for the season as the jingle goes.  The reason for joy

The angel said to the shepherds “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people”

And the three kings, “When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy.”

Even Elizabeth, pregnant with John, on greeting Mary exclaims: “you will have joy and gladness”

So what does joy look like, feel like? In us and in others around us? I think it has two expressions, one inward, one outward.

The outward expression is seen in rejoicing. How we rejoice is a matter of personality. Some people do rejoicing very exuberantly with much song and dance and that’s good to see. Others of us do rejoicing more quietly but are still quite capable of celebration which is another way of speaking about rejoicing

The inward expression seems to me to be to do with a deep confidence that in Julian of Norwich’s words: “all shall be well and all shall be well and all shall be well”. It’s a confidence that in the end God loves each one of us, that God is, despite appearances, in control. So even though we have tears, angers, frustrations, these are not in control of us

So we sing ‘joy to the world’ because in the midst of these extraordinary times there is joy to be seen and experienced and shared.

I am sure that each of us can if we think about it, be aware of times when our heart has rejoiced: for me – listening to the Almeley schoolchildren sing we wish you a merry Christmas, watching our two youngest grandchildren on video, seeing the responses in this village to the angel trail or the crib service yesterday; being able to be in this building celebrating the birth of Jesus as has been done here for nine hundred years. These are moments of felt joy

But above all, knowing that because of Christmas, because of the incarnation, because of Immanuel, God with us, all the darknesses, challenges and difficulties around us are just waves on the surface. The deep currents of God’s gift of joy to us, fill me with steady and confident joy and I hope that is also true for you