Advent Week 3: Joy
FROM MATTHEW GALIANO-WILLIAMS, A LISTENER, TEACHER, & PHOTOGRAPHER
This post is part of our four-part Advent series in 2022 on the themes of Hope, Peace, Joy & Love moving through the first 2 chapters of the Gospel of Luke. One post will be released each week through the season of Advent. We started this tradition last year & love hearing from a variety of voices in this season leading to Christmas! This 3rd reflection is focusing on peace & Luke 1:57-80.
What Christmas music do you find yourself returning to each year? Like many years before, I’m still listening to Nat King Cole’s album, “The Christmas Song”. While each year I dabble in a few new Christmas songs & albums, nothing lifts me up into the joy of the Christmas season like Nat King Cole’s album. I find myself remembering my childhood home dimly lit by the many Christmas lights & a roaring fire. I remember my younger sister & I putting together the always confusing Christmas tree, frustrated but laughing the whole time. The music reminds me of the countless joys I’ve shared with friends, family, & strangers.
When I come back into the present moment, I’m prompted to open my eyes to the joy that is currently before me. I think to myself, “this too is a moment to cherish & thank God for.”
So much is different from many of those early memories, that it startles me at times, but I’m finding that there is still new joy to be received. The same younger sister is now married & has welcomed a son into our lives who I now get to spend this Advent season thinking of all the ways my wife & I will spoil this beautiful nephew on his first Christmas. The joy overflows in these moments.
We can practice receiving joy by spending time both remembering & opening our eyes to our present moment. Our past experiences, our context, & the promises that we have held onto, can speak to our present reality. Our openness to these present moments prepares us to receive the joy that God has for us.
The passage, Luke 1:57-80, is the fulfillment of the promise that God made to Zechariah through Gabriel. Gabriel speaks the promise to Zechariah in the temple saying. “…Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, & your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, & you shall call his name John. You will have joy & gladness, & many will rejoice at his birth” (esv, Luke 1:13-15). This is a promise of fulfillment, a promise of joy, & the context that prepares the way for the world to receive that joy.
When Elizabeth gives birth to a son, their community rejoices with them because they have been waiting, praying, & holding onto the promise they received. We then see Zechariah & Elizabeth remember that promise by naming their son John. A name which means, Yahweh has been gracious. Immediately Zechariah is able to speak again, & he begins praising God. With that same mouth that has been loosed, Zechariah prophesies. What a beautiful image of receiving the joy of a fulfilled promise & the joy of a new life.
Receiving joy, can at times be the culmination of a journey. While I’m sure that having a son was not the only joy that Elizabeth & Zechariah received, it was one long-awaited after many years of praying for a child. After the promise was given to Zechariah, he had to remain mute for some time before John was conceived & throughout the pregnancy. And let’s keep in mind, that pregnancy can be very difficult! Our journeys that bring joy can also be challenging & laden with risk.
As such, the process of remembering our past experiences & the promises that we have received is not without risk. Sometimes we remember things that have been hard & painful. For some of us, the Christmas season is a time filled with memories that we would rather not relive. Yet, remembering doesn’t have to be done alone. It is a practice that can be done in both solitude & in community.
As we sit in our past experiences with the help of those that love each of us, we can begin to remember the joys that we have already received.
We can also be encouraged that God leads us into joy. Even in solitude, God is with us, asking us to dance with him in the joys of the season we are in. While I find that the process of remembering & opening my eyes to my present moment help me receive that joy that God has for me, each of us experiences joy differently. God will fulfill his promises, joy & all, no matter where we are in our journeys.
What about you? What joys have you experienced in the past during this season? What promises do you see being fulfilled this season?