As part of our Christmas decor we have some wooden alphabet blocks that spell out “Noel” and “Joy.” Emma enjoys playing with them, so they are never actually in the right order (at the moment the words “nejy” and “loo” are on display). But Emma likes the words. We asked her recently if she knew what joy meant though. She gave us one of her “they must be smoking something” looks and said, “that’s silly. Joy is just a word. It doesn’t mean anything.”
We think its cute when 3 year olds say stuff like that. But isn’t she just echoing what is pragmatic reality for a lot of people? Joy, like peace, this time of year acquires a certain status as a trendy catchphrase. Much like “boo” or “trick-or-treat” around Halloween, it is an appropriate invocation of the season. Even when we sing along to “Joy to the World,” the usage often seems hollow. We are not consumed by joy – letting it overtake us and responding outwardly to its presence.
The angels though came proclaiming good tidings of great joy. The carol calls for heaven and nature to sing a joy to the world because the Lord has come. True joy cannot be contained, it must be shared. I love the Christmas card image above because it captures a part of this mood. The “I’ve got to tell someone about this even if they think I’m nuts” feeling that comes with being filled with joy.
Joy is so much more than just a word. It is a complete way of being that one cannot help but respond to. So the candle on this fourth Sunday of Advent is a proclamation of joy. Joy as not just an abstract idea or a seasonal word, but as the response of our hearts preparing room for our king.