Joyful, Joyful, We Adore You
Today is the third Sunday of Advent and we should be singing “Go Tell It on the Mountain”! Not necessarily from a mountain. That would mean we’d have to go climbing! Perhaps we can start right here at ground zero to be joyful and full of the good news of Christ’s coming to this earth for you and me.
The pink, third candle on the Advent wreath is lit today. The pink candle symbolizes JOY and REJOICE. The theme scripture that Paul wrote in Philippians 4:4 is “Rejoice in the Lord always: again I say rejoice.” Did you know that the laughter statistics in a single day for children is 400 laughs a day versus 4 laughs a day for adults. Maybe we need to hang out with the kiddos more so our joy “bank” fills up! When St. Paul penned those words, he knew something about making it through tough times. Can you imagine that he wrote that scripture from a dark, cold and damp prison cell? No matter where we are or what we’re facing….we can find JOY in the good news of Emmanuel, God with us, right smack dab in the middle of our circumstances.
Typically, PINK is girly. We put our little girls in pink dresses or outfits with a pink bow in their hair to declare “It’s a GIRL”! Before those cute little headbands that baby girls wear today, I scotch-taped a bow on my little Staci’s head. She had NO hair. I know that’s hard to believe when we see that massive head of hair she has today! I apologize — I just took a rabbit trail from my train of thought about Advent.
Joy AND pink are also about survival. Oh, the sweet joy we feel when one of our friends expresses “I’ve just had my last treatment of chemo! I’m a survivor!” A celebration of survival has truly come to be linked with “Pink” in our culture.
On this 3rd Sunday of Advent, PINK is also about rejoicing that our Savior, as a precious BABY BOY Who brought so much JOY to this world. 2020 and 2021 have been challenging years for so many. But no more challenging that the Apostle Paul’s suffering. It seems his entire life was challenging. Paul knew difficulty. Paul had people who hated him. But, Paul expressed the key to overcoming is in rejoicing. He urged us to rejoice and rejoice some more.
The joy of the Lord can thrill us AND it can make us steadfast in the secure knowledge of God’s presence with us — Emmanuel. Paul further tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:16 to be joyful always and Jesus tells us in Mark 9:24 “With God all things are possible.” THAT combination of trust should help us carry on not just through Advent, but for the entire year to be rejoicing and rejoicing some more.
I think I’ll put on my happy face and fill my cup with overflowing joy today. Too blessed to be stressed. Too joy-filled to be gloom-filled. We have choice — “gloom, despair and agony on me” OR “This is the day the Lord has made; I will REJOICE and be glad in it!” We can turn the blues to “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart to stay!”