Advent week 3: Joy

When Mary visited her cousin Elisabeth, she broke into a song now called the Magnificat, after its first word in Latin. To magnify something is to make it look bigger. Mary couldn’t make God any greater than he is, but she could make him look as big in her life as he really is. Her joy wasn’t based on easy circumstances. She was young and poor, and her future was uncertain. Her joy came from God my Saviour, and that is a joy no circumstance can take away.

When Mary arrived at her door, Elisabeth’s unborn son, John, leaped inside her, and Elisabeth knew that something holy was happening. Before John ever preached a sermon, before Jesus was even born, there was joy simply because Jesus was near. Joy in the Bible is often a response to God’s presence. It doesn’t always look like a party. Sometimes it’s a quiet lift in your heart as you read his word, or a sense of being met in your prayers. Watch for that kind of joy today.

Isaiah 35 pictures the desert blooming like a rose and weak hands made strong. It ends with a homecoming, God’s people returning to Zion singing, with everlasting joy upon their heads like a crown. Then comes a line many people need at Christmas: sorrow and sighing shall flee away. If this season stirs up grief, that doesn’t mean you’ve missed the joy of Advent. This promise was written for people who knew sorrow well. One day it will be gone for good, and the joy will stay.

Isaiah compares God’s salvation to wedding clothes: a groom in his finest, a bride wearing her jewels. It’s a picture of being dressed by someone else in something you could never afford. Jesus announced his mission by reading from this same chapter, Isaiah 61, in his hometown synagogue, and Christmas is where that story begins. The joy here isn’t the joy of having done well. It’s the joy of being given what you didn’t earn. You are clothed in his righteousness, not your own.

After years of waiting, Elisabeth finally gave birth to a son, and her neighbors and cousins came to celebrate. They rejoiced with her. It’s a small detail, but it matters, because joy grows when it’s shared. Paul later told the church to rejoice with them that do rejoice. This week, look for someone with good news and celebrate it with them, whether it’s a new baby, a recovery, a new job or a small victory. Sharing someone’s joy is a simple way to bring them a little of Christmas.

Isaac Watts based his hymn Joy to the World on this psalm. He wasn’t writing about the manger, though. He was writing about the Lord coming to reign as King, which makes it a perfect Advent song. The psalm calls all the earth to make a joyful noise, not just the people who sing well. You don’t need a good voice to praise God. Sing a carol today, even if it’s only in the car. Joy often grows when you give it a voice.

Habakkuk lists everything that could go wrong for a farmer: no figs, no grapes, no olives, empty fields, no flocks, no herds. It’s a picture of total loss. Then comes one small word: Yet. Yet I will rejoice in the LORD. This isn’t a cheerful feeling. It’s a choice to find joy in God himself when everything else has failed. For some people, Christmas comes in a year of empty fields. If that’s you, Habakkuk’s words are for you. Joy can be a decision before it is a feeling.