Joy Before Us
an advent sermon
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you? Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and restore whatever is lacking in your faith.
Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
If you know me well, you are probably wondering if I ended up preaching on joy Sunday because I drew the short straw. If you don’t know me well - it will help to know that in April of this year, my sibling, whose name is Joy, passed away. The reason I’m preaching today is that sometimes life, God, and your ancestors have a sense of humour. I have no doubt Joy would get a good laugh out of the fact that I’m standing here this morning, and would probably say something like, “You’ll be fine, people will understand if you cry, just get up there and do your best.”
So here I am.
Let’s turn for a moment to this morning’s scripture, which is where our theme comes from: ‘Joy before Us’. The people of the new church community in Thessolonica that Paul addresses in this letter experienced some challenges as they tried to live their faith together. Paul both celebrates the joy of their faithfulness as a community so far, and encourages them for the future.
Celebrating the ways this community has brought joy I think comes easy to many of us. For me, just in the last few months I’ve experienced the joy of delicious soups made with love in this community that nourish both body and soul. I’ve experienced the joy of people talking about the gifts they want to share as our congregation discerns what we want to do in the future. I’ve experienced the joy of singing together and feeling buoyed by the connection that communal singing fosters.
As we continue our journey to “what’s next” advent is a season whose focus on anticipation becomes that much more poignant. Just like Mary and Joseph waited expectantly with both joy and trepidation for the coming of a baby, so do we wait with joy and trepidation for the rebirth of our community - both at the level of our congregation but also across western liberal Christianity where many denominations are discerning what church will look like in our ever-changing world.
The waiting is not always easy, which brings us back to the Thessalonians and the second part of Paul’s letter. That community was also waiting with anticipation for them it was the coming again of Christ. Paul encourages them to draw strength from God who will “make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all.” From the joy of community can come the strength to be able to love. The strength to love one another, and extend that love far beyond our own lives and beyond our small but mighty group.
So for today I encourage you to draw on joy and allow yourself, in spite of the grief and struggle around us, to really feel joy. You may only get a glimpse, but please do savour it. I can attest to the fact that once you have joy on your mind, you will see it everywhere. On giant marquees at the mall, peaking out from an ornament on a tree, and in the faces of both friend and stranger. And from that joy, I believe we will find the courage to love one another and love the unknown newness that is ready to be birthed in our community, and in the broader Community of Christ.
