The Third Sunday of Advent – 12/14/2025

Podcasts

Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord, join us here today
Gladness we have
Sometimes.
And we thank you for that.
Happiness we find
From time to time
In this world
When circumstances please us
When expectations are met
When plans work out
And our gratitude rises up
And bubbles over
When we are paying attention

But joy is your gift
Your fruit in our lives
Nourished in us
With your abiding presence.
Transforming us
No longer focused on
and rehearsing
our disappointments
Or fears
Or resentments
But fully alive
To your good great love
Celebrating
Your coming
Your coming again
And with you now
moment by moment
Emmanuel
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Luke 2:10

Intro: So here we are again, with the angels and the shepherds

I chose to read only these three verses, because the story is so well known
– but when we circle back to it every year at this time,
• we run the risk of treating it as if it only exists for this season
◦ like the tree, and the lights, and the nativity scene with its little figures
◦ the heavenly choir shows up every year for their Christmas cantata
• they announce the arrival of Jesus, and with him, joy and peace
◦ the theme for the third Sunday of Advent is joy
– who am I to talk about returning to this theme only one day a year?
• how often do my Sunday morning talks return to joy?
◦ we weren’t hearing much joy in Hosea!
• if anyone needs to be reminded of joy all year round, I’m that guy

For my own sake, I decided to explore JOY

What I first realized, is that I don’t have a category for it
– to say joy is a feeling or an emotion seemed too shallow
• C. S. Lewis wrote an entire book on this subject entitled, Surprised By Joy
◦ “surprised,” because joy came to him without warning and from unexpected sources
• he describes three extraordinary experiences of joy and then writes,
“I call it Joy, which is here a technical term and must be sharply distinguished both from Happiness and from Pleasure. Joy (in my sense) has indeed one characteristic, and one only, in common with them; the fact that anyone who has experienced it will want it again.”
– someone who knows more joy and happiness than I, could probably give a better explanation of the difference between the two
• but it seems that joy occurs naturally and happiness occurs artificially
◦ for instance, laughing at a joke is somewhat artificial (or contrived), because the joke was meant to evoke laughter
• I think also there’s a difference between the laugher of happiness and the laughter of joy (Psa. 126:1-2)
◦ we don’t have do anything to produce joy (Lewis said, “Joy is never in our power”)
◦ it’s more like we have to remove obstacles to let joy in
(obstacles like fear, self-consciousness, and ambitions–for money, power, popularity)

What I finally decided regard Joy is that it is a rare, “sublime” experience
– sublime is what we could call a “threshold experience”
• “subliminal” refers to activity that occurs below the threshold of consciousness
◦ sublime moments bring us all the way to the threshold,
◦ as high as it is possible to go in this life
• sublime is an unexplainable overwhelming sense of awe, wonder, bliss
– joy is sublime – it’s is a state beyond words or concepts

What sort of experiences bring us to sublime states of joy?

I can think of five:

1. Relationships – other people are a source of joy
   • observing infants or toddlers, intimacy with a lover, the closeness of a friend or pet,
   • even a place or moment that brings back the experience of a memory
   • we also share our joy with others – Jesus’ parable of the shepherd and the lost sheep
     “when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me . . . .’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over the ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance’” (Lk. 15:5-7)
2. Beauty – in nature (a single tree in the forest, a single flower in garden or field)
   • in the arts (painting, poetry, music)
   • for some people, philosophy and the sciences (there are not just a few mystics among physicists)
3. Grandeur – the sky stretching out into the universe
   • mountains, oceans, deserts (as we see in Arizona Highways magazines)
4. Completeness or wholeness – a full stomach, enough warmth
   • a finished project, and the realization that nothing else is needed
5. Communion with God – belonging to him, being filled with his spirit
   • any time we have a strong sense of God’s nearness
     “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (Jn. 15:11)
     “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory” (1 Pet. 1:8)
     “You make known to me the path of life;
     in your presence there is fullness of joy . . .” (Ps. 16:11)

Is it possible that in the “pursuit of happiness,”
– what we’re really hoping for is to experience joy?
• maybe we settle for less; for pleasure or happiness,
◦ because we can manufacture those experiences
◦ and they’re close by and provide instant gratification
▫ no working or waiting is required, and certainly no maturity is necessary
• we may choose to flood our brains with a surplus of neurochemicals
◦ and for a brief duration we get the thrill, the buzz, the hit
◦ but we don’t reach the sublime, nor do we relish the memory
– joy leaves a pleasant aroma

I have come across joy over the years of reading the Scriptures

So I’ll share with you a few impressions I felt regarding joy

From the prophet Habakkuk:
“Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation” (Hab. 3:17-18)
My meditation: Wow! Not, “I will still trust you,” but “I will rejoice in You.” Terrible things will happen; unexpected things like financial setbacks, illnesses, or the death of someone we love. I am learning that I can trust God regardless of what happens, but to rejoice in him, no matter what? That is a new level of trust.
And yet—regardless of what is given to us or taken from us, there is always the joy that comes from living in God, the joy of his very being, joy from revelations received, and the joy of his love and faithfulness.

From Psalm 89 — the first half is about God’s goodness and faithfulness, but then:
“How long, O LORD? Will you hide yourself forever?
How long will your wrath burn like fire?” (Ps. 89:47-48)
My meditation: First, a history of God watching over Israel, but now, sad echoes of the previous psalm. The temporal limits of one’s own life crashes into the eternity of God’s promise as it unfolds through the long expanse of time. I doubt that we are given an answer to our question, “How long?” Or maybe we’re only reassured, “Don’t worry, this current state will not last forever.”
We want relief now. The fulfillment of promises now. The restoration of all that is good now. But sometimes to survive without losing hope, and perhaps by hanging on to a song of joy in our hearts, we have to fix our eyes on the future, the eternal, and on our God who holds all of space and time in his hands. We may not see it in our lifetime, but it will come—and we’ll be there

From the Book of Job:
“[Where were you . . .]
when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4-7)
My meditation: There is a primeval joy of creation that, as I perceive it, began when God said, “Let there be light” and was diffused into and through all that exists. This is the original joy. The divine joy that vibrated in all things because all things were “good.”
God alone has this memory of the first canticle, the first vocalization of the infant universe; not a cry but a shout of joy.

From the Gospel of John:
“A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” And, “So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” (Jn. 16:16;22)
My meditation: I wonder how much of my “sadness,” my depression, stems from not seeing Jesus now. I can imagine the joy I would have if he were to reveal himself to me—in this world. I know that the kingdom of God is “joy in the Holy Spirit” (Ro. 14:17), but that has been elusive for me—I accept the blame for that. Still, an invisible, intangible, and often entirely silent Spirit is not the same as having, in the flesh, the Word that became flesh. I know, I know, “more blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed,” but oftentimes I would be pleased to settle for the lesser blessing. (Please forgive me, Lord Jesus, for saying this. I am blind and foolish, and I really, really miss You. I have a great deal of the sorrow, and very little of the joy.)
Having a bad day? You don’t have to “shout for joy” when faced with setbacks and hardships (there are other prayers for those problems). But you can always “shout for joy In the LORD.” Or at least, whisper for joy, or even weep with joy. Whatever your current state, it will not last forever.

Conclusion: Here’s the best I have to offer you: Choose joy!

Nurture the joys that come to you – take a moment with them, quietly give thanks for them
The more you celebrate joy, the more joy you will discover
As for my last word on joy, and this is personal, and it applies to you:
“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth” (3 Jn. 4)