I say that pretty confidently, but actually I wasn't even sure until yesterday what the "official" theme was for Advent 3. I had to ask the experts ... on Twitter. Was it joy? Or was it love? Somebody tell me – I need to know how to feel!
But of course the Advent themes aren't emotions. When we light the candle of Joy, we aren't proclaiming a fluctuating feeling of pleasure or good cheer -- which is a relief for those who find Christmas a sad, lonely time or who, in their lives in general, struggle with grief, poor health, broken relationships, or despair about the future.
The Joy symbolized by the brave, persistent flame of this third candle is a deeper sense of well-being that isn't dependent on our circumstances or personalities. It's not something we live up to. It's more like something God lives down to. Jesus' birth is the breaking-through of that joy into our world and our lives.
My favourite line from a Christmas carol, in fact probably my favourite line of any Christian hymn, is this one, from "Joy to the World":
He comes to make his blessings flow far as the curse is found.
I think this is the Gospel in a single sentence: that Jesus comes to bring life and blessing to every corner of our planet and the deepest places of our hearts. Everywhere there is death and brokenness, Jesus comes to heal and restore.
I'm so sorry if you don't feel joy today. I get it. Things are pretty rough out there right now. Let's light the Joy candle -- that's the pink one -- together. Let's allow that deep Joy, that sense of God's all-rightness and blessing that flows beneath everything, to make its way into our hearts. Even if we don't feel it, let's rest in it as we make our way toward the celebration of Jesus' birth.
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