Finding Joy in Advent
“Find your joy in the LORD.”
Isaiah 58:14 (NIV)
45 years ago, Bruce and I were new parents looking for ways to establish our own family Christmas traditions. Some older seasoned parents encouraged us to use an Advent wreath to facilitate our daily family devotionals during the Christmas season. It was some of the best parenting advice we ever received. Typically, we struggled with family devotionals during the rest of the year, but Advent was different. Each night we gathered in our darkened living room, lit our Advent candles, read a few verses of Scripture (usually while holding wiggly toddlers or preschoolers), and sang one or two Advent hymns before closing with a short prayer. Then our children raced to blow out our Advent candles. With four kids it was always a relief to get to the fourth week of Advent so that each child had his or her own candle to extinguish!
The focal prayer of Advent is: "Come, Lord Jesus!" Remembering the yearning of Israel, we prepare to celebrate the Messiah’s first coming over 2000 years ago. We also look forward with great hope and anticipation to Christ’s second coming and the ultimate consummation of his Kingdom.
Honestly this year’s Advent has been a little harder than most, mainly because I remember how much James Bruce loved the season. Celebrating Advent with him meant always seeing Christmas through the eyes of a child. Christmas never grew old or stale for James Bruce. He always had a sense of wonder and joy and I miss him.
As an adult with intellectual disabilities, James Bruce’s language skills were limited, but, oh how he loved music, especially at Christmas. During our nightly Advent devotional a few years ago, Bruce asked James Bruce what song he wanted to sing. He quickly said, "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year." Bruce and I laughed because that's not a very "spiritual" song, but we sang it heartily. Then we asked James Bruce for another selection. He didn’t hesitate, "For Unto Us a Child is Born." We sang that one too; actually, we sang it twice!
In the soft candlelight, James Bruce’s face glowed with joy as he happily sang the words that were written by the prophet Isaiah over 2700 years ago:
For unto us a child is born
Unto us, a son is given
And the government shall be upon His shoulder
And His name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God,
the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:5-6)
The birth of a long-awaited child is certainly the basis for great thanksgiving and joy. We experienced that joy this year with the addition of Birdie James to our family. But I've wondered this week, if Birdie James’ birth could bring me this much joy, how much more should Christ's birth? And the old familiar texts surrounding Jesus' birth are taking on a new emotional dimension for me personally. Singer Faith Hill got it right when she sang, "A Baby Changes Everything."
Each year between Thanksgiving and Christmas I give myself a present by re-reading the book of Isaiah in preparation for Advent. The first 39 chapters of Isaiah deal with God's judgment of sin, but chapters 40-66 demonstrate God's grace, love, forgiveness, and compassion for His people. Isaiah, written over 700 years before Jesus' birth, paves the way for the birth of the expected Messiah. I’m not sure how many times I’ve read Isaiah, but this week I discovered a little verse tucked away in Isaiah 58:14: “Find your joy in the Lord.” Those words have stuck with me daily as I’ve baked Christmas goodies; served at our church’s Walk-Through Nativity; helped with grandchildren; met with younger moms; or even wrapped presents. Again and again, God brought “find your joy in the LORD” to my mind and heart.
C.S. Lewis writing about the Incarnation in his book Miracles says, “God…comes down; down from the heights of absolute being into time and space, down into humanity…But He goes down to come up again and bring the whole ruined world up with Him.”
The good news of Christmas is that God came down. He came down not just to us, but He came for us. And because He came, we can now find joy in Advent because God, Immanuel, is with us. He is with us in our joys and sorrows. He is with us in our hopes and fears. And now we can find our joy, not just in Advent, but in Him!