Joy Has Come
Fourth Sunday of Advent Reading
by Rob Shelton
Over the last three Sundays of Advent, our narratives have moved through both time and space. We started at the beginning in the Garden of Eden; we then came forward in time to examine the nation of Israel worshipping in the Temple in Jerusalem; and last week we moved outside of Jerusalem to the little town of Bethlehem. Likewise, we have explored different virtues along the way. Hope of the Messiah was promised in the Garden; faith directed to God and His Messiah was exercised in the temple; and peace was announced at the long-awaited Messiah's birth in Bethlehem.
Today, on this fourth Sunday of Advent, we wish to focus on joy. We all know that joy is associated somehow with Christmas, but often, we find joy difficult to express or experience. Perhaps this is because we frequently equate joy with mere happiness. There is nothing wrong with happiness, but happiness is normally related to our circumstances-- that is, when circumstances are favorable, we are happy. Joy, however, transcends circumstances: joy is experienced when we are assured of something beyond our own circumstances.
How fitting, then, that angels should be the ones to announce the joyful news that the Messiah--Jesus, the Lamb of God--is born. You see, angels are from the realm of God's existence, what we call "Heaven," a realm that transcends time and space. The angels, who are thus beyond life's circumstances as we know them, knew that this was the news for which all of creation had been waiting: the Creator beyond time and space has entered His creation in order to redeem it. The angels, the messengers of Heaven, announce that heaven has invaded earth in the form of an infant, and now, nothing will be the same. All of our circumstances will change. Joy has come...
Hear the news from Heaven:
Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Lamb of God, is born!
by Rob Shelton
Over the last three Sundays of Advent, our narratives have moved through both time and space. We started at the beginning in the Garden of Eden; we then came forward in time to examine the nation of Israel worshipping in the Temple in Jerusalem; and last week we moved outside of Jerusalem to the little town of Bethlehem. Likewise, we have explored different virtues along the way. Hope of the Messiah was promised in the Garden; faith directed to God and His Messiah was exercised in the temple; and peace was announced at the long-awaited Messiah's birth in Bethlehem.
Today, on this fourth Sunday of Advent, we wish to focus on joy. We all know that joy is associated somehow with Christmas, but often, we find joy difficult to express or experience. Perhaps this is because we frequently equate joy with mere happiness. There is nothing wrong with happiness, but happiness is normally related to our circumstances-- that is, when circumstances are favorable, we are happy. Joy, however, transcends circumstances: joy is experienced when we are assured of something beyond our own circumstances.
How fitting, then, that angels should be the ones to announce the joyful news that the Messiah--Jesus, the Lamb of God--is born. You see, angels are from the realm of God's existence, what we call "Heaven," a realm that transcends time and space. The angels, who are thus beyond life's circumstances as we know them, knew that this was the news for which all of creation had been waiting: the Creator beyond time and space has entered His creation in order to redeem it. The angels, the messengers of Heaven, announce that heaven has invaded earth in the form of an infant, and now, nothing will be the same. All of our circumstances will change. Joy has come...
Hear the news from Heaven:
Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Lamb of God, is born!
posted by DrewDog at 8:59 AM
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