WEBVTT 00:00:00.910 --> 00:00:08.429 Now listen to me. Skirta. That's the Greek. It 00:00:08.429 --> 00:00:13.650 doesn't mean wiggle. It means leap. It's a violent 00:00:13.650 --> 00:00:18.350 joy. Recognition before thinking. Before theology. 00:00:19.530 --> 00:00:23.710 The body knows Messiah is in the room. That's 00:00:23.710 --> 00:00:34.299 Bible. Hey, welcome back here to the Seminar 00:00:34.299 --> 00:00:37.119 Seminarian. It is the third week of Advent. The 00:00:37.119 --> 00:00:40.899 room's a little warmer now. Two candles already 00:00:40.899 --> 00:00:44.000 burning, hope and peace. And today, we strike 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:47.679 the match for joy. Not the loud kind, not the 00:00:47.679 --> 00:00:50.799 kind that gets sold in a commercial or slapped 00:00:50.799 --> 00:00:55.159 onto a mug. This is the kind of joy, shows up 00:00:55.159 --> 00:00:57.859 early, unannounced, messes with the furniture. 00:00:58.619 --> 00:01:00.539 Kind that doesn't wait for everything to make 00:01:00.539 --> 00:01:04.180 sense. In Luke's story, joy enters a room before 00:01:04.180 --> 00:01:07.340 anyone explains it, before sermons, before systems, 00:01:07.540 --> 00:01:11.340 before certainty. Two women, one house, and something 00:01:11.340 --> 00:01:14.359 holy starts singing in the dark. That's where 00:01:14.359 --> 00:01:16.420 we're headed today, not towards cheer, towards 00:01:16.420 --> 00:01:19.799 recognition, toward the moment when mercy walks 00:01:19.799 --> 00:01:22.019 in and something inside you leaps before your 00:01:22.019 --> 00:01:25.299 brain can catch up. And if you're here, really 00:01:25.299 --> 00:01:29.859 here, that's enough. This is church, real pews. 00:01:30.280 --> 00:01:32.739 Four is the creek, coffee that's been on a little 00:01:32.739 --> 00:01:34.799 too long, candy canes in a bowl that's seen a 00:01:34.799 --> 00:01:37.799 few Decembers. People who showed up tired, hopeful, 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:40.840 guarded, curious, just because it's Sunday because 00:01:40.840 --> 00:01:43.620 that's where they belong. You don't have to feel 00:01:43.620 --> 00:01:46.159 joyful to be here. You just have to be close 00:01:46.159 --> 00:01:49.040 enough to notice when joy enters the room. And 00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:51.560 I'm glad you're here. I'll see you on the other 00:01:51.560 --> 00:02:00.799 side. So, all right, church. Before we go anywhere, 00:02:01.239 --> 00:02:04.760 again, this is an intentional time of waiting. 00:02:05.180 --> 00:02:13.620 So, take a breath with me. We have lit three 00:02:13.620 --> 00:02:20.479 candles now. Hope, peace, and today, joy. And 00:02:20.479 --> 00:02:25.439 I know joy is a loaded word in our society because 00:02:26.599 --> 00:02:31.539 The world talks about joy constantly, markets 00:02:31.539 --> 00:02:36.259 it, packages it, streams it, sells it to us in 00:02:36.259 --> 00:02:41.240 30 -second clips and curated highlights. The 00:02:41.240 --> 00:02:47.020 world promises joy as entertainment, as escape, 00:02:47.199 --> 00:02:53.259 as distraction from the ache. Joy, according 00:02:53.259 --> 00:02:57.080 to the world, It's something you chase after, 00:02:57.159 --> 00:02:59.740 something you have to manufacture, something 00:02:59.740 --> 00:03:04.240 you experience briefly before it fades, and then 00:03:04.240 --> 00:03:09.139 you have to go looking for it again. The algorithm 00:03:09.139 --> 00:03:14.819 knows what makes you smile. The feed knows what 00:03:14.819 --> 00:03:19.419 makes you click. And the market knows exactly 00:03:19.419 --> 00:03:24.830 how to sell you the feeling. Without the substance. 00:03:25.370 --> 00:03:32.770 But Advent should keep interrupting us. Because 00:03:32.770 --> 00:03:37.449 Advent says joy is not something you produce. 00:03:37.569 --> 00:03:42.189 Joy is something that arrives. Joy is not something 00:03:42.189 --> 00:03:46.849 you schedule. Joy is something that breaks into 00:03:46.849 --> 00:03:52.650 a room before anybody is prepared for it. And 00:03:52.650 --> 00:03:58.969 today, Gaudet Sunday, the pink candle. We light 00:03:58.969 --> 00:04:03.870 the one candle in Advent that says, take a breath. 00:04:05.509 --> 00:04:13.389 Joy is coming whether you are ready or not. Gaudet, 00:04:13.389 --> 00:04:19.250 it's Latin for rejoice. Not because everything 00:04:19.250 --> 00:04:22.810 is now suddenly fixed. Not because the waiting 00:04:22.810 --> 00:04:27.470 is now over. But because something is happening 00:04:27.470 --> 00:04:33.089 in the dark that the dark can't control. And 00:04:33.089 --> 00:04:36.629 today we are given one of the most disruptive 00:04:36.629 --> 00:04:41.009 scriptures of joy in the whole Bible. No angels 00:04:41.009 --> 00:04:47.529 yet, no shepherds yet, no manger yet. Just two 00:04:47.529 --> 00:04:54.649 women, two pregnancies, two bodies holding promises 00:04:54.649 --> 00:04:58.470 the world doesn't yet understand. And joy shows 00:04:58.470 --> 00:05:06.009 up early, not as laughter, not as applause, but 00:05:06.009 --> 00:05:13.290 as a baby leaping before comprehension. Let's 00:05:13.290 --> 00:05:17.389 walk into it. Luke tells us that Mary, fresh 00:05:17.389 --> 00:05:21.189 off the angel's visit, went with haste to the 00:05:21.189 --> 00:05:25.930 hill country. With haste. That phrase matters. 00:05:26.269 --> 00:05:29.750 Because Mary doesn't go to the temple to get 00:05:29.750 --> 00:05:32.750 permission. She doesn't go to the religious authorities 00:05:32.750 --> 00:05:36.230 to get their approval. She doesn't even go to 00:05:36.230 --> 00:05:41.870 Joseph first to explain herself. She goes to 00:05:41.870 --> 00:05:47.180 somebody who might understand. Elizabeth, her 00:05:47.180 --> 00:05:54.800 cousin, also pregnant, also carrying something 00:05:54.800 --> 00:06:00.220 impossible. Elizabeth is six months along with 00:06:00.220 --> 00:06:05.339 child that an angel promised to a man who didn't 00:06:05.339 --> 00:06:10.199 believe it could even happen. And Mary is maybe 00:06:10.199 --> 00:06:13.300 two weeks along with child. The angel promised 00:06:13.300 --> 00:06:17.060 to a girl who said yes before she understood 00:06:17.060 --> 00:06:22.939 the cost of that yes. And Mary doesn't announce 00:06:22.939 --> 00:06:25.459 herself. She doesn't prepare a speech. She just 00:06:25.459 --> 00:06:30.399 shows up. Picture it. The hill country of Judea. 00:06:30.939 --> 00:06:37.139 A smaller house. Elizabeth, older. Familiar with 00:06:37.139 --> 00:06:40.180 disappointment, carrying a promise she's learning 00:06:40.180 --> 00:06:45.420 to still trust. And then Mary walks into the 00:06:45.420 --> 00:06:50.819 room. Luke says that when Elizabeth heard Mary's 00:06:50.819 --> 00:06:57.680 greeting, the child leapt in her womb. Let that 00:06:57.680 --> 00:07:03.779 land, church. Not moved, not stirred, leapt. 00:07:05.290 --> 00:07:10.550 The Greek word is skirtaho. Skirtaho. It means 00:07:10.550 --> 00:07:15.889 to jump for joy, to leap violently, to spring 00:07:15.889 --> 00:07:21.490 up. This is not gentle, fetal movement. This 00:07:21.490 --> 00:07:26.850 is recognition. Joy doesn't wait for an explanation. 00:07:26.870 --> 00:07:33.529 Joy doesn't demand proof. Joy doesn't wait for... 00:07:33.790 --> 00:07:38.170 to catch up. Joy recognizes mercy when mercy 00:07:38.170 --> 00:07:43.629 walks in the door. John the Baptist, still hidden, 00:07:43.689 --> 00:07:48.889 still unborn, still six months from breathing 00:07:48.889 --> 00:07:54.129 air, responds to Jesus the only way the fetal 00:07:54.129 --> 00:08:00.480 John can. He leaks. And Elizabeth filled with 00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:03.360 the Holy Spirit in that moment, doesn't respond 00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:08.060 with confusion or suspicion. She doesn't say, 00:08:08.120 --> 00:08:12.500 wait, what happened? She doesn't say, let's talk 00:08:12.500 --> 00:08:18.279 about this. Scripture says what she says. She 00:08:18.279 --> 00:08:23.699 responds with a blessing. Blessed are you among 00:08:23.699 --> 00:08:28.060 women. Blessed is the fruit of your womb. And 00:08:28.060 --> 00:08:31.639 why has this happened to me, that the mother 00:08:31.639 --> 00:08:38.240 of my Lord comes to see me? Notice what does 00:08:38.240 --> 00:08:42.639 not happen here. No one asks Mary for clarification. 00:08:43.179 --> 00:08:49.480 No one questions her story. No one demands certainty 00:08:49.480 --> 00:08:54.039 before offering presents. Joy breaks in first. 00:08:55.080 --> 00:08:57.980 Elizabeth doesn't need a full explanation of 00:08:57.980 --> 00:09:02.299 what's going on. She just needs the Spirit. And 00:09:02.299 --> 00:09:05.940 the Spirit is already filling the room. And then, 00:09:05.960 --> 00:09:15.559 then, Mary sings. Friends, the words of the evangelist 00:09:15.559 --> 00:09:20.200 Luke. First chapter of his gospel account, beginning 00:09:20.200 --> 00:09:25.330 verse 39. In those days, Mary set out and went 00:09:25.330 --> 00:09:27.769 with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 00:09:27.929 --> 00:09:30.750 where she entered the house of Zechariah and 00:09:30.750 --> 00:09:34.070 greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's 00:09:34.070 --> 00:09:39.350 greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth 00:09:39.350 --> 00:09:42.529 was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed 00:09:42.529 --> 00:09:45.929 with a loud cry, Blessed are you among women, 00:09:45.970 --> 00:09:48.750 and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why 00:09:48.750 --> 00:09:52.549 has this happened to me? But the mother of my 00:09:52.549 --> 00:09:57.370 Lord comes to me. For as soon as I heard the 00:09:57.370 --> 00:10:00.830 sound of your greeting, the child in my womb 00:10:00.830 --> 00:10:05.830 leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed 00:10:05.830 --> 00:10:08.210 that there would be a fulfillment of what was 00:10:08.210 --> 00:10:15.929 spoken to her by the Lord. And then Mary said, 00:10:16.289 --> 00:10:22.690 My soul magnifies the Lord. and my spirit rejoices 00:10:22.690 --> 00:10:26.950 in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor 00:10:26.950 --> 00:10:32.529 on the lowly state of his servant. Surely from 00:10:32.529 --> 00:10:36.289 now on all generations will call me blessed, 00:10:36.309 --> 00:10:39.750 for the Mighty One has done great things for 00:10:39.750 --> 00:10:44.809 me, and holy is his name. Indeed, his mercy is 00:10:44.809 --> 00:10:47.629 for those who fear him from generation to generation. 00:10:49.259 --> 00:10:52.799 He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered 00:10:52.799 --> 00:10:55.539 the proud in the imagination of their hearts. 00:10:56.200 --> 00:10:59.299 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones 00:10:59.299 --> 00:11:03.120 and lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:07.019 with good things and sent the rich away empty. 00:11:08.639 --> 00:11:12.779 He has come to the aid of his child Israel. In 00:11:12.779 --> 00:11:16.519 remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise 00:11:16.519 --> 00:11:21.399 he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his 00:11:21.399 --> 00:11:26.019 descendants forever. And Mary remained with her 00:11:26.019 --> 00:11:30.460 about three months and then returned to her home. 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:36.940 Friends, reading of the word. Mary's song there, 00:11:37.080 --> 00:11:43.100 we call it the Magnificat. And it's not a lullaby. 00:11:44.220 --> 00:11:50.100 By the way, pause on the VCR. This is the question, 00:11:50.299 --> 00:11:53.480 Mary, did you know? Mary knew. Right here, it's 00:11:53.480 --> 00:11:59.179 in scripture, by the way. All right, play. This 00:11:59.179 --> 00:12:02.639 joy that she's talking about doesn't fit in a 00:12:02.639 --> 00:12:05.600 Christian lullaby. It's actually a revolution. 00:12:06.500 --> 00:12:10.679 This is not soft joy. This is not sentimental 00:12:10.679 --> 00:12:14.600 joy. This is not everything's going to be great 00:12:14.600 --> 00:12:19.860 joy. This is upside down joy. He has brought 00:12:19.860 --> 00:12:22.259 down the powerful from their thrones and lifted 00:12:22.259 --> 00:12:26.600 up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good 00:12:26.600 --> 00:12:31.019 things and sent the rich away empty. That's not 00:12:31.019 --> 00:12:36.000 abstract theology. That is a warning shot. Joy 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:39.580 in the kingdom of God is what happens when mercy 00:12:39.580 --> 00:12:43.820 takes power seriously. Mary's joy is not rooted 00:12:43.820 --> 00:12:49.240 in comfort. It's rooted in a promise. She's young, 00:12:49.340 --> 00:12:53.100 maybe 15, unmarried at this point, still socially 00:12:53.100 --> 00:12:56.919 vulnerable. Her future is uncertain at best. 00:12:58.080 --> 00:13:03.559 And yet she says, my soul magnifies the Lord. 00:13:04.059 --> 00:13:09.860 And my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior. Not 00:13:09.860 --> 00:13:12.679 because her circumstances had suddenly improved, 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:18.240 but because God had showed up. And that's the 00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:21.460 difference, not only to Mary, my dearest of friends, 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:26.860 but to us as well. The world promises joy as 00:13:26.860 --> 00:13:30.659 a feeling that depends on the conditions of our 00:13:30.659 --> 00:13:36.220 life. Christ reveals joy as the Spirit's interruption 00:13:36.220 --> 00:13:41.720 when mercy enters the room. So let me ask you 00:13:41.720 --> 00:13:46.580 this question gently. When you hear the word 00:13:46.580 --> 00:13:52.580 joy, what do you feel? Excitement, suspicion, 00:13:53.019 --> 00:14:00.200 exhaustion. Because. For a lot of us, joy has 00:14:00.200 --> 00:14:03.980 become another expectation that we just can't 00:14:03.980 --> 00:14:11.740 meet. Be joyful. Choose joy. Count it all joy. 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:18.059 Fake it till you feel it. And some of us are 00:14:18.059 --> 00:14:20.740 thinking, I can barely hold it together. Don't 00:14:20.740 --> 00:14:25.990 ask me to be joyful too. Others of you learn 00:14:25.990 --> 00:14:32.029 to associate joy with noise, with chaos, with 00:14:32.029 --> 00:14:36.029 pressure to perform happiness for other people's 00:14:36.029 --> 00:14:42.330 comfort. So you don't trust joy anymore. And 00:14:42.330 --> 00:14:47.629 some of us, if we're honest, have learned to 00:14:47.629 --> 00:14:53.990 survive by keeping joy at arm's length. Because 00:14:53.990 --> 00:14:58.889 joy makes you vulnerable as well. Joy gives you 00:14:58.889 --> 00:15:05.149 something to lose. Joy requires you to feel again 00:15:05.149 --> 00:15:10.149 after you've worked so hard at stopping feeling. 00:15:12.669 --> 00:15:18.070 Maybe you've been burned by joy before. Maybe 00:15:18.070 --> 00:15:20.669 you believed something good was happening when 00:15:20.669 --> 00:15:25.320 it wasn't. Maybe you let yourself hope and got 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:30.120 disappointed. Maybe you sang too loud once and 00:15:30.120 --> 00:15:35.179 someone told you, quiet down. And now joy just 00:15:35.179 --> 00:15:41.139 feels like a setup for a knockdown. So, when 00:15:41.139 --> 00:15:44.559 the church says, light the pink candle, it's 00:15:44.559 --> 00:15:48.779 Joy Sunday, some of us are thinking, I just don't 00:15:48.779 --> 00:15:55.519 have that in me right now. And Advent sneaks 00:15:55.519 --> 00:16:01.100 along and whispers gently in your ear, you don't 00:16:01.100 --> 00:16:05.720 have to make joy happen. You only have to notice 00:16:05.720 --> 00:16:12.460 it when it arrives. Because joy, real joy, spirit 00:16:12.460 --> 00:16:16.759 joy, kingdom joy, does not wait for you to be 00:16:16.759 --> 00:16:21.600 ready for it. It shows up uninvited, like a baby. 00:16:22.159 --> 00:16:25.279 Leaping in the womb before anyone asked permission. 00:16:27.559 --> 00:16:31.360 And again, as we've been doing through each one 00:16:31.360 --> 00:16:35.960 of these series in Advent, let's look at the 00:16:35.960 --> 00:16:39.820 counterfeit option that the world offers. Counterfeit 00:16:39.820 --> 00:16:44.220 joy, again, entertainment. Real joy is recognition. 00:16:46.440 --> 00:16:52.779 Counterfeit joy distracts us from reality. Real 00:16:52.779 --> 00:16:59.200 joy tells the truth and survives. Counterfeit 00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:04.759 joy depends on escape. Real joy depends on presence. 00:17:05.039 --> 00:17:08.920 The world says laugh so hard you don't have to 00:17:08.920 --> 00:17:17.220 feel. Spirit says feel and joy will rise. That's 00:17:17.220 --> 00:17:22.329 why joy shows up in this very famous story. Not 00:17:22.329 --> 00:17:27.690 in a palace, but in a living room in the hill 00:17:27.690 --> 00:17:33.930 country of Judea. Not through an emperor, but 00:17:33.930 --> 00:17:38.309 from two pregnant women telling the truth. This 00:17:38.309 --> 00:17:42.009 is joy that doesn't deny suffering. It interrupts 00:17:42.009 --> 00:17:45.569 it. The world wants joy that requires nothing 00:17:45.569 --> 00:17:49.710 of you, joy that asks no questions, joy that 00:17:49.710 --> 00:17:52.269 doesn't threaten your comfort or rearrange your 00:17:52.269 --> 00:17:58.049 priorities. But Mary's joy, dearest, is dangerous. 00:17:59.390 --> 00:18:04.589 It scatters the proud, topples thrones, fills 00:18:04.589 --> 00:18:08.190 the hungry, and sends the rich away empty -handed. 00:18:08.910 --> 00:18:13.569 That's not feel -good spirituality. That's revolution 00:18:13.569 --> 00:18:18.329 with a baby in its arms. World offers us happiness, 00:18:18.430 --> 00:18:22.269 which is fine, but fragile. Happiness depends 00:18:22.269 --> 00:18:26.309 on circumstances all lining up in a row. Joy 00:18:26.309 --> 00:18:29.670 doesn't do that. Joy is what happens when the 00:18:29.670 --> 00:18:33.250 spirit shows up and something in you recognizes 00:18:33.250 --> 00:18:37.750 it before your brain catches up. Joy recognizes 00:18:37.750 --> 00:18:42.730 before it fully understands. Joy leaps. before 00:18:42.730 --> 00:18:48.410 he knows why. It's important. Joy is not the 00:18:48.410 --> 00:18:52.529 result of intellectual certainty. It's the response, 00:18:52.750 --> 00:18:58.130 the proximity of the spirit. When Jesus, still 00:18:58.130 --> 00:19:01.950 invisible, still forming, still hidden, enters 00:19:01.950 --> 00:19:06.910 the room, John's body knows before John's mind 00:19:06.910 --> 00:19:10.769 ever could. And some of us have actually felt 00:19:10.769 --> 00:19:15.039 that before. A moment in worship you just can't 00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:18.920 explain. A line of scripture that just slapped 00:19:18.920 --> 00:19:25.119 you sideways. Kindness happened to you that just 00:19:25.119 --> 00:19:30.400 broke open unexpectedly. A song that made you 00:19:30.400 --> 00:19:35.779 cry and you're not sure why. Joy is often your 00:19:35.779 --> 00:19:40.220 body knowing grace before your mind catches up. 00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:46.059 And Elizabeth names it. For as soon as I heard 00:19:46.059 --> 00:19:49.779 the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb 00:19:49.779 --> 00:19:53.220 leaped for joy. She didn't have to figure it 00:19:53.220 --> 00:19:57.140 all out first. She felt it. And the spirit gave 00:19:57.140 --> 00:20:01.000 her words. That's the order, friends. Presence, 00:20:01.000 --> 00:20:07.440 recognition, then explanation. Doesn't work the 00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:13.099 other way around. Joy is communal. Mary doesn't 00:20:13.099 --> 00:20:19.559 sing alone. Elizabeth hears her, affirms her, 00:20:19.700 --> 00:20:24.619 and names what God is doing in her. Blessed are 00:20:24.619 --> 00:20:27.460 you among women and blessed is the fruit of your 00:20:27.460 --> 00:20:33.380 womb. Joy grows when it's witnessed. That's why 00:20:33.380 --> 00:20:38.319 isolation suffocates joy and why the church When 00:20:38.319 --> 00:20:42.779 at its best is a room where joy is recognized 00:20:42.779 --> 00:20:51.720 out loud. You need, we all do. You need someone 00:20:51.720 --> 00:20:58.200 to say, I see what God is doing in you. You need, 00:20:58.299 --> 00:21:04.079 we all do. You need someone to say, that thing 00:21:04.079 --> 00:21:11.460 you're carrying is real. You're not crazy. The 00:21:11.460 --> 00:21:15.839 spirit is moving. Barry stays with Elizabeth 00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:18.759 three months. Three months, two women holding 00:21:18.759 --> 00:21:22.900 impossible promises together. Three months of 00:21:22.900 --> 00:21:26.160 watching bodies change. Three months of joy tended 00:21:26.160 --> 00:21:32.160 in community. And some of us, man, we need that 00:21:32.160 --> 00:21:36.759 right now. We need someone who won't minimize 00:21:36.759 --> 00:21:41.480 what we're carrying. We need someone who will 00:21:41.480 --> 00:21:46.200 sit with us while the promise grows. We need 00:21:46.200 --> 00:21:49.519 someone who will let joy be complicated and still 00:21:49.519 --> 00:21:55.119 call it joy. And that's what church is for. Not 00:21:55.119 --> 00:21:57.740 to hand you a script, but to witness what God 00:21:57.740 --> 00:22:05.059 is doing. Joy is dangerous. Mary's song threatens 00:22:05.059 --> 00:22:08.500 systems. He has brought down the powerful from 00:22:08.500 --> 00:22:12.720 the thrones and lifted up the lowly. That's not 00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:18.119 metaphor. That's political theology. The proud 00:22:18.119 --> 00:22:23.259 are scattered. The rich are sent away empty. 00:22:23.740 --> 00:22:31.319 The lowly are lifted. Joy is not neutral. Joy 00:22:31.319 --> 00:22:34.339 is what happens when the future God promised 00:22:34.339 --> 00:22:39.920 starts to finally leak into the present. That's 00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:44.059 why the world prefers happiness. Because it's 00:22:44.059 --> 00:22:49.099 safer. Happiness doesn't threaten anyone. Happiness 00:22:49.099 --> 00:22:53.480 keeps you comfortable. Happiness asks nothing 00:22:53.480 --> 00:22:58.579 of the systems that hurt people. But joy? Joy 00:22:58.579 --> 00:23:03.819 rearranges the furniture. Mary's joy says God 00:23:03.819 --> 00:23:07.940 is remembering mercy. And if God is remembering 00:23:07.940 --> 00:23:11.359 mercy, then power structures built on scarcity 00:23:11.359 --> 00:23:16.740 are in trouble. If God is lifting up the lowly, 00:23:16.740 --> 00:23:20.759 then hierarchies built on shame will not stand. 00:23:21.319 --> 00:23:26.980 If God is feeding and filling the hungry of our 00:23:26.980 --> 00:23:32.539 society, Then economies built on hoarding become 00:23:32.539 --> 00:23:37.380 exposed. Joy is what happened when God starts 00:23:37.380 --> 00:23:41.079 keeping his promises. And that's dangerous to 00:23:41.079 --> 00:23:44.440 anyone who invested in things staying the same. 00:23:45.460 --> 00:23:49.880 Joy is given, not achieved. Mary doesn't decide 00:23:49.880 --> 00:23:55.099 to be joyful. She responds. Peter says it this 00:23:55.099 --> 00:23:58.630 way in his first letter. Though you've not seen 00:23:58.630 --> 00:24:00.490 him, you love him. And even though you do not 00:24:00.490 --> 00:24:03.730 see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with 00:24:03.730 --> 00:24:09.509 an indescribable and a glorious joy. Joy unspeakable 00:24:09.509 --> 00:24:13.450 doesn't come from your effort. It comes from 00:24:13.450 --> 00:24:18.170 an encounter. You don't manufacture it. You receive 00:24:18.170 --> 00:24:23.809 it. Mary didn't earn this moment. Elizabeth didn't 00:24:23.809 --> 00:24:27.920 qualify for it. John didn't prepare for it and 00:24:27.920 --> 00:24:32.740 God just showed up and joy interrupted. That's 00:24:32.740 --> 00:24:38.839 grace. You don't have to be joyful enough. You 00:24:38.839 --> 00:24:43.440 don't have to perform joy for anyone. You don't 00:24:43.440 --> 00:24:46.920 have to pretend. You just have to stay close 00:24:46.920 --> 00:24:49.680 enough to notice when mercy finally walks through 00:24:49.680 --> 00:24:54.579 the door. So, here's the invitation this week. 00:24:56.269 --> 00:25:01.750 Stop demanding joy look like entertainment. Stop 00:25:01.750 --> 00:25:06.569 requiring joy to justify itself. Stop waiting 00:25:06.569 --> 00:25:10.170 until everything makes sense. Pay attention to 00:25:10.170 --> 00:25:15.130 what leaps. Where did something in you stir unexpectedly? 00:25:15.890 --> 00:25:20.730 Where did hope rise without permission? Where 00:25:20.730 --> 00:25:23.529 did mercy walk into the room before explanation 00:25:23.529 --> 00:25:30.079 followed? Because that's joy. And joy doesn't 00:25:30.079 --> 00:25:35.880 erase grief. It sits beside it. And joy doesn't 00:25:35.880 --> 00:25:39.500 solve everything. But it reminds you that God 00:25:39.500 --> 00:25:44.079 is already here. Picture it one more time. Two 00:25:44.079 --> 00:25:49.900 women. Two impossible pregnancies. One quiet 00:25:49.900 --> 00:25:55.569 house in the hill country. And joy. uninvited, 00:25:55.569 --> 00:26:00.930 unannounced, breaks in. Not loudly, but unmistakably. 00:26:02.289 --> 00:26:06.450 This is Advent joy. Not something you chase, 00:26:06.589 --> 00:26:10.109 something that finds you. Not something you perform, 00:26:10.410 --> 00:26:14.529 something you recognize. And maybe, just maybe, 00:26:14.730 --> 00:26:18.589 maybe this week you'll find something leaping 00:26:18.589 --> 00:26:22.710 you before you ever even understand why. That's 00:26:22.710 --> 00:26:27.900 the spirit. Lean into it. May joy surprise you 00:26:27.900 --> 00:26:31.400 this week. May it rise in you before you understand 00:26:31.400 --> 00:26:33.519 it. And may the mercy that stood up in Mary's 00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:37.160 song stand up in your life. Quiet, dangerous, 00:26:37.279 --> 00:26:47.839 and full of glory. Amen? Amen. Hey, before you 00:26:47.839 --> 00:26:50.799 go, pause just a moment. If something stirred 00:26:50.799 --> 00:26:52.799 in you today, I want you to hear this clearly. 00:26:53.549 --> 00:26:56.630 You're not behind. You're not late. You're not 00:26:56.630 --> 00:26:59.009 failing Advent because you didn't feel the right 00:26:59.009 --> 00:27:01.769 thing at the right moment. Joy doesn't arrive 00:27:01.769 --> 00:27:04.769 on command. It enters rooms when people are honest 00:27:04.769 --> 00:27:07.869 enough to show up as they are. And if you're 00:27:07.869 --> 00:27:10.089 carrying more weight than light right now, that 00:27:10.089 --> 00:27:14.450 doesn't disqualify you. It names you. Good news 00:27:14.450 --> 00:27:16.549 of the season isn't that you finally get it all 00:27:16.549 --> 00:27:19.930 together. It's that God keeps drawing near anyway. 00:27:21.039 --> 00:27:23.660 Hope's always burning. Peace has already been 00:27:23.660 --> 00:27:27.059 spoken. And joy, joy doesn't erase what hurts. 00:27:27.619 --> 00:27:30.400 It sits beside it and refuses to leave. So take 00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:34.000 a breath. Whatever you brought in with you, you 00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:37.640 don't have to carry it alone. Now, one practical 00:27:37.640 --> 00:27:40.539 word before we part ways. If what you're hearing 00:27:40.539 --> 00:27:43.279 here is feeding you, steadying you, helping you 00:27:43.279 --> 00:27:45.420 walk this road through Advent into Christmas, 00:27:45.500 --> 00:27:48.700 you're invited, never pressured. Take part if 00:27:48.700 --> 00:27:51.890 you're in this room. You can place your light 00:27:51.890 --> 00:27:54.910 in the offering plate as it passes. It's one 00:27:54.910 --> 00:27:57.109 small, faithful way we keep the lights on and 00:27:57.109 --> 00:27:59.410 the doors open for real people and real pews. 00:27:59.970 --> 00:28:02.170 If you're listening online, the simplest way 00:28:02.170 --> 00:28:05.789 to keep walking with us is to tie to your subscribe. 00:28:06.890 --> 00:28:08.650 That's how you know when the next candle is going 00:28:08.650 --> 00:28:10.650 to be lit. That's how you stay connected as we 00:28:10.650 --> 00:28:13.849 move from joy to love all the way into Christmas 00:28:13.849 --> 00:28:17.130 morning. No guilt, though. No obligation, just 00:28:17.130 --> 00:28:20.450 invitation. However you do it, however you stay, 00:28:20.630 --> 00:28:23.890 may you go knowing grace has already met you. 00:28:24.569 --> 00:28:26.710 And friend, be blessed.