Joy is Advent Resistance

Be joyful though you have considered all the facts.¹

How is joy resistance? What, actually, is joy? What does it mean to be joyful- to rejoice?

Joy is resistance by its very nature. Joy recognizes that the success of powers and principalities and empires to dominate and rule requires, in large part, on our sense of hopelessness and defeat. People without joy give up. But joy refuses to surrender to defeat, hopelessness, fear or sorrow, even as it looks clear eyed at what is happening in the world.

To be joyful doesn’t mean we don’t sometimes experience fear and hopelessness, or that we don’t sometimes feel defeated. To be joyful doesn’t mean that we aren’t sometimes actually defeated. But joy doesn’t stay defeated or fearful or hopeless. Joy holds on to what is possible. Joy celebrates progress and community and collaboration and friendship and love. Joy is not the end result, joy is what keeps us moving toward the end result. Joy holds onto the vision of a world set right.

Joy is not the same as happiness and it is not only a feeling. Joy is more like a disposition, a state of mind. Joy is more permanent and less affected by what happens in the world.

What does Luke’s nativity story tell us about joy? Read it and look for joy.² The people in this story, Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, the shepherds, Simeon, and Anna all see the world as it is. Zechariah and Elizabeth know personal disappointment. Anna knows about grief. All of them live in an occupied land.

Yet, they believe the angels, when they say that the Messiah is coming. They don’t expect this to happen without effort and even struggle. And still, they have joy over what is about to happen. No one in the story is the Messiah (except Jesus) but they have joy in their part of the work of the Messiah. They recognize God’s intention and goal. They are joyful as they do their part in it. They see that the status quo is not the end. They see God’s new future. Their joy is in the process, and in what they are called to do in that process. Zechariah is told that he and Elizabeth will have joy at the birth of their child and many will rejoice. Elizabeth and the not yet born John are filled with joy when Mary and the not yet born Jesus come to visit. The angels bring news of great joy for all people to the shepherds.

Joy doesn’t mean there are no hardships. Joy doesn’t mean people aren’t afraid or confused. Zechariah is terrified and skeptical. Mary has questions. The shepherds are terrified. This doesn’t mean there are no obstacles. Zechariah can’t speak for months. A very pregnant Mary has to travel and give birth without the support of her family, dependent upon strangers. Nevertheless joy is present throughout the story. Joy is not particularly dependent on their circumstances. Rather joy is based in what will be. Joy is rooted in their trust in God and in God’s promises.

One of the amazing things about Luke’s nativity story is that everyone in it acts and lives with joy. They all recognize what God is doing. They all do their part. They do not ignore the reality of the empire. They speak out against it. They speak out for the reign of God. The three canticles or songs- Mary’s, Zechariah’s, and Simeon- along with the angels announcement are not sentimental or sweet songs about new babies. They are about the mission and work of God that will be done with and through these babies.

The joy in the nativity story is not there because the struggle is over. Or that the powers and empires are defeated and God’s reign is completed. Their joy comes being part of- whether a large part or a small part- being part of what God is doing. Their joy comes from being part of the process, the journey with God toward God’s intended future.

As we consider joy as resistance, where is your joy found? What brings you joy? What brings your community joy? What brings God joy? How will you speak and live your joy- even as you consider all the facts?

Joy is Advent resistance.

Joy is resistance. Joy is resistance. Beloved be as joyful as you are able.

1. From Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front by Wendell Berry ↩︎
2. read it here, ↩︎