A Christmas Dictionary: Joy
Luke 1:39-45                                     

Jesus summed up joy in the Gospel of John when he said, “These things I have spoken to you, that your joy may be full.” Of course Jesus said this during the last supper he would eat and on the night a friend would betray him and his closet friends would leave him alone to face his worse fears.

Happiness turns out to be more or less what we thought it would be. A good marriage, a rewarding job, a relaxing vacation, pretty much anything which passes for the good life. Joy, however, seems a bit more unpredictable, showing up in the oddest places. Happiness, the word, as anyone can tell comes from the word happenings. When good things happen we are happy, when bad things happen, then we are sad. Joy seems more grounded. More connected to our spirit than connected to our bank account.

The news travels fast. Young Mary, unmarried, pimpled face Mary is

going to have a baby. Listen to the excitement;

A few days later Mary hurried to the hill country of Judea, to the town  where Zechariah lived. She entered the house and greeted Elizabeth. At the sound of Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth’s child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Elizabeth gave a glad cry and exclaimed to Mary, “God has blessed you above all women, and your child is blessed. Why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should visit me? When I heard your greeting, the baby in my womb jumped for joy. You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.”
Usually the birth of a child is an occasion for rejoicing. Yet there are moments when the pregnancy is unexpected. On these occasions it might be typical to hear reluctant joy or at least a bit of sorrow. Yet not here. Everyone is excited. Joseph does seem a bit apprehensive, but all the others seem quiet joyous.

Joy is one of those subjects we human wax eloquent over. Here are some of the more memorable quotes concerning joy, and even a few concerning happiness.
We either make ourselves happy or miserable. The amount of work is the same.--Carlos Castaneda
The greater part of our joy or misery depends on our dispositions, and not on our circumstances. We carry the seeds of the one or the other about with us in our minds wherever we go. --Martha Washington
The mass of men have been forced to be happy about the little things, but sad about the big ones. Nevertheless (I offer my last dogma defiantly) it is not native to man to be so. Man is more himself; man is more manlike, when joy is the fundamental thing in him, and grief the superficial. Melancholy should be an innocent interlude, a tender and fugitive frame of mind; praise should be the permanent pulsation of the soul. Pessimism is at best an emotional half-holiday; joy is the uproarious labor by which all things live ... Joy ... is the gigantic secret of the Christian. --G.K. Chesterton
Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy. --Thich Nhat Hanh
Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day. — Henri Nouwen
Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. --Abraham Lincoln
Happiness is not in our circumstance but in ourselves. It is not something we see, like a rainbow, or feel, like the heat of a fire. Happiness is something we are. --John B. Sheerin
The really happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery when on a detour.-- Unknown
Joy does not depend on outward things, but on the way we see them.— Leo Tolstoy
The happiest people don't worry too much about whether life is fair or not, they just get on with it. - Andrew Matthews
The art of being joyous lies in the power of extracting joy from common things.— Henry Ward Beecher
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy. -- Hebrews 1:9
There are two recurring themes in these quotes. The first is best understood in the quote, “Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” At times joy chooses you at other times you choose joy. So it was with Mary. What makes her such a memorable character and maybe such a wonderful mother was how instead of being bitter and upset, she chooses to rejoice. To look at the pregnancy not as a cross to bear but as an opportunity to grow. You are about as joyous as you choose to be.
The second theme is joy follows doing the right thing. Doing the right thing is under rated. So much applause these days is reserved for people who are blatantly unhappy but famous. Repeatedly they have chosen to the wrong thing and there is a pay day for doing the wrong thing, it is called misery.  Mary did the right thing, not the easy thing, and good things happen when we deicide to do the right thing. People who do the right thing get anointed with joy, no matter what their bank account, marriage, children, or business say. Mary was tempted to be afraid but instead she did the right thing and joy followed her like a new puppy.

Christmas joy is not getting what you want; it is wanting what you’ve got. Mary may have wanted something different but she rejoiced and what she had and birthed Christmas joy. This then is Christmas joy, an attitude which is chosen, and doing the right thing.

Let us Pray
Our lack of joy can often be connected to our envy or our unrealistic expectations. At times we laugh, but not with joy. Father forgive us for being so superficial as to base our joy on what we have or what is happening. Like Clark Griswold we base our happiness on Christmas bonuses and when they don’t come we get angry and depressed. Grant us a gift this Christmas. The gift of joy.

We stand in need of Christmas joy. The type of joy which comes in unexpected ways. May we learn from Mary to walk by faith instead of sight. Then joy will come not as the product of circumstances but as the by-product of living the right way. Amen