Today we see the beautiful roses and the rose vestments,
and the rose colored candle that represent the third Sunday of Advent.
These are visible reminders that no matter what we are going through,
no matter what is happening around us,
as Christians we are always people of Good News.
And when we receive good news, how do we react?
We rejoice.
And that’s why this Sunday is dedicated to rejoicing. Why?
Because we now know that the one we long for,
the one our soul longs to encounter,
the one who can make us whole,
who can give meaning to our life,
has come, is coming, and will come again.
And in the face of this incredible news
that God is getting so close to us,
that he is intimately connected to us,
what do we do?
We rejoice.
And we’re going to rejoice from now
until Jesus comes back again.
That is what we are supposed to be doing.
That is what scripture commands.
“Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice.”
Why?
Because we are people of the good news.
And what a great witness to give to people
as things are so difficult right now,
that we are still able to rejoice,
in spite of what is happening in the world now,
and in spite of whatever happens in the future.
One of the difficulties we have in understanding this Sunday
and the whole topic of rejoicing and joy
is the fact that we confuse pleasure and happiness with joy.
Pleasure gives us feelings and emotions of happiness
but emotions come and go.
Joy is a state of being,
something that remains inside of us
despite what goes on around us in life.
So if we’re having a good time we rejoice,
and even if we’re not having a good time we still rejoice.
We might not be happy,
but the state of being, like peace, stays there
and that’s what we’re going to focus on.
That’s what we must reclaim.
This is something that Ebenezer Scrooge didn’t understand.
We’re all familiar with the character Ebenezer Scrooge
from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
Scrooge is so famous that his name is in the dictionary.
At school we’re doing a family read-along of A Christmas Carol,
reading one chapter a week and then talking about it.
And there’s this scene in the first chapter
between Scrooge and his nephew Fred,
when Fred comes to visit his Uncle Scrooge at his office,
and he’s just so full of Christmas joy.
Fred is the embodiment of rejoicing.
He doesn’t have much money, he lives a modest life,
but every year he invites his Uncle Scrooge over for Christmas diner.
So he enters Scrooge’s office and says,
“Merry Christmas Uncle!”
And of course his uncle responds with that famous line,
“Bah! Humbug!”
And Scrooge goes on to say,
“What right have you to be merry?
What reason have you to be merry? You’re poor enough.”
You see, Scrooge is confusing joy with happiness.
And we have to be careful we don’t make the same mistake.
You see, Scrooge might just as well say to us,
“What reason have you to be merry? You’re in the middle of a pandemic.”
But Fred answers with a true understanding of joy.
He says, “What right have you to be dismal?
What reason have you to be morose?
You’re rich enough.”
Scrooge has all this money and he still has no joy.
Fred understands, and his trying to get his uncle to understand,
that joy isn’t about external circumstances
like wealth or comfort or good health,
but it’s a state of being
caused by the incredibly Good News
that Jesus has come, is coming, and will come again.
And Scrooge doesn’t get it.
But as we know,