Season 5 - Episode 16
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On Sunday, we considered Isaiah’s words to exiles waiting for their return to their homeland - a place where they had never visited. In his words, the prophet assured them that God’s desire was for them to experience joy. However, I spent a fair bit of time talking about when we don’t experience joy. I confessed that for some time last week, I was in a space where I struggled to see or experience joy. It might surprise you to know this, each of us is shaped in our reading of the Bible by our experiences. And this is just as true for a preacher. We may have training and tools to help ensure our readings make sense in light of the rest of scripture and align with historic orthodoxy, but as a preacher prepares to expound on a text, their experiences impact the direction they go with a message. And that happened on Sunday. And the experiences of others offer other excellent insight and wisdom, too. On Sunday, talking with a few others after the service, I was grateful to hear some of those thoughts. This morning, I’m going to reflect briefly on how the words of some others encouraged me in my thinking about joy in this season. This is the Covenant Weekly for December 16, 2025.
On Sunday, in response to my assessment that there are times I struggle to feel joy, I had a wise person approach me and say that they find joy every day. They proceeded to talk about relatively simple things that spark joy in them - things I, too, see every day. Later, I was talking with someone else and the idea came up that sometimes we don’t see the places where we could see joy, not because they aren’t there, but because we’re looking for something different.
A metaphor that comes to mind is of a child who is offered candy whose response is to be sad because they were wanting ice cream. How often might I slide into that place - missing out on the joy that is around me because it isn’t exactly how I wished it was.
In contemplating this, something came across my inbox in which a speaker said, “Joy is resistance.” In a space where darkness can feel overwhelming and it would be easy to focus on what is not as we wish it was, the very act of looking at all of the small, wonderful, and special ways that joy is present is an act of resistance against the darkness.
How much would change in parent/child relationships if parents practiced gratitude and joy for what their kids offer their life instead of focusing on the ways things are not as they wished? How might things be different in marriages if we intentionally and consciously focused on the beauty and good our spouses offered instead of where they fall short of our desires. How much would change in church communities if we celebrated more than critiqued. How much would civic life be transformed if we spoke gratitude for what others offer, even those who posture themselves as opponents, rather than only ever talking about the things we perceive as flaws.
I’m grateful for the reminder from brothers and sisters in Christ that while joy can feel far away, that feeling often isn’t reality. It may just require a shift of attention and vision to see it and acknowledge it. And doing so is an act of resistance against the power of the darkness.
The hymnwriter once said, “When darkness veils his lovely face, I rest in his unchanging grace.” To that I say wholeheartedly, “Yes!” AND, in those moments maybe we need to intentionally practice noticing and celebrating places of joy as an act of resistance. As a more contemporary, Canadian poet and prophet once wrote, we’ve “got to kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight.”