As we celebrate Joy Sunday today, the candle that we lit—the pink candle—is traditionally known as the Joy Candle. I am not entirely sure why it is pink while all the others are purple, but that one candle teaches us many things about our lives in this world. It reminds us how we can be filled with joy even in the midst of the troubles, grief, and pain that surround us.
Over the four Sundays of Advent, I shared that on the first Sunday we celebrated Hope, then last Sunday we celebrated Peace. Today we celebrate Joy, and next Sunday we will celebrate Love. These are four essential qualities of Christian living in this world—important realities that we experience in our lives.
The joy of Christmas comes in many different ways. One of the most common experiences during the holiday season, especially at Christmas, is the joy of giving and receiving gifts. This is a joy we share during Christmas in a unique way. We give gifts at other times—birthdays or special occasions like graduations—to particular people. But during Christmas, we exchange gifts in many different ways, both with people we know and with people we do not know. Sometimes we give gifts by helping others or supporting those in need.
Gift-giving is an important practice around the world during this season as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. It brings us a certain amount of joy, but it can also bring a great deal of stress. For many people in America, the holiday season is one of the most stressful times of the year. All kinds of pressures come together right after Thanksgiving. Holiday sales begin, and we rush to stores or go online to catch special deals. Some websites even have countdown clocks—if you do not buy within a certain time, you lose the price. That alone creates stress.
Sometimes we go to bed thinking, “I have to wake up at six in the morning to catch that sale.” It used to be that way especially on Black Friday. I do not know if any of you remember people lining up outside stores like Best Buy. I did that once, and that was the end of it for me. That was years ago. I do not know if people still do that now, because everything is online. But online shopping can also be stressful.
When I recently logged on to look for gifts, I thought I would have been better off not looking at all. I was flooded with so many things on the screen that I did not know where to go. I forgot what I was even looking for. I do not know if that happens to you, but it certainly happens to me. Later, I realized I still had to go back and find the gift I originally needed.
This is the kind of life we live on a daily basis. Sometimes we forget to buy a gift, and at the last minute we remember that we forgot someone. I do not know if that has happened to you, but it has happened to me. One time, it was not even Christmas—it was a birthday. I completely forgot. I called my son and said, “Hey, I forgot this. We need to go get a gift.” He said, “Sure, let’s go to the store. I know something great there.” We rushed over, and guess what happened? There was no power. The cash registers did not work, and we could not buy anything. My son laughed all the way home because we came back empty-handed. That is another kind of stress we experience when things slip our minds.
Then there is shipping. UPS, FedEx, and even the postal service are extremely busy during this season. We pack gifts and send them to people we cannot give them to in person. These are all things we go through every year. For many years, the postal service was the primary delivery service, and now we have so many delivery companies available.
Recently, we sent a gift, and the cost of the gift itself was less than the shipping charge. Has that ever happened to you? The gift was cheaper than the shipping. I said, “We are not doing this next time. They can just come here and get the gift themselves.”
I once read an interesting story about the postal service. It is the oldest delivery service, dating back to the 1700s. Before companies like UPS existed, the postal service handled package deliveries as well. Believe it or not, there was a time when people actually mailed their children. The first recorded case was in 1913, when a six-month-old baby in Ohio was mailed to the grandparents about six miles away. A mail carrier picked up the baby, placed a postal stamp on a piece of paper, attached it to the baby’s clothing, and delivered the child.
Several similar incidents followed. The longest journey was about 700 miles, from Ohio to Kentucky in 1915. A young girl was taken by a mailman, labeled with a stamp and address, given some candy, seated on a train, and sent to her grandparents. I do not know if you are expecting that kind of gift today, but you never know what might arrive in a package. These days we even hear stories of strange things being shipped—snakes or other living creatures. So be careful what you open.
Even with all this stress, Christmas remains a time when we celebrate the gift of joy. That is the most important thing. Sometimes we forget that gift among all the others. We get excited to open the box and see what is inside, but we forget the giver. How often do we forget the giver? The gift becomes primary, and the giver becomes secondary.
You look at the box and say, “It came from Amazon.” Unless someone puts a name card inside, everything seems to come from Amazon. That is what my grandchildren say. When asked where a gift came from, they say, “Amazon.” It no longer came from the grandparents, even if we sent it.
Amid all of this, the joy of Christmas is not just about the gift itself. It is about the Giver, and that is what we need to remember. That is why we sing songs filled with joy. The greatest exchange of gifts happened at Christmas.
In Isaiah, God says, “I am giving you beauty for ashes, oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” In Isaiah 61:3 we read, “I will provide for those who grieve in Zion, to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.”
As we exchange gifts with one another, God also exchanges gifts with us. His promise is to give us a crown of beauty instead of ashes, oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of despair.
In ancient times, people who were grieving sat in ashes to show their sorrow. Ashes symbolized loss, devastation, and despair. But God promises to exchange those ashes for a crown of beauty.
This promise came during a dark time for God’s people. They were exiles in Babylon, oppressed by foreign rulers, with little hope for the future. In the midst of their despair, God spoke through the prophet and promised an exchange—beauty for ashes, joy for mourning.
Last Sunday, I preached about peace. In the midst of grief and pain, we can experience the peace God gives us. Sometimes God delivers us from pain, and sometimes He delivers us in the midst of it. Pain and grief are part of life. Every one of us will face them.
Joy is similar. Joy is not something we find outside ourselves. If we look for joy in circumstances, decorations, or flashing lights, we will never find lasting joy. Those things are temporary. When the season ends, the lights come down, the trees are taken away, and new stresses arise.
True joy comes from within. Isaiah reminds us that those who experienced exile, loss, and disappointment still received God’s promise. God says, “I will take your grief and give you comfort. I will take your disappointment and give you joy.”
Scripture tells us to cast all our cares on God. We do not have to carry our pain alone. Christmas is the season when God sent us His gift—Jesus Christ, a bundle of joy. In exchange for our suffering, pain, and mourning, God offers us peace and joy.
God does not deny the ashes in our lives, but He transforms them. Emmanuel—God with us—means that God is present in our pain.
For many people, Christmas is not an easy time. Some are struggling with health issues. Others are grieving the loss of loved ones who were at the table last year but are not there this year. Many are facing one problem after another—cars not starting, heaters breaking, floods, electrical issues. If we look for joy in these circumstances, we will not find it.
Joy must come from within. If Jesus is in your heart, there is a joy that no one can take away. Even in a hospital bed, surrounded by machines and unfamiliar sounds, God’s joy can fill your heart. I remember singing as a child, “There is joy, joy, joy down in my heart.” That joy flows from the inside out.
Worldly Happiness depends on external happenings and fades quickly. Christian Joy is different. It is rooted in Jesus Christ. No matter what happens around us, we can experience that joy within.
And this joy does not end here. It is eternal. It is the joy of salvation, the promise that we will one day be with God forever, rejoicing in His presence.
The gift of God’s presence came wrapped in a baby, laid in a manger. Jesus brings good news of great joy—not only to the shepherds long ago, but to us today. God’s gift of joy is alive in our midst.
May the Lord help us experience that joy in our own lives, and may we become a source of joy to others wherever we go. May God bless us with these words as we go from this place.
Amen.
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