Advent 3

Some of you may remember an Italian film from 1998 titled Life is Beautiful. Italian actor Roberto Benigni won the Academy Award for this unconventional film that was set in the concentration camps of World War II. According to Newsweek magazine, the exuberant Roberto Benigni, in his joy over winning the Academy Award, literally danced over the tops of chairs and leaped on stage to receive his Oscar.

Afterwards, when reporters questioned him about this display of joyful abandon, he replied, “It’s a sign of mediocrity when you demonstrate gratitude with moderation.” That’s a great statement—particularly this close to Christmas: “It’s a sign of mediocrity when you demonstrate gratitude with moderation.” Today is the Third Sunday of Advent, Rejoicing Sunday, or Rose Sunday, when we light the rose (or pink) candle on the Advent wreath and rejoice in the anticipation of Christmas. 

We have a lot to be joyful about. To illustrate this, I want to share a little essay that author Michael Newnham wrote about his cat. It’s titled, Of Cats and People.

“Lord, this cat you gave me . . . she just doesn’t listen. I told her the rains were coming . . . she goes out anyway and comes back soaked. I told her not to lie in weeds . . . yet every day she comes in and expects me to pull all the stickers out of her fur . . . from lying in the weeds. I told her that as much as it’s up to her to be at peace with all cats . . . yet she expects me to tend to her wounds from the fights she is always in.

“She embarrasses me in front of the neighbors by instigating disputes with their cats . . . she thinks she owns the whole block. She is constantly doing what she ought not to do and suffering the consequences. Worse, she seems to blame all her misfortunes on me . . . at least she expects me to deal with all the results of her disobedience. I always do, but she never seems to learn. Furthermore, Lord . . . she has never missed a meal, but when she’s hungry she yowls as if she hasn’t had a meal in weeks.

“She makes it sound as if I’m a negligent and cruel father. The truth is that I always feed her and even give her treats. Just wanted you to know . . . To top it all off, she is often distant and ignores me until she wants attention or me to provide something. This cat makes me feel used. Sometimes I wonder if she loves me, or just loves what I can give her. It’s a pretty one-sided relationship. Despite all of this, I love the cat and I’ve chosen to keep her. Lord, that makes no sense, but I know you’ll understand . . .” Then the author adds this note: “Make your own application.”

Could he be saying that cats and people are not all that different from one another, and still the Father loves us? We’re very fortunate people. Ultimately, we need not fear anything. Why? Because the Father is crazy about us.

Let me ask you a question: Do you think you know what God’s will is for your life? I hear people ask, is this God’s will for me? Is that God’s will? Did such-and-such happen because of God’s will?

Well, I can tell you what God’s will is for your life. It’s right here in today’s Epistle. St. Paul writes: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” There it is. God’s will is for you to be joyful, to pray without ceasing and to give thanks in all circumstances.

Now I imagine that you don’t have any difficulty with praying without ceasing. After all, you’re in church. You may even find no difficulty with giving thanks in all circumstances, though that’s a little more challenging. But to be joyful always? That’s not easy.

The eminent theologian, and philosopher, the late Teilhard de Chardin once said, “Joy is the most infallible sign of the presence of God.” Did you catch that? “Joy is the most infallible sign of the presence of God.”

Did you know that the Old Testament is a book of joy? No language has as many words for joy and rejoicing as does Hebrew.  Hebrew religious ritual demonstrates God as the source of joy. In contrast to the rituals of other faiths of the East, Israelite worship was essentially a joyous proclamation and celebration. The good Israelite regarded the act of thanking God as the supreme joy of his life. And, of course, The New Testament is a book of Good News!

One thing many people have forgotten in their Christian pilgrimage is the duty to be joyful. Maybe it’s the innate joyfulness of children that caused Jesus to use a little child as the sole embodiment of the kingdom of God. As long as children feel loved, their joy is evident, even in the worst situations. For those of us who are adults, one of the things that makes Christmas so joyful is seeing the wide-eyed expressions of wonder on little faces. Children know about joy. Where did we adult Christians get the idea that you could tell a Christian by the sour look on his or her face?

Good advice is to be found on a plaque in a pastor’s office: “If you have the joy of Jesus, please notify your face.”

We need an abundance of joy in our lives. Since 2005, Google searches for “how to be happy” have increased by nearly 180 percent. People need joy in their lives.

A Sunday School teacher gave her class an assignment to read Isaiah chapter 9 for their Advent lesson. The next Sunday she asked the class how many had remembered to read the chapter. Every hand went up.

“Wonderful!” she said, “I’ve got a piece of candy for anyone who can complete the 2nd half of this verse: ‘The people who walked in darkness . . .’”

Instantly she was besieged by answers!

‘The people who walked in darkness . . . used less electricity!’

‘The people who walked in darkness . . . stubbed their toes a lot!’

‘The people who walked in darkness . . . spent most of their time sleeping.’

‘The people who walked in darkness . . . were usually burglars.’

‘The people who walked in darkness . . . could really use a flashlight!’

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.

The mother of the German poet, playwright, and author Goethe once wrote these simple but meaningful lines:

“I rejoice in my life because the lamp still glows; I seek no thorny ways;
I love the small pleasures of life, If the doors are too low, I bend.
If I can remove a stone from the path, I do so; If it is too heavy, I go around it.
I find something in every day that pleases me. The cornerstone, my belief in God,
Makes my heart glad and my face shining.”

Who could put it any better than that? Christian joy comes from the simple and beautiful pleasures in life. It comes from loving and being loved. It comes from walking daily with God. It comes from believing that God has a plan for our lives, and that the path on which He leads us, leads to pleasures forevermore. So be joyful always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances.