Good News of Great Joy

Luke 2:10

When was the last time you heard anything you would name as “good news of great joy?” A clear cancer screening? A new job? A chance at a dream trip to some corner of the world you always imagined and now are getting to see? What is it that could touch you to the very core of your being and send wave after wave of exultation through you? Here, it is the birth of a child—that would indeed be “good news of great joy.”

This is an important thing for us to consider because as we encounter God, we often write joy out of the picture. We don’t mean to, it just sort of happens. Yes, we affirm the blessing of being with God; yes, we affirm the happiness at knowing our failures, foibles, and faults are not terminal cases; and, yes, we seek the settledness and peace that comes with the release of stress in knowing that God is good and grace abounds; but joy? That sounds too extreme to be real, too far removed from reality to be attainable.

Yet, there rose the angel above the shepherds. As the angel notes them quaking--if not comatose--in fear at his appearance, the first word is “Fear not!...there is good news of great joy!” God does not see joy as unattainable for us. God does not see joy as a wish and a prayer. God sees joy as very real state of being for God’s children--i.e., us.

But how to get there...

Folks from Maine have an aphorism they use with tourist types who invade their woods every year, get hopelessly lost, and show up on their front stoop asking directions, “You can’t get there from here.” That holds true for joy, too.

Now wait a second, doesn’t that just cancel the angelic song?

No. 

What it does is tell us to reorient, refocus, and retool our map, if you will. I recently joined the minions leashed to a smartphone as my daughter upgraded and bequeathed to me her old phone two generations older than the new stuff (about a year old to translate for us fogies). Something it does is to recalibrate where I am every time I get ready to use it--a message pops up, asking, “Do you want to use your current location?” There is a nanosecond blip--and, voila!--there I am nailed to the spot. All right, to find ourselves within the joy promised by the angel, we have to do something similar with our souls. We have to find ourselves. We have to locate where we are in relation to the eternal presence of God.

Now, in some ways, this task begins to sound like an ancient comedy routine by Andy Griffith, a retelling of “Romeo and Juliet” as if it happened in my home territory of the North Carolina foothills--

Juliet: Wherefore art thou, Romeo?

Romeo: Why Ah’m rightcheer!

We search and search for God; we delve deeply into the profound silences that often accompany our prayers; we plumb the depths of tragedy and suffering, wondering where God is; and we howl into the darkness, bemoaning the absence of God; when, in fact, all along, God has been right here. Note—when we feel farthest removed from God; God draws closest to us. 

Recalibrate your focus to that truth.

God is present. God is with us. God assured us of this infinite gift of grace as God spoke to the prophet Isaiah--

Behold, a young girl shall conceive and bear a son; and he shall be called, “Immanuel,” which is “God with us.”

Open your awareness to the presence of God everywhere, all the time. It is as simple as taking the beauty and wonder of the world, seeing it for what it is. A few mornings ago, as I ran at dawn, the sky was painted with brilliant shades of pink, orange, and blue, streaked with high cirrus clouds, feathering the light of the rising sun--it all sang of the joy of the Creator--but to hear the song, I had to recalibrate my heart to hear it, remembering where I was, who I was with, and what it meant. But, with that state of mind, there was real and actual joy in a frigid winter dawn. Anyone can do that anywhere, anytime. Everywhere we go, there are trees, sky, birds, and beauty to be seen. Our faith story tells us who stands as the Source. Awaken to it. SEE!

As we replant ourselves in the presence of God, we can allow God to interpret the signs and seals of the world we are in. What I mean by that is this--aware of God’s presence, rethink your context. If you are with other people, see them through the eyes of God as unique acts of God’s creative will--that may well soften hard edges or tone down our gut reactions or multiply the happiness we feel with them. If you are in traffic, feel the undergirding of God’s presence, infusing you with patience, peace, and possibility--traffic is momentary; you will get where you are going. If you are at the grocery, let God help you see the miracle of produce, proteins, and prunes! They are all creations of God, reasons for thanksgiving. 

The possibilities unscroll before us. God is in all things. God is with us in all things. There is reason for hope, adoration, and comfort.

Which means there is a foundation for joy.

The angel sang of joy because there was joy. There was news that shattered every form of darkness humanly imaginable. This news is good in depth and power that boggle all human imagination and reveal human wisdom to be utter folly. Our wisdom finds no joy, finds no peace, and hears only silence. Recalibrate. Refocus. Retool. Allow a new understanding to seize your consciousness. 

There really is good news of great joy for all people!

Glory, alleluia!