Wingham United Church

December 14, 2025

Finding Our Joy

Isaiah 35:1-10

Luke 1:46-55

Matthew 11:2-11

          The church year, or liturgical calendar, to use the more technical term, is divided into various seasons, such as Advent, Epiphany, Lent, Easter and so on. Times between these special seasons are referred to as “Ordinary Time” Each of these liturgical seasons is assigned a special colour, and each colour has a special meaning.

          The colour for Advent is blue, like the banner on the front of the pulpit, which our decorating team changes to reflect each season or event on the calendar. Liturgically speaking, blue represents penance, sacrifice, and preparation. The season of Advent is meant to be a time of self-reflection and deep spiritual exploration, during which we take a close look at ourselves, our faith, and the lives we live. This mood is reflected in the Advent hymns we are supposed to sing in the weeks leading up to Christmas when everyone would prefer to sing Christmas carols.

          In this way, Advent looks a lot like Lent, which is also a time of preparation and self-reflection, but in the weeks leading up to Easter. The colour of Lent is purple, but it has the same meaning as the colour blue during Advent. That is why, in many churches, Advent Candles are purple instead of blue.

          However, the season of Advent offers us a break from this seriousness. On the third Sunday of Advent, we light a pink candle, the candle of Joy. We set aside the serious internal work of Advent to celebrate and rejoice, which makes it the perfect Sunday to have our Sunday School participate in worship. They always bring a spirit of joy and fun into our time together.

          Our scripture readings, for the most part, also express that same sense of joyous celebration. In the prophecy of Isaiah, during a very dark time in Israel’s history when they had drifted away from God’s leading and had become a nation of injustice, greed, exploitation, and protectionism, not unlike much of our world today, the prophet offers a vision of hope and joy. A day will come, he tells God’s people, when the world will turn back to God and live according to God’s grand design of love, justice, and compassion for all. When that happens, he tells them, all of earth will rejoice! Deserts will turn green, the blind will see, the lame will leap for joy. Those who cannot speak will sing songs of celebration and everyone will live in peace, harmony, and equality. “Sorrow and mourning will disappear, and they will be filled with joy and gladness.”

          Fast forward a few hundred years, and we have another expression of great joy during a time of worry and anxiety. A young girl goes into the hill country of Judea to visit an elderly cousin. Both are expecting. Both carry special children conceived under miraculous circumstances. The young girl is not yet married, so perhaps she takes this trip to escape the gossip and judgmental glares of the prying eyes in her hometown. The other is far past the prime of life, thought to be too old to have a child. Yet, when young Mary crosses the threshold into Elizabeth’s home, the baby Elizabeth is carrying senses the presence of Mary’s child, and leaps for joy within her, inspiring an expression of joy and admiration from Elizabeth, which prompts an even greater song of joy from Mary, which we read together just a few moments ago.

          Like Isaiah’s prophecy, Mary predicts that God is about to do a great and wonderful thing in the world. Justice will be restored. No longer will the rich get richer while the poor suffer. Peace, happiness, and mercy will be known by all God’s children, and the whole world will rejoice.

          Our other gospel reading, however, takes us in a very different direction. John, who, even before his birth, recognized Jesus as the Messiah and leapt for joy in his mother’s belly, and who witnessed the Spirit of God descend upon Jesus at his baptism, is now having second thoughts. He has been imprisoned for speaking out against the shameful behaviour of his king. Things haven’t gone quite the way he expected since he proclaimed Jesus as the One God had sent to make things right.

          Despite his current circumstances, however, John still has his followers, disciples who seek to learn his wisdom, and he asks them to go to Jesus to find out if what he had believed all his life was a lie. Is Jesus really the One God’s people had been waiting for, or is there someone else yet to come?

          It’s a fair question. All those prophecies of the past had led people to believe that once the Messiah had come, the world would change. All of Creation would become an Eden, filled with abundance, peace and prosperity for all. Jesus has come yet not much seems to have changed in the world. There is still evil. There is still injustice. There is still suffering.

          Over 2,000 Christmases have come and gone, and all of that is still true. There is still evil. There is still injustice. There is still suffering. Creation cries out in pain as it bears the weight of war, oppression, and greed. People have lost faith that Jesus is the One sent to save us. Even the faithful have questions.

          Jesus’ response to John’s inquiry offers a light of hope. Look around you and see what has happened. “The blind see, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.” The things foretold by the ancient prophets are happening. The proof is right there for all to see.

          However, it might not look like we were expecting. When the people went out into the wilderness to hear John calling them to prepare the way, he was not what many of them were expecting either. He didn’t look like the temple leaders they were used to. He didn’t dress up and put on airs. He was simple, genuine, and, perhaps, a little odd, but he was God’s prophet.

          Jesus, too, wasn’t exactly what the people were expecting. Instead of the powerful warrior they had anticipated, here was this gentle, caring, compassionate man who talked about love and forgiveness. Instead of brandishing a sword, he gave people food and healed their spirits. Rather than conquering the evil doers, he showed us all how to live according to God’s will.

          John was a prophet, but he was more than that. Of all the prophets who had shared God’s message of how the world would be when the Messiah came, John alone witnessed the fulfillment of his prophecy. Not, perhaps, in the way he expected, but in the way God intended.

          The birth of Jesus was intended to do something many of us fail to realize. Jesus’ humble birth, and his humble, gentle, loving ministry was God’s way of telling us that we are in relationship with each other. In Jesus’ day, the Romans ruled God’s people. You did what you were told to do, or you would be punished. For many centuries, people had the same ideas about God. Do what you are told, or you will be punished. Jesus showed us the error of this assumption.

          God will not dominate us. God does not want power. God already has all the power anyone could ever imagine. God wants relationship. In the kind of relationship God desires with us, one cannot impose one’s will on the other. We must work together to achieve what we all want.

          Jesus showed us how to live into that relationship. Not through violence and conquest, but through love and care. Love God and love one another. If we do that, everything we hope for will come to be. It won’t look exactly like we expect. It will be much better than we can even imagine.

          Whatever the world looks like from where you sit today, it is in the knowledge of God’s love for us where we will find our joy.         

Rev. Colin Snyder, MDiv