Joy is sometimes described as being akin to happiness, but much deeper and more lasting. Moreover, the truest joy, unlike happiness, is not dependent upon one's circumstances. Different people may find joy in different things, but it seems that every human being has a hunger for joy. The question is: what is the surest source of lasting joy? Two men, separated by more than two millenia, can give us a clue. In the seventh century B.C., facing the prospect of national calamity, the great Jewish Habakkuk prophet nonetheless expressed a deep-seated joy:
Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vine, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet will I rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. (Habakkuk 3:17-18, New International Version)
In the twentieth century, the great Christian writer and apologist C. S. Lewis--the 50th anniversary of whose death we just commemorated--wrote an autobiography describing his spiritual journey from atheism to the Christian faith. He chose to title it, borrowing a phrase from the poet Wordsworth, Surprised by Joy. For Lewis, one of the things that led him to embrace the Gospel was that it alone satisfied a deep longing he had for joy. Thus, from both Habakkuk and Lewis we can learn that the greatest source of the most lasting joy is none other than God Himself.
In less than two weeks, it will be Christmas. When we read the Christmas story in the New Testament, especially as it is presented in the first two chapters of the Gospel of Luke, it is impossible not to notice that "joy" is "a keynote of these opening chapters" (quoting the NIV Commentary). Moreover, many of the most familar Christmas carols exhibit this theme of "joy"--consider the opening lines of two very popular carols:
Joy to the world! The Lord has come!
and
O come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant
Why is joy so much associated with Christmas? Ultimately, the reason for all this Christmas joy is the truth that we celebrate on this day, the coming of God's own Son in human flesh, coming to reveal the Father to us, to pay the awful penalty of our sin, and to bring us hope of eternal life. Why should we not be joyous, regardless of whatever we may be facing in our lives in these days?
Image of Ludwig van Beethoven from commons.wikimedia.org