In this we find comfort. In addition to our own consolation, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his mind has been set at rest by all of you.
2 Corinthians 7:13
Clearly there are times when we do not feel joyful. When you go to work, a job you love, and find out that you are being downsized immediately, it is devastating. It is hard to feel joy. When the police knock on the door to inform you that your child has been killed in a car accident, can there be any room for joy? A routine physical reveals an untreatable debilitating illness. Where is the joy? Life can be hard. We face many struggles and heart aches. No one was promised an easy life.
Life was not easy for the apostle Paul to whom the Second Letter to the Corinthians is attributed. Once a persecutor of Christians, he becomes one. And then he is persecuted, imprisoned, and beaten for his beliefs. What he did to others is now done to him. In addition, he traveled widely spreading the gospel and planting churches. Travel itself was difficult and perilous both on land and on sea. And then there were the problems in the churches. Things went wrong. False teachers took over. There was infighting. These fledgling faith communities were a handful and Paul tried to offer them wisdom and guidance, often from far away, without the benefit of phone, fax, email, texting, or Skype!
Paul had a difficult life. He faced many challenging circumstances. There could be many days where he might think, “Where’s the joy?” Yet as we read above, there is rejoicing and joy, because of Titus, their colleague. This brief verse invites us to think about what we might call second-hand joy. Maybe if we are not finding joy in our own lives, we can rejoice in the joy of someone else. Maybe someone we associate with has had good fortune of some kind. Maybe someone we know is joyful about something. Maybe someone we care about is filled with joy. Maybe there is cause for joy at some occurrence in the wider world.
Can you think of sources of joy among your family, friends, in the wider world? Can you see reason for joy, even if not in your own life at this moment?
When we are really down, that is the moment to borrow joy from another, take in some second-hand joy. There is always reason to be joyful somewhere for someone, and when we can’t find it in ourselves, let us seek it from others. This way we can keep joy alive and joy can keep us alive in our darkest hours. Taking joy from another can be our comfort, too, as it was for the writer of Second Corinthians.
Prayer
In these short days and long nights of December, we know how dark life can be. We need joy to light up that darkness. We are grateful that when we don’t seem to be able to generate joy from within ourselves, there are others who are joyful, and we can be sustained by their joy, making it our own. May we have the wisdom to seek the joy we need whatever our life circumstances. There is always joy! Amen.
The theme for this Advent season at Lakewood United Church of Christ is JOY to the World. Each day during the Advent season, a reflection on a scripture passage related to JOY will be posted. We hope these daily reflections help you to have a joy-filled Advent.
Lakewood United Church of Christ 