About our Advent Theme
Joy is often a companion to many other emotions. We can feel joy in addition to feeling many other things at once: grief, anticipation, anxiety, excitement, disappointment, exhaustion. Perhaps many of us live with the myth that joy is not something we deserve—or that it is wholly out of reach. But our joy is rooted in the truth that we belong to God. Can you tether yourself to that deep truth? You deserve to feel joy—fully. The world needs your joy, even if you are weary. Our joy is better when it is shared.
This theme of course alludes to a line in the familiar Christmas hymn, “O Holy Night,”3 which has an interesting history. The song was originally written by a French poet who was atheist, and the music was supplied by a Jewish composer. The hymn was later translated into English by an American Unitarian minister. In the 1800s, it became a popular hymn for Christian abolitionists due to its justice-focused language in verse 3.4 Like Mary’s song, the hymn reminds us that justice and joy belong together. Sometimes our joy is an act of resistance.
And so, this Advent, we will hold space for our weariness and our joy. We will seek a “thrill of hope” in our hurting world. We will welcome joy—even and especially if, like the prophet Isaiah, we cry out for comfort (Isaiah 40:1). In this weary world, may we find many ways to rejoice.
To view the How Does a Weary World Rejoice?
Advent Devotional Booklet, click here.
Printed booklets will be available at all services during advent.
Our Themes for Each Week
Guiding Questions for this Series
• As Advent begins, what weariness do you carry—in your body and soul? What does it look like for you to rejoice when you are weary? When have you welcomed joy while simultaneously feeling anxious, afraid, alone, sad, or overwhelmed? What does joy do? How does it change you?
• When the angel delivers news to Mary (Luke 1:24-45), she responds, “How will this be?” Then the angel describes how everything will come to pass. However, in response to the angel’s news, Zechariah asks, “How will I know? How can I be sure?” (Luke 1:18). Then the angel makes him silent. What is the difference between these two questions? One could argue that Mary responds to the angel’s impossible news with trust and curiosity. Her response presupposes that the news will come true; she simply wants to know how it will come to pass. In contrast, Zechariah wants certainty. His question implies that he can’t be sure of what the angel is telling him. The angel gives him explicit details about what will come to pass: his wife will bear a son named John who will be a joy and delight; John will be filled with the Holy Spirit, but he must not drink wine or liquor (an interesting detail to include in a birth announcement); he will bring people back to God and fathers back to their children; he will prepare people for God. In other words, the angel presents Zechariah with a detailed vision of what will come to pass and Zechariah essentially says, “I can’t accept this to be true.” When in your life have you been like Mary, curious about the impossible? When in your life have you been like Zechariah, unwilling to believe in news that seems too good to be true?
• What do you make of Zechariah’s time of silence? Consider all the ways Zechariah’s muteness could change his daily life and routines as a priest. What do you imagine he gleans from that season of silence? Have you ever been forced into a time of solitude or silence, or have you willingly attended a silent retreat? How did those experiences shape you spiritually?
• Cultivate imagination for Elizabeth and Zechariah’s story. What is the story they had dreamed for their lives? What is the story they had accepted or resigned themselves to? How does the angel’s news disrupt this? Similarly, are there limiting narratives about your life that you have resigned yourself to? How is God disrupting those beliefs and inviting you to live into a new story?
• In this short video, author Kate Bowler challenges the notion that people in pain can simply “choose joy” and “white-knuckle” their way out of suffering. In what ways does toxic positivity create harm for those who are hurting? How do you define joy? How is it different from happiness?
• In her artist statement for Make Your Face Shine, Rev. Lisle Gwynn Garrity asserts: “As I read and reread Psalm 80 on that day of mourning, I remembered that politeness is not the language of the weary.”8 What is the language of the weary? Outrage? Desperation? Activism? What scriptures or creative outlets provide you with words for your weariness? Where do you see modern-day psalms of lament?