Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16
Everything is so busy right now! It seems like December is just flying by! It will be Christmas before we know it. And then 2024. And then Lent! And Easter! And…
It is hard to even pause to catch your breath.
So let me ask you a question… are you taking time to rejoice? To rejoice always?
Because this is what God asks of us. To rejoice always. To pray without ceasing. To give thanks in all circumstances. And yet…. Often… we are just. Too. Busy. Too stressed. Too angry.
So as we find ourselves in the midst of the Holiday season lets consider some of the barriers to our rejoicing. What is stopping us? What is stopping you from rejoicing?
Well (gestures all around) have you seen (pointing wildly at the world) all of this!?! How can we rejoice with so much pain and hurt in the world? I read about another church suggesting Churches should not light the candle for the second sunday of advent, the Peace candle, in honor of the war in Gaza. And you might like that idea because everything seems so important, so immediate, so NOW. That, at least is something we could do. Right? Some action, however anemic, that we could take.
Let us consider, however, all the other wars that have gone on during Advent. From year 2 to today. We would be hard pressed to find a period when there was not a war going on, some of which our country was deeply involved in. Yet we still kept candles lit. We still prayed for the birth of Christ. We still found light in our hearts. We didn’t do this because we were ignoring violence, but in spite of it. The light is an act of resistance against the terror and fear of this world. As you look around at all the terror in the world today (and it is terrible) from war in Ukraine and Israel to starvation in Afghanistan to deforestation in Brazil and Genocide in the Sudan, look also for the light.
In the beginning, there was light. And it was Good. And that light continues to shine. It shone after the floods. It shone ahead and behind of the Israelites as they moved from slavery to the land of promise. It shown around the city of Jericho and on the mornin when they found the empty tomb and in so many other times when things seemed very dark indeed. It shines inside each of us, and it shines out there amidst the peace makers, the tree planters, the life givers, the creators and sustainers of God’s creation. Look for them. Be them. Share their stories and their work.
Don’t turn out your light.