Joy as a Discipline, Philippians 4:4-7

Toward the end of his letter to the Philippians, Paul instructs, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice."

We are in the middle of Advent, waiting patiently, with anticipation, for Christmas. And we understand that during Advent, like Lent, we are called to take on spiritual disciplines to help us prepare for the joyful fulfillment of God's promise. So last week we talked about self-examination, purification, cleansing, acknowledgment of sin and repentence, with texts from those in-your-face prophets, Malachi and John the Baptist. Hearing Malachi's haunting question, "Who can endure his coming?" can put us in a somber, introspective, maybe even troubled mood. I would imagine that is the intent; taking an inventory of your life certainly is an important step toward transformation, but it can be somewhat unpleasant when our lives our held up to the prophet's expectations.

Now we get to the third Sunday of Advent, and the lectionary offers us more of the uncompromising John the Baptist (for those who haven't felt pinched enough), but we are also offered this reading from the Apostle Paul, calling the Philippian church to be joyful in the Lord. Indeed, the third Sunday of Advent has traditionally been a joyful Sunday, when we light the pink candle (the color of joy) on the Advent wreath rather than one of the purple candles (color of mourning). We are reminded that anticipation can be a joyful activity. Remember when you were young, waiting for Christmas, when your imagination of what was to come on Christmas Day provided you with intense longing yet great joy, sometimes even more joy than the day itself provided? After all, sometimes reality just falls short of our robust imaginations.

So longing for an anticipated event can bring joy. But I think Paul is saying something more. I think he is saying that joy is a spiritual discipline that needs to be used to keep us spiritually (maybe physically too?) healthy. Rejoice, not just when your planets align and things are blissful, but always. And rejoice, not in your accomplishments or circumstances, but in the Lord.

Just as we take on disciplines of self-examination, repentence and penitence during Advent, we need to take on the discipline of joy. Too often we wait for joy to happen to us, to be surprised by it (as C.S. Lewis said). That's wonderful when joy comes over us as a surprising gift, but Paul says we need to practice it. We need to will it.

How will you make joy happen this week? Don't go looking for it. Create it. Remember, as Paul says, "The Lord is near."