This is the Sunday of joy. The ‘deep breath’ before the plunge. A moment in the church calendar reserved for refreshment.

It is about now – mid-December – when many of us are mostly ready for whatever comes next. The family schedules are almost synchronized. The cookies are stacked and ready in the freezer. The various lists we make in October and November in anticipation of a stress-free holiday time are either checked off or chucked out. And it can be hard (from here on in) to find joy and peace in December. So, maybe it’s a good time to be reminded that the things we long for in Advent are things that God offers us YEAR ROUND.

The church calendar shapes us in strange ways. As the days creep towards December 25th, we are oddly reminded of God’s persistent promise, and how it seems just out of reach.

Prophets of every shape and size hold God’s promise up to the light and proclaim that, while we have missed the mark, it is still possible to choose a different path. Scripture does this odd thing: acknowledging the mess we’ve made while still offering hope. Not because we are necessarily good, but because God is undeniably good.

Zephaniah invites singing and praising simply because God has not given up on us. The prophet describes God as ‘coming to our rescue’ – and we imagine that means we need to do nothing but wait. A perfect solution, but not really true. Being rescued by God will bring us joy – should bring us joy – but our joy will be expressed in different ways. And it does require something from us.

Some find joy in the bragging: God has rescued ME – and so I’m happy. But that falls short of what the prophet offers. The rescue is corporate, not singular. God rescues nations – whole peoples – the over-run will be overwhelmed. Their sorrow turned to joy. Together.

It might be worthwhile to think about the difference between joy and happiness. You might think they are the same. But they are not.

Happiness is fleeting – situational – personal. Happiness depends on an easily changing set of values. Joy is a deeper, more profound, more settled sense of being. For example – for me, happiness was passing a math exam, because math always held a certain terror for me. Joy was knowing I’d never need to take another math exam – but that joy was shared by many of the people I graduated with – since the atmosphere of a high school exam was the source of many different kinds of anxiety.

The idea that joy should be personal and particular is a new idea, and it comes from confusing joy and happiness. Not that it is impossible (or wrong) to feel good about ourselves, or our accomplishments. Good things bring out good feelings in us, and we should celebrate them. I’m talking about joy – a freedom from worry – an overwhelming sense that all is well – the sort of feeling that makes us want to shout and sing and dance… We have been fooled into thinking that joy is just an elevated kind of happiness. But the joy proclaimed by the prophets – that waits in God’s promised redemption – is communal and lasting. It comes with an overwhelming sense of peace and delight

John the Baptist is no one’s favourite. He is edgy – he is strange – he is unaffected by the trappings of power that are so often the measure of human living.

John’s audience seems to be everyone. He doesn’t play favourites. He speaks to the oppressors and the oppressed. And he is clear about one thing: we should behave better.

His audience wants to know how to get on the right side of the equation – how to find favour with God. John is happy to give specific advice: Share from your abundance. Don’t cheat one another. Don’t covet, lie, or fall victim to greed. It is hard, at first, to see what (if anything) John’s instructions have to do with joy. How can honesty and selflessness be the key?

Perhaps it is the difference between happiness and joy – a deep sense that we can trust one another – that there is a common desire for the good of all – if John’s advice is taken seriously, the community can breathe a sigh of relief. Following John’s directions, we no longer need to battle for supremacy, or struggle to discern the best path. The best path is the goal of all, and there is great relief – JOY – in that knowledge.

Of course, John also says that there is one coming who will make it crystal clear. One in whom we will see, without a doubt, the benefit of following a Godly path.

Jesus lives out all of the hypotheticals that John’s audience wonder about. Jesus lives generously and unselfishly. He honours the humanity of everyone he meets – even those who disagree with his methods or who try to undermine his teaching. Even on the cross he offers forgiveness to those who had him put to death.

That ability to fully commit to the divine promise of a better way to live together is what makes Jesus so remarkable. And it is what makes his followers so resilient.

The joy of the Lord is our strength, we sing – and it’s that joy – the deep sense of contentment and comfort and safety and satisfaction – that keeps our hope alive and feeds our faith. The love of God in Jesus Christ knows no bounds. Advent is where we focus on it, Christmas is when we display it, but these habits and this joy is ours in endless measure.