Making Room for Joy 

December 17, 2023
My message today is in two parts, “Making Room for Joy in
the Present” and “Making Room for Joy in the Future.”
On this third Sunday of Advent we light the pink candle and
we emphasize joy.
The theme of joy is prominent in Holy Scriptures.
1 Samuel 2:1: “My heart rejoices in the Lord.”
Psalm 95:1: “Sing for joy to the Lord.”
And Psalm 16:1: “In your presence is fullness of joy.”
1 Thessalonians 5:16 is short and sweet: “Rejoice always!”
But is this joy justified? Every day seems to bring another
installment of sad and tragic news: murders; accidents; fires;
floods; wars; political strife; cancer, heart attacks, poverty and
hunger, persecution and killing of Christians, fake news, cyber-
attacks, personal problems, family conflicts, on and on. Ugh!
How can we talk of rejoicing in a world like this?
Have you ever thought, “It’s not okay to be happy when
other people are suffering? In fact, I have to put off being
happy. I have to wait until all the world’s problems are solved
before it’s okay to be happy.”
I want to make a distinction between happiness and joy.
Happiness is what you feel when good things “happen” in your
life: you eat a delicious meal, your football team wins the big
game, you get a raise in salary. Things “happen” that you like
and you feel happy, at least for a while.

Joy, on the other hand, is the byproduct of a good
relationship. It’s more akin to deep satisfaction and it’s more
rewarding and more enduring.
The joy of good relationships can be there even when the
outward circumstances of life are making us feel unhappy.
The fact of the matter is that for Christians, we live
constantly in a good relationship with God. Romans 5(:1a-2):
“We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Through Him we have . . . obtained access by faith into the
grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of
God” There’s a whole lot there but basically, we live constantly
in a reconciled relationship with God.
What does that mean? It means this:
In the midst of all the pain and problems we face in life,
we can enjoy what we already constantly possess as Christians:
full and free forgiveness,
intimate fellowship with God our Father,
a Savior who intercedes for us before the throne of God,
the Holy Spirit who brings us the gifts and presence of God,
a peace that passes all understanding,
a hope that no one can take from us,
the promise of exquisite joy in God’s presence in the life to
come,
the encouragement and love of our brothers and sisters in
Christ,
the chance to serve God with the gifts and talents that God
has given us.

That’s why we can “make room for joy” in the face of so
much tragedy and sadness.
Yes, sooner or later grief and loss comes into each of our
lives. It’s simply part of the human condition. We are mortal;
we will die. And we are vulnerable; injury or death can come at
any time in our lifespan.
Yes, we could easily be overwhelmed by the tragic things in
our world and the sad circumstances of our personal life and
that of our loved ones.
Yes, we recognize the legitimacy of pain and loss and the
need to grieve. But we also say with the apostle Paul in 1
Thessalonians 4, “We do not grieve as others do who have no
hope!” In Romans 12:15, Paul says both “weep with those who
weep” and “rejoice with those who rejoice”.
This is the point of the third candle, the pink candle. Joy
in the midst of sadness, joy in the midst of danger, joy in the
midst of loss and grief. Christians have this remarkable fallback
position of joy. Joy is the default mode for Christians.
Nothing can take this joy away because it is God who gives
it. We have this new identity in Christ. We are God’s beloved,
forgiven sons and daughters. Nothing can take this away; not
death, not sickness, not anything.
Sometime today read Romans 8 which ends up saying that
absolutely nothing can separate us from the love of God in
Christ Jesus our Lord.
The joy of the Christian is not a veneer. It is not happy
clothing put over an essentially sad person. It’s the real deal.
It’s the genuine article. It’s the presence of God hidden within
us and the promise of eternal life. (Colossians 3:3-4)

Brother or sister in Christ, make room for joy: adopt a
dogged determination to bask in the goodness of your blessed
relationship with God in Christ no matter what the
circumstances of your life.

That’s part one. “Making Room for Joy in the Present” Here
is part two, “Making Room for Joy in the Future.” To introduce
this, I want to talk about my marriage.
Joy and I got married 6 days after my 29 th birthday. Being
29, I was pretty set in my ways, so . . . marriage was a big
transition for me. You could say I had to make room for Joy in
my life. I had to make room for conversations with Joy at the
dinner table; I had to listen to her. I had to tell her what was
going on in my head. I had to coordinate schedules with her. I
had to let her know where I was going and what I was doing.
Wait a minute, is all that part of marriage?
Oh, Yes, and a whole lot more.
Making room for Joy in my life was sometimes a challenge,
and I was not always “happy”. But, frankly, I needed to grow up
and make some changes, but making those changes improved
our marriage and led to deeper satisfaction and joy. Making
room is growing: stretching to live up to the challenge of being
who you are called to be, striving for deeper love and greater
maturity.
Just to set the record straight, my challenge of making
room for Joy in my life was dwarfed by Joy’s challenge of
making room for Jack in her life. I was not Prince Charming, in
case any of you were wondering.

When I talk about “making room for joy” I’m talking about
the things you do to nurture a good relationship . . . with a
loved one, with a friend, ultimately with God.
Mary the mother of Jesus made room in her life for an
unplanned pregnancy despite the fact that she was not married.
She made room for the Messiah. And of course, initially, she
was happy. She says in Luke 1(:46-47), “My soul magnifies the
Lord and my Spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”
But the reality of that pregnancy while not being married,
and the reality of Jesus being born and growing up, and the
reality of what happened to Jesus sometimes brought sorrow.
Remember how aged Simeon told her shortly after Jesus’
birth: “and a sword will pierce through your own soul also.”
This was God’s mercy preparing her, so that when the deep
sorrow came, she knew that God knew.
Making room for joy is not always a joyful experience. It’s
looking ahead to joy in the future. The premier example of this
is Jesus. Hebrews 12:2:
“Jesus . . . for the joy set before him endured the cross.”
Jesus did not feel happiness in his agony on the cross. But
he endured the cross for the joy set before him. What was the
nature of that joy? It was the joy of reconciling you and me and
so many, many others to our heavenly father.
What is the common denominator in these Bible verses?
1 Samuel 2:1: “My heart rejoices in the Lord.”
Psalm 95:1: “Sing for joy to the Lord.”
Psalm 16:1: “In your presence is fullness of joy.”
Isaiah 61:10: “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall
exult in my God.”

Luke 1:46-47 (the words of Mary): “My soul magnifiess the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” (Luke 1:46-47)
The common denominator is this: the rejoicing we do as
Christians is always “in the Lord”, “in the Lord”, “in the Lord”.
God in Christ is the source of our joy. Jesus said in John 15:11:
“These things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you
and that your joy may be full.”
The real heart of this Advent and Christmas season is
indeed the Savior Jesus Christ, who was born so long ago as
God’s gift to the world. This is a reality that stays with you
even when you will put the decorations away, even when the
radio stations stop playing the Christmas carols the day after
Christmas, even when in January you try to lose the extra
pounds you gained from too much feasting in December. What
stays with you? Jesus stays with you. Jesus in the midst of a
world of pain and sadness.
[at Peace Lutheran Church]
“Base your happiness on your hope in Christ.” That is J.B.
Phillips paraphrase of Romans 12:12.
That’s a good way to end this sermon: “Base your happiness
on your hope in Christ.”
[Optional at Bethlehem - ask congregation to read the
sermon hymn LSB 818, “In Thee Is Gladness”]

(not used in sermon manuscript)
When I made room for Joy in my life when we got married,
frankly, sometimes it was a challenge, and I was not always
“happy”. But, frankly, I needed to grow up and make some
changes, but making those changes improved our marriage and
led to deeper satisfaction and joy. Making room is growing:
stretching to live up to the challenge of being who you are
called to be, striving for deeper love and greater maturity. I’m
still trying to figure out the best way I can be a blessing to Joy,
my daughters and sons-in-law, and my grandchildren. That is
my primary calling in retirement.

Mary heard from the angel Gabriel that she was chosen to
be the mother of the Messiah, she says, “I am the Lord’s
servant. May it be to me according to your word.”
In the first two Sundays of Advent, we hear a message of
warning and watchfulness about the second coming of Christ.
We highlight the need for repentance in our lives, turning away
from sinful ways. These are solemn and serious matters. Then
comes this third Sunday of Advent: we light the pink candle and
we emphasize joy: joy in the midst of sadness. Joy in midst of
pain. You know, this is how we experience life itself. It seems
like the Advent season is a metaphor for our lives.
Shortly after the virgin Mary was told that she would give
birth to Jesus, she says: “My soul praises the Lord, and my spirit
rejoices in God my Savior.” (Luke 1)

This is one of the blessings about the liturgical year we
follow in our worship services. Every year we do the same
thing: we go through the seasons of Advent, Christmas,

Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, and Pentecost and we
review the key events in the life and ministry of Jesus. Why?
Because Jesus is at the very center of our faith. Who He is and
what He has done is at the very center of our faith.
In this sense the Christian church year is counter-cultural,
because it reminds us that the realities of Christ and the
Christian faith are true no matter what else is going on in our
daily lives, in our community, in our nation, or in the world. It
reminds us that Jesus really is the ultimate answer for the
problems of humanity all the way down to every single human
being.

This is the incredible story we tell over and over again:
that the God of the universe humbled Himself in the person of
Christ; and that this Christ became the Savior of the world by his
holy life, his innocent suffering and death on the cross, and by
his physical resurrection from the dead.

All this was done because God loved us and He wants to
give us the exquisite joy of His divine presence. Jesus said in
John 17:3: “Now this is eternal life, that they may know you,
the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

The real heart of this Advent and Christmas season is
indeed the Savior Jesus Christ, who was born so long ago as
God’s gift to the world. This is a reality that stays with you
even when you put the decorations away, even when the radio
stations stop playing the Christmas carols the day after
Christmas, even when in January we try to lose the extra pounds
we gained from too much feasting in December. What stays

with you? Jesus stays with you. Jesus in the midst of a world of
pain and sadness.

One thing I really appreciate about the Christian faith is
that it recognizes the legitimacy of both sorrow and joy in our
lives. The church year allows for the full range of human
expression of experience: not only joy but also sorrow. It helps
us get beyond the superficial expressions of happiness that we
have often wrongly identified as being how Christians are
supposed to be feeling most of the time.
The Psalms in particular help us be real about our feelings.
The Psalms were the hymnbook of the ancient Hebrews, and we
are wise to emulate the blunt honesty displayed in the Psalms
when they lament about the very real troubles of life.

Just because you are a Christian does not mean the
problems of life magically go away: financial problems,
relationship problems, medical problems. The world situation is
still dangerous: economic woes, war and violence, and a host of
other problems can negatively impact your life and mine.
We think of Christmas as the most joyous of seasons, and yet for
many people it is a season of sadness, a season of remembering
loved ones who are no longer here, nostalgia for good times that
are gone forever. But Jesus is with us also in the midst of the
sadness of this season.

Today we light the pink candle to say there is joy even in
the midst of sadness.
Yes, we do recognize the legitimacy of pain and loss and
the need to grieve. But we also say with the apostle Paul in 1

Thessalonians 4, “We do not grieve as others do who have no
hope!” In Romans 12:15, Paul says both “weep with those who
weep” and “rejoice with those who rejoice”.

When the circumstances of our lives are favorable, we tend
to be happy:
A new car . . . happy!
A new home . . . happy!
A new job . . . happy!
Good health . . . happy!
An unexpected inheritance . . . happy!
On the other hand, we are not very happy in the face of
significant adversity:
The car keeps breaking down . . . unhappy!
The home is infested with termites . . . unhappy!
Your boss at work is driving you crazy . . . unhappy!
You don’t have enough money to pay the bills . . .
unhappy! You have a chronic or debilitating sickness . . .
unhappy!

The real heart of Christmas is indeed the Savior Jesus
Christ, who was born so long ago as God’s gift to the world.
This is a reality that stays even when the decorations are put
away, even when the radio stations stop playing the Christmas
carols, even when in January we try to lose the extra pounds we
gained from too much feasting in December.

And this is a joy that stays even in the midst of the sadness
of this season. It’s ironic that this most joyous of seasons is
also, for many of us, a season of sadness, a season of
remembering loved ones that are no longer here, a season of

nostalgia for good times that are gone forever. The problems of
life do not magically go away: financial problems, relationship
problems, medical problems. The world situation is still
dangerous: the threat of terrorism, the possibility of war,
weapons of mass destruction. These things are also real and
could impact our lives dramatically.
Even in the midst of all the pain and problems we face in
life, we rejoice in what we already possess as Christians: full
and free forgiveness, intimate fellowship with God our Father, a
Savior who intercedes for us before the throne of God, the Holy
Spirit who brings us the gifts and presence of God, a peace that
passes all understanding, a hope that no one can take from us,
the promise of exquisite joy in God’s presence in the life to
come, the encouragement and love of our brothers and sisters in
Christ, the chance to serve God with the gifts and talents that
God has given us.

Sermon From Pastor Jack Flachsbart