joy: the word study you all have been eagerly awaiting

Joy isn’t super complex concept or word. It pretty much means what we think it means. But here were some random tidbits I found interesting.

To be bright, to shine – the word most frequently used for joy in the OT, simchah or simeah, is derived from the verb “to be bright, to shine”, according to one online source. Of all of the words of Advent, joy is the most visible. Many references to joy or rejoicing in the Bible are accompanied by physical manifestation: singing, dancing, shouting, leaping. Joy is something you can see.

Joy results from relationship – two interesting definitions of joy I saw were: “the fruit of right relationship to God” and similarly, “the natural outcome of being with God”. It isn’t something we conjure up on our own — joy comes from God. Which means, if I want more joy, there’s only one place to get it. And while we can take joy in “secular” experiences, joy is a completely difference concept from pleasure. Seeking pleasure results in the opposite of joy. Which might explain partly, at least, why many people get depressed during the Christmas season.

Joy in Celebration – THAT being said (about people being depressed during Christmas), God commanded the people of Israel to be joyful at their celebrations. The Feast of Tabernacles/Booths seems to have similarities to the way we celebrate Christmas — I’m not calling it an equivalent, I’m just saying there are similarities. In Deut 16.14-15, God says “Be joyful at your Feast—you, your sons and daughters…For seven days celebrate the Feast to the LORD your God…” So God wants us to rejoice in what He has given us, spiritually AND materially.

Jesus, a man of joy – One resource pointed out that it appears that Jesus was a joyful guy. His first miracle, afterall, was providing more wine for a wedding celebration. Some of us call our gloomy asceticism spiritual. It may more “spiritual”, but I don’t know if it is Christ-like. The trendy attribute of cynicism is a far cry from who Jesus was…and wants us to be. I need to take note.

Kar’s name – One of the best surprises of my word study was to find that a primary word used for joy in Greek is, more or less, my daughter’s name. I had read at some random, unreliable online source that it meant “sweet melody”. I knew it probably wasn’t legit, but being the goofball “everything must have profound meaning” person I am, I took what I could get. But now, even if her name doesn’t really have this melodic meaning, I know it really has this joyous one.

Joy Stealer

Philippians is a fabulous read for anyone reflecting on joy, since Paul speaks of joy and rejoicing the whole way through. Talk about a guy who had learned to find the “gift” in the situation.

Lately I’ve become aware of a “new” legalism that obsesses over different things as the “traditional” legalism I normally associate with the term. New look, same bad taste.

Which is why I was intrigued by Paul’s statements in chapter 3:

Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord…Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh….(and then several verses later)…[I want to be found in Christ] not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ…

Paul is talking about circumcision, which was the legalism issue of his day: the “spiritual” people were circumcised and they considered those who weren’t to have a less sincere faith.

Legalism is much easier to identify in others, which is where I first noticed it. And then I realized that I was looking at myself; I had done the very same thing.

I felt this legalism most when I was listening to a sermon from a Texan (who will remain nameless…mostly because I want to promote anti-Texas stereotypes). I can’t remember what his sermon was really about because what I heard was “the total amount of money spent on make-up each year could solve the clean water problem in Africa”, or something like that. I don’t wear makeup, but now, if I wanted to start, I would have this little voice telling me “if you spend money on that, you are indirectly CONTRIBUTING TO AFRICA’S WATER PROBLEM!” Which, clearly, would mean I am spiritually inferior to those who send money to Africa in lieu of buying makeup.

This sermon was also about excessive Christmas spending and the whole sermon I felt myself trying to justify to him, the Texan, that I had chosen to give gifts to my children for good reasons and that they were mostly getting books or educational DVDs, which are totally not materialistic, and that yes, I had gotten the cheap Fishing Game from Wal-Mart, but they don’t have any games and they love that one and it wasn’t available anywhere else…and after justifying all my purchases to-date, I stopped and realized the absurdity of it all: this message was making me feel guilty, less spiritual, because I had chosen to buy gifts for my kids. And other members of my family. Intended or not, it had been communicated to me that the spiritual people make presents or recycle presents or hardly spend anything, instead giving their money to people in Africa, and then there were the non-spiritual people, like me, who actually bought presents from a store. In his effort to promote a consume-less Christmas, he had crossed the line into legalism.

I can’t think of anyone else who would promote such a thing. Or judge people for not doing Christmas the way she deemed to be the most meaningful and the least consumptive.

My generation has a new set of “spirituality indicators”, which do not revolve around circumcision, playing cards, or Sunday activities. The two big ones I noticed in myself were care for the environment and consumerism.

For example, I would seriously question the authenticity of a person’s faith if they drove a Hummer. Which I can say because I don’t know anyone who does. And I would list all the other ways in which I judge people regarding these two things, but I have a hard enough time finding people who like me as it is and I don’t need everyone who reads this go buy “I recycle! And you should too!” t-shirts out of fear that I will doubt their faith. So I will leave it at that.

I am repulsed by people who make me feel less-spiritual because I used disposable diapers or because I bought something I didn’t really need. And that tells me that I need to not judge others by how full their recycling bin is, or how much they spent on Christmas this year. Those are issues that might be tied closely to my faith, but that’s not what my faith is about and it is wrong for me to impose those standards upon others, and judge them for their response.

Not to mention that making sure everyone follows my rules has a serious impact on my joy. Which is why I think Paul tells us to “rejoice in the Lord” in the same breath that he addresses legalism. When I am rejoicing in the Lord, taking joy in His gift of Hope and Peace, I recognize that my salvation, my wholeness, is based on Jesus and not my carbon footprint…and that it true for everyone else too, even those people that drive Hummers.

So if I really want to experience Joy in the holiday season, it becomes necessary for me to let God be the Rule Guy. And make it my business to focus on what God gave us and not on what everyone else is giving everyone else.

Jesus’ Birthday Party!

Today was the big party day! We picked up toys. We baked cupcakes. We got helium balloons. We didn’t vacuum. We didn’t scrub toilets. We didn’t make sure everything was just right.

Afterall, what do nine kids who are five-years-and-under could care? It was certain to be mess and noise and chaos either way! And fun. Did I mention fun?

I admit, I was a little nervous, even with the help of my sister (without whom I would currently be on high doses of medication). I’m not sure what I was afraid could happen, but it didn’t. All of the kids were great and I had a lot more fun than I thought I would. And I was less tired afterwards than I thought I’d be.

Highlights include:

“Angel, Angel, Shepherd” It is much like “Duck, Duck, Goose”, only with different characters. This is Jesus’ birthday, afterall. I remembered this game from my days in little kid church and remembered how entertaining it was…for me, I mean. Happy to report it didn’t let me down. Most of the game I was laughing and it ended up with all of us running around in a circle.

The Christmas Story I gave everyone a piece from a nativity set (multiple sets included since it seems all the shepherds from both sets are throwing their own party in an unknown location) and we “acted” it out, each kid being who they were holding. Things were going well until the cow (Kar) attacked my head (me, the donkey) while I was taking Mary to Bethlehem. Somehow we also accidentally took one of the wisemen instead of Joseph. Then the sheep ran off and the story pretty well disintegrated. Good thing I wasn’t trying to impart some serious religious message.

Cupcakes! I told them I didn’t have time to decorate them, so they had to. They each got a plate with M&Ms, sprinkles and gummy bears. Some decorated. Some just ate. Some did neither and just looked around, confused. The best part was that they were happy, quiet, and still for 10 minutes.

Presents I wanted to address the “what do we give Jesus for His birthday” thing. But two years and five years are a long ways apart in terms of understanding intangible concepts, like giving Jesus our love for His birthday. In fact, if anyone was tracking with my logic, I’d love for them to explain it to me … somehow we all ended up out on our deck releasing balloons into the sky while saying “I love you Jesus”. Yes. I instigated a eco-unfriendly litterfest and called it an act of worship. It was. Then we went inside and decorated hearts to remind us that we can tell Jesus we love Him all of the time. I am so sure that lives were changed by these moments we shared; they were clearly all profoundly impacted by the insight I provided.

Playtime! Which meant my kids watched a VeggieTale Christmas movie and all the other kids played with toys.

Definitely a lot of fun, definitely something I hope to do again in the future…thanks to those that lent me their kids!

The Joy of Immanuel

(This is also “appropriated” from my Hebrew class…)

God is not intimidating to most of us. We refer to Him, talk to Him, whine to Him, talk about Him as if He were our neighbor or friend. In general, God is our buddy or maybe, for some, a rich relative that can give us what we want. As incomplete as this perception may be, it is, in part, what Jesus came to be.

We talk a lot about Immanuel during Christmas, and we all know it means “God With Us” (Matthew kindly translated…not just for us, but for his audience — most of whom didn’t speak a stitch of Hebrew). But because our culture already embraces the “God with us” concept, it might be hard to imagine what it may have been like for the pre-Jesus Israelites to encounter God.

Lucky us, Exodus 20.18-21 gets it pretty well:

Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” ….The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

God was known for His Glory. His Justice. His Power. His Holiness. His chummyness?…not so much. The people of Israel didn’t say Hey! Let’s all go hang out with God!, they said Moses, you go talk to God because we’re too scared to. Their fear, justified as it may have been, distanced them from encountering God. So they kept God far off. Too far, really, to relate too.

That was not the ideal relational setup, as far as God was concerned it seems, which is why Isaiah brings up the concept of God being with them. Among them. That was a revolutionary concept for them. And for us, if we stop to think about it.

I have my time with God while the kids are napping or resting. Several months ago, as I was putting Zabe down, he asked what I do when he is sleeping.

“Oh, I read by Bible and talk to God.”

His eyes got huge. As if I had just said The Killers, his favorite band, always comes by to hang out for a bit.

Which reminded me of how completely amazing it is that I get to talk to God. Whenever I want. The Ultimate Coolest Most Powerful Amazingest Being Ever is a guest in my house. And I don’t even have to vaccum for Him.

John 1.14 – And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

advent joy

I can’t say I was particularly looking forward to Joy week. What’s there to say or learn about joy that hasn’t already been said/learned? Plus, happiness is not my strong suite. I excel in the whiny and grumpy arts (which, unfortunately, lack government funding).

But now that I’m here, I feel a need to rejoice. On Saturday night, after understanding Peace in a new way, I realized that Joy is what naturally arises from contemplating Hope and Peace.

This notion was confirmed when I read a definition of joy that said this: “On the spiritual level it refers to the extreme happiness with which the believer contemplates salvation and the bliss of the afterlife.”

Peace, knowing the great things Jesus has accomplished for us in the past, and Hope, knowing what He will bring in the future, leads to Joy, a deep-seated happiness in the present.

Rob Bell, in his Advent sermon on Joy, shared the concept that Joy is rooted in the awareness of the gift, what you have.

Normally, I don’t reflect on what I have. I reflect on what I don’t have. Which is probable cause for the whiny/grumpy thing I’ve normally got going on.

So maybe this week, just to shake things up, when I feel compelled to complain, I should think of what, in the situation, I have. What gift I have that is sitting there, waiting to opened and appreciated, that normally I would ignore. Maybe I’ll so enjoy the experiment I’ll turn into one of those chronically happy people. Yikes!