Jesus, Be Our Light of Joy by Christiana R - Dec. 14 2025

Luke 1: 5-17 

5 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. 7 But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old. 

8 Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. 

11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear 

you a son, and you are to call him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” 

1 Peter 1:1-8 

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Intro - Meaning of Joy 

So far in this Advent season leading up to Christmas, 2 weeks ago Tara focused on Hope, Andreas taught last week on Peace, and this week we will explore what joy means, how the Old and New Testament define and describe joy, while pulling on perspectives from author and theologian C.S. Lewis. Much of what I share today is built on a paper I wrote for an undergrad course. 

Joy has been a word that I have pondered in different seasons of my life. I recall a particular season after graduating from Trinity Western. I had been very involved with the campus community as a student and found myself feeling disconnected as I searched for a new community. I questioned why I was still in the Lower Mainland and having a hard time discerning God’s direction for my future. 

Other difficult circumstances during this time prompted much contemplation of James 1:2 which says “Consider it pure joy my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.” My tendency was to downplay the ‘trials’ I was experiencing as I often thought, “there are people going through much harder things”, or that I needed to be more cheery. This bordered on “toxic positivity” or a ‘pretending to be happy’, yet also led me to better understand joy. 

Before I go any further, I invite you to consider a time, recent or from a long time ago, that you would say you experienced joy. Remember what it felt like and hold that in mind as we explore joy today. We’ll think of these as Glimmers. 

A dictionary definition of joy considers it an “emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires”. The word for joy in Greek Xapa (Chara) - means cheerfulness, calm and delight. 

The dictionary definition misses the mark of how C.S. Lewis and the Bible express how we can experience joy. 

Lewis’ search for joy began in his early years of adolescence. He experienced great grief from the loss of his mother at the age of 9. In reflections on his childhood, he uses a German word ‘Sehnsucht’ which translates to yearning, longing or craving, and it often refers to seeking after something that cannot be reached. He expresses still having moments and encounters with joy, pleasure and fun.  

At 18 years old, C.S. Lewis considered himself an Atheist. He pursued academics and became a scholar at Oxford, where he frequently discussed the meaning of religions and pagan myths with others such as J.R.R. Tolkien.  

Yet in 1931, at 33 years old, C.S. Lewis accepts Christianity to be true and realizes a new sense of complete joy from his assurance of redemption through Jesus Christ. Joy becomes a word that expresses the longing of Sehnsucht, but also is fulfilled. Going back to 1 Peter 1:8 - “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” 

C.S. Lewis went on to illustrate in many of the characters he creates, just how joy can be experienced. For example if any of you are familiar with The Last Battle - the final book of The Chronicles of Narnia. The characters have won the battle. 

Aslan - a lion depicting Christ - directs the “beloved” ones to walk further into the true, eternal world. 

“I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now...Come further up, come further in!” 

Lewis expresses that we cannot force experiences of joy, but emphasized that as we move through our lives, we ought to be present in the moment. Perhaps a way to think of it today is described as Glimmers – the moments we enjoy and savour, and in reflection and contemplation, we recognize the joy that filled that moment. 

1. Biblical understanding of joy 

Going back to the scripture we read earlier - The words mentioned in Luke 1:14: joy, delight and rejoice. The word REJOICE has meanings of “to exult, rejoice exceedingly, to be exceedingly glad”. Examples of the word rejoice in the Old Testament include times of celebration and thanksgiving. For example, when the Israelites defeated their enemies, they would proclaim deliverance as a provision from God and offer thanksgiving for the things He gave to them. To the Israelites, joy was “a deep inward feeling but is expressed in celebration when God’s people gather together”. 

Rejoicing was connected to feasts – a time when the Israelites would gather together to remember the ways God had been faithful in the past, to conduct temple worship or recognize pilgrimages. People celebrated the blessings of children, marriage, wealth, health, and life itself.

One scholar describes feasting as a “natural response of humanity to God’s presence and his saving acts.” 

In the Psalms, rejoicing again involved community, music, singing, dancing, and often referenced making glorious noise to the Lord for his external promises. Joy seemed like a full connection between the body and soul of humanity. These outward expressions of music and dancing were portrayals of the inner mood of intensely satisfied joy - “a state of well-being and happiness springing from one’s living relationship with God.” 

Lastly, but arguably most importantly, the prophetic books of the Old Testament also frequently mention their anticipation of salvation as we see in Isaiah 51:11 Those the Lord has rescued will return. 

 They will enter Zion with singing; 

 everlasting joy will crown their heads. 

Gladness and joy will overtake them, 

 and sorrow and sighing will flee away. 

The Israelites were hopeful, expecting that a Messiah would bring them into closer relationship with God and correlated that closeness of relationship and deliverance, to offer greater experiences of joy. 

As we read in Luke 1:14 -15 - “He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.”

John the Baptist’s surprise birth announcement after thinking they were too old to have children brought Zechariah and Elizabeth much joy. John the baptist also represented the continued anticipation of Christ’s coming. 

We join this same spirit of anticipation from these Old & New Testament examples of awaiting Christ’s birth as we journey through the season of advent. 

2. Difference between joy and happiness 

Now to return to my earlier comments about joy and happiness, and I’ll add pleasure in here. Happiness and joy are commonly thought to be synonymous but C.S. Lewis would likely argue it is more likely happiness and pleasure that are similar. Happiness is often a short-term feeling, dictated by events and changes fleetingly with circumstances. Interestingly, this may mean happiness derives itself from joy, but not always joy from happiness. 

Lewis considered that Joy is an experience that can supersede the emotions of pleasure and happiness. In this same way James 1:2 and other scriptures, express joy to be present regardless of circumstances. One example from my past summer, when attending a funeral of an extended family member, there was much grief and sadness in the circumstances. Yet there, by knowing we could hold onto the hope of eternal life as well as trusting God will walk alongside my cousins, was reassuring. Also there were still joyful moments shared in the gathering together as a family. 

In a similar way that Andreas talked about peace being possible regardless of circumstances. 

Through trial and error, Lewis found that the only truly satisfying experience of joy was through Christ. Lewis saw joy as something ‘other and outer’ in comparison to himself where he was able to see beyond the present moment because “Joy allows us to see these situations in context of a bigger picture.” 

3. Conclusion 

In the process of reflecting on joy in the past couple of weeks and writing in the past few days, this conclusion has shifted significantly! 

When chatting with a couple friends about our recent joyful experiences, we all talked about spending time with friends, being fully in the present moment. Doing mutually enjoyed activities. And times filled with laughter. These are all wonderful moments and are good to bring to mind and share with one another, yet it became apparent to me that there wasn’t any explicitly Christmas, advent or direct connections to my salvation popping up.  

This has brought me to a conclusion that I have described two different ‘joy’ experiences. One is that thinking about “Glimmers” is likely a universal experience of joy for all people, regardless of one’s belief. Perhaps the joyful experience you called to mind earlier is similar - that there was nothing explicitly tied to salvation about it, and I would say, that is just fine. It is still good to celebrate these glimmers, just like the Old Testament rejoicing in community was a theme. Don’t get me wrong, when life feels like it is going smoothly, and these glimmers are popping up all the time, it is good to acknowledge God’s faithfulness and gift of his blessings in our lives.

The 2nd experience of joy is in the completeness we receive through salvation. C.S. Lewis described Sehnsucht as a powerful longing, but it was the fulfillment of his joy that came through Christ. The writers in the New Testament remind us that experiences of joy can supersede our circumstances. 

In moments of pain, loneliness, suffering, maybe when you don’t get the acknowledgement you were hoping for at work, when you get difficult news, or there is a relationship in your life that is painful or challenging, … We aren’t meant to ignore or shove down the difficult feelings with ‘pretend happiness’. 

These are the moments where faith invites us to lean on the hope, peace and joy that God promises in his love, as 1 Peter 1:8 reminds us of the promise of salvation. In learning from C.S. Lewis and the scriptures, when the days feel hard, we can be reminded of the eternal perspective and that God is alongside us. 

I also see this as an invitation for us all to share with others the story of Christ’s birth, with all the anticipation and delight it holds. As it says in Luke 2:10 ESV — And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 

Whether we are sharing life’s glimmers or navigating trials and may we boldly share with others the completeness found in Christ’s joy. 

May our desire for joy and our intentional noticing of joy-filled experiences continually lead us into deeper relationship with God and with others. 

Why? because this advent season is a reminder that Christ is the true source of our joy and his love for us will remain faithful forever. 

In the words of the song we are about to listen to - Zach Williams’ song Old Church Choir: “There ain't nothing gonna steal my joy, No there ain't nothing gonna steal my joy.”