Joy Made Possible

Scripture Passage

Isaiah 35:1–10 (NLT)

1 Even the wilderness and desert will be glad in those days. The wasteland will rejoice and blossom with spring crocuses. 2 Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers and singing and joy! The deserts will become as green as the mountains of Lebanon, as lovely as Mount Carmel or the plain of Sharon. There the Lord will display his glory, the splendor of our God. 3 With this news, strengthen those who have tired hands, and encourage those who have weak knees. 4 Say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, and do not fear, for your God is coming to destroy your enemies. He is coming to save you.” 5 And when he comes, he will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf. 6 The lame will leap like a deer, and those who cannot speak will sing for joy! Springs will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams will water the wasteland. 7 The parched ground will become a pool, and springs of water will satisfy the thirsty land. Marsh grass and reeds and rushes will flourish where desert jackals once lived. 8 And a great road will go through that once deserted land. It will be named the Highway of Holiness. Evil-minded people will never travel on it. It will be only for those who walk in God’s ways; fools will never walk there. 9 Lions will not lurk along its course, nor any other ferocious beasts. There will be no other dangers. Only the redeemed will walk on it. 10 Those who have been ransomed by the Lord will return. They will enter Jerusalem singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Sorrow and mourning will disappear, and they will be filled with joy and gladness.

Focus Statement

God’s deliverance of Israel and of us is cause for joyful celebration –

human celebration and the celebration of all creation!

Point of Relation

When growing up, people would tell me I had a beautiful voice.

My elementary school music teacher especially would always tell me that I sounded like I belonged in the Vienna Boys Choir.

I had one of those voices...

But, as is the case, pubertiy hit and my voice changed.

I went from being a boy alto to a Tenor, as it were...

and there was more masculinity in my voice as, well, that’ show hormones work, right?

I remember one time visiting my elementary school music teacher while junior in high school...

And I shared with her the music that my band had recorded...

Her response: “Wow, I used to love your voice as a little kid…I wish it still sounded that way.”

NO JOKE. That was her response, which hit me like a bag of bricks.

My confidence in my own voice was shot.

From that point on, I tried to change it…make it deeper (because I didn’t think I was good singing “high” any more)...

And this perception defined me and my music writing for years because of how I perceived my own natural voice through the words of my former music teacher....

All the way up until I met my friend Eugene

who heard the kind of Tenor range I could hit and he really built my confidence back up

because he kept telling me what a voice I had and kept challenging me to sing with him and hit higher notes.

That encouragement brought about confidence in my ability which brought about a transformation in the way I approached singing as well as my vocal ability.

Now, I know my voice and my vocal abilities and have been blessed with opportunities to use them.

And I find joy in singing when and where I am able to.

Things to Consider

What about on a larger scale? Let’s look at the fact that during a time of pandemic and isolation…

when our church was shrinking in ways we could never have predicted…

our Sunday School Superintendant kept the ball rolling…kept the kids engaged.

When we returned in person, the KIDS RETURNED as well!

What’s more, because of that the Sunday School is growing and we have more kids in church now than we have ever since I have been here.

Think about the joy that sows…joy in the kids, joy in the parents, joy in our church as we see young ones build their relationship with Jesus!

Friends, as the body of Christ, we can help one another find joy in supporting one another

as we continually grow closer to God and to one another.

What Scripture Says

The coming of Jesus,

something many didn’t think possible,

is a source of transformative joy for all creation.

This type of joy is not simply a state of happiness or good pleasure.

Joy is dependent on who Jesus is and what Jesus offers,

rather than on what is happening around us.

It is a deep seated and pervasive way of being

that can sustain us even through difficulties and times when we don’t feel happy.

In Isaiah we see three ways joy is at work.

FIRST: The joy of all creation: In verses 1-2 and 6b-7, the passage describes the joy of creation.

The earth itself blossoms in the desert where that didn’t seem possible and creation itself sings out praises to God.

Just like with peace and hope in the last two weeks’ readings, the prophet is describing a promised future here.

This joyful celebration of all creation may seem impossible and hard to imagine,

especially as our planet and environment face grim challenges today.

But in the gift of Jesus, God in the world with and for us, we have been given a promise of redemption for all creation.

This promise is the source of our joy, and it allows us to experience joy here and now.

In the meantime, Advent teaches us to wait actively for that day by preparing for it.

Only God can make “the dry land glad and the desert rejoice and blossom”;

however, if we believe in God’s promise to do this, it belongs to us to prepare for its fulfilment.

This might be a time to highlight earth care and environmental stewardship.

What does it look like for your congregation to faithfully anticipate God’s deliverance of all creation?

NEXT we come across, TRANSFORMATIVE JOY.

In verses 3-6a, the passage highlights the transformative power of joy.

As you preach from today’s text, have an awareness that verses 5 and 6 may be heard in a way that does not celebrate various abilities. We ask that you exercise caution.

After describing a future joy-filled creation,

Isaiah describes the people being encouraged, praying for strength and courage for those who are suffering, weak, and afraid.

Isaiah 35:4 “4 Say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, and do not fear, for your God is coming to destroy your enemies. He is coming to save you.””

“YOUR GOD IS COMING.”

This is the message of Christmas too, that here,

in this Jesus, is our God.

In Is 35:4 the prophet says, “He is coming to save you.”

It may not be the vengeful type of salvation pictured in Isaiah,

but it is most definitely a salvation that strengthens and casts out fear!

This God, the God we see in Jesus, is the source and reason for our joy.

The joy of his salvation is what transforms us from weakness and fear

to strength and courage as we await the day when all creation will celebrate!

And finally, in today’s Scripture passage, we see HUMAN JOY ON THE WAY:

The image of a path, journey, or way comes up a lot in scripture.

We saw it in week 1 too,

when we talked about learning God’s ways of peace that we may walk in his paths.

Here, again, in verse 8 we learn about a holy highway to this place of peace, hope, and joy.

Jesus is the Way as revealed in John 14:6, that we travel on this Christian life.

In the waiting time of Advent, the image of a highway reminds us that waiting is not passive or stationary.

While we wait for what only God can do, we also move forward on God’s way.

And, as described in verses 8-10, we get to experience joy along the way.

Joy is not reserved for the destination.

It is a deep abiding presence on the journey.

This joy can lead us towards seeing the impossible become a reality.

What This Means for Us

We can encourage one another as we journey the path God is calling us to follow.

Recognizing and celebrating one another is a great way for transformation to flourish.

What can each of us do today/this week to lift one another up in our journeys of faith?

Or you might consider asking people to look at it from this angle:

What needs to shift to start looking for and experiencing real joy in what Jesus has done

instead of expecting to find our joy in things that can only give us temporary happiness/pleasure and that will often disappoint?

How might we tap into that deeper source of our joy as we travel toward Christmas this year?

What This Means for Us

How can we as a church community use this season of Advent and the start of a new year

as a time to make what we once thought of as impossible, possible?

What in our own community needs to be transformed

through the coming of Christ so that the world may have more joy?

Again, as I have the past couple of weeks, prayerfully walk around your neighborhood, town, community and assess the needs...

Then bring those needs to our church’s attention and we can work together on serving those as Christ called us too...

Bringing us closer to them and bringing them closer to Christ and his Kingdom. Amen? Amen.