Advent Prayer Challenge Day 15 - December 11
Ignite Joy
Read Isaiah 35 & Psalm 146:5-10
Light three candles and say together
Come let us rejoice and shout for joy!
Reflection
It is the third Sunday of Advent. We've journeyed through two weeks on our Advent journey thus far and today we light the third candle. Do you notice how the light is growing? How it is overcoming the darkness? What we're waiting for is near!
While traditionally, the Advent candles can represent many different themes, one of the primary themes is hope-peace-joy-love. This progression feels right to me in this season when we look for examples of Jesus lighting up the darkness as the ultimate fulfillment of these gifts.
Last Sunday I sat at church near a family whose child was commenting on the hope-peace-joy-love banners that decorate our church in Advent. He couldn't see all the words on these banners so he was guessing what some of them were. "Maybe that one is kindness or patience," I overheard him say, "because the other two are Fruit of the Spirit.”
During the 8 weeks leading up to Advent, SBPkids have been doing a series on the Fruit of the Spirit based on Galatians 5:22-23. We learned that these "fruit" are the good things God grows in our life when we follow and spend time with Him. They are gifts. The children learned all the listed “fruit” in order according to the Bible verse: "But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control." As we near new-year's-resolution time, these all may seem like some great goals to work towards. But don't miss the point. These are not "fruit of our effort", these are Fruit of the Spirit. We are not meant to produce them from our own striving, we're meant to spend enough time with Jesus that He makes us more like Him. They are gifts God gives to the world through us as disciples.
While the little boy sitting near me identified two fruit of the Spirit in the two Advent banners that he could see, the truth is that among the themes of hope, peace, joy, and love, one of them is not like the other. And while today's candle on the Advent wreath is often a different colour from the others, it isn't "joy" that is out of place. Instead, Hope is not like the others, because that one, the one we start on, is not a listed Fruit of the Spirit.
Hope is like a match meant to light all of these other candles. The question we all need to ask ourselves is: what are you going to strike the match on to ignite the flame? You can choose to put your hope in a lot of places, but many of those places won't be able to light up the darkness or illuminate your way. But when you put your hope in God and in His promises, it is like a match striking against the red phosphorous that creates just the right chemical reaction for a spark to turn into a flame. And from that rightly placed hope, we open ourselves up to the gift of peace, because hope in the right place ignites peace in the unknown. The peace that comes from knowing God will keep His promises makes space for joy to ignite because all the oxygen is no longer being consumed with fear and worry. And these aren't things we produce on our own, but they are gifts from God all because of a rightly placed hope.
Traditionally speaking, this joy Sunday was also given to us as a gift along our journey to Advent. It is a reminder that what we have been waiting for is so close that we are invited to begin celebrating now. When we hope in God's promises, we can celebrate before the fulfillment because we trust Him. Knowing that God has already come to earth as our promised Messiah reminds us that God keeps His promises and He is faithful.
When we're still waiting on unanswered prayers or unfulfilled promises, we can still rejoice and celebrate because He is faithful and He is near.
Reflect and Discuss
- Where have you seen God answer prayers or be faithful to His promises in your own life in the recent past?
- How can this lead you to rejoice, even in the areas where you are still waiting on Him?
- How can you take the gifts of peace and joy that God gives you and be fruitful with them in the world around you?
Pray
Praise to you Lord, Maker of heaven and earth. You remain faithful forever. Lord, uphold the cause of the oppressed, give food to the hungry, set prisoners free, give sight to the blind, lift up those who are bowed down, watch over the immigrant, sustain the lonely, and let us share your love.
Amen.
Advent in Action
Do something to bring joy to someone else today. Perhaps consider making cookies to give away!
More information about our Advent Prayer Challenge can be found here.
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