When we were younger, or maybe even now, did you ever want to be picked first? It’s funny how being chosen can stir both joy and dread. I can still remember standing on the schoolyard playground, waiting for teams to be chosen. There was a certain thrill when your friends were picked with you, and there was relief if you weren’t the last one standing there alone. But at its core, being chosen brought a sense of joy. Someone wanted you. Someone saw you.
Luke’s Gospel opens with that kind of moment. God chooses to step into human history, and He begins by sending Gabriel with messages that would change everything. Gabriel is sent to Zechariah. Gabriel is sent to Mary. These announcements were the first signs that God was about to unleash His joy into the world.
And I imagine heaven was buzzing with excitement. Angels don’t get jealous, but I can picture an eagerness among them, a holy anticipation, to take part in what God was doing. When the angelic army lit up the night sky for the shepherds, Scripture says they praised God with joy. Heaven erupts when God is fulfilling His promises. Joy is heaven’s natural response.
And God did all of this because He has a place for each of us. He sent His Son so we could have joy, not a thin, seasonal feeling, but the deep, soul-steadying joy of forgiveness, redemption, and relationship with Him. That alone should awaken something in us. It should stir the kind of joy that rises before we can fully explain it.
When Christ is Our Source, Joy is Steady, Not Seasonal
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But if we’re honest, during the Christmas season, it doesn’t always feel that way. Sometimes joy seems like the thing that gets picked last. We talk about joy, we sing about joy, we decorate with the word joy, but we don’t always feel joy. The planning, the pressure, the travel, the spending, the expectations, can all chip away at the joy we’re supposed to be celebrating. Many of us have whispered to a spouse or coworker, “I’m ready for all this to be over.” We’re worn out. Drained. Joy feels misplaced or overlooked.
And yet joy can be rediscovered, sometimes in the most unexpected ways. It reminds me of Yellowstone National Park, one of the most unique and breathtaking places on earth. Yellowstone sits on top of a massive supervolcano. Beneath the surface, heat and pressure are constantly building, rising, pushing through cracks in the earth. That pressure creates geysers, Old Faithful shooting water 180 feet into the air, the Grand Prismatic glowing with brilliant color, mudpots bubbling and burping like thick oatmeal. No matter what shape they take, these geysers reveal the same truth: something powerful is happening underneath, and eventually it erupts to the surface.
Joy is like that. True joy has a source that runs deep within us, deeper than circumstances, deeper than feelings, deeper than the messiness of life. Sometimes joy bursts out of us like Old Faithful. Other times it bubbles up quietly like a mudpot. Sometimes it is loud and contagious. Other times it is still and peaceful. But real joy, God-given joy, always finds a way to rise up and reveal itself.
Some of the most joyful moments in our lives were not loud at all. They were the quiet moments of breakthrough, the silent tears of gratitude, the simple realization that God was with us. Joy is felt. Joy is seen. Joy is heard. Joy reminds us that something sacred is happening inside our hearts.
And that is why the Advent season is so meaningful. Advent is the season of “coming”, a season of waiting, longing, and anticipating the Savior. During Advent we look back and celebrate the coming of Jesus, and we look forward with hope to His return. It’s a season that stretches from the manger to the future kingdom. We wait actively, expectantly, joyfully. And today, on this third Sunday of Advent, we focus on joy, the joy that Christ brings, the joy that Christ is, and the joy that Christ awakens within us.
Because Christ has come to be God With Us, we can experience joy no matter what discouragement we are facing, and no matter what circumstances surround us.
Gabriel Announces Joy in the Waiting
Luke 1:5–14
When Luke opens the story of Jesus’ birth, he doesn’t begin with Mary. He begins with a couple who had been waiting for joy for a very long time, Zechariah and Elizabeth. Their story is not flashy. It is not loud. It is not filled with sudden eruptions of excitement. It is the story of two faithful people who had lived with disappointment for decades.
Luke tells us they were righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all His commands. They were the kind of people who we would consider true believers, steady, dependable, prayerful, consistent. And yet, despite their faithfulness, they carried a deep ache. They had no children. Their prayers for a child seemed to have gone unanswered. Joy felt like something that belonged to someone else.
Joy Erupts When Heaven Breaks into our Waiting
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Joy is Recognizing God’s Silence is Never God’s Absence
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The joy of Christmas begins right there. It begins with a God who steps into the silence, into the waiting, into the long years of longing, and speaks joy into places that feel ignored. Before Mary ever hears her announcement, before shepherds see angels in the sky, before a manger ever glows under the Bethlehem stars, joy is announced in the waiting place. Joy comes first to the weary. Joy comes first to the faithful. Joy comes first to the ones who think they’ve been forgotten.
Because joy is not about circumstances. Joy is about God’s presence breaking in. And when God breaks in, everything changes.
Gabriel Announces an Unexpected Joy
Luke 1:26–33
If Zechariah and Elizabeth show us that joy can rise slowly in the long waiting, Mary shows us that joy can break in suddenly, unexpectedly, and in ways that completely disrupt our plans.
Six months after Gabriel appeared to Zechariah in the temple, he is sent again, this time not to a priest, and not to the holy city of Jerusalem. Instead, he is sent to a small, quiet, overlooked village called Nazareth. Nothing important ever happened in Nazareth. No prophet came from there. No scholar taught there. No one expected anything significant to rise from such an insignificant place. But that is where God sends Gabriel.
God Brings World-Changing Joy to Unexpected Places and Unexpected People
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Mary, understandably, asks the practical question: “How can this be?” And Gabriel explains what only Heaven could explain: the Holy Spirit will overshadow her; this child will be holy, the very Son of God. And then comes the line that anchors this moment with the weight of eternity:
“For nothing will be impossible with God.”
Mary’s Joy Began with Surrender, Not Certainty
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Mary’s life is about to change in ways she never imagined. Her reputation, her relationships, her plans, her future—everything will shift. But Mary does not run from this joy. She receives it. She embraces it. She bows her will to God’s will and says, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”
God’s joy doesn’t simply decorate our lives; it redirects them. And the greatest joys of our lives often begin in the moments that surprise us the most.
Joy in the waiting (Zechariah).
Joy in the unexpected (Mary).
When Jesus enters the story, joy always follows.
Luke 1:39–45
This is why the very next thing Mary does is hurry to the hill country of Judea. She goes to Elizabeth. Why? Because joy needs a witness. Joy needs someone who “gets it.” Joy needs community.
What Mary is carrying is holy. But what Mary is carrying is heavy. And she needs someone whose faith has been awakened by the same God who awakened hers. The moment Mary walks into Elizabeth’s home, joy erupts.
Sometimes We Need a Witness Before Joy Can Become a Song of Celebration
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Mary didn’t have to explain anything. She didn’t have to defend herself. She didn’t have to convince Elizabeth of anything. All she did was say hello, and Heaven did the rest.
Joy Multiplies in Community, and is Silenced in Isolation
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It’s no wonder Mary breaks into her famous song of praise just a few verses later. Joy that is shared becomes worship. Joy that is affirmed becomes confidence. Joy that is understood becomes courage.
Make the Commitment To…
To Be OK With Being Joyful
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Joy is Your Strength
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Choose Joy
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As we close this third week of Advent, remember this: the joy of Christmas is not just a seasonal decoration, a fleeting feeling, or a social expectation. The joy of Christmas is a gift from God, planted deep within our hearts, waiting to rise.
It began in the faithful waiting of Zechariah, in the courageous surrender of Mary, and in the shared delight of Elizabeth. And it continues in you today.
So wherever you are, whether your heart feels heavy or light, choose to return to the source. Choose to rejoice. Choose to let God’s joy bubble up, fill your spirit, and overflow into the lives of those around you.
A Savior has been born, the Messiah, the Lord. Let that truth anchor your heart, fuel your strength, and bring a joy that cannot be stolen, no matter the circumstances.
Let us go and live in that joy this Christmas.
