Healing Advent: Joy

“Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her king, let every heart prepare him room and heaven and nature sing!” 

Now that I have the carol officially stuck in your head, consider with me the depth of the promise that simple carol is declaring over the halls of crowded shopping plazas and into the cars of the many waiting in holiday traffic. The earth, the whole earth, is receiving her king. Heaven and nature together sing out of the abundant joy of knowing that Christ has come and is ruling the world with truth and grace. 

Here at Restor(y) we talk often about restoration. We yearn and long for the restoration of God’s bride, the church. This third week of advent, the one declaring “joy to the world!” reminds us that our working for the restoration of the church is about a far richer and deeper promise. As we meditate on the lectionary passages for this week and slow down long enough to consider the words to the long loved carol, “Joy to the World” we are reminded that the work God is doing to restore his church, the work we are seeking to join him in, is truly a work designed to restore the world. 

One passage used to mark this week of advent is Isaiah 61:1-4 which reads:

“The Lord God’s spirit is upon me,

    because the Lord has anointed me.

He has sent me

    to bring good news to the poor,

    to bind up the brokenhearted,

    to proclaim release for captives,

        and liberation for prisoners,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor

        and a day of vindication for our God,

    to comfort all who mourn,

to provide for Zion’s mourners,

    to give them a crown in place of ashes,

    oil of joy in place of mourning,

    a mantle of praise in place of discouragement.

They will be called Oaks of Righteousness,

    planted by the Lord to glorify himself.

They will rebuild the ancient ruins;

    they will restore formerly deserted places;

    they will renew ruined cities,

    places deserted in generations past.”

For many of us, we know this passage as Jesus’ inaugural message, the first sermon he delivers in his ministry. I’m sure he chose it for many reasons and we can only guess at most of them, but during this season of advent, while contemplating joy, I wonder if one of the reasons he chose this passage was because it serves as a reminder of how far reaching the promise of the Messiah was. It was a promise of complete restoration. No person is outside of the reach of this promise, the land itself is included in its healing, entire cities will be restored. This is not a promise limited to the salvation of an individual. This is not a healing limited even to people, it touches every component of the created world. It is a promise whose fulfillment would cause not only humankind to rejoice, but all of creation as well. Yes, joy to the world, the Lord, the Lord of all things has come. 

What does this mean for those of us who so earnestly desire to see an end to abuse in the church? What does that mean for those of us who desire to see the church restored to the beautiful community she was created to be, seeing the phrase “church trauma” become irrelevant? It means we recognize that the coming of Jesus means that such restoration is possible. It reminds us that Jesus’ incarnation, the baby in the manger, doesn’t only present much joy and hope to individuals but to entire communities, including the church. It means where we see ruins, churches collapsing, where we see deserted places, people leaving the church, we recognize God is at work there. Perhaps above all, these words from Isaiah and the treasured lyrics to “Joy to the World” remind us that the key to seeing this healing and restoration come is allowing Jesus to be Lord. When Jesus is Lord, all creation will rejoice for its healing has come, healing that extends far beyond our imaginations into the places we have deemed irredeemable. As we work for restoration in the church this passage and the message of advent remind us that what we’re truly working for is the healing of the entire created world, the fulfillment of that second advent, when Christ will come again and all shall be well. Let us work together with hope and joy this season.