Advent 3 - Invitation to Joy

by Rev Ralph Mayhew

Joy is synonymous with Christmas, all of the lights and decorations, presents and food, friends and family, where everyone puts their issues and burdens aside to partake in the Christmas spirit. This is an illusion of course. Pain, struggle and heartache don’t suddenly get switched off as we move through Advent.

For some, Christmas becomes a harsh reminder of what there isn’t in their lives to be joyful about, which, beautifully, is where the true power of Christmas is. When Christ arrived in Bethlehem, it wasn’t the famous bustling city it is today, but a long forgotten and enthusiastically ignored town.

Yet this is where God chose to enter into his creation! He chose a place of desolation to transform with joy. It was upon Christ’s entry, all who encountered him were overcome with joy. A joy that surpassed their circumstance, their geography, their injustice, their status, their mindset. A joy lavished upon us by God, to transform the desolate into the divine.

I’m reminded of a film made in 2000, called Chocolat, which begins with a mysterious woman named Vianne Rocher, who arrives in a small French village with her daughter and opens a chocolaterie. It was a daring act in a community devoted to restraint and moral order. There is great distrust, that what she is offering could possibly be of benefit to them, in fact the opposite was feared. Vianne persists and her chocolates become more than sweets; they are symbols of warmth, grace, and joy, awakening laughter, courage, and kindness in people long burdened by fear, judgment, and struggle.

Vianne’s chocolates were not just sweets; they were invites of joy. Her shop became a refuge where life’s flavours — laughter, freedom, forgiveness — begin to stir again in a community that had become defined by its lack of joy.

As people tasted her creations, long-suppressed hopes awoke: a widow rediscovers companionship, an abused woman finds courage, a grumpy old man remembers kindness.

The awakening they experience is reminiscent of Isaiah’s (35:1) prophecy and the Psalmist’s longing (Ps 146). It is what happens when Jesus moves into our desolation, transforming it into joy. So today, let’s reflect on:

• How might you have mistaken the illusion of Christmas cheer with the deeper joy that only comes from Christ’s presence?

• What posture do you need to adopt to experience the refuge of joy that Christ’s coming brings?

• What desolated places in your story are Jesus inviting you to bring to him?

This Christmas, regardless of your circumstance, you are invited to Christ, our refuge of joy, that he might turn your places of desolation into divine encounters of grace.