Today’s Scriptures: Psalm 146:5-10; 1 Samuel 2:1-8; Luke 3:1-18
“Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry.” – Psalm 146:5-7
The Jewish people modeled the idea of eschatological joy for us as Christians. They were always defiantly hopeful of the second coming of David. Even when they were not sure how God would fulfill this promise while they were in exile or while enemies occupied their promised land, they had joy and hope. I am sure you are thinking about the entire book of Lamentations, or Jeremiah’s sad prophetic words to Israel. The brokenness and sadness that permeate several Old Testament stories would seem to contradict this very idea. Our understanding of joy is too naïve. Joy is not some persistent dopamine trip happiness that ignores the very real brokenness of our world. It is hopeful, defiant joy against the evil around us, which has been defeated and is being overcome with every breath of our living Savior and his church’s refusal to surrender.
This defiance looks like homeless ministries going into the streets to give food and blankets while sharing the Good News of Christ’s resurrection. It is the defiant hope of praying outside of abortion clinics and weeping with terrified mothers. It is standing in a prison and preaching a Gospel of true freedom. It is holding the hand of people taking their last earthly breath without fear because they know that their savior lives. This defiant joy looks in the face of sin and death and says I know that you think you have won, but Christ has defeated death, and your reign is done. This is true joy, joy that cannot be shaken. This is the joy that began with our King’s birth.
Questions:
- How does the concept of “defiant joy” in the face of suffering challenge or reshape your own understanding of what it means to be truly joyful as a follower of Christ?
- In what specific situations in your life or in your community can you actively embody the kind of hope and justice described in Psalm 146 and the devotional’s examples?