Surfing the Joy of Christmas

 
Humour’s a funny thing! I can laugh at a good joke, but that same joke may fail to resonate with someone else. On the other hand, there are jokes that others delight in, but which leaves me cold.
So, humour is very much an individual thing, rather than one-size-fits-all.
I wonder: Would you laugh at these? A businessman ordered a flower arrangement to be sent to his friend who’d just re-located his office into an up-market building in the CBD. Dropping in later to congratulate his friend, he was shocked to see the flowers he’d ordered had been sent with a card that said, “Rest In Peace.” Outraged, he marched into the florist’s shop to complain. “It could be worse” the florist said. “This morning, someone was buried with a floral arrangement on his casket with a card that read, ‘Congratulations on Your New Location!’ ”
Then there was the lady who started a new diet. So, she drove to work each day using a different route in order to avoid passing her favourite bakery. But one day, she absent-mindedly followed her old route. Approaching the once familiar bakery, she could see the display of chocolates, donuts, and cheesecakes in the window. Feeling this was no accident, she prayed: “Lord, it’s up to you. If you want me to have any of those delicious pastries, create a parking spot for me in front of the shop!” Turning up at work later, with a large bag of goodies, she explained that on the eighth time around the block – there was the parking spot – right outside!  
The theme for the third Sunday in Advent is joy. And while laughter is essential to our sense of well-being, it can be a fleeting thing. On the other hand, joy is something much deeper – like ocean swells upon which the seas of laughter play.
As Christmas approaches and we begin to relax and embark on a much-needed break, we’ll be inclined to laugh a lot. But are these seas of laughter simply playing on the surface of life like the restless waters of a benign lake – with little depth or substance beneath? Or is our laughter riding playfully on the surface of those deep, powerful ocean-swells of joy?
Cutting through the urban myth that Christians are a morbid bunch, and the bible far from a fun-read, the fact is that the scriptures are alive with references to the depth of joy that accompanies the hope and peace embedded in a healthy and need-satisfying relationship with God! There are over 400 references to joy and rejoicing in the Bible, so I think we can safely say that joy is a major factor in God’s plan for our lives. And when we turn specifically to the Christmas narrative in the Gospels and read the story of God’s coming among his people in flesh and blood – in the story of the Christ-child’s birth – the joy factor is through the roof. In modern phraseology, joy went viral through the Christmas story. And today, it’s the substance of the celebrations that we can all enjoy – if we embrace God’s invitation to surf our way through life on the swells of the promise-based joy he imparts!