The Voice of Joy
The Joy of Resistance: How Mary’s Magnificat Reclaims Joy in a World of Struggle
As the third week of Advent arrives, our focus turns to the pink candle, the Shepherd’s Candle—the candle of Joy. It’s a beautifully simple, three-letter word, yet Pastor Cory Gieselman of Noel United Methodist Church reminds us of a profound truth: joy is often the hardest candle to light. We associate December with “the most wonderful time of the year,” a season of cheer, but for many, it is simultaneously a time of deep exhaustion, grief, and emotional challenge. We are told to rejoice, but how do we find that genuine, abiding joy when life feels distant, unknown, or even scary? The key lies not in a forced feeling, but in a quiet, powerful voice from history: the voice of Mary, and her revolutionary song, the Magnificat.
The Hardest Candle to Light: Why Joy Feels Elusive
December is a complex month. While we navigate Christmas shopping, nativities, and parades, many in our community are navigating a first Christmas without a loved one, or simply carrying the heavy burden of the past year. We hear the popular carols urging us to be of good cheer, but as Pastor Gieselman notes, there are moments where we quietly sit back and think, “I’m trying. I want to feel joy. But it just doesn’t feel that way.”
“December can be a hard time if you are remembering the loss of loved ones… We quietly sit back and think, ‘I’m trying, but it just doesn’t feel that way.'”
This tension—the gap between the expected feeling of joy and our current reality—is precisely where the theological depth of Advent joy steps in. It reminds us that our search for true joy must begin somewhere other than ourselves.
Finding the Quiet, Strong Voice: Mary’s Circumstance
To understand the joy of Advent, we must understand the world of Mary. As a young Jewish girl living under the harsh reality of Roman occupation, she faced political oppression, heavy taxes, and violence. But beyond the external pressures, Mary faced a much deeper, more personal risk: a pregnancy outside of marriage. In her culture, this put her reputation, safety, and future in serious jeopardy.
Nothing about Mary’s circumstance screams or suggests joy. In fact, everything she faced could be described as scary and unknown. Yet, when she visits her cousin Elizabeth, Mary does not lament her fate or wait for her promise to be fulfilled. Her response to the chaos and risk is a song—the Magnificat, which means “to magnify” or “to extol.” Her joy comes in the form of praise.
Theme 1: Joy is Foundational, Not Fictional (Theology of Joy)
The joy expressed in Mary’s song is fundamentally different from a shallow, optimistic emotion. It is not about putting a smile on her face and pretending everything will be okay. Mary’s joy is deeply theological and foundationally faithful. It does not begin with a feeling; it begins with a voice and a bedrock certainty in the character of God.
Mary knew the story of her people—the history where God showed mercy to the overlooked, lifted the lonely, and kept promises even when circumstances looked bleak. Her song is rooted in the very scripture and history she would have learned.
“Mary’s joy is deeply theological. Mary’s joy is foundationally faithful. Mary’s joy is grounded at who God has proven himself to be time and time again.”
Her faith is not based on wishful thinking but on God’s proven faithfulness across generations. This is the Advent understanding: joy is a state of being grounded in the truth of who God is, regardless of what we feel in the moment.
Theme 2: Praising in Advance (The Promise Before the Fulfillment)
Perhaps the most revolutionary aspect of Mary’s joy is when she sings. Mary sings the Magnificat—her song of praise, rejoicing, and profound gratitude—before Jesus is born. She is praising God for what He will do, even before the promise is fully manifested.
This reveals one of the most important truths about the joy of Advent: Joy comes not after the promise is fulfilled, it comes when we trust that God is faithful. Mary trusts wholeheartedly that if God has spoken, God will act.
“Joy comes not after the promises fulfilled, it comes and we trust that God is faithful. Her joy is praise offered in advance of the action.”
Her song is an act of proactive faith. It teaches us that our praise in the midst of waiting is not foolish; it is a confession that God’s integrity is absolute. It is the spiritual discipline of offering praise in advance of the action we hope for, trusting in the promise that God has already spoken.
Theme 3: The Magnificat as a Way of Resistance
Mary’s song is not just a personal devotional; it is a quiet, powerful revolutionary moment. She sings of how God scatters the proud, brings down the powerful, and lifts up the humble. She proclaims that God has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.
In a world shaped by the Roman Empire—a world rooted in inequality, violence, and oppression—Mary’s joy declares that God’s kingdom operates differently.
This joy becomes a way of resistance. It is a bold statement that the injustice, brokenness, and exhaustion of this world will not have the final word. That final word rests not with the empire, not with her risk, and not with her circumstances, but with God’s unwavering promise. It shows us that true, abiding joy is about recognizing God’s powerful presence over our circumstances, even the ones we fear most.
How to Hold This Joy: Sing During the Struggle
So, how do we hold this same Advent joy for ourselves this year? We make space for it. We stop waiting for the circumstances to feel wonderful and, instead, we anchor ourselves to God’s faithfulness from before and His promises for what is to come.
We must realize that joy doesn’t deny struggle at all. It sings during it.
We lift our voices in praise even in the waiting, even during the storm, and amidst the hard times. We trust, like Mary, that the shepherd’s candle is lit, not because everything feels joyful all the time, but because God is faithful all the time.
By remembering what God has done, trusting what He is going to do, and lifting our voices now, we start to realize the powerful truth that sometimes joy follows the song rather than it precedes it.
Mary’s song still reaches through history to speak to us today. It is a powerful invitation to trust in His promises and to let a deep, theological joy break into our lives. Like Mary, may our souls magnify the Lord, and may our spirits rejoice in God. As we move closer to Christmas, we are reminded that when we receive this incredible gift of joy, we are called to always and everywhere **be good, do good, and stay in love with Christ.**
Key Takeaways from Pastor Gieselman’s Sermon
- Advent Joy is a theological act of faith, not a shallow emotion.
- True joy is found in praising God in advance of His promises being fulfilled.
- Mary’s Magnificat is a “way of resistance” against the world’s brokenness and injustice.