Advent joy is not a sentimental feeling, and Scripture refuses to flatten it into something shallow. The lectionary readings for the third Sunday of Advent—Zephaniah 3, Isaiah 12, Philippians 4, and Luke 3—do not describe easy times. They speak to people under pressure, people who are unsettled, people who need God to step into the middle of their reality.
And it is precisely there that joy emerges.
Zephaniah promises a God who “rejoices over His people with gladness.” Isaiah sings of a salvation that becomes a well of living water. Paul—writing from confinement—reminds believers that peace and joy come because “the Lord is near.”
Then Luke offers a surprising picture. We meet John the Baptist, thundering a message of repentance. His words are sharp, his demands weighty, and his tone urgent. Yet Luke concludes by saying that John was “proclaiming the good news.”
The doorway to joy is repentance—not as punishment, but as transformation.
Joy grows where God clears away what is broken.
Joy takes root where honesty finally replaces pretense.
Joy flourishes where hearts make room for the One who is coming.
The angels did not announce joy to shepherds because shepherds had perfect hearts—they announced joy because God had arrived to renew them.
That same renewal is still His work today.
If your life feels stretched, if your heart is tired, or if your spirit is unsettled, do not assume joy is out of reach. Advent joy does not come from pretending everything is fine. It comes from allowing Christ to step into the truth of where you really are.
Let this season be an invitation to honesty, to renewal, and to the quiet miracle of joy that follows. The Shepherds’ Candle is a reminder that joy always begins with God’s nearness—right here, right now, in the real circumstances of your life.
John Hargrove Seeking Truth and Reality 