Joy That Cranes Its Neck

As we come to celebrate the Supper during the season of Advent, it is necessary to remind you of the temptations that come with “penitential” seasons like Advent and Lent.

This is a meal closely associated with the death of our Savior. The wine is the blood, and the bread is the body of the Lord, as we all know. But though it is associated with a death, this is not a sparse little meal at a wake. We are not nibbling at food absent-mindedly, consumed by our grief. We are not weeping for Tammuz, but rather celebrating the forgiveness that has been purchased for us in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We are partaking of the body and blood of Christ, but we do not partake of a dead Christ. He is risen. We know this, and are not permitted to forget about it during the course of the church year. In each portion of the church year, as we reenact a particular aspect of Christ’s life, we also remember the whole story. This means that in every season of the church, the bedrock is always joy.

As we approach Christmas, the principal emotion we should feel is that of anticipatory joy, expectant joy, joy that cranes its neck. As we come to Christmas Day, our emotion will be that of joy satisfied, joy fulfilled, and joy that looks forward, with Mary, to the day when her heart would be pierced with many sorrows, and the day, three days after that, when all things in heaven and earth were put right. So come, eat and drink the joy before you.