Silly Songs, Serious Joy
Maybe it was a silly song, and maybe I was just 17, but maybe it was an unorthodox way to express the joy of the Lord.
Surely, during this advent season you have sung, or soon will sing, the hymn, “Joy to the World.” “Silent Night” and “Joy to the World” usually top the most popular Christmas hymns each year. While “Joy to the World” is a wonderful song for us to sing at Advent, it isn’t really a song about the birth of Christ. The truth is that Isaac Watts, who first wrote this hymn, was actually writing more about Christ’s second coming than he was his first coming. During Advent we celebrate both.
We often mistakenly sing “Joy to the world, the Lord has come,” but Watts actually wrote, “Joy to the world, the Lord is come,” referring to the future coming of Jesus. Maybe we can sing joyfully because of our Lord’s first coming while we long for and await his eventual return when there will truly be no more sins ruling or thorns growing. Then Christ will truly reign with truth and grace.
At age 17 I was a naive worship leader for a summer at a camp in Lake Wales, Florida, called Lake Aurora Christian Camp. All summer long, I led the singing for each week of camp. Each week was a different age group, so I had to adjust the songs to the age of each group. I can’t claim to have known anything about leading worship at the time, but I just did what seemed like the best thing to do: strum my guitar and sing, trusting that the campers would sing along. And they did!
I sang a lot of silly songs with the campers in some parts of the day, and at other times I led songs I thought would help them discover moments of surrender and joy in worship. One of the things that I often did was use popular songs to get the campers singing, and then I would transition to songs that had more meaning.
A popular song in the early ’70s was by Three Dog Night. Some of you may remember this band’s biggest hit, “Joy to the World.” It was a nonsensical song that opened with the line, “Jeremiah was a bullfrog.” Every time I hit those three walk-up chords, the campers jumped right up and belted out this hit song. I suppose that some of the grown-ups in the room questioned my choice of songs, yet somehow, I think this connection helped me lead students to discover the joy of the Lord. In fact, I often transitioned this crazy song right into the hymn “Joy to the World,” and the students enthusiastically sang that hymn right along with me.
Throughout Advent, we remember the first coming of Jesus to earth. Our hearts our filled with gratitude as we consider that God sent his only son to the world, that we might receive the gift of eternal life. In Advent we also remember that Jesus promised to return again and to renew and restore all that was broken by the curse of sin. As we wait and pray for his return, we are reminded that Jesus brought joy to the world at his birth. And even through our momentary sufferings, we can experience his joy daily.
Our worship is an offering of praise to God as we sing the songs of Christmas. But I suspect God enjoys our expressions of joy that sometimes might even be filled with hilarity. The songwriter claimed that his bullfrog friend, Jeremiah, always had some mighty fine wine. I am pretty sure when Jesus returns and we celebrate at the banquet table in heaven, we might find an even better vintage.
Father, today open our hearts to express your love to others with joy. Use us to encourage others on their journey of faith. Help us to never be stodgy in our expressions of faith but live lives full of joy that others might come to know you as Savior and Lord. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Your Time with God’s Word
Psalm 98:4-6; Revelation 19:6-9, 21:3-7; Jeremiah 31:3-7; James 1:2-6 ESV
Photo by Edward Cisneros on Unsplash
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