“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”— Romans 15:13 (ESV)

The verse above brings the themes of the first three Advent weeks together: hope, peace and joy. The fourth Advent has love as its theme. This week we will look at joy.

Real joy is something beautiful and rejuvenating. When I say joy, I mean more than a short moment of happiness or fun. Joy is deeply rooted within the heart. Just like it says in Romans 15, the God of hope fills the heart with joy and peace.

And that is necessary as our brain can have a strong negative bias. Even the words can help us understand the difference. Happiness comes from what happens around us, is circumstantial, but joy is a choice.

So how can we be more joyful? What if I don’t feel joyful? In actual fact, joy is much more than an emotion, a feeling. Happiness is a feeling. Joy is a decision, a choice we have to make. Choose joy! Choose joy over the confusion, fear and resentment you may experience.

It actually is all in the Christmas story. Look at Mary, a very young woman, maybe 14 or 15 years old. She was totally confused by the situation when the angel came to her. She was betrothed to Joseph to be his wife. To be betrothed was a legally binding contract to get married, thus a lot more than an engagement today.

The angel told her: you will be pregnant. Not from Joseph, he will be confused as well, not from any man, but just because the creator of the universe, the source of all life wants it.

Mary, as confused and scared as she probably was in that moment, made a choice. She chose to obey God and choose joy. In Luke 1:46-47 (NIV) we read: “And Mary said: ‘My soul glorifies the Lord   and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.’” Mary chose to rejoice, to have joy in her heart.

Joseph was confused as well. When he learnt Mary was pregnant, he was confused, maybe even angry at first. He could have chosen to resent Mary, to become bitter for the rest of his life.

Still, the love in his heart was greater than his anger, bitterness, and confusion. He even wanted to protect Mary from public disgrace, which in those days under those circumstances could have even meant stoning to death, so he planned to leave her quietly and let people be angry at him.

Let them think the baby is from him and he got cold feet. That is true character. Taking the blame to protect the one you love. Man, if this was a test, Joseph passed it with flying colours!

After that, the angel appeared to him in a dream and told him what God had in mind. So Joseph, who was a descendant of King David, in the end did not leave Mary but became in the eyes of the world Jesus’s father. He chose to be the man Mary needed on her side.

The shepherds were scared when the angel appeared. Fear robs you of joy. You cannot fear and be joyful at the same time. Thus the first thing the angel says is: don’t be afraid.

Today we have so much anxiety and fear. Maybe we watch too much news or too many thrillers, listen to too many bad things and worry what might happen to us. Remember, our mind has a negativity bias.

So, even though we live in very safe times in a very safe place, so many of us have anxieties and fear. We worry too much.

The Herald Angel says: “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” There it is: joy to the world, for all people. The shepherds overcame their fear and chose joy, they went to the stable and saw what had happened.

The wise men, the intellectuals of the age, they came from afar because a new constellation of stars had confused them. They got into action to find out more, to investigate the meaning of the constellation.

They invested their time, intellect, and money and followed the star. They did not know where it would lead them. They were seeking the Saviour and they did not give up, even when they by mistake looked for him in the wrong places, in high places, in the palace of King Herod.

When they learnt they had to go to Bethlehem they rushed there and were filled with joy and gave even more of their treasure. They chose joy. They went to seek the Saviour, went on a long journey, one step at a time.

It can serve as a metaphor for us, seeking God and his truth is like a long journey, and it takes one step at a time, and consistent steps, and the courage to change direction when you end up in the wrong place. After they left the king’s palace and went to Bethlehem, Matthew, 2:10 (NIV) says:  “When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.”

Here we have a 2,000-year-old story and it contains all the answers we need today. Do not be afraid, choose joy, seek the Saviour. It is a story about a little baby, dependent on caring people, a mother, father, shepherds and wise men.

It is a story about God being in control of a situation that could have went wrong in so many ways, but in the end it caused millions and millions of people to have hope, peace, joy and love in their lives.

Joy begins with overcoming the fear, confusion and resentment. The King James Bible apparently tells this message 365 times: “Do not be afraid!” One for every day of the year.

God wants us to realise that we don’t need to be afraid with Him on our side. The creator of the Universe and source of life and love is with us. The Christmas message starts with that great affirmation: don’t be afraid. Don’t let the world get you down. Receive God’s love just like a little child. There is no need for power and riches. Christ is born in a stable, not a palace, as a helpless little baby, tender, and in need of love, and at the same time spreading love and joy.

I can understand that we are upset, fearful, or angry at times, and I also believe that we can control how we react to that upset. That is actually the only thing we really can control. We cannot control the world around us, but we can control how we react to it. We can be the change we want to see. We can choose not to be part of the problems but be part of the solutions. We can choose joy.

Thus, I rejoice in a God who loves you and me so much, that he came to us in the flesh, experienced our pain and carried our burdens, so that we may be free from fear. Don’t be afraid because the angel brings us Good News and there is great joy.

• Karsten Decker was the pastor of Peace Lutheran Church in Bermuda from 2010 to 2017, and after returning from Germany is now the temporary pulpit supply at Centenary United Methodist Church in Smith’s