After a service of ordination to the Christian ministry, a sad-faced woman came up to the newly-ordained pastor and said, "It's a grand thing you are doing as a young man - giving up the joys of life to serve the Lord." That woman's attitude reflects a commonly held belief that to be serious about our faith means that we expect all joy to be taken out of living. For many, Christianity appears to be a depressing faith, with unwelcome disciplines, that cramps our lifestyle and crushes our spirits.

In one Doonesbury cartoon, an officer is standing by the bedside of a Navy sailor who is in sick bay aboard a cruiser. The officer says, "We've got you scheduled for surgery at four bells tomorrow! Your surgeon will be Commander Torres." As he leaves the officer says, "Well, take care, sport. I'll see you tonight during rounds." The sailor is puzzled and says to the officer, "What exactly do you do here?" The officer replies, "I'm ship's morale officer." And wide-eyed, the sailor says, "You mean, a ... a chaplain?" And the officer replies, "No. No. I really do cheer people up!"

How sad that this word joy which Isaiah uses so many times in our text for today is so often thought to be the very opposite of faith! What a commentary that is on we Christians who seem to be saints with sour faces - people who talk about rejoicing before the Lord but who give little evidence of that joy in our living. When you turn to the pages of the Bible, you find that word joy or its variants being used more than 350 times in the scriptures. Isaiah speaks here of a new beginning in the history of Israel. The prophet foresees a time of light and peace after the terrible suffering Isaiah has endured in the long and oppressive reign of Tiglath-Pileser.