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While the world celebrates joy, some people feel distanced from the celebration. The death of a family member, the diagnosis of cancer, the loss of a job, these are things that nobody wants to hear about when they get together for a Christmas party. And so some people remain silent during this time of the year. They suffer but they suffer alone. They can even feel distanced from church, as if their sorrow should not be seen, their voices not heard, because their suffering makes them not belong. It is for these silent sufferers that this sermon is written. It stresses the paradoxical truth that Christian joy in this world is joy in the midst of sorrow. We have joy not in the absence of sorrow but rather joy in the one who comes to us, Jesus Christ, in the midst of our sorrow. Read Zephaniah 3:14-20, Hebrews 12:2, and Luke 6:17-23.