SERMON: WHAT IF THERE WERE NO JOY? – December 13, 2009

Listen to the Sermon:  sermon 12-13-09

Scripture Reading: Zephaniah 3:14-20; Philippians 4:4-7

An old classic story is set in an ancient monastery whose main task was to copy scriptures. One day the leader, Father Florian, was asked by a new monk: “Does not the copying by hand allow for chances of error? How do we know we are not copying the mistakes of someone else? Are the copies ever checked against the originals?”

“A very good point,” Father Florian agreed. “I will take one of the latest books down to the vault and compare it to the original.”

After the day had passed and the priest had not returned, the monks began to worry. When they went to the vault, they found him weeping over an ancient manuscript.

“What is the problem, Father?” asked one of the monks.

“A mistake,” he sobbed. “The word was supposed to be celebrate!”

Of course we know this is only a joke – “celibate” was never confused with “celebrate.” However, what about our tendency to leave celebration out of our faith?  Why have we turned a living, dynamic relationship with the God who made us, into a lifeless system of following rules and regulation?  Why do we call it “good news” – “greatest story that was ever told” – and then act as if there were nothing to celebrate?

You “English teacher type people” are going to have to help me with this one.  Is it true it is not grammatically correct to ask “what if there were no joy?”  That is what the grammar checker in my word processor says.  I don’t mind the spell checker.  That has saved me from more than one unwanted mistake but the grammar checker sometimes drives me crazy – passive voice, consider revising – fragmented sentence, consider revising – sentence too long, consider revising.

Whether or not “what if there were no joy” is grammatically correct I am going to use it because I like the sound of it better than “what if there was no joy?”

Before we get to any of that – a quick lesson in church worship.  It seems every year we discuss the order and the color of the advent candles.  What is most confusing is the third candle, which we designate as pink.  One would think the candles should all be the same or if any candle was a different color it would be the fourth candle lit on the Sunday just before Christmas.

Technically, the third candle is rose-colored.  You may remember that until just a few years ago our altar clothes leading up to Christmas were purple just like during the period of Lent.  To be honest, I’m not sure why the “powers that be” shifted from purple to blue except to maybe give greater distinction to the two seasons but many, many years ago purple was used at both seasons to mark them as periods of penitence.  During these seasons, Christians were to take stock of themselves through prayer and fasting.  On the Third Sunday of Advent, the people lit a rose candle to symbolize joy and on that day the fast was laid aside.  This Third Sunday was traditionally called Gaudete Sunday – gaudete being the Latin imperative for “rejoice!”

“Joy” is the word for today and “joy” should be a defining word in describing the life of a follower of Christ.

What about joy?  Is there joy?  Do you have joy?  What is joy?  Why do we people of faith sometimes act as if there were no joy?  What is the difference between joy and happiness?

Even though the fine distinctions between “joy” and “happiness” are subtle, a good place to start is to understand their difference.  Happiness is affected by outward circumstances.  Joy is not touched by outward circumstances.  Happiness comes to us.  Joy comes from within us.  Happiness is based on human experience.  Joy is based on divine experience.  Happiness is elusive.  Joy is certain.  Happiness is based on our past, our present and our perceived future.  Joy is based on a God who is the same yesterday, today and forever.

We get a better idea of what joy is all about when we consider the context in which joy finds itself in the scriptures.

Zephaniah is a good example.  The words of Zephaniah, the prophet, cover three short chapters.  Our portion, this morning, contains words of joy: vs. 14 – “Sing, O Daughter of Zion, shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your hearts, O Daughter of Jerusalem!” vs. 15 – “The king of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall fear disaster no more.” vs. 17 – “The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing ….”

Earlier in Zephaniah, the words are not nearly so positive.  Zephaniah has some very strong words for these same people who are invited to be joyful. “The great day of the LORD is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the LORD is bitter …. That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness … Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the LORD’S wrath; in the fire of his passion the whole earth shall be consumed; for a full, a terrible end he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.” (Zephaniah 1:14-18 NRSV)

These are horrendous words of judgment.  How can the same prophet, after sharing stuff like that, invite the people to be joyful?

It is actually rather simple.  Gloom and doom and much suffering are the end result when human beings ignore their Creator.  Hope and joy comes when human beings acknowledge and submit themselves and their plans to an almighty, all-loving God.  God has set into place an unstoppable destiny – a destiny in which love will win out over hate – a destiny in which the poor and the powerless will be lifted up and the rich and powerful will be brought low – a destiny in which there will be an end to sickness and sorrow – a destiny in which life will destroy death once and for all.

If there is any book of the Bible permeated with joy it is Paul’s letter to the Philippians.  The joy Paul commends is not something that any of us can pursue.

One of the foundational texts of American social and political life affirms that we have the right to “the pursuit of happiness.”  Here is another clue to the difference between joy and happiness. Happiness is something that is pursued and our happiness is affected by how we come out in that pursuit. The possibility of joy comes to us because God in His great, great love is pursuing us, inviting us into His life and His future. (prompted by James H. Evans, Jr. Feasting on the Word, Year C, Vol. 1, p. 64)

Paul writes, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.  Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4-7 NRSV)

The formula for joy is Lord-centered – rejoice in the Lord … always be aware that the Lord is close at hand … in everything let your requests be made known to God … the peace of God will guard your hearts.  Paul tells us that when we give our attention and our needs to the Lord the result will not only be “joy” but also a peace so incredible and so deep and so permeating that is defies human understanding.

We who find ourselves as middle-class Americans have a problem with joy because we cannot imagine anything better than what we have right now.  If we do imagine anything better it is defined by what we already have – more money, more stuff, less stress and less interference by others.  Some of us have seen the evidence on mission trips or as we have touched the lives of disadvantage brothers and sisters in our own community, that there are people who have a whole lot less than we do but are far more in touch with a God-centered joy.  Joy is not dependent on the things of this earth.

What if there were no joy?  There will be no joy if we leave God out of the equation.  There will be joy if we place our attention and stake our future on what matters to God.

Joy to the world, the Savior reigns!  Let all of us – together – our songs employ.  With fields and floods, rocks, hills and trees may we repeat again and again and again the sounding joy.  Let us rejoice.