Sermon for Joy Sunday

The following is my draft of my sermon for tomorrow. Felt the impulse to share it. I am not as technologically sophisticated as some others on WC so I just have to paste it in. May you find cause for joy tomorrow and through the challenges of this season. Jim

(Response to Isaiah 35:1-10 and Matthew 11:2-11 as readings on Joy Sunday)

A house is burned; a woman is injured from a jump from a second story window; and she is full of joy because her son survived severe smoke inhalation.

After months of preparation, countless arguments and tearful moments, a young woman walks down an aisle and tears of joy drip down her mother’s face.

Risking murder by wandering gangs, a man walks for miles to a polling station to wait for 8 hours in the heat to vote, and tears of joy roll down his face as he gets to vote for the person of his choice for the first time in his life.

After 7 hours of painful labour, a woman gives birth to a child, and tears of joy run across her face as she looks into the eyes of this person who has been growing inside of her for the past 9 months.

A group of men and women meet on a hill top overlooking the Sea of Galilee, confused, uncertain, still questioning all that had happened over the past month or so. Their leader, whom they believed to be the Messiah, was arrested, tortured, and executed like a common criminal, hung on a pole as a warning against anyone else who might dare to challenge the status quo. There were the encounters with him risen from death, but strange encounters that felt more like a dream than the real thing. And here they were, gathered where he told them to wait for him. What did that mean? And then there he was, talking to them, saying things that still were not really making sense to them. And he gave them marching orders, go and make disciples of all the nation. Wow! They still didn’t understand everything, but they knew as they never did before that they were part of something very special. And their leader was more than they had imagined him to be. With great joy and excitement, they go into the world filled with a hope so strong, nothing could destroy it.

It is hard for someone who has never known pain or fear or deep loss to really experience joy. They may experience happiness and pleasure, but deep joy needs a dark background to be experienced.

A teacher in a poor community in New Mexico watched his students happily celebrating simple gifts. When he returned home for Christmas in Maine, he watched nieces and nephews rip through boxes and boxes of expensive gifts and end up miserable and bored in almost no time at all.

Tragedy and sacrifice provide two paths to finding joy. Tragedy and sacrifice underlie our two scripture readings.

In Isaiah’s time, the Northern Kingdom had been crushed by Assyria and Judah had just barely escaped destruction. Isaiah’s disciples composed most of the first part of this book. Today’s reading comes from a small collection of poetry that combines the pain of the experience of the people of Judea with their hopes of destruction for their enemies and a new empire under God. This passage reminds us that joy can be found in things hoped for as well as in things that are experienced. After all, much of what was promised over 2500 years ago has not yet happened. But the writer still found joy in this hope.

The passage from Matthew with its terrible signs does not sound much like joy to us. But to people who were experiencing these things: arrest in the night; persecution; random executions; there is hope in this passage, hope for an end and a purpose for their suffering. They had no proof that their community of followers would eventually establish the official religion of the Roman Empire close to 200 years later. But their confidence in Jesus allowed them to find joy in the hope expressed in this passage.

When we consider the tragedy and sacrifice that form the foundation for our faith, the tendency of religious leaders to forget or downplay the pain that is part of our history seems disrespectful. This is almost as offensive to me as our history of leaders using our faith as a vehicle to enhance their personal power over other people, or to serve the interests of the powerful in our society. Worse, it makes it difficult to experience the profound joy that is made possible by our faith, a joy that can defy experience and danger.

When the followers of Benno Muench were being burned at the stake in the Netherlands for daring to be Anabaptists, they sang hymns of praise to God as long as they could. Slaves from Africa that were forced to give up their identities and religion composed some of our favourite hymns including Go Tell It on the Mountain.

May we be able to use the promises of our faith to help us find joy in the dark and painful times of our lives.

Comments

Arminius

Posted on: 12/11/2010 15:29

Hi Jim: Great sermon, and highly approriate for Joy Sunday!

But people who post their sermons usually post them on WonderCafe Blog.

Berserk

Posted on: 12/11/2010 17:33

You express yourself well and I hope you will continue to post your sermons here. I just have 2 suggestions. (1) The sermon reads more like an Easter Sunday sermon than an Advent sermon. (2) Sermons on joy tend to ring hollow unless clear steps are articulated about the steps we can take to escape our doldrums and experience joy.

Jim Kenney

Posted on: 12/11/2010 17:42

Berserk, thank you for your comments. The chosen scriptures for Advent consistently point to the return of Jesus and the promises attached to that return. I suspect the rational may include establishing the significance of the birth of Jesus in a long term drama.

Arminius, I must admit I haven't been to blogs in months. I will keep your information in mind.

Posted on: 12/11/2010 19:53

Jim Kenney wrote:

Pan posts some of his sermons here on WonderCafe Blog, so does RevJames. I have posted some of my lay sermons on Blog as well. I am on Pan's e-mailing list for receiving his weekly sermons. They are very inspiring and informative. I have learned a lot from him and even plagiarized a little bit.

Well, as they say: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.