Joy

 
Transcribed from the sermon preached August 16, 2009

 
The Reverend Max Lynn, Pastor

Scripture Readings: Psalms 65:5b-13, Proverbs 12:15-20, John 15:9-16, Hebrews 12:1-2

Joy, Joy and more Joy.  What are those things that bring us joy?  Joyful, Joyful, we adore thee, God of glory, God of love.  Hearts unfold like flowers before thee, opening to the sun above.

Ps.65

v.5 O God of our salvation,
who art the hope of all the ends of the earth,
and of the farthest seas;

You crown the year with thy bounty;
the tracks of thy chariot drip with fatness.
[12] The pastures of the wilderness drip,
the hills gird themselves with joy,
[13] the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
the valleys deck themselves with grain,
they shout and sing together for joy.

This psalm reminds me of the Salinas valley.  Early in the morning, under low clouds that serve like God’s refrigerator, I would drive through the crisp air from Salinas to the surf in Moss Landing, through nine miles of dark soil and lush crops of artichoke, lettuce, celery, and broccoli, a giant salad bowl.  Migrant laborers, enjoying that first body warmth from tending the fields, load trucks that carry fresh produce to market.  All too often the slow trucks would pull out of the field in front of me, billowing with abundance: their muddy tracks dripping with fatness.  When the trucks would pull out and hit the bump of the pavement, food often falls off and scatters along the roadside.  I stop and pick up the least crushed samples, distracting, for a moment, the red tail hawk, perched on a telephone pole, from searching out for her morning breakfast.

          With the Elkhorn slough stretching inland, great blue herons, great egrets, and double-crested cormorants share hills with lazy, fat cattle.   

          Sea ducks and loons squawk and fly about, or float content in the glassy water.  Otters and seals shift from playful flops to swift intension as the tide sucks out fish from the narrowing under the bridge. 

          Now we might say that the psalmist is projecting or transferring his feelings upon nature, but when the world, or even our little piece of it is thriving, the fecundity can be so deep you are certain everything, the whole grand picture is a song of joy, singing praise to the Creator. “Thou makest the outgoings of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.”

          There are so many things that may bring us joy and happiness.  I love being out in nature.  Others gain their greatest satisfaction and joy from the comfort of home, of the place where one has built a life and family.  There is also powerful joy in being able to participate in those nodal events in the life of family and friends: birth, baptism, graduation, marriage, retirement, death and resurrection.  We may have found great meaning and joy in making a contribution to a common cause, using our mind and body.  I often find myself living in amazement at what this crazy chance of a species is able to do: heart surgery, great bridges, so many people doing so many things; I am actually amazed that the world isn’t more messed up and evil than it is.

          How awesome it can be to grow up and experience new things, new abilities, to gain in wisdom and knowledge. Why are children so joyous playing in a lake?  When I think of happiness, one of the first things I think of is the glee of a girl skipping.  What a joy it is to have the screams of the camp, of childcare and preschool here at St. John’s.   

          If one is so lucky to have grown into one’s sexuality in a relatively trusting and healthy environment, with parents and family that, by God’s grace, were good enough, (and praying for power and healing for those whose trust was betrayed, for ourselves – regardless of how small the offense), we may still marvel with nostalgic bliss, how amazing is it to become aware of one’s sexuality:  the crush, the wonder and amazement of realizing beauty.  Like, “Gosh, she’s cute”.  The intolerable tension of the desire to grow up, the attraction of touch, with the terror of jumping off a cliff, the first kiss.

          As I watch my kids grow, I am reminded of that amazing discovery of the ability to think, of discovering the world of thought, of being challenged to use one’s brain.  It was such a joy to take philosophy my first semester in college, to discover that I was not alone, that there was a whole world of thought and I was just beginning to discover it. Perhaps for you it was math, or poetry, or computer programming.

          Or maybe you found joy in learning to make something grow or run, in building or cooking or nurturing and caring, or in the satisfaction and bravery of serving the ideals of your country.

          For sure we give thanks for the joy and happiness of work, of a job well done, and we pray that everyone would have the privilege of challenging, yet productive and meaningful work.

          One of the great lessons of life is discipline, delaying gratification now, working hard even through difficulty and pain toward a great and joyous end.  I suspect that our greatest moments, those times when we have been most content and happy, we did not have everything easy.  The joy of difficult accomplishment, graduation, giving birth, finishing a marathon or a challenging game.  For years Andy Benson has taken advantage of his veterans benefits to make a relatively cheap month or two in Hawaii.  I enjoy the elation in his story telling as he shares how he enjoyed a hard, five-mile roll around the island. 

          Let us take a moment as well, and consider those challenges between right and wrong.  I suspect we have been most proud, when the easy option to do wrong was before us, and we chose instead to stay strong, to be respectful, honest, loving, gracious, even when it was the more difficult choice. This morning the Tom family will share with us news about the health clinic in the Quiche highlands. Once they got their asylum, they could have just done their own thing. It is not like supporting yourself isn’t hard enough. But they decided to work together with others here from their village to help family back home. What a joyous inspiration they are to us! How awesome it was to celebrate with joy the inauguration of the health clinic and to hear of the good work of the nurse.

          Isn’t that what love is about?  A commitment to walk with someone through thick and thin, to roll along with them, even when the chariot tracks are dry from drought; or after we find out that they poop and cry, even in the middle of the night.  We know, deep down, even in the face of great temptation, that true happiness and joy are everlasting and steady through the ups and downs of life.  We know because we are drawn to those people, those saints whose strength is steady and sure, even after their body is not, those who don’t apologize for wanting the good, who aren’t quick to cry ‘woe is me’ when the going is tough but are gracious enough to themselves to cry when they need to, those who give us faith in ourselves, who expect great things of themselves and of us, and yet act as if they have already received great blessing.

          For this reason I love this passage in Hebrews: “Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin that clings so closely.” Get rid of the dead weight of sin and the burden of guilt.  Lay it aside our author says, and “Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.” 

          Jesus is not suffering for sufferings sake.  He is not taking joy in suffering.  He takes joy in being filled with God, the God of joy, and therefore he will not forsake the love and joy of God, even if it means suffering.  Not focusing on our burdens or our past mistakes, we focus on the positive, on moving forward, by the power and grace of God for us, we live into a new reality, a new heaven and new earth.  Claiming our inheritance we abide in God’s love.  “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.  If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.  I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

          This is the Good News of the Gospel.  May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen