December 11, 2005 At Saint Mark Church in Norman, OK
Isaiah 61:1-2 10-11 + 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-24 + John 1:6-8,19-28
In the oldest piece of writing in the New Testament, Paul addresses the heart of Christian virtue: Rejoice, Pray, and Give Thanks. It is the Spirit of this Season, the plan of life for a disciple of Jesus. When you think about Paul’s life and all that happened to him, it wouldn’t be hard to be surprised at his proposal. After all, he had been imprisoned more than once, ship wrecked, disappointed by the people he trusted and loved, mis-understood, beaten, and thrown out of the synagogue. You have to wonder: “What does he have to be joyful about?” Yet, that is exactly the way it is for anyone formed by the Gospel. What to some might seem naïve or a dangerous denial of reality is not so for those who embrace the fullness of the Gospel.
Joy is not an unrealistic goal or an elusive gift. It is not difficult to embrace and experience even in a world that is war-ravaged and contentious, full of trouble, danger, and sin. It is not only possible, it is essential. I have often wondered about this man, John the Baptist. The more I have thought about him, the more I have distrusted the image we inherit of him through the Gospels. I simply find it hard to imagine why people would be drawn to some shouting, angry, threatening, odd-looking desert dweller. It has begun to dawn on me that he may well have been a very joyful person. Perhaps not “happy” in the shallow sense of the word, but deeply confident, focused, and un-disturbed by threats or danger, or even by the powerful – Herod, whom he challenged because of his adulterous ways.
It has occurred to me that having the image of John the Baptist in the center of readings about Joy suggests something we may have overlooked in a first quick glance that may have judged him by his appearance. John and Paul are a lot like the Afro-American Christians in our nation’s history. They are and were people who seemed to have little to sing about: people who, because of prejudice and poverty had every reason to be silent and angry. Yet, they sing, and when they do, their joy is positively contagious. They do not sing to drive their cares away or to irrigate their sorrows or sublimate their fears. They sing for sheer joy because, despite the disappointments and difficulties of their daily existence,they knew they “had a title to a mansion on high” and the sure promise of sharing in eternity with God.
Their joy does not make sense of reality, it simply transcends it. Out of that tradition comes words of a “Spiritual” like these: “Why should I feel discouraged and why should shadows fall, and why should my heart feel lonely when Jesus is my portal, a constant friend is he. His eye is on the sparrow anad I know he watches me. I sing because I am happy. I sing because I am free. For his eye is on the sparrow, and I know he watches me.
John and Paul, Isaiah too for that matter were not strangers to suffering and all that life at it’s worse could throw at them. Yet, they stand before us as models of Joy: as people who did more than survive disappointment, heart-break, and trials. Rooted in faith, those who live by and within the spirit of the Gospel are confident and at peace because they know that God is faithful. God can be trusted. Isaiah comforted his beleaguered contemporaries that their rescue was at hand. Not because they deserved it, (because the evidence suggests they did not) but rather, because God keeps his promises. Paul never gave up, turned bitter, or lost his focus. No self-pity marks his life – because he centered himself and his life on Christ. John, even in prison, abandoned by his own family did not forget who he was, as what some might call, “The Best Man” at the wedding. Their belief is our belief. God watches me. Not like a judge, but like a loving parent. This belief enables Joy, and this Joy gives us a glimpse of glory. This Joy is the moment when all comes together; when the broken is made whole.
“Brothers and Sisters, Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing, and in every circumstance, give thanks. This is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.”