The Word Accomplishes God’s Purpose

On this Third Sunday of Advent, we tell of joy! Joy, joy, joy! While we are yet in the season of waiting, Joy bubbles up in us as we rest assured of God’s promises.

Joy is an active word. In the sense that joy takes place in the present moment. While hope anticipates the coming of God’s peace, shalom, when all things will be made right, JOY is for now. Joy is the feeling we get in the here and now that asserts, in the face of suffering, that we will not be overcome, but we will delight in God’s handiwork, here and now.

Hope trusts in the coming shalom. Joy subversively celebrates that we can dance and sing, even under the watch and heavy hand of the empire. Joy is what the angels sing to the shepherds, joy for a world made right, even made right right under the noses of the king and occupiers.

For our sermon today, I want to hold this joy of Christ’s coming, alongside the joy of God’s people who see God remaking creation to flourish, even amidst exile and sorrow.

I have two readings for us, both from the Prophet Isaiah. Both speak of what God’s way does to the created order.

Our first reading comes from the first book of Isaiah, a prophetic narrative that anticipates the return from exile, but still awaits it. It is filled with anticipatory joy, the joy that comes from knowing that all will be well. Joy in the moment for the assurance of a future hope.

Hear the reading from Isaiah 35, where creation is reordered to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. While the people are struggling, they see that creation is groaning for God’s restoration. And the created order is glad, filled with joy, for what is unfolding.

Isaiah 35:1–10 NRSV

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are of a fearful heart, “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you.” Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp, the grass shall become reeds and rushes. A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way; the unclean shall not travel on it, but it shall be for God’s people; no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Our second reading comes from Isaiah 55, the final chapter of the second book of Isaiah, which closes the exilic time of waiting with a promise of restoration and healing in the here and now. Notice, the language is invitational for here, now. Come to the waters, come to the table.

Isaiah 55:1–13 NRSV

Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. See, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. See, you shall call nations that you do not know, and nations that do not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you. Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

Of course, we are familiar with a good part of this passage, as it woven in to benedictions and prayers of the church. This passage, in particular, for me, has been about the assurance of God’s care over creation and how that reminds us of God’s deep love and care for us. God’s work is accomplished in Creation. God speaks over creation and the word of shalom does not return void, it blossoms, grows, and flourishes. This is a sign of God’s care, God’s providence, a memorial that will never be cut off, but will grow and sustain God’s people.

Where do you experience joy today?

What swells in your heart with assurance and restoration, here and now? Why joy? Why do we need it? Why?

A couple of ideas come to mind.

First, joy sustains us through suffering. The people are in exile. The people are oppressed. The people are gunned down. Only the reckless, abandoned, subversive power of joy can sustain us through these things. Joy is the dawn after the tragedy. Joy is the deeper bond we feel. Joy is what allows us to rely on each other even when all seems lost. Joy builds us up for the moment, the now.

Yesterday afternoon, my family had a chance to go to Seattle and see a production of Langston Hughes’ “Black Nativity.” A black choir, choreographed modern dancers, soloists and band — telling the Christmas story. Mary and Joseph’s journey. God’s providence for them, even when they are turned away from the inn of Bethlehem.

This isn’t any old nativity story, though. The story is told from the heart of the Harlem Renaissance, when Hughes and other black voices were rising to create and speak out and stand up for justice. And the play is laced with the subversive joy that even amidst racial discrimination and bigotry, the people of God can find joy. Joy in singing beloved Christmas carols. Joy in dancing with our whole being, responding to God’s gift of movement and rhythm. Joy subverts the world which would otherwise see black and brown people marginalized. Joy subverts the order and says we will celebrate even as we are under the oppressors’ hand.

There are many other examples of this kind of joy. The songs of freedom fighters, marching in the civil rights movement. The delight of young people, celebrating their rights to expression and lifting their voices. Joy comes in the frivolity of color, light, and sound — especially in a world where everything prepackaged comes up empty, but authentic expressions of our God-given gifts shine in the darkness.

I see joy in my kid. Joy for the season. Joy for the times of celebration. Joy for carols and hot chocolate and advent calendars. Joy.

And this joy is in the midst of suffering. My kid knows joy and delight, even as his world is very uncertain. His parents are struggling with his mother’s cancer diagnosis. The future is veiled, unknown.

But we, because he and others do, choose joy. We choose to find the brightness of today, even as all the gloom stays settled around us. It is the joy of the Black church, knowing that they worship the Christ who liberates, just as Moses liberated the people of Israel. Joy fills the Black church and their expression of this season, even in the face of historic and present struggle.

What will bring you joy this week?

How does joy invite you to subvert the oppressors and their wicked ways?

Where are you hurting? What keeps the candle of joy lit in you?

How are we sharing our joy? I think again about singing Christmas carols — according to the world famous Buddy the Elf, “the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loudly for all to hear.” We share our joy in singing, laughing, eating together, sharing our sorrows and delights. We share joy by singing loudly, lifting our voices in unison and harmony. We share joy by inviting others IN.

To be a people of joy is to resist the creep of despair.

Do you feel despair? Do you feel like it’s all lost?

Then we need each other to find joy amidst it.

I’m pretty convinced that joy can be an individual, personal feeling, which one might only know and share with God alone. BUT — I’m also wholly convinced that we can be joy for one another and that joy is contagious. Not cheap, sugary-sweet, happy happy feelings. But deep joy, one that is assured of God’s word, assured that it goes out into our lives, our world, and does not return void. God’s word accomplishes it’s purposes, which we anticipate in hope, but right now, delight in joy because our celebration marks our resistance to the darkness.

Last week’s Advent festival was a moment of joy for me.

Amidst a lot of really uncertain things in my life, I could experience joy laughing and eating and chatting with this community. Joy for the moment. Joy, watching kids each cookie after cookie. Joy seeing new connections establishing, friendships forming, and support offered. Joy in being together, because we are better together.

Seek joy today, friends.

Look for it, inside you. Look for it, in others.

Joy is here, God’s word is accomplishing its purposes. The myrtle is blooming, the trees are growing strong. The valleys are lifted up, the way of the Lord is prepared. God’s word does not return void, but goes out in joy to accomplish all of God’s healing, shalom work.

May we be a people of Joy. A people who confidently come to the waters, to the table, to the fountain of God’s life. May we celebrate amidst the pains of this hurting world. May our joy be contagious, sparking a light in others, shining out in the darkness. From the mouth of God, to the person of Christ, now to us God’s disciples — may our joy be complete as we await the coming Christ.

Amen.