Joy in the Present

Today we are continuing our journey looking at the redemption of Scrooge. Our main theme is that if Scrooge can be redeemed, any of us can be redeemed. We started the first week of Advent by looking at the hope that can stir within us. There is a light present in all of us and God calls us to embrace it more and more throughout our lives. Last week we saw that our past can often be a source of pain, but peace comes through repentance, through working to make things right and by growing in our trust for others, just as God trusted Jesus with frail, broken humans. Now, as we reflect on the topic of joy, we go deeper into the story of Dickens’ novel ‘a Christmas Carol’ as Ebenezer Scrooge encounters the next specter, the ghost of Christmas Present.

Our scripture for today comes from the Gospel of Luke and it follows on the heels of last week’s passage about John the Baptist. Joe/Carol? is going to share with us the passage. Here we hear the Good News proclaimed by John. People had traveled from all over to see and hear his message. To some people he probably seemed so extreme that it was like entertainment to go and watch him talk, but when they get there, his message cuts deep to the heart. They are moved to repentance and want to live a new life. Let’s listen to his message from the Gospel of Luke 3:7-18. Hear now the word of the Lord.

Luke 3:7–18 NRSV

John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” And the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?” He said to them, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.” Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what should we do?” He said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.” As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.

[And from Philippians 4:4 ]

Philippians 4:4 NRSV

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.

Join me in prayer: God, may we be an inclusive community passionately following Jesus Christ. Open our hearts and minds to your word for us today. Make us joyful people even in this busy and sometimes difficult season. In Christ we pray, amen.

I thought we could start this message on joy with what has been declared the funniest religious joke in the world. Do you want to hear it? It goes like this: Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, "Don't do it!" He said, "Nobody loves me." I said, "God loves you. Do you believe in God?"

He said, "Yes." I said, "Are you a Christian or a Jew?" He said, "A Christian." I said, "Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?" He said, "Protestant." I said, "Me, too! What denomination?" He said, "Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?" He said, "Northern Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?"

He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region." I said, "Me, too!"

“Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912." I said, "Die, heretic!" And I pushed him over.

Today is a day in the church that has a special name to it. Its not just the third Sunday of Advent; its also called Gau-de-te Sunday. That’s the name its had for the last several hundred years and it means in Latin “rejoice.” I grew up singing a song that I think maybe my dad wrote? It goes like this: “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice. Rejoice! Rejoice! Again I say rejoice!” I always think of that happy, joyful song on this date, but that scripture from Luke 3 (Joe/Paul) read for us, may not sound particularly joyful. In fact, to some it might very well be downright insulting. ‘Brood of vipers’ is about the worst insult you can give to someone in ancient times. Its equivalent today is so vulgar I would get run out of this church for saying it from the pulpit. So why do we celebrate joy using a passage that has vulgar insults and flames from hell in it? That’s a great question, so let’s see if we can get to the bottom of this.

When we think of rejoicing and joy, often we think of the things that make us laugh; of jokes and singing and gathering with family. And those are great things. We even know that when it comes to our health, laughter really is the best medicine. A good laugh can reduce tension and stress leaving your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes. It can boost your immune system, it increases endorphins leaving you feeling good. Laughter can even help protect against heart attacks and help you burn calories. How about this - one study in Norway showed that people who had a strong sense of humor outlived those who don’t laugh as much, and this effect was particularly pronounced for those who were battling cancer. Laughter and humor can help keep you alive, especially when you are facing some of the toughest situations life can throw at you.

But many of us know intuitively that there is a difference between laughing, or being happy and joy. They’re not the same thing. J.D. Salinger who wrote ‘Catcher in the Rye’ says this, "The fact is always obvious much too late, but the most singular difference between happiness and joy is that happiness is a solid and joy a liquid." That’s a really interesting way to put that difference. I often think of happiness as a fleeting moment. You can hear a good joke, laugh, be happy, and fifteen seconds later back to your usual grumpy self. But I think maybe that short changes happiness a little bit. What Salinger is getting at is that happiness, as a solid, is based on our exterior circumstances. We probably aren’t going to be laughing and happy with people if something awful happened ten minutes before.

But joy, joy on the other hand can transcend our circumstances. If joy is a liquid it fills whatever container its in. Joy doesn’t need happy circumstances; in fact, it can thrive despite the circumstances. I think of the Apostle Paul who wrote ‘rejoice in the Lord always.’ In another part of the Bible he is in jail for preaching about Jesus and he just keeps saying over and over “be joyful” “rejoice in hardship” and that there is joy in his life being poured out for the benefit of others. His circumstance doesn’t matter. He even goes so far as to say that even if he dies he would still rejoice because he is able to minister and help others know God!

See, joy stays with us even when the circumstances around us are challenging, even if they are threatening, even if our lives are on the line. Joy is satisfaction that lives in our souls. But don’t think I’m encouraging you to deny reality. No, its that we can have a healthy emotional and spiritual state even if our bodies suffer. Knowing that I’m not going to live forever makes me want to pursue joy over happiness. I want my mind and spirit to be stronger than the temporary circumstances I find myself in. I want to be the best version of myself no matter what is happening around me; that’s what it means to have joy. It fills your life, no matter the shape it is in.

And when we think of the Christmas story, of Jesus being born, when we consider the full circumstances of his birth I’m guessing that being joyful was far more important to the holy family than being happy. Listen for a moment to the circumstances surrounding Jesus’ birth. Its the story of a baby born out of wedlock, into poverty. Its the story of immigrants scared to live in their own country. Its the story of a widow raising her children on her own. None of that sounds like particularly happy circumstances, does it? Yet when this baby is born the angels praise God and say, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” They are rejoicing. They are practically singing with joy for this incredible moment of a baby born in a stable. Why? Because joy doesn’t need circumstances to be perfect; because Jesus blesses and heals the soul, even if the world around us, on the surface, seems the same. There is a deeper work going on when Jesus is around. He isn’t just making people happy, although I’m sure that happened, too; he is bringing joy as people realize that the God of the universe loves them. God is for us, not against us. God is making the world right as person after person is convinced that you don’t have to have what you want to feel joy. In fact, if you slow down you might find you are at peace, you are content, you are joyful, even though your circumstances might normally draw out a different feeling.

I don’t know about you, but that kind of life sounds pretty good to me. In my mind I choose to pursue joy over happiness, but how do you get there? Well that’s the trick, isn’t it? We know intuitively how to be happy - tell a joke, buy something at the mall, go hang out with our friends, but those are all short-lived. Joy comes from something that happens inside of us, something that is true before we even get into a tough situation. And I think John the Baptist is pointing the way in the passage we read earlier. John is not just giving us a set of moral instructions - he is laying out the path toward true joy.

After John the Baptist says to make the path straight and to bear fruit worthy of repentance the people ask, “what then should we do?” This phrase shows up over and over in the Gospel of Luke. They are saying, “how can we be saved?” This is the path to true joy - it begins with salvation, being saved from our sin, from our own brokenness and saved from separation from God. We want our souls to be at peace so we can find joy in any circumstance and this is the way. He starts with “whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none.” Most people in this time would have owned only one coat, so to have two means the person had more wealth than others. He is saying if you have extra you have got to share it with people in need. That is the path to joy - share what you have, don’t hoard it. The same is true about food. I’d even guess its probably the same when it comes to our home and our money. When we have enough, share with those who are in need. That’s a step toward true joy.

He goes on. The tax collectors are asking the same question about how to be saved. Now these people were despised back then. We might think of modern day politicians as a comparison. Back then the tax collectors could cheat and collect more than was required, but it was hard to prove they were cheating. In Israel specifically the money was being used to build the king’s palaces and pagan temples. This would have incensed the Jews and they would have thought of a tax collector as a traitor and a heathen. John the Baptist says to them simply, “collect no more than the amount proscribed to you.” Just be fair. That’s it. He doesn’t say change jobs or convince the people you are a good person; just be fair in your dealings with them.

For the soldiers, these are not Jewish people. Jews were excluded from military service because of their diet, so these are foreigners stationed in Israel. Some had revolted over their wages and frustration at how long they must serve Rome. John the baptist says “be satisfied with your wages.” And for those soldiers that would extort money from the locals or would falsely accuse them of crime he says, “don’t extort. Don’t threaten people or accuse them falsely.”

It all seems pretty straight forward, doesn’t it? He is telling people to stop doing the evil things they are doing to others. That’s it. Essentially “be moral. Do right. Be good to others.” That’s the path toward joy, but notice that it is a response people make in how they treat others. Joy comes when we choose God and live out those Godly values in relation to others. Too often we get caught in one or the other; we might say joy comes when you follow God. Yes, that’s a huge part of it, but if you follow God and ignore the people around you, you aren’t really following God, are you? If you are just trying to help other people, but you ignore God, you might be doing good things in the world, but you have neglected your soul. You’ve lost purpose and meaning in this world. Joy comes when these two things are married together; repent, serve God and do right by others. Help those around you. Be fair and share out of your abundance.

Imagine what the world might look like if we were able to strike this balance in our lives. We would probably know our neighbors names! We would pray with them, and listen carefully for their needs. We wouldn’t be miserly toward others; we would give and bless them and help whenever there is a need we know we can meet. Even Scrooge started to turn a corner in ‘A Christmas Carol’ when he was with the ghost of Christmas present. As Scrooge’s employee, Bob Cratchet comes home from church with his son Tiny Tim, we hear a heartwarming thought from Tiny TIm. He says that it is good that he is at church for the Christmas Eve service so that people will see him on his crutches. Perhaps on Christmas day him on his crutches will help remind all of them of the one who healed the lame and raised the dead. His injured body will remind the people of Jesus and they will be grateful to God.

Scrooge asks the ghost with him a question - he wonders if the boy, Tiny Tim, will live and the ghost answers in the negative. If nothing changes, if no one will share from their abundance, if no one will choose to make a difference in this world, he will die. Scrooge is saddened by the news, but this is an exact quote from the story, “[he] was overcome with penitence and grief.” Sad, yes, but also repentant. Scrooge was ready to live differently. We’ll have to wait until next week before we finish out his story of redemption, but I don’t think this sermon is complete without your participation.

I’d like to hear from you about your joy. What makes you joyful in this Christmas season? We are going to spend a few minutes hearing your own testimonies of joy. There are many things around us that we may be grateful for and appreciate, but perhaps there is something in your life that is not right and yet you still have joy. I’d love to hear about it.

[microphones/testimony]

So remember today to be joyful, not because life is the way you want it to be, but because you choose the things in life that will bring you joy - you choose Jesus, you choose to help others. You choose to be focus on others rather than yourself. May this Christmas not just be happy but full of joy. Amen? Amen.

(Christmas is not your birthday. Its easy to get caught up in the self-focus, but this is a season where we are thinking of others…and maybe working to get better at thinking about others…not a time to pout if we don’t get the gift we want (we can forgive children…they may not know better…but for adults being angry at a gift doesn’t make sense. We can be disappointed that someone may not be getting better at thinking about us…but the whole point of Christmas is to think of others).

Zephaniah 3:14–20 (NRSV)

Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;

shout, O Israel!

Rejoice and exult with all your heart,

O daughter Jerusalem!

The Lord has taken away the judgments against you,

he has turned away your enemies.

The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;

you shall fear disaster no more.

On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:

Do not fear, O Zion;

do not let your hands grow weak.

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

as on a day of festival.

I will remove disaster from you,

so that you will not bear reproach for it.

I will deal with all your oppressors

at that time.

And I will save the lame

and gather the outcast,

and I will change their shame into praise

and renown in all the earth.

At that time I will bring you home,

at the time when I gather you;

for I will make you renowned and praised

among all the peoples of the earth,

when I restore your fortunes

before your eyes, says the Lord.