Sermon Tone Analysis

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.

[And from Philippians 4:4 ]

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.