Where is Joy?
Sermon preached by Rev. Bernadette Hartsough
Advent III -Isaiah 61:1-4,8-11; Canticle 15, John 1:6-8, 19-28
Today is Gaudete Sunday also known as Rose Sunday. A Sunday representing joy. Advent was for many years a very penitential season- that is where the purple comes from. I still believe it is a time of looking inward and a time of reflecting on the great mystery of God coming to earth as Jesus, but it is not as penitential as it used to be. During the time when Advent was a sad, somber time of penitence, the third Sunday was instituted as a time to reflect on the joy of being a Christian.
The joy of this Sunday is experienced on different levels. First, we experience joy on an individual level. Our joy comes from experiencing God on a deep, intimate level. I am not talking about the joy that is a fleeting emotion that comes from a personal achievement. I am talking about a joy that comes from knowing that no matter who you are and what you have done, you are loved by God. You are chosen to be in relationship with God. A relationship that transforms us to be like God and a relationship that brings us joy. A joy that seeps into us.
Blessed Mary knew that joy. We said Canticle 15 today, the Magnificat, in place of a psalm. The Magnificat is usually sung during Advent. It reminds us of Mary’s humility and sacrifice. It also reminds us of her joy. Mary sings the Magnificat with an outpouring of joy. Even translated you can feel the joy. Mary experienced joy on a personal level but the Magnificat speaks of bringing joy to others by transforming the world that we live in. The Magnificat speaks of lifting up the lowly, filling the hungry, scattering the proud, and bringing down the powerful. Mary’s message is joyful. She was a lowly woman. She had no voice, no power. Her power was in her humility. She sang of the joy of being loved.
Today’s Isaiah passage gives us specifics of how we bring joy to others by transforming the world. In verses 1-3, the prophet Isaiah says “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion— to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.” Then Isaiah goes on to say in verse 8, “For I the Lord love justice, I hate robbery and wrongdoing.”
This passage is one the most revealing passages about Jesus. It is not revealing because it is prophetic, it is revealing because Jesus himself reads these words as he begins his earthly ministry. Jesus reads these words in the fourth chapter of Luke. He returns from being tested in the desert. He goes to the temple in Nazareth on the sabbath. He stands up to read and was given this Isaiah scroll. This passage is the purpose of Jesus’s ministry. Jesus is to bring good news to the poor, release to the captives, sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. Jesus came to turn our world upside down by speaking of what should be, of what could be. As followers of Jesus, we like John the Baptist are witnesses to what Jesus believed and to what Jesus did. Our joy of being Christians-Episcopalians- is proclaimed by following Jesus’s work of justice here in our time.
I rewrote this sermon several times this week. I wanted to remind us all of the work that still needs to be done to have a just world. I wanted to preach about rejoicing and joy and then I looked around and I listened. I saw weary people waiting for COVID19 to end. I met people with no homes. I saw stressed people, teachers, doctors, nurses, small business owners. I saw people mourning the so many losses, people hungry, people brought down low in the midst of this pandemic. I saw people barely holding on. I saw people depressed and suicidal. Many people are sad because Christmas gatherings are canceled or very small. We miss our loved ones. There is fear about COVID19 and about the vaccine.
I ask, where is the joy? How do I preach rejoicing and good news when there are so many losses?
In the midst of this pandemic, there is good news and joy. As we live lives of gratitude, we cultivate joy. The poorest people that I have ever known, my Anglican brothers from Malawi and Burundi taught me about gratitude and joy in the midst of hard times. Malawi is the third poorest country in the world. One failing crop through drought or extreme rains means widespread famine. Most people live on corn and root vegetables with some goat meat or goat milk. They live dependent on the weather and on each other to survive. If you met them, you wouldn’t know their poverty.
Fr. Julius, Fr. Chungju, and Fr. Jean lived together in a house in Sewanee.
I would stop at their house to drop things off or to take them to the store. Frequently, I interrupted a meal. It was never a problem, they always handed me a plate and pulled up a chair. At first, I found their food bland and different. They ate a lot of rice, beans, vegetables, and psima. Psima was their bread made from corn flour. Before the meal, the grace and thanksgiving would begin. They named person after person and thing after thing that they were grateful for. They always asked God to continue to give them the spirit of gratitude. Their joy was evident in their gratitude.
The other time their joy and gratitude surfaced was when they thanked someone for something. It was their tradition to do a five -minute thanksgiving. You couldn’t leave until their mini speech was done. At first it was annoying. For example, if I drove them somewhere, they say, “Thank you for always being here. You know you make it possible for us to do well here. We are very, very grateful. You always know what we need…” etc. I became used to it and even teased them about it. I would wait for it and say okay let me hear it. It was always spoken from the heart and it made you feel their joy. Everything that they had; they saw as a gift from God.
They knew that true Christian joy comes from a life of gratitude and a life of working to transform the world.
As I reflected on these tough times, I realized that joy is present as we experience the presence of God and as we live lives of gratitude.
We can preach joy in the midst of these times. Right now, we need to check in on each other and take care of each other. Our words of joy and comfort can lead others through these hard, dark times. Sometimes it’s just a phone call or a card that is needed. God works with us to help us bind up the broken hearted, to lift up the lowly, and to comfort all who mourn. This is the good news, the joy that we proclaim and that we live.