Delivered on 13 December, 2009
by Rev Dr John Evans
Zephaniah 3:14-20
Isaiah 12:2-6
Philippians 4:4-7
Luke 3:7-18
In Philippians 4:4 Paul says to the Church “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say, rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.” Rejoice.
Advent and Christmas time have many words which we hear again and again: hope, peace, love and the word for today is joy. Joy. As we have reminded ourselves with the advent candle and the great carol “Joy to the world, the Lord has come”, joy is just one of those essential words of Christmas. And yet we do find difficulty in understanding what it might mean; and how we might feel. It is different to merriment – as in Merry Christmas. Even have a Happy Christmas does not get at it. Fun, excitement, pleasure – and so on, also don’t get it. Joy.
In Scripture – the word itself appears twice in the Christmas story. First we read in Matthew’s account of the wisemen to visit the Christ child. They experienced joy as the star that was leading them finally came to rest. Joy was the emotion when they realized that at last, after all of their study, after all of their travel, after all of their political intrigue with Herod – they had reached their goal. As Matthew says. “When they saw that the star had stopped they were overwhelmed with joy.”
The other account comes from Luke, and is the angel’s message to the shepherds: “Do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people. To you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” Don’t be afraid – rather have great joy at this news. The shepherds had not seen this child, perhaps really knew nothing about this birth, but they were told that it was good news of great joy.
From our Old Testament reading, from the book of the prophet Zephaniah, we see that joy comes as the counter point to unremitting gloom and trouble. Indeed Zephaniah, a prophet warning of the coming destruction of Jerusalem and exile, is thoroughly sombre; indeed his book is one of the darkest in scripture. He begins.
“I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth, says the Lord.
I will sweep away humans and animals;
I will sweep away the birds of the air and the fish of the sea.
I will make the wicked stumble.
I will cut off humanity from the face of the earth, says the Lord.”
I think you get the picture – things were going to be grim for the Children of Israel!
But then comes our passage – right at the end of the book. Perhaps it was a tack on later, but certainly it is full of joy.
“Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all you heart,
O daughter Jerusalem!
The Lord has taken away the judgements against you,
He has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, the Lord is in your midst;
You shall fear disaster no more.”
Joy – is the emotion when the burden is lifted. When the pain is removed, there is joy. When that sense of relief washes over you -that is joy!
The three stories told by Jesus, recorded in Luke 15, about things that were lost – also gets at the same emotion of release and peace – and joy. Remember the three stories – the lost sheep, the lost coin and dramatically the lost son. In each story, the person who finds the thing that was lost – or in the case of the prodigal son – the person who was presumed lost returns – they “call together their friends and neighbours” and they share in the joy. They have a party!
It is a human experience we all can very easily relate to. Well I can. I am always losing things – the keys, one’s wallet, the cheque book, that PIN number or password. You feel sick with worry about where it could be. You turn the house upside down. Am I going mad – losing my mind. You get grumpy. Others avoid you. I need this thing. We panic – and we begin to think of alternatives. Well I guess I could change the locks, or cancel my credit cards, or actually ‘fess up to Bill and Mary that I have actually lost their prized watsit.
So when it turns up – that moment when you find what is lost; Relief. The burden of worry is gone. Excitement. I guarantee you will shout out loud. Remember Desmond Tutu’s famous “Yippee” on the ending of apartheid. You will “exult” – as the Bible says! It is sudden, sharp – there is joy. Then perhaps this joy, does not tend to last. Hence Paul puts in a timely reminder – rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice. The initial joy just can fade – and one can quickly get back into the routine. Umm, now what was I doing – and you quickly return to the hum drum routine of life.
Joy occurs when a burden is lifted; a new and different opportunity opens out. A new possibility arises – which is so different to what you were previously experiencing or contemplating.
One can understand how such joy, fits in with the message of Christmas. Christmas is the advent of new hope, the possibility of peace, that realisation that one is loved. Joy happens because something unmerited, something uncalled for is offered to us. “Good tidings of great joy” have come, and lifted poor shepherds out of the drudgery of their “bottom of the social rung” existence.
Joy at Christmas is not just about a good time with one’s friends – but the joy of finding something that was lost; or in this instance really ourselves are the lost thing that has now been found. Indeed it is interesting that in the Greek, the word from which we get the verb “to rejoice” – chairo; and the noun “joy” – chara; are closely related to the Greek word for grace – charis – which also means “something which is given”. So, for example, a charismatic person – is literally a gifted person. Gift, grace and joy are all tied up in the same set of ideas. Our joy is through the grace of God. It is not our merriment, or our work in a grand party, or because we have a brain wave for a stunningly original gift we might give or receive. Joy comes through God’s grace and love, in God’s dwelling among us, as coming as one of us. We literally are surprised by joy – to use CS Lewis phrase – that this should be so. God’s grace extends to me. Amazing. Joy.
But where, o where, is the joy in the reading about John the Baptist?
This strange man – begins his address with the insult you, you are the lowest of the low, a pack of snakes. There is not much joy in being called “a brood of vipers”. Nor is there much joy in being lambasted for assuming that somehow one might avoid judgement; and just wiggle out any personal responsibility.
Who warned you, John cries, to flee from the wrath to come?
As I suggested to our Wednesday congregation, this speech is little like someone saying to the Copenhagen Climate Change conference – “Who tells you there is not climate change. Even now my island nation is disappearing under rising sea waters. My heritage and my livelihood is dying. And yet all you can say, we can avoid it, it is not a problem, there is no climate change. You say you have a great heritance as a western nation and believe you do not have to do anything differently in your lifestyle or approach to this issue. We drown, You prosper. You brood of vipers. We all surely will face this disaster together.” Or something like that. . .. but this is exactly the same structure as John’s speech.
NO – there is not much joy here, there was not much joy in Johnn’s address to the crowds – but then there was no cheap grace either.
In essence, John says – “bear fruits worthy of repentance”.
Look there is someone who will come after me – yes – they are the Messiah – and I will be insignificant in comparison. This is the good news. This holy one, will transform your life, transform your relationship with God, indeed restore your relationship with God. This is the good news. You were once were lost, and you will be found.
Joy, joy, joy!
But . . . . don’t delude yourself that nothing does not need to changes in your lifestyle, nothing does not need to changes in how you will live that new life – just because, Jesus has come, the Christ child has been born. As John the Baptist, says, it will not be good enough, simply to say “we have Abraham as our father” – I am a good religious type – after all my church has been around for, well, 150 years!!
“Bear fruits worthy of repentance”. Begin to live a life in which that transformation, that joy, shows!! In fact when the crowds asked, what actually does that mean, John gives some very tough, practical advice. It means “if you have two coats, then share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food, must do likewise.” Mmm sounds a bit like our emergency relief and food pantry. But he then goes on to address our daily working life. Tax collectors – do not collect more than you should. Perhaps bankers, or renters of property, or whoever, do not get paid more than is just and equitable. Even those who work in the military, do not be corrupt. One is not to use your position for unjust enrichment. And I think we can see where John is basically heading.
Christmas Joy, really must lead to a life of service and love. . . . and without that, is there really then joy. Or is it just hollow Christmas cheer, merriment or some indeterminate happiness.
“Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice.”
then
“Bear fruits worthy of repentance.”
Even joy comes, to coin a phrase, with a sting in its tail.
