For Dec 14

 

Sermon Notes: Radical Joy

Into: If you were to try to capture the concept of joy in a painting, or a photo, what would you show?  An innocent young infant laughing hilariously at someone or something, like you see in posted videos?  A newlywed couple leaving the altar?  Maybe a senior couple making the first cut of a 50th anniversary cake with their happy, applauding family of children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and longtime friends surrounding them?  Sports enthusiasts might think of a Super Bowl Trophy or a World Series Pennant. Or centerfielder Rick Manning having just caught the fly ball to complete Cleveland Indian’s pitcher Len Barker’s perfect game on May 15, 1981, the tenth one in major league baseball history, jumping into Len’s arms, and teammates jumping up and down around them in  wild celebration.

   I think I’d picture joy as a pet dog, welcoming me home, its tail seeming to wag its whole body, so happy to see me, impatiently barking, waiting for a pat or a scratch, regardless of how long I’d been gone, or even having been scolded earlier for creating a mess.

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I. Happiness vs Joy

A. But we often confuse happiness with joy, because happiness is temporary, dependent on circumstances, like with material possessions or in personal relationships. Joy would be unconditional, unchanging, regardless of circumstances. Radical, or extreme joy, is the joy that only our God is able to give. Since there is only one true God, all other gods are then false, and even though they may promise happiness - even provide some temporary happiness - such happiness will inevitably fade away. False gods, such as money, power, material possessions. have no loyalty or love for those who attempt to possess them.

B. Our God even tells us in the Ten Commandments not to have any other gods before Him. Because He is able to provide joy that false gods cannot, He opposes anyone giving false gods credit for all He has created, and all He has done for His creation.  He is a deservedly jealous God who won’t share us with anything that would come between Him and the joy He desires, and provides, for us. While many cults and twisted religions invent godlike beings, only our true, living God takes joy in His love for us, asking only our love in return.

C. No false god can realistically claim their own Son born to be the sinless sacrifice that gives us access to eternal life. A Son that can provide us His joy in this life that will carry through to eternal life. The radical joy we celebrate in lighting the Candle of Joy as we continue on our Advent journey this morning. Three of the candles are purple, reminding us of the somber, awesomeness of our Almighty God, but the Candle of Joy is bright pink, symbolizing the overwhelming Joy that comes from God. His Nature is Joy, and never changes. But we must never assume that we can even know His Joy without knowing Him. And the more we know our God, the more we know His Joy...His radical joy.

D. So, let’s now look closer at His radical joy. Lest we confuse Joy with happiness - we must consider that joy can be found in times without happiness, smiles, and rainbows. Joy is the feeling we have in spite of sadness, pain, and sorrows. In the Sound of Music, Julie Andrews provided a means of transcending bad things by remembering the joys of her favorite things, as she sang

When the dog bites, When the bee stings, When I'm feeling sad

I simply remember my favorite things, And then I don't feel so bad

E. Even greater is our ability to overcome the bad times in our lives with God’s radical joy. In the awful darkness of the Crucifixion, from the cold, dark tomb, Jesus emerged in joyous Resurrection. Where we saw Mary Magdalene’s extreme sorrow turn to radical joy as she suddenly recognizes Jesus through her mournful tears, holding onto him, never wanting to let Him go. Or the woman who washed Jesus‘ feet with her flowing tears and dried them with her hair, feeling the despair from the guilt of her sinful past turn to radical joy hearing Jesus tell her sins had been forgiven.

F. In his epistle, James writes in Chap 1:2, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.”  We can consider whatever trials we face as pure joy, trusting that God is using such trials to build our faith in Him, to become stronger Christians. Paul says in I Thess 5:18, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” So, if it is God’s will for us to know His Joy in Christ Jesus, we can give thanks in all circumstances. That’s not saying we must be thankful for the circumstances that may cause pain and suffering, but to be thankful, joyful, in those circumstances because we know God is working through us, and in us, using those circumstances to strengthen us, for His glory. In the concluding words of the Beatitudes, Jesus promises that those who suffer persecutions for His sake, will know the joy of great reward in heaven.

G. Abraham Maslow, noted American psychologist, one of the driving forces and founders of humanistic psychology said, “I have found that every person who was sincerely happy, radiantly alive, was living for a purpose or a cause beyond himself.”  Christians, living for Christ, a purpose beyond ourselves, know that radiance in being alive, knowing sincere happiness as God’s radical joy.

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II. Isaiah 35:3-10

A. So far, we’ve only seen Joy from our own personal perspective. In our OT lesson, Isaiah talks about joy from a much broader perspective: the Joy of the Redeemed. Previously, in chapter 34, God is angry with the nations, calling for judgement of the enemies opposing Him, pronouncing His wrath, vowing to totally destroy them. We might even focus such judgement on the enemies of Christ and His Church. Then, in our Scripture reading from Chapter 35, Isaiah’s prophecy turns its focus on those who had once lived in persecution from those enemies as if living in a barren wilderness. We might see this wilderness as the Gentile world, that, through the influence of the Gospel and the grace of God, would become like a pleasant and fruitful garden to prosper, with multitudes of converts coming to Christ’s Church, and the vast number of spiritual worshippers, the Redeemed, living there.

B. Isaiah’s prophecy is addressing these Redeemed, saying “Be strong; do not fear, your God will come with vengeance, with divine retribution He will come to save you.” Just as Jesus told John’s disciples, who were asking Jesus if He was the Promised One, to tell John what they saw, that the eyes of the blind were opened, the deaf were hearing, the lame leaping like a deer, and the mute shouting for joy,  Isaiah metaphorically describes the land of the Redeemed as becoming like the fruitful garden, watered by streams in the desert, the thirsty ground bubbling up springs, and the burning sand becoming like a pool. This is undoubtedly pointing to the flourishing kingdom of Christ, the Gospel church composed of Jews and Gentiles, especially as it shall exist in the days after the destruction of all the anti-Christian powers, when the fullness of the Gentiles shall be brought in, and all Israel shall be saved.

C. We especially see a highway there called the Way of Holiness, which only those who follow His way will be allowed to walk on. Not the spiritually unclean or wicked fools. No lion, symbolic of Satan, or any ravenous beast presenting danger. But only the Redeemed will walk there, those the Lord has rescued. They will enter Zion, God’s Holy Church, with singing, and everlasting joy crowning their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. It’s a word picture of those who had been Redeemed living in eternal Joy, radical Joy, in His Kingdom -  Jew and Gentiles. What a vast difference between the judgement on the enemies of the Church in Chapter 34, and the joy of the Redeemed in Chapter 35.

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III. Luke 15:1-10

A. So far, we’ve been talking about God’s Joy from the human perspective. But now let’s consider humanity from God’s perspective. God is righteous and holy, and therefore cannot tolerate sin. We often hear of His wrath poured out on sin, even on His Son while He hung on that Cross paying the price of our sin, taking the penalty of sin to the grave. On that basis, many only see God as a stern Judge, giving us the Thou Shall Nots, waiting to condemn us for our sins. But God is a Loving Father, who so loved the world that He sent His beloved Son to die in our place, so He could forgive, rather than condemn, our sins. To Redeem His creation from the destruction of sin, and restore us to relationship with Him.

B. Jesus’ parables of the lost sheep, and the lost coin, are meant to show God’s great Joy when His lost loved ones are found. In the Parable of the Lost Sheep, the shepherd has one hundred sheep, but one strays. Instead of shrugging off the loss of ‘just one’ sheep, the shepherd leaves the ninety nine in safety, and intensely searches for the lost one. The shepherd loves his sheep enough to risk his own safety to find even the lost one. We are the sheep in this parable, and our loving shepherd is obviously our God, in whatever form we might choose. The Loving Father, or Jesus the Good Shepherd of the 23rd Psalm, or the Holy Spirit, our Advocate. But when the shepherd finds the lost one, he isn’t angry at the willful sheep for straying, but rejoices in finding it, putting it on his shoulders and carrying it home, calling to His neighbors to join him in celebrating. Jesus is describing the radical joy in heaven, where there will be more rejoicing for the one sinner who repents, than for the ninety nine righteous ones who don’t need to repent. Not that God doesn’t love the ninety nine dearly, but his love for each of them even meant extreme Joy when all His sheep were safe.

C. Adding to this concept is the second Parable of the Lost Coin. In the cultural context of the time, a woman possessing ten silver coins would likely be referring to her dowry, or her savings, which held significant personal and financial value. The number ten often symbolizes completeness in biblical numerology, suggesting the importance of each coin, so the loss of one would make the amount incomplete. The loss of one coin, while seemingly small, represents a significant portion of her wealth. This loss would be deeply felt, emphasizing the value of each individual coin. Floors of a home at that time were made of stones, often with cracks between them where a coin could easily fall in and not be seen. So the woman lights a lamp and desperately sweeps the floor until she finds it. Then, she too calls her neighbors to celebrate with her. Jesus concludes the parable saying there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Spiritually, we recognize this parable as a metaphor for the recovery of a lost soul, highlighting the importance of every individual soul to God.

D. In both these parables there is a lost one, representing us, and God who does not rest until He rescues that lost one. God is not seen as a stern judge, who only cares about His righteous ones, but rather as our God who will not be satisfied until the lost one is found. And when the lost one is finally found, there is rejoicing and celebrating, radical Joy, in Heaven, by our Creator God.

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Conclusion: So, as we reflect on the Candle of Joy, we should recognize the joy we receive from Him, but also realize the Joy God feels for us because of His deep love for us. We might feel that we impose on God sometimes with what must seem our insignificant prayers, but the God of Joy we’ve being seeing here is a God who celebrates even the lost being found, to restore us to full relationship between Him as our loving Creator, and His beloved Creation. As we will sing in our closing hymn, our Great God finds joy with us when our hearts unfold like flowers before Him, as He melts the clouds of sin and sadness, and drives the dark of doubt away, and who calls us to rejoice in Him. Indeed, He is our God of Joy, of Radical Joy. Amen