The Waking Dreamer: Joy

Showing posts with label Joy. Show all posts

Monday, December 22, 2025

Finding Joy in Community

Isaiah 35:1-10; Matthew 11:1-15[1]

As we make our journey through Advent with Henri Nouwen this year, you would think that joy would be the easiest of the four themes to talk about. With the festivities, decorations, music, and parties, we “should” have a lot to be joyful about. But the truth is that for many of us, this is not the “most wonderful time of the year.” Some of us see all the celebrating, all the family gatherings, all the “fun” that everyone else seems to be having, and we feel like we’re on the outside looking in. It can seem like there’s a chain-link fence separating us from everybody who’s having so much fun, and we just can’t find our way in. In fact, for some of us, while we may feel that way most intensely at this time of year, that’s how it seems all year around. We’re aware that there’s joy “out there somewhere,” but we just can’t seem to find it.

I would say that can actually be a failure of community. Yes, it might be the result of that person’s choices. But all too often, in these days, it’s a failure to live together in community in all its different expressions. Families, churches, even towns and cities can be badly divided by everything that’s going on in our world these days. And when we turn on one another, instead of encouraging, affirming, and supporting one another, we can cause great pain. We see it in families that go their separate ways. But what we may not see is that any time we fail to embrace someone enough that they no longer feel like they’re on the outside of that fence looking in, our community has failed. Any time we intentionally shun someone because they’re just “too different” from us, our community has failed. And when that happens, community can become a source of pain instead of a source of joy.

As we look to Henri Nouwen for inspiration this Advent, he says it this way: “In my own community, with many severely handicapped men and women, the greatest source of suffering is not the handicap itself, but the accompanying feelings of being useless, worthless, unappreciated, and unloved. It is much easier to accept the inability to speak, walk, or feed oneself than it is to accept the inability to be of special value to another person. … Instinctively we know that the joy of life comes from the ways in which we live together and that the pain of life comes from the many ways we fail to do that well.”[2] Joy comes from living together in a community where we feel like we belong and we are loved. All too often, the pain in our lives comes from our failure to live together well in community.

As I’ve mentioned before, Henri Nouwen served as the chaplain in a community where cognitively disabled persons and their caregivers lived together. As a Catholic priest, he celebrated the Lord’s Supper every day. As a member of the community he served, he welcomed everyone to take part, regardless of whether they were “worthy.” I would imagine he knew quite well many people who struggled with feeling “useless, worthless, unappreciated, and unloved.” Given my personal experience with communities of mentally handicapped persons, they seem to have an intuitive grasp on the fact that “the joy of life comes from the ways in which we live together and that the pain of life comes from the many ways we fail to do that well.” In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they taught Henri that truth.

Those of us who are more “normal” may try to find our joy in other places. We find our “joy” in the level of success we have achieved. And we may try to demonstrate it by the kinds of homes we buy, the kinds of cars we drive, and the kinds of clothes we wear. Or we find our joy in the knowledge that we’re comfortable financially, or in the “busyness” of our social calendar. We may feel like we’ve really “made” it when we get our picture in the paper on the society page. Those kinds of external sources for joy, however, are notoriously unreliable. We never really know what the stock market is going to do. There’ve been times when people have lost a great deal of money in one single day of trading. The market is vulnerable to all kinds of changes, and given the general instability of the world these days, we have to reckon with the possibility that something like that can happen again. Our most prized possessions can literally go up in smoke or in a storm in a matter of minutes. When we make our joy in life dependent on our circumstances we’re skating on thin ice!

In a sense, our Gospel lesson for today addresses this question. John, who identified Jesus as the Messiah when he baptized him, had begun to question his faith. He was in prison, and Jesus wasn’t acting like he expected the Messiah to act. So he sent his disciples to ask, “Are you the one who is supposed to come? Or should we look for someone else?” (Mt 11:3, NIrV). Jesus answered: “Go back to John. Report to him what you hear and see. Blind people receive sight. Disabled people walk. Those who have skin diseases are made ‘clean.’ Deaf people hear. Those who are dead are raised to life. And the good news is preached to those who are poor” (Mt 11:4-5, NIrV). I would say that’s the closest thing we have in Matthew’s Gospel to Jesus claiming that he was indeed the Messiah.

The way he makes that claim is with a summary of the promises of salvation found especially in the book of the prophet Isaiah. We heard some of those promises in our lesson for today: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be opened; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy” (Isa 35:5-6). And Isaiah says that all those who have been “ransomed” by the Lord, which is a way of talking about salvation, will have “everlasting joy” (Isa 35:10). John was in prison. He wondered if he had picked the wrong “horse.” Jesus called John to rejoice because he was indeed fulfilling the promises of God’s salvation.

One of the things that drew me to ask Henri Nouwen to guide us through the season of Advent this year is his deep and firm commitment to the importance of community in all our lives. He saw it firsthand. I think one of the most significant obstacles to finding joy together in community is when we may harbor grudges or bitterness against one another. We all do it. Someone lets us down, someone hurts our feelings, someone fails to live up to our expectations, and we hold a grudge, sometimes for years. But there’s an old saying about that. Holding a bitterness against someone is like drinking poison ourselves and expecting it to hurt someone else. We’re only hurting ourselves. The way to find joy in the community of people who follow Jesus is through forgiveness. Jesus said it: “forgive as you have been forgiven.” We pray it every Sunday, “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” The way to find joy in a real-life community of people who let us down, who hurt our feelings, who fall short of our expectations is through forgiveness. It gives us joy, and it gives them joy.

Most of us have our own reasons for celebrating at this time of the year, whether it’s gathering with family, or the food we enjoy, or the music, or the decorations. But the reason for the joy of the season is because in Jesus Christ God has come to be “with us” in a way that bears our griefs and carries our sorrows, as the prophet Isaiah also says. That’s how we can find our joy together in this community, regardless of our circumstances. We start with the joy we have because God has given us himself in the person of Jesus. But as Henri Nouwen reminds us, we find that joy most fully when we find it together in this community. In this community where we can let one another down, where we can hurt one another’s feelings, where we can fall short of one another’s expectations. In this community we can hold grudges or feel bitter toward one another. In this community where we learn to practice forgiveness.

And it’s here. There’s joy here if we have eyes to see it and ears to hear it. Those of us who can be here on Wednesday evenings experience it every week. Whether it’s around the tables or in a boisterous classroom, whether it’s in the kitchen or in the music room (and we have fun in the music room, make no mistake!). It’s here. We have joy together in this community. We all experience it every Sunday when we gather together. Especially during our greeting time. It’s one of the things I enjoy most about our worship service. If that’s true for you as well, I’m fine with that. The reason is because while Bible teaching is one of the important foundations for Christian community, so is fellowship. It’s through fellowship that we find joy together as a community. We find it around tables enjoying a meal together, or right here in worship, sharing life with one another week after week. There’s joy here. Sometimes we just have to get past the things that are blocking our ability to see that joy, and allow ourselves to experience it.

[1] © Alan Brehm 2025. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm PhD on 12/14/2025 for Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.

[2] Henri Nouwen, Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World, 72-73.

Wednesday, April 09, 2025

Tears and Joy

Psalm 126[1]

Like many of you, I grew up in the days of the “Jesus movement.” Preachers like Billy Graham were taking advantage of the still relatively new technology of Television to preach the gospel to huge audiences. They called people to faith in Jesus in order to be “born again” and to receive “abundant life.” Of course, that language was taken straight from the Bible. But while the promise of “abundant life” here and now is true to the Bible, the way it was presented didn’t always take into consideration the realities of life. I wrestled for years trying to understand what “abundant life” was supposed to mean for people who carried deep and very real scars from the wounds that had been inflicted on them, sometimes in early childhood. The “reality” just didn’t seem to live up to the “hype.”

I think what I’ve learned over the years is that a lot of people got caught up in the enthusiasm of the time. Musicals like “Godspell” presented faith as something mainly positive. New songs (which are now “old favorites”) called people to follow Christ with joy. It was all very upbeat. But even the relatively upbeat “Godspell” had some features that were meant to call attention to the tensions of faith. Jesus’ followers are meant to be dressed like clowns at the beginning of the play. Over the course of the story, they eventually trade their “false” costumes for a more realistic appearance. It’s meant to symbolize the fact that the changes Jesus calls us to make in order to follow him don’t always come easily, and they can take time.

We’re decades removed from the “Jesus movement.” But there are still plenty of people who present the change of life that faith in Jesus calls us to as something that happens relatively quickly and easily. But that simply has not been my experience. The troubles of this life continue in the midst of the peace, hope, and joy we experience through our faith. The “abundant life” that Jesus promised to those who follow him doesn’t magically happen overnight. The new life God offers us through faith is something that takes root in our lives and changes us very slowly.[2] So slowly that at times we are tempted to think that there’s really nothing happening at all. But when we look back over years, or even better, over decades, we can see the difference faith makes in our lives.

I think this lesson applies to the faith in the Psalms as well. As I mentioned at the outset of our journey through Lent this year, the way the Psalms speak of the joy of those who know God’s comfort, care, and relief can lead us to think that this is the “norm” for everyone all the time. But again, we have to read each Psalm as a whole, the Psalms together as a collection, and set it all in the context of the Bible’s total message. As I’ve tried to demonstrate during our journey through “Faith in the Psalms” during Lent, the joy that God’s unfailing love brings into our lives takes place in the midst of the normal sufferings and troubles of this life. Our faith doesn’t exempt us from hard times, but it gives us a resource with which to get through them.

We see that reflected in the backdrop for our Psalm today. It very likely comes from the time after the people of Israel had lost everything and had spent decades living in exile far from their homeland. At the end of that exile, the prophets promised that the God who brought the people safely out of Egypt in the past would now bring them safely through their long journey home from Babylon. The same God who made “a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters” (Isa 43:16) at the Exodus promised to do something brand new: he would make a “way in the wilderness” (Isa 43:19). And the prophets promised that God would restore their lives when they returned to Jerusalem. I would imagine they kept that promise close during the long journey home.

But when they completed their journey and made it back to their own land, instead of finding the home they remembered and loved, what they found was an abandoned city in ruins. More than that, having made their dangerous journey, they found themselves in even more danger. The stories of Ezra and Nehemiah tell us how dangerous it was for the people who worked to rebuild the ruined city. Rather than the safety of home, they found themselves under attack from enemies who had taken control of the land in their absence. At one point, while working on rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem to provide them with some protection, Nehemiah had to have everybody carry their swords with them as they worked (Neh. 4:17-18)!

It’s likely this was the context for our Psalm for today. It’s true that the psalm-singer speaks of their return from exile as a dream come true. But we know from the historical accounts that the dream took some time to realize fully. They may have come home, but they had all kinds of challenges to face. Not only did they have to fend off their enemies, but they also had to find a way to establish a reliable supply of food and water. They had their work cut out for them. And so they prayed that God would continue to “restore their fortunes” (Ps. 126:4).

In fact, they prayed that God would work in such a way that those who went out to sow their seeds in tears would come back rejoicing in the harvest. I can imagine that those who were sowing seeds in tears may have been like farmers who have endured several bad years, and they’re planting the last of their seed stock. If they don’t get enough rain to provide a good harvest this year, they might just be finished. And so they prayed, “Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like the watercourses in the Negeb” (Ps. 126:4). Now, the Negeb is a desert in the southern part of Israel, where there are gullies that are dry most of the year. During the rainy season they fill up with water that the farmers would use to make their crops flourish. Essentially, they’re looking at their situation, one that seemed difficult at best and dangerous at worst, and they’re putting their faith in God to provide for their needs.

What stands out to me about this Psalm is the way it portrays God’s work of restoration. We might say, “God’s work of salvation.” It’s not all joy, all the time. It doesn’t promise that God’s deliverance makes us “happy all the day.”[3] It promises us that we can trust God to see us through the tears we may have to shed in this life. But I think the key to this Psalm is that the joy and the tears go together. There are times when we find ourselves crying out to God, desperate for his help, not even able to imagine what it would look like for God to answer our prayer to “restore our fortunes” (Ps 126:4). Those are times when we express our faith through tears. There are other times when we find relief, right here and right now, and we can say with the psalm-singer, “the LORD has done amazing things for us! What joy!” (Ps 126:3).

In my experience, that perspective on what God is doing in our lives is more true to life. Yes, the hope and joy and peace that our faith brings us makes it possible for us to live in a way that can be more genuinely happy. But those times of joy are combined with times when we are doing the work of sowing seeds of faith, “planting in tears” in the hopes of one day “harvesting with shouts of joy” (Ps 126:5). While we have times when we see the fruits of our labor and rejoice, at this stage in my life I tend to believe that the “harvest” of our faith is one that takes a lifetime to realize. We continue to plant seeds of faith, hope, and love throughout our lives. The work of cultivating the “harvest” of our labor, sometimes with tears and sometimes with joy, takes our whole lives. That’s the “abundant” life we’re called to live. Not a few simple steps that lead to non-stop happiness, but rather a lifetime of doing the work of God’s kingdom, sometimes with tears and sometimes with joy. But always trusting in the God who takes our efforts and uses them for good in this world.

[2] Cf. Shirley C. Guthrie, Christian Doctrine, rev. ed., 337, where he says that “To be a Christian … is not to have arrived but to be constantly on the way,” constantly growing toward “the whole or complete humanity of Christ.”

[3] We can see this in the way the hymn “Alas, and Did My Savior Bleed” was altered in the version known as “At the Cross.” The original hymn was written by Isaac Watts in 1707 to express gratitude for the way Jesus’ death on the cross helps us with our burdens. In 1885 Ralph Hudson added the refrain, “At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away—it was there by faith I received my sight, and now I am happy all the day.” It was characteristic of the “revival” hymns of that time. But the refrain completely alters the tone of the hymn from one of thoughtful reflection on the gratitude we feel for what Jesus did to lift our burdens to an almost pollyannish approach to salvation that results in being “happy all the day” (in my opinion)!

Monday, December 23, 2024

Joyful

Luke 3:1-18[1]

You may have gathered that today is the Sunday in Advent when we celebrate the joy of the season. That’s why we light a pink candle on this day. It’s meant to be different from the other Sundays in Advent. On the other hand, one of the ironies of Advent is that on this day when we emphasize the joy of the season, the Gospel reading always points us to John the Baptist. If you remember your Bible, you may recall that John the Baptist didn’t exactly have the most cheerful message. In fact, I would say that John’s vision of the kingdom of God was very different from what Jesus preached. It sounds like John believed what God was doing in the world was primarily punishing wrongdoers. When you listen closely to Jesus, while he called people to repent of all the ways they lived that harmed themselves or others, he also forgave them. He offered them God’s unfailing love. Jesus called people to a relationship with God as a loving father.

Our Gospel lesson from Luke for today tells the story of John’s ministry of baptizing the people who came to him. But John responds to them in a strange way in Luke’s Gospel. Luke tells us that when John saw the crowds coming to be baptized by him, he turned them away, calling them a “brood of snakes” (Luke 3:7 NLT)! This is different from what we hear in the other Gospels. Especially in Matthew, where the harsh words we hear John hurling at the crowds are reserved only for the Pharisees and Sadducees (Mt 3:7). At first glance, we might think that John needed to work on his “people skills”! But what seems to be going on is that Luke understood that the call to repentance John made to the Jewish religious leaders applied to everyone.[2] In order for them to experience the salvation of the Lord they would have to “Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God” (Lk. 3:8 NLT). In the words Luke quotes from the prophet Isaiah in our gospel lesson, for the people to experience God’s salvation, what was crooked must first be made straight, and what was rough must be smoothed (Lk 3:5-6 NLT).

The way John defined what that looked like turns out to be very practical. Perhaps even surprisingly so. When the people asked him what they should do, he said simply, “If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry” (Lk 3:11). At first glance, that may sound too easy. But I would say there’s a lot behind that statement. Truly sharing what we have with those who are in need is something that comes from the heart. And for us to be willing to share generously, we have to undergo a change of heart. That kind of generosity doesn’t always come naturally to us. It seems to be human nature to be more concerned with our own welfare than someone else’s. Especially someone we don’t even know.

I think those of us who have experienced that kind of change of heart know by experience that it takes the power of God’s love. We cannot truly turn away from a life that is self-centered without the work of the Spirit convicting us that to live that way is not only harmful to others, but also to ourselves. While it’s true that the kind of repentance and change of life that John was talking about is a choice that we all make, not just once but time and time again, it’s also true that for that change to be real, for it to truly make a difference in the way we live, God has to be the one to change our hearts.

That’s where I see the difference between John and Jesus. John called the people out on the ways they were not living generously. Jesus offered them something more. He offered them God’s grace, which means that God accepted them as they were. He offered them God’s love, a love that always had been and always would remain true. What we know by our experience is that when Jesus offers us a relationship with the God who loves us and accepts us completely and unconditionally just as we are, it is something that can and does truly change our hearts. I think that’s why Jesus’ ministry had a more “joyful” tone than John’s.

On the other hand, we shouldn’t be surprised that Jesus and John were on the same page about what they said the people should do. Most of us are familiar with Jesus’ words, “I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me” (Mt 25:35-36, NLT). It’s not hard to see that this is a longer version of what John said. What we might easily miss, however, is what stands behind this way of life. This is a way of life: giving food to the hungry and drink to the thirsty, giving welcome to the stranger, clothing for the naked, and caring for the sick. There’s a lot that lies behind that as a way of life.

In a very real sense, it’s the same thing we find in the Ten Commandments. The very beginning of the Commandments puts it this way: “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt” (Ex 20:2, NLT). That’s where the whole life of service to God starts. The idea is that God had set the people free from slavery, and the way that they would stay free was by aligning their lives with God’s ways. This is the way they would truly find joy and fulfillment. This is the way they would truly find life![3] The same remains true for us today. We offer our lives in service to others, in obedience to God, seeking to follow Jesus and his way because we’ve experienced God’s love and God’s unconditional welcome, and it has changed our hearts.

Again, I don’t think we should be surprised that Jesus and John the Baptist were on the same page about his. We find that same point of view reflected time and time again in the prophets. The way to live a life that is truly joyful is to surrender our hearts and lives to God and follow his ways to the best of our ability. The way to live a life that is truly joyful is to live generously. But we can only do that with God’s help.

When God welcomes us with open arms, when God accepts us unconditionally, when God’s love embraces us, we cannot help but share that same welcome, acceptance, and love with others. To borrow the metaphor from the hymn, when the warm rays of God’s love truly touch our hearts, we find that our hearts “unfold like flowers” before him. And as we do the “clouds of sadness” and “dark of doubt” are driven away. Then we join with all God’s “works” that call us to join in the great chorus of joy reflected back to him, not only with our words, but also with our lives. When we know that “love divine is reigning o’er us,” we can share love with other people generously, and live a life that is truly joyful.

[2] Cf. Joel Green, Theology of the Gospel of Luke, 36-37, where he suggests that Luke wanted to place special emphasis the importance of repentance as a “radical realignment of their lives with God’s purpose” that should be demonstrated in every aspect of their daily lives.

[3] Cf. Perry Yoder, “Liberated by Law,” Sojourners Magazine, September-October 1999 (Vol. 28, No. 5), 46. Cf. also John Shelby Spong, Living Commandments, 14, 15, where he says that the Ten Commandments are the principles through which we find “the fullness of life, the depth of love, and the meaning of our own humanity.”

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

What Joy?

Isaiah 61:1-11[1]

When I was a child, the promise was made that technology would one day provide us with more “leisure time” than any other generation in history. And the idea was that we could use all that “free time” to pursue happiness. I can’t say that promise was ever fulfilled. Yes, we have faster and easier ways to do everything, from everyday chores to being “productive” at work, from communicating with one another to finding any kind of information. All those activities have been to some extent “automated” by technology. Even a task like writing a sermon. I’ve never tried it, but the latest generative artificial intelligence offers to do our research for us, and at least provide us with a draft for whatever project we’re working on. At the risk of sounding like a luddite, I really can’t say that all our technology has translated into more leisure time, or more happiness.

I think part of the problem is that no amount of technology can truly enable us to escape the reality of our experience with life. One of the fundamental truths of the human condition is, “wherever you go, there you are.” That means we carry around our own happiness or unhappiness. Technology may make it easier for us to distract ourselves by doing things that are “fun,” or simply by escaping into the vast maze of “entertainment” options that’s available to us 24/7 with nothing more than a phone and an internet connection. If we’re honest with ourselves, we’re just settling for a way to pass the time without really having to deal with whatever we’re facing. At the end of the day, when you’re looking at yourself in the mirror and it’s just you there, “wherever you go, there you are.” Whatever happiness or unhappiness you carry with you is still there.

In part, it’s been my experience that we tend to sabotage our own happiness. What we focus on stands in the way of finding true happiness in life. For example, some of us may think that our happiest days were back in the past somewhere. When our happiness is bound to the past, we find ourselves stuck in a kind of perpetual grief over what we’ve lost. That leads to what can sometimes be deep and unshakeable sadness. When we believe that our happiness is tied up with a certain (very particular) version of the future, we find ourselves plagued by fear. If we can only be happy if things turn out the way we hope, clinging to those notions only fuels our worry. In my experience, the only way to be truly happy is to choose to be content with your life just as it is, without changing anything. You choose to be satisfied with your past, present, and future. You choose to be comfortable in your skin because it’s the only one you’re going to have in which to live.

Our Scripture lessons for today speak to the issue of finding happiness through contentment. The word they use is not happiness, but “joy.” The Psalmist speaks of the return of the people of Israel from exile in Babylon in fairly optimistic terms: “When the Lord brought back his exiles to Jerusalem, it was like a dream! We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy. And the other nations said, ‘What amazing things the Lord has done for them.’ Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us! What joy!” (Ps 126:1-3 NLT). But instead of a song of joy, instead of being amazed enough to say “What joy!” in response to what God had done, there are plenty of indications elsewhere in the Bible that the people who returned from exile may have turned that exclamation into a question. They may have wondered what joy there was for them in their return.

As we’ve discussed, their experience after mourning in exile for decades was that they had returned to a home that was devastated, and their mourning continued. The fact that the “servant of the Lord” in Isaiah could say he was chosen by God to bring “good news to the oppressed” (Isa. 61:1) echoes indications elsewhere in the Bible that after they returned home to Judea the Jewish people struggled just to survive. That included having the safety of shelter and the ability to raise crops to feed themselves. Their lives were far from “happy.” In fact, some of them were literally stuck in prison, and the servant promised that they would be released. If we wonder about that, we may need to understand that in that day prison wasn’t a place where justice was carried out. Prison was a means of control. Kings threw their rivals into prison. Enemy captives were thrown into prison. Those who had incurred more debt than they could pay were thrown into prison. True criminals were executed swiftly, so the majority of those who were kept in prison very likely hadn’t committed anything we would consider a crime.

In that situation, the “servant” had the courage and the vision to declare boldly to all who found themselves in this seemingly hopeless situation that God was going to relieve their suffering, comfort them in their sorrow, and set right all the wrongs they had endured. It’s quite clear in Scripture that God is on the side of the poor, the oppressed, those unjustly deprived of their freedom, and in fact, all who suffer due to the heartless ways we treat our fellow human beings. And that means that God will not always stand by while his beloved children suffer and mourn in sorrow. The promise of our Scripture lesson for today is that God would enable them to rejoice with the “oil of gladness” instead of fainting under the burden of continual mourning (Isa 61:3).

When I look at our world, it seems there is precious little joy. There is some: the joy of a baby who is much loved. The joy of families getting together. The joy of faith that chooses to trust God’s unfailing love even when we don’t understand our lives. But too many people are trading “happiness” for joy. We seem all too content to find “happiness” through “fun” or entertainment. But when you step back and take a pause to really look at what’s going on, it’s almost as if every effort we make to “find” happiness only reminds us that we’re not happy. All those “fun” times fade so quickly, and it may leave us positively frantic to keep trying to find “happiness.” Call me a cynic, but I wonder if that’s because all the running around we do to find that elusive “happiness” is only a way of avoiding having to admit to ourselves that we may not be happy at all.

The promise of Scripture on this third Sunday in Advent is that God comforts those who mourn, lifts the burdens that weigh us down, and sets us free from everything that robs us of joy in this life. That doesn’t mean we can expect God to grant our every wish. The joy that’s promised to us on this third Sunday of Advent comes from the promise that God would send us a Savior who would not only proclaim the good news, but who would also enact it by relieving suffering and setting all things right in the world. If we find it challenging to see that promise fulfilled in our day and time, we can remember that the message of Christmas is that “God’s light is more real than all the darkness, that God’s truth is more powerful than all human lies, that God’s love is stronger than death.”[2] When we wonder what joy there is to be found in this world, we can remember that God isn’t yet finished with the saving work he began in the birth of Jesus. And so we celebrate with the words of the Psalmist: “Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us! What joy!”

[2] Henri J. M. Nouwen, Here and Now: Living in the Spirit, 32

Monday, December 12, 2022

Living Joyfully

Matthew 11:2-19[1]

I think finding a way to enjoy life is perhaps one of the most fundamental human pursuits. One of the reasons I believe that is because we have become more cut off from the very ordinary sources that humanity has looked to for joy over the ages. With that loss of “ordinary joy,” we turn to the extraordinary, to “special events,” in our search for happiness. We plan bigger and grander vacations. We mark milestone events with “over the top” gestures that we then have to try to “outdo” next time. We find ways to extend our “celebrations” of birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays as long as possible to get “the most” out of them. But with all that energy and effort going toward making it more “special,” I wonder if it gets in the way of finding joy in the “ordinariness” that has always been a part of human life.

At the same time, I think we try to keep our distance from the extraordinary. The smartest student in the class is often viewed as “freakishly smart.” We honor the soldier who goes over the hill first, risking life and limb, but we want our loved ones to avoid “playing the hero.” When it comes to religion, I think we still have remnants of the old Roman Catholic reverence for “saints.” Because we both admire and fear them, we put those who have lived extraordinary lives of devotion to Christ on pedestals high enough to keep our distance. We do so to prevent their “extraordinary” piety from “rubbing off” on us and removing us from being comfortably “normal.”

I think something like this was going on with John the Baptist. The fact that he carried out his ministry in the “wilderness” was not “normal.” And then there was his lifestyle: he wore clothing made of camel’s hair and ate a strange diet of locusts and wild honey. But the real “clincher” that marked John off as extraordinary was his message: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Mt 3:2). But he went beyond that: “the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I …. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Mt 3:11). This was very different from what people were used to hearing.

That last part became one of most important ways of identifying John the Baptist in the Christian tradition. He was the “the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight’” (Mt 3:3). That marked him off as a “prophet” in the eyes of most people. That this was the way people identified him not only expressed that conviction, it reinforced it. That was because the very words came from the prophet Isaiah. That people would take a page from Isaiah and apply it to John only elevated him even higher on their religious pedestals. And like us, the people of that day both admired and feared anyone who behaved like a prophet.

Here was John, his message one that led many people to expect that he was the one to announce and even bring in the hopes the people had cherished for centuries. In our gospel lesson for today, Jesus endorsed the rumors that must have been going around: “if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come” (Mt 11:14). And yet, Jesus seemed to say both that John was special, and that John was nothing special. He said it this way: “Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist, yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Mt 11:11). I would say that Jesus’ point was simple: John was indeed extraordinary, and he played a special role in the fulfillment of God’s purpose. John was the one who prepared the way for the coming of the Messiah. But literally in the same breath Jesus said that John was also ordinary, no greater than the “least” of those who had the faith to follow Jesus.

I think we see John’s “ordinariness” in that John asked Jesus a surprising question. At least it’s surprising to hear it from a “prophet,” the one who was the “voice crying in the wilderness” to prepare for the coming Messiah. Matthew tells us that “When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?’” (Mt 11:2, NIV). Wait, what? How could John doubt whether Jesus was “the one who is to come”? It doesn’t make sense. I think this gives us a glimpse of the “ordinariness” of even one so “extraordinary.” For all of his unique devotion to God, John remained a man. And Jesus wasn’t behaving in the way that anyone expected from the “Messiah.” John included.

And that brings us to the fact that there is more going on in this Gospel lesson than just answering the question who John the Baptist was. More importantly, it’s about answering the question who Jesus was and is. When John’s disciples asked Jesus the question, “are you the one?”, he answered in a way that they might not have understood in the moment: “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor” (Mt 11:4-5). I would say that’s the closest thing we have in Matthew’s Gospel to Jesus claiming that he was indeed the Messiah.

But the way he demonstrates this is by pointing to what John already knows: that Jesus was doing the “deeds of the Messiah” (Mt 11:2, NIV). What follows is in one sense simply a summary of what Matthew had already reported about Jesus: healing and restoring people, raising the dead, and proclaiming the good news.[2] But it’s also a summary of the promises of salvation found especially in the book of the prophet Isaiah.[3]We heard some of those promises in our lesson for today: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be opened; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy” (Isa 35:5-6). But not only does Isaiah promise healing. He says that all those who have been “ransomed” by the Lord will have “everlasting joy”; “they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away” (Isa 35:10). Jesus called John to rejoice because he was indeed fulfilling the promises of God’s salvation.

That’s where all this fits in with our ability to live with joy. Recognizing that Jesus did indeed come as the Messiah to fulfill the promises of God’s salvation is cause for joy. And the joy of God’s salvation in the process of being fulfilled by Jesus the Messiah can serve as the foundation for a life of joy. While it’s true that we still deal with “sorrow and sighing,” we have in Jesus the demonstration of the beginning of God’s salvation. And I would say that Jesus’ whole life serves as a demonstration of God’s intent to complete the work of salvation. When that kind of “everlasting” joy serves as the foundation for our lives, I believe it sets us free from trying to grasp at joy in ways that may be artificial. It sets us free to live joyfully in all the “ordinary” ways that are available to us every day.

[1] © 2022 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm PhD on 12/11/2022 for Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE. For a video recording of this sermon, check out my Pastor Alan YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/vWDLT5ggoJA .

[2] Cleansing a leper: Mt 8:1-4; healing the lame: Mt 8:5-13; Mt 9:2-8; raising the dead: Mt 9:18-23; restoring sight to the blind: Mt 9:27-31; restoring hearing (and speech) to a mute: Mt 9:32-33; proclaiming the good news: Mt 9:35-36.

[3] Isa 26:19: “Your dead shall live; their corpses shall rise”; Isa 29:18: “On that day the deaf shall hear the words of a scroll, and freed from gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see”; Isa 35:5-6:

Wednesday, July 20, 2022

The Joy of the Kingdom

Psalm 30; Luke 10:1-20[1]

Let’s be honest: our world feels like chaos right now. We’ve already lived through a time of turmoil that most of us couldn’t have imagined a couple of years ago. And if the sweeping changes that have affected everything from gas prices to the ways movies are released haven’t been enough, it seems like every week we’re hit with something that is “unprecedented.” It feels like that word is getting worn out this year! If you look closely at your friends and neighbors, or even if you look closely at yourself in the mirror, I think beneath the appearance of everything being fine, many of us are actually struggling. We’re tired, we’re stressed out, and we’re afraid. And the “hits” just keep on coming.

When you look at all that, it may seem completely out of touch with reality to even talk about “joy.” How can anyone in good conscience talk about “joy” while so many are suffering so desperately? And yet, with all the pressure we’re all living under, I would say that finding joy in our lives is precisely what we need. When we live out of our stress and fear, we are never able to be our best selves. But finding joy in life gives us the hope that enables us to rise above all that would box us in with fear and to live out of our compassion and kindness instead.

Our Gospel lesson for today might raise this question for some of us. When you look at all the turmoil and the suffering going on, it may seem irresponsible to talk about the “joy of the Kingdom.” But the joy found in our Gospel lesson for today doesn’t come from some naïve detachment from the harsh realities of life. It comes right out of them. In our lesson for today, Jesus warned those who would take a stand for the Kingdom of God of the dangers it may involve. In this context, he was sending 70 (or 72) of his followers “on ahead of him” to take the good news to as many people as possible. And he was preparing them for what will happen as they work to spread the “peace” of God’s kingdom.

Jesus knew that there would be some who would welcome the peace they were bringing into their homes and their lives. But he also knew that there would be some who would reject it. He warned them that he was sending them out “like lambs into the midst of wolves” (Lk 10:3). Jesus had already told them more than once that he must go to Jerusalem where he would face rejection, torture, and eventually death. And he warned those who would follow him that they must be prepared to take up their own cross “daily” (Lk 9:23). Jesus knew that those were willing to join him in sharing the “peace” of God’s kingdom would not be welcomed by everyone they met along the way. And he knew that some of them would literally risk their lives for the sake of the good news.

Even though this group of disciples apparently did not face that level of threat on this occasion, the call to follow Jesus and to carry out the mission of the Kingdom of God would sooner or later lead many of them into danger. We might think that would put a damper on their sense of joy in serving God’s purposes in this world. But that was not the case. As the New Testament shows us, time and again those who suffered for the sake of their faith considered it a privilege to be counted worthy to suffer for the sake of Christ, for the sake of God’s kingdom, and for the sake of the peace, justice, and freedom God was bringing into the world.

Their joy in serving the kingdom of God didn’t come from the ease or comfort of their lives. Rather it came from the promise of salvation. That’s what Jesus meant when he instructed his disciples to “rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Lk 10:20)! Their joy was inspired by the confidence that God will never fail us or forsake us but will be with us no matter what our circumstances. Their joy was inspired by the assurance that God will keep his promises. Their joy was inspired by their faith that God’s kingdom will make all things right and restore everyone and everything to life. That was the kind of joy they found as they followed Jesus in ministry to their world.[2]

Jesus continually bore witness to the joy of the Kingdom—in his parables, in his proclamation of the Gospel, and in his life. What makes the good news about Jesus so joyful is the faith that God’s kingdom of justice, peace, and freedom is already transforming this world. That hope frees us so that we can live joyfully now, even in the midst of all the difficulties we may face, and even in the face of the suffering that many have to endure!

When you think about the stress and fear we’re all going through right now, I think we might agree that we could all use a dose of joy right about now. I’m not talking about looking at life through rose-colored glasses. I think the joy we need is the joy that Jesus pointed us to: the joy of God’s future, where those who suffer will be comforted, the poor will be supplied with everything they need, and the oppressed will be set free to live the lives they were meant to live. It’s a joy that comes from looking for the day when God will turn all the mourning in the world into dancing. As we redirect our lives from fear to joy, we can serve others with love in the hope that God’s kingdom is already making all things new!

[1] © 2022 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm PhD on 7/3/2022 for Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE. For a video recording of this sermon, check out my Pastor Alan YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/W4DbflNw06Y

[2] Jürgen Moltmann, The Passion for Life: A Messianic Lifestyle, 74, calls this kind of joy the “laughter of the redeemed, the dance of the liberated.” Moltmann uses this phrase with reference to the celebration of the resurrection at Easter, but I would say that it applies as well to the joy of the kingdom of God in Jesus’ ministry.

Monday, March 14, 2022

For the Sake of the Joy

Luke 13:31-35[1]

One of the difficult aspects of following the schedule of Scripture readings for our worship is that they demand a great deal from us. That’s particularly the case for our readings from the Gospel of Luke this year. As I’ve mentioned, the “good news” in Luke’s Gospel has an “edge” to it. Part of that “edge” is that Jesus emphasizes repeatedly the “cost” of following him. Hearing week after week that discipleship is going to cost us can wear on us, and perhaps even feel discouraging. The more we hear the demand to take up our cross and follow Jesus, the more discouraged we may get about how well we follow him.

One of the reasons for this is because Jesus focuses his attention so consistently on the fact that his faithfulness to God was leading him to die on a cross. And Jesus used his journey to the cross as a model for us to follow. We hear in many ways that following him will require us to give up our lives. But we have to remember that the cross was not the end of Jesus’ journey. His path would lead him through death to resurrection, to his exaltation to the right hand of God, and to his return with power to complete God’s final victory. The author of Hebrews puts it this way: “for the sake of the joy that was set before him he endured the cross” (Heb 12:2). I think we can take a similar approach to the cost of following Jesus.

Our lesson for today may not seem like a good fit for finding this kind of encouragement. One factor in trying to understand this passage is placing it in the context of Luke’s Gospel. In this section of Luke, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, where he knows he is going to complete his mission by giving up his life. As Luke tells the story of Jesus’ journey, he takes the opportunity to report Jesus’ teachings about what it means to follow him. And he does so over the course of half of his Gospel—ten chapters! While Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem to fulfill his calling, Luke tells us that he was preparing his disciples for what it would mean for them to follow him.

I think we do well to pay special attention to the final verses in our lesson for today. This strange passage starts off with an even stranger event: Luke tells us that some Pharisees came to warn Jesus that Herod was trying to kill him! We might be thinking that if they were Pharisees, they were probably trying to kill Jesus as well. But it’s important for us to recognize that not all the “Pharisees” were against Jesus. The reason there was so much friction between Jesus and the Pharisees is because they had the most in common among the Jewish groups in that day. And the Gospels name two Pharisees who actually supported Jesus: Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus (Lk 23:50-53; Jn 19:38-42).

But our lesson gets “curiouser and curiouser,” to quote Alice in Wonderland. Jesus responds to the warning by saying, “Go and tell that jackal for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work” (Lk 13:32). To say the least, it’s a confusing way to reply to a warning about a death threat! I think, however, that what we’re meant to hear is the phrase “today and tomorrow, and on the third day.” This reminds us of the way in which Jesus predicted his own death. I would say that Jesus knew he was going to die, and it wouldn’t be at the hands of Herod!

And so in the next verse, Jesus continues, “today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem” (Lk 13:33). It’s clear in this verse that Jesus knows he “must” go to Jerusalem to die. But again, we have this phrase, “today, tomorrow, and the next day.” I would say that this repeated emphasis of what Jesus would do over the course of three days points us to the fact that he would “finish” his work not only on the cross, but also on the “third day” when God raised him from the dead. Although he knew that he faced a brutal trial, he also knew that would not be the end for him, but that God’s power would prevail through him.

I think we see something similar at the end of our lesson, where Jesus says, “you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord’” (Lk 13:35). Although those very words were the ones the crowds used to welcome him to Jerusalem, Jesus was looking past that. I think he was looking beyond his death and resurrection to his return with power to complete God’s final victory. It’s hard to imagine the faith and courage it took for Jesus to face his death with so much resolve. But I believe, as Hebrews tells us, that he did it “for the sake of the joy that was set before him.” In other words, he faced the ultimate test of his faithfulness to God by his faith in the victory God would win for all people through him.

I think we can approach our commitment to following Jesus in a similar way. We may have to face hardships. We may have to make sacrifices. As Jesus said we may have to give up our lives in order to truly find life. None of that’s easy. And the road can get long and weary as we continue to follow Jesus. But like Jesus, we can remain faithful by remembering that all the hardships we may face, all the sacrifices we may make, all that we may have to give up serves to bring God’s love to hurting people in our world. And so we can follow Jesus “for the sake of the joy” that is set before us, because we trust that God is working through us as well!

Monday, January 17, 2022

Joyful Celebration of Life

John 2:1-11[1]

Most of you know that my daughter, Carolyn, was married last month. While she and her new husband Peter made every effort to keep their wedding simple, there was no shortage of food and no shortage of drink. And I think it’s safe to say that everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves. My father was able to be there, at 90 years old. And my youngest granddaughter Betty was there at 18 months. My wife’s family were there. My step-son and step-daughter and their family were there. We were all there to celebrate Carolyn’s wedding, and to give our blessing to her and Peter in their new life. Having four generations of a family that has blended together for over forty years made for a joyful celebration of life!

But what if the means for celebrating had given out? What if there had not been enough food for everyone? What if there had not been enough to drink? These days, the wedding reception is a party with a DJ playing music. What if all of a sudden his equipment had a glitch and the music stopped? I think we all know what would have happened. The guests would have stood around for a while, feeling awkward. But slowly, they would have made their excuses and found a way to leave. The joyful celebration of life would have been interrupted. And perhaps it would have marred the joy of my daughter’s new life with her husband.

That is precisely the situation that Jesus faced in our Gospel lesson for today. Jesus was a guest at a wedding feast in the small village of Cana in Galilee. It would appear that this family was not wealthy, because their feast was only going to last one day. Traditional wedding feasts, even now, extend over more than just a day. Unfortunately, even at this meager feast, the family had not been able to buy enough wine. And to run out of wine at a wedding feast would have been humiliating to the family, and not least to the couple who were starting their lives together on this special day. It would have been a mark against them and their family that would not have been forgotten in a small village.

Now, at this point I think we have to recognize the place of wine in biblical festivities. In some respects it’s a bit naïve. We now know that for some people even a sip of alcohol can be pure poison. Of course there are places where the Bible criticizes drunkenness as a habitual practice. But there are several places where drinking a lot of good wine is an essential part of joyful celebration. Whether it’s a wedding feast, or even the feast that God promises to set for “all people” when the Kingdom comes in all its fullness (Isa. 25:6), wine is there as something that is supposed to make the celebration of life joyful.

I think that’s why Jesus’ first sign by which he revealed the light he was bringing into the darkness of this world was the creation of a huge quantity of very fine wine. If the wine had given out it would have ruined the celebration of these two people beginning their new life together. The joyful celebration of life that should have been a time for their family, their friends, and the whole community to give their blessing to the new couple would have been spoiled. It would not only have marred the joy of the day, it would have potentially marred the joy of their life together as husband and wife. And so Jesus made enough fine wine to ensure that the joyful celebration of life continued.

Another aspect of this story is that John tells us this was Jesus’ first “sign.” That may sound strange to us, because in other places Jesus refuses to perform signs for people. But in John’s Gospel, the “signs” are a central theme. The signs Jesus works are the actions by which he demonstrates what he is about and what God’s Kingdom is about. They are the means by which he reveals the light that he was bringing into the darkness. As John says in our lesson for today, the signs reveal Jesus’ “glory” (Jn 2:11) and they conclude with his being “lifted up (on the cross) in order to draw all people” to himself (Jn 12:32).

It may seem strange in church to hear that the inaugural sign of Jesus’ ministry in John’s Gospel was the creation of a huge quantity of wine—and very fine wine according to the steward of the feast—so that a wedding party could continue as long as it needed to. But we have to remember that the whole point of this miracle was to ensure that this couple’s joyful celebration of their new life together could continue. It was meant to keep the wedding celebration going so that they could receive the full blessing of their family and their community. The main point is that Jesus’ first sign, the first thing he does to demonstrate what he’s about and what the Kingdom of God is about, is to promote the joyful celebration of life.

We live our lives “in the fast lane” these days. Our daily calendars can be crammed so full that we don’t even have a moment to catch our breath. It’s a feature of life in this culture. We are a people who are driven: driven to have more and to do more. That approach to life doesn’t leave much room for “stopping and smelling the roses.” But the Bible insists that God’s creation is “very good,” and that one essential element of wisdom is to enjoy all that is good and to celebrate the life God has given to us. At a wedding in Cana, Jesus not only endorsed that point of view, he provided the means for the joyful celebration of life.

Sunday, December 13, 2020

Joy to the World!

Isaiah 61:1-11[1]

As I mentioned last week, for some of us this time of year is very difficult. It’s hard to feel like you’re a part of the “festivities.” Instead of joy, the “Holidays” bring sadness. As a matter of fact, I’m one of those people. I’ve dealt with this all my adult life. It relates to issues that go back to my family of origin, but that’s too long a story to tell here. Don’t get me wrong: I’ve always loved Christmas Eve services. Somehow, the “pall” that seems to hang over me during this time of year lifts with Christmas Eve. But otherwise, it’s difficult for me to “get into the spirit” of “Christmas cheer.” I know that I’m not alone in that. That’s one reason for mentioning it—so that others will know that they’re not alone.

For those of us who struggle with the “Holiday Season,” the promise of joy can seem hollow. The wounds we’ve endured in this life have so sensitized us to the suffering in our world that no amount of tinsel or lights or wrapping or sweets can distract us from the fact that it can all feel very hollow! While we are spending an incredible amount of money on ourselves, we are surrounded by people who are struggling just to put food on the table, just to keep the electricity going, or just to keep a roof over their heads. It makes it hard to get into the whole message of hope, peace, joy, and love when it seems like there’s precious little of it going around for those who need it most.

I believe our lesson from Isaiah for today addresses this problem. As I’ve mentioned before, this portion of Isaiah was addressed to those who had lost everything at the hands of the Babylonians. God had made good on the promise to bring them back to their homeland, but when they got there, the reality of their “salvation” fell far short of what they had hoped. They returned to a land that had been devastated by war and left a wasteland. Their lives were harder than ever, and it seemed that the God who had promised to deliver them had failed to make good on those promises. Their faith was spent and their lives seemed hopeless.

What’s more, after going through years of exile that were intended to teach them to follow God’s ways, they still hadn’t learned their lesson. They still failed to practice what the prophet spoke of as “righteousness” and “justice,” which refers to God’s intention that all people should thrive together, equally. Isaiah defines “righteousness” this way: “to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke” (Isa 58:6). He gets more specific: God’s intent was that they would share with the hungry, shelter the homeless, and clothe the naked (Isa 58:7). But they were too wrapped up with their own concerns to actually put God’s “righteousness” into practice.

As a result, God promised to come and set things right himself. And that brings us to the lesson for today. Here, one who speaks like “the Servant of the Lord” announces that God had anointed him to “to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners” (Isa 61:1). He promised to give the “oil of gladness” to those who were mourning—very likely because they were struggling just to survive. The prophet promised in the name of the LORD that God would cause “righteousness” to grow up and flourish like a lush garden! In other words, God promised to set right all that was wrong, to relieve their suffering, and to establish true justice that would enable them all to thrive together, equally.

We know of this message in the Bible—we call it “social justice.” But for some reason, we seem to miss how important it is in God’s saving purpose. We tend to think of our “eternal destiny” as the “important” part of “salvation.” From that perspective, anything we do to help alleviate suffering in this world is good, but it’s not “necessary.” It’s sort of something “extra” that those who are exceptionally caring do, but it’s not a “required” part of the Christian life. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth! Throughout the Bible, it is clear that the work of “righteousness” or “justice” that makes it possible for us all to thrive together is not a “side note” to God’s purpose. Rather, it central to God’s saving work in this world![2] And God’s promise to do this calls us all to take up the work of establishing “righteousness” in our world!

The thought occurred to me that perhaps this year we’re all having difficulty finding joy in the holiday season. This year we may not be able to observe all the “festivities” we would like. However, it might not be a bad thing for us to have to look deeper to find the joy of Christmas. True joy is about the promise that God would send us a Savior who would not only proclaim the good news, but who would also enact it by relieving suffering and setting all things right in the world. If we find it challenging to see that promise fulfilled in our day and time, we can remember that that God isn’t finished with his saving work. The promise points forward to the time when Jesus will complete the work of establishing “righteousness” so that all people can thrive together and enjoy the life God intends for us. I think that may offer a hope that can bring joy not only to us, but also to the whole world!

[2] Cf. T. E. Fretheim, “The Prophets and Social Justice: A Conservative Agenda,” in Word & World 28 (Spring 2008): 163, “God's concern about matters of social justice was believed to be so strong and so pervasive that it was built into the very heart of the covenantal promises. And God was and will be faithful to such promises.”

Thursday, December 05, 2019

Radiant

Isaiah 2:1-4, Titus 2:11-14[1]

The Christian faith has had its share of critics throughout the ages. One of the most strident of those was a German philosopher named Friedrich Nietzsche. Like many others, he called out the Christians of his day for their hypocrisy. Unfortunately, Christians of all eras have been good at doing “lip service” to the faith without actually putting it into practice in their lives. And sadly, that is as true today as it ever was. Nietzsche had a lot to say about this, but one of his more memorable lines was that for him to believe in the Christian Savior, “his disciples would have to look more redeemed!”^{^[2]}

I think this sentiment challenges us most deeply at this time of the year. Family gatherings can be wonderful, but they can also be exhausting. Then there’s the fact that it gets dark so early this time of year. Add to that the “hustle and bustle” of getting everything done and getting everywhere we’re supposed to go. And the sad truth is that the “holidays” can be “the most difficult time of the year” for many of us. All of this put together can rob us of the joy that we’re “supposed” to be celebrating in the midst of everything we have going on. It can be especially hard to “look redeemed.”

I think that’s one of the reasons light plays such an important role for us at this time of year. We light up the Christmas tree, and we light up our houses. The lights can help to relieve the rather oppressive feeling the darkness can bring on us. For a while. As much as decorating can help, I don’t think it’s a real solution to our problem. For our faith to show in our lives and on our faces as authentic joy, we have to takes steps that have deeper and more lasting effects than just decorating our homes and stringing lights. If we want our lives to be “radiant” with the joy of our faith, we have to find a hope that cannot be shaken.

I think that was what the prophet Isaiah was trying to do for his people. Despite the fact that they lived at a dangerous crossroads between continents and empires, and despite the fact that even their leaders had seemingly abandoned their faith, Isaiah held out a hope that God was not finished with them. Rather, he believed in the vision that God was working to make all things new. And the specific way in which he expresses that hope in our lesson for today is that through the people of Israel, one day all the nations of the earth would be drawn to the light of God’s truth, God’s peace, and God’s justice.

Isaiah’s vision of salvation was one in which all the different peoples of the world—even those who had been enemies of Judah—would “stream” to Jerusalem as the “mountain of the Lord” (Isa. 2:2). And the reason they would come was “that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths” (Isa. 2:3). Isaiah explains that the reason for this attraction is that Jerusalem would be a place where the word of the Lord would enlighten all the nations to “walk in his ways.” And the result would be peace; not just peace as the absence of conflict, but peace as that which transforms people so that they can truly live with joy a life that could be called “radiant.”

This vision of the destiny of the human family is an ideal that has inspired and fired the imaginations of people of faith throughout the generations. Isaiah’s vision was that when God’s truth becomes the light by which we all order our lives, then “they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isa. 2:4). It is one of the more powerful visions of the destiny of humankind, and it has inspired people throughout history to find hope and joy even in the midst of some of the most challenging times of life. This hope can transform us into people who look “redeemed” because our lives are radiant with joy.

It’s fine, however, to think of the great promises that inspire in us hope for the future. But many of us would like to know what we have to help us find joy here and now. I think the lesson from Titus can help us here. It summarizes in a nutshell the good news that we are preparing to celebrate at Christmas: “the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all” (Titus 2:11). Although that might seem self-evident, I’m afraid the language of grace and salvation isn’t all that obvious. Grace here refers to God’s goodness, kindness, and generosity by which he gives us the gift of love that we don’t have to earn and we can’t forfeit. And while salvation can refer to several aspects of our hope, I think that promise of a love that is unconditional and irrevocable hits the spot for most of us. We can be radiant with hope and joy here and now because of this amazing love God has given us.

Most of us have times in our lives when we don’t look very “redeemed.” What better time than Advent for us to prepare our hearts and lives to truly celebrate the coming of our Savior to bring us hope and joy. Interestingly, both our lessons speak of that hope and joy as training us how to live. In Isaiah it’s about learning God’s ways and walking in his paths. In Titus it’s about God’s grace teaching us to “live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly” (Titus 2:12). In other words, the love that is the essence of who God is defines how we live, so that we now “take on a God-filled, God-honoring life” (Titus 2:12, The Message). I think this is a change that is deep and lasting, and one that can truly enable us to “look more redeemed” because we are radiant with the hope and joy of God’s love.

[2] Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Modern Library Edition, 92.

The Waking Dreamer