Joy
To
The
World
3rd Sunday of Advent; Isaiah 61.1-4, 8-11; 1 Thessalonians 5.14-26; John 1:6-8; 19-28
Rev. Tiare L. Mathison, Pastor & Soul-Tender
Joy.
I stared at this word on the otherwise blank page for a long time this week. In many ways it is incongruous to ponder joy when there is sorrow all around, daily reports of the ‘bleak mid-winter’ we all will experience, some alive and some dying. Yet when I asked the dear ones on Wednesday at #WPCSTRONG, ‘how do you experience joy in the midst of the pandemic?’ They were quick to school me and suggest, “I go out in nature, God’s dynamic and beautiful creation, even in winter there is beauty.” “I make a list of what I’m grateful for,” another said. “I remember all that God has done for me over the course of my life and offer praise and thanksgiving.” “I try and do something for someone. It brings me real joy.”
In my mind, this is the discipline of remembrance. Past, present and future. It is the doorway through which we walk to sing aloud, again, “Joy to the World, the Lord is come.” We have every reason to lift our voices in joyous refrain, together with all the saints who have gone before us. The Light has come into the world - no one, no empire, no evil, no oppression, no pandemic, nothing can put out this light. For it is Christ who has come.
This is how the gospel writer, John, says it:
“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things. everything, came into being through him and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being is life and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it.” These are the first 5 verses of John’s gospel. John, the beloved disciple, writes in 90 A.D. long after the temple in Jerusalem is destroyed by the Romans and the communities scattered. He centers Jesus Christ in the midst of the God-head. A cosmic frame. This light before time, remember? The cosmos was without form or void - and God said, “Let there be light!” And there was! Not a sun, a moon, stars, rather the Light that suffuses all of the crevices of our hearts and souls, neighborhoods, communities, countries, world.
John the Baptist came to bear witness to the mystery of this Eternal Word, that becomes Jesus the Christ in the flesh. This Word gave up one attachment to provide for another, to humanity. To us. To become flesh is to know joy, pain, suffering, loss, oppression, rejection, despair, to love, to grieve and someday to die. John says, “This Word, this Light, is standing in your midst. I am not worthy to untie his sandal. This one you refuse to believe.” Unquote. HIs witness is secure and steady, right now. Later on, after severe abuse in prison, even John will ask the question, “are you the One or should we look for another?” The threat of the blade on his neck.
In our moments of despair, we ask the same ?’s Dear Jesus, are You The One we should sing our hearts out to? Are You The One who will break open empire’s grip and free us from economic degradation by skin color and place in the hierarchy? Are You The One who will remove the yoke and stain of slavery in our precious country once and for all? Are You The One who will bring economic justice and health reform and food security? Are You still really here in our very midst? Joy. A discipline of Remembrance.
“No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow, far as the curse is found...”
When I examined my heart to see if I had room for Jesus, I saw a jumble of joy, grief, sorrow, guilt, shame, regret, happiness, comfort, faith, doubt. It struck me that as I wait and prepare to welcome Jesus once again, Advent requires me to do this examen but do it from a different angle. For my sight line has changed as salvation has come. All that jumble is still there but I view it through Christ’s eyes and heart, rather than my own fallen view. His Light is not extinguished no matter how dark it gets, inside me or inside our world. Even on the cross as He gave up His life, for the life of the many, His blessing poured out to erase the bite of the apple that removed us all from the glory of Eden. His resurrection makes possible our joy.
But let’s be clear. This is no theological or theoretical or sappy ‘dreaming of a white Christmas’ notion. Rather its the power of the cosmos put into service to raise up, as we are called in Isaiah, oaks of righteousness. No weeping willows, no soft fir trees, we are oaks. Straighten up your spines, drop your shoulders on your back, oaks stand tall, strong, generous, beautiful. “The Spirit of the Lord God is now on us!” For Jesus has come. Us trees of strength are called to display God’s glory, this magnificent Light, it stretches from the moment before God spoke it into being, throughout history, all the way to that day of completion, when all will be well, all manner of life will be well, as Dame Julian says.
We are called to turn our gaze and move our actions toward the list, as I call it: good news for the oppressed, bind up the broken-hearted, proclaim liberty to the captives; release to the criminals; to comfort all who mourn; to build up the ancient ruins, repair the cities.. healing, love, generosity, and comfort. Salvation on the ground, right now. Our very existence is for THEM. We have been clothed in the garment of salvation and a gorgeous robe of righteousness.
This poetic language frames our joy. We are not called to act on our own rather to engage with the Holy Spirit to figure out where we can lay down our lives for others.
Let me give you a concrete example from the newspaper:
In Saturday’s November 28 New York Times, there is an editorial called “Forgive Us Our Debts”. It describes a particular program of medical debt relief, a charitable organization called RIP Medical Debt. Adam Mabry, lead pastor of a congregation named Aletheia Church in Boston, doesn’t know the woman he helped, with his $900. Dollar donation. But he says, “It doesn’t take a theologian to connect the dots. Jesus paid my debt at unbelievable cost to Himself, so it probably makes sense for me to pay another person’s debt at some degree of cost to myself.” While the larger issues of why medical care is so expensive, the justice piece, are not dealt with, RIP estimates that quote “just $1 can relieve $100 in medical debt.” Unquote. Across the country, They have eliminated $2.7 billion dollars in the last 5 years. There are many different types of groups where you can extend your giving. One close to me is Presbyterian Disaster Assistance. When my home flooded in Iowa in 2010, I got a $4000 grant to repair the roof. Remember Campbell Farm - Carman & Dionna do tremendous work for a wide variety of people, on a shoestring budget. Familyworks is our local mission - we will continue to deepen relationship in the years to come. There are many others in Seattle and King County. There is no one single right answer. Honestly, just give, stretch to make it pinch at least somewhat... By doing so, you prove the wonders of His Love.
Joy. A discipline of Remembrance.
You know how poetry captures my imaginative eye. I am especially intrigued by Wendell Berry, a poet farmer in Kentucky. He still farms with horses and a plow. He does no work on the Sabbath. He adores his wife, still, as he says, after all these years. His writing is like John, the Witness. He is no prophet but he stands to the side and points to Christ, a position I recommend for all of us.
Remembering that it happened once,
We cannot turn away the thought,
As we go out, cold, to our barns
Toward the long night’s end, that we
Ourselves are living in the world
It happened in when it first happened,
That we ourselves, opening a stall
(A latch thrown open countless times
Before), might find them breathing there,
Foreknown: the Child bedded in straw,
The mother kneeling over Him,
The husband standing in belief
He scarcely can believe, in light
That lights them from no source we see,
An April morning’s light, the air
Around them joyful as a choir.
We stand with one hand on the door,
Looking into another world
That is this world, the pale daylight
Coming just as before, our chores
To do, the cattle all awake,
Our own white frozen breath hanging
In front of us; and we are here
As we have never been before,
Sighted as not before, our place
Holy, although we knew it not.
+ Wendell Berry
Joy, A Discipline of Remembrance.
As Richard Lischer writes, quote “Advent is a season of sighs, especially this year. We don’t pray for a second coming that will bring the world to an end. We pray for the indwelling of Christ that will enable the world to continue.” Unquote.