"Thus Says the Lord: God Speaks Joy through the Prophet" - Sermon for the Third Sunday of Advent

Thus Says the Lord: God Speaks Joy through the Prophet
Isaiah 55.1-13; John 15.11
Advent 3 – Narrative Lectionary 4
December 15, 2013
Grace, Mankato, MN

 “Dad, what are you doing December 14,” my youngest daughter asks and I cautiously respond, “Why?” I’m thinking that another “Daddy-do” list is coming, but instead she said, “How would you like to go to the Science Museum with me?” “Oh, you want to see the new Mayan exhibit,” I say. “Sure, I can do that.” “You don’t seem very excited about it,” she says. Now, my daughter has known me her entire life, well over 25 years, so you’d think she’d have figured me out by now. Though I didn’t show it, I was overjoyed that she wanted to spend time doing something with me, and something enjoyable at that.

The pink candle for Third Sunday of Advent typically represents joy, which I have found is remarkably difficult to pin down. Intuitively, we’re pretty sure it’s not the same as happiness, yet we think we know it when we see it. However, when comes time to describe or define it, it’s like trying to nail Jell-o to a tree. I think that the unexpected appearance of color pink in the midst of blue gives us a hint to its nature: in the midst of waiting, watching and hoping for God’s appearance in our world, something astonishing happens.

Isaiah 55 is the capstone to that whole section called Second Isaiah, which written to the Jewish Babylonian exiles. The verses burst with joy at the news: God has been working behind the scenes to send them home. The Persians have defeated the Babylonians and Cyrus, the king, is not only letting the Jews return if they so choose, he is even willing to fund the trip. This is helpful given what they’ll find when they get there, a city and temple in ruins. If they want to be happy, they will stay where they have built their lives. If they return, the joy will come from elsewhere.

This past week I asked both colleagues and parishioners to define joy. Most that I asked said that it comes from somewhere outside ourselves or wells up within us, but it is not something we can bring on. I’m also pretty sure that you can’t order someone to be joyful or shame them into it. And as I think more about how the Bible talks about joy the more counter-intuitive it seems. For example, what is perhaps the most joyous of letters, Philippians, was written by the Apostle Paul in the midst of extreme suffering.

Taking all of this into consideration, it seems that joy comes from God’s presence and action in our lives. Joy comes when God’s future promises of restoration surprisingly breaks into our present situation. Peace, what we talked about last week, is the assurance that God will show up; joy is our response when that happens, often in wildly unpredictable ways. Someone has said that it’s like cheering crazily that we’ve won the war after just one of our soldiers has parachuted behind enemy lines.

This time of year is not easy for many people, especially those going through tough times. We cannot force ourselves to be joyful, but Advent encourages us to expect it will come and to wait, look, and hope for it. It may be a kind word from an unexpected source, an offer of help, the presence of friends who walk with us in the midst of grief and loss. It may come from the waters of baptism or the warmth from a little bread and wine at Holy Communion. “Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. You who have no money: come, buy and eat.”

I did go to the Maya exhibit with my daughter, and she did have a “Daddy-do” list, albeit a small one, but I counted both joys to be in my daughter’s life, even if I don’t always show it. And while I’m on the subject, being your pastor, walking with you on your faith journeys, and seeing God work wild and crazy things in your lives brings me exceeding joy, even if I don’t always show it. May the joy of God, which passes all understanding, keep you and bless you today and always. Amen.