Sermon for 3rd Sunday of Advent
What Brings You Joy?
By The Rev. Eric Christopher Shafer -
Today is the Advent Sunday for Joy.
The four weeks of Advent in the Christian Church are traditionally not pre-Christmas celebrations but times of preparation and reflection and waiting. Advent means “coming.” And, we know what is coming is the birth of Jesus Christ, a Savior for humankind. However, Christ’s birth does not come until Christmas. Thus, the four Sundays before Christmas are a more somber time of reflection, waiting and preparation.
However, Christian tradition holds that this Third Sunday in Advent is a bit different. This Sunday has traditionally been called “Gaudete” which means “rejoice.” Today’s second lesson from Philippians sets the mood – “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice.”
Three years ago, when I last preached on today’s texts, I decided to do a little “crowd-sourcing” to help prepare that sermon. So, I asked people on Facebook the question, “What brings you joy in this life?” Within 18 hours I had more than 100 responses that I then shared as a part of my sermon that weekend.
This year I decided to ask the same question again on Facebook, only this time I had more than 200 responses and they are still coming in!
What brings you joy in this life?
The responses this time were as wonderful as the last time. This time I received more photo and video responses: One person shared a video that I had already seen, one that has been shared widely on social media, a video showing kindergarten children who had learned sign language so that they could wish their favorite deaf school custodian “Happy Birthday” in sign language. That one was grand. One of my other favorites came from a pastor friend who sent a photo of a bottle of Coca Cola and a container of eggnog, two things that bring him joy! Another friend posted a photo of the cookies she had just baked with her grandchildren.
So many wrote about their families and the joy they receive from family and friends – children, grandchildren, husbands, wives, partners, other people.
One of our Mt. Olive members wrote that joy comes to her through her faith in God, her kids when they laugh, and the peace that being near the ocean brings to her. She added that she tries to focus on what she has been blessed with rather than what she does not have. Another wrote that joy comes to her through conversation and that nothing makes her happier than a good conversation with a friend or loved one. Another member wrote that his heart is filled with joy as he sees his adult children discerning their vocations and their delight as they now equip themselves to excel in life.
I heard from friends from high school, college and my previous pastoral calls and positions. And, since I posted my question in the Facebook group for anyone who identifies themselves with our Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, some 15,000 people, I also heard from total strangers.
I really liked this one from someone I do not know – she wrote that she finds joy in “being invited, being invited to sit with a family or friend in church or at a church dinner, being invited to have a cup of coffee after worship and to sing in the choir.” “Being invited,” she wrote, ‘it matters.” Another wrote, “My job is planning events for the elderly. It gives me great satisfaction and joy when I realize that I may have just taken someone to their last play, baseball game or art gallery.”
Here is just a small sample of other responses, what brings people joy:
From a Muslim friend - “Knowing how much there is we share as humans and individuals - that is a joy to behold and for which to be grateful to God.”
From a dear friend who says she does not believe in God – “Everything when it is done in love.” (I will tell you that do not believe her when she says she does not believe in God).
From a member of my last congregation who is ill with cancer – “the sound of a child’s belly laugh.” Another member of that same congregation, also ill with cancer, wrote that she finds joy in “singing, the ocean and beach, feeling loved.”
From a young former staff colleague – “Getting swept up by a piece of music, like listening to a great classic piece by Bach played on the organ.”
Another former staff colleague wrote that she finds joy in “knowing that overall people are inherently good despite what we see in the media.” She noted that she takes “great joy in knowing that for every awful thing she sees or hears about there are hundreds of good and great things that she does not hear about.”
Of course, I heard from Jeremy’s Mom. She wrote that she finds joy in “seeing Jeremy share the love of Jesus with children” and how she loves to “see his smile and the smiles of those kids as he shares the gospel with them.”
One of my wife’s, Kris’, and my dear friends wrote that she finds joy in “serving those who have nothing to give in return.” She has just returned from an annual mission service trip to the Caribbean. Another long-time friend wrote that joy comes to her in “the instant of shared understanding or memory with a friend or sibling, when suddenly we both know exactly what we’ve talking about, and the simultaneous knowledge that the Holy Spirit is at work and present in that joy.” She noted that she has also found joy in at funerals, during phone calls and even on Facebook!
A friend from my high school Luther League days wrote about the joy in longstanding friendships and noted that they make being old twice as good as being young, because nothing is better than the combination of life experience, rich memories and longstanding friendships.
Many wrote more theologically about the joy of prayer, the love of Jesus, listening to others and knowing God is working in the midst of it, God’s promise of grace, accepting the gift of joy through the Holy Spirit, the eternal love of God for us all, their relationship with Jesus, sharing Christ’s joy. “Heartful prayer when the going gets rough” brings joy to many. Another wrote, “Knowing that we are all connected to a magnificent universe created by God who is crazy about us!”
As you might imagine, a number of my responders were fellow clergy and they wrote of the joy of “being there to see others find their joy” and “watching people do good things when they don’t know they are being watched.” Several pastors noted that preaching sermons brings them joy but one layperson said that his joy came from “short sermons!”
And, lest you think pastors are any different from everyone else, many pastor friends also wrote about puppies and kitties, nature and creation, children and grandchildren and music. And a new bishop wrote that she finds joy in family, friends and grandchildren.
Joy from “helping others” was mentioned so many times. I liked – “being nice to people I don’t know” and “appreciating every day miracles.”
And I really liked this one, joy is “the possibility of knowing that we as a human race can live in peace without judgement and can learn to serve one another with acts of kindness.”
Perhaps the best response came to me in a direct Facebook message from a pastor who I knew many years ago. This is what she wrote, edited just a bit, “You asked what gave joy in this life. This was the second time I was asked that question today. Your question showed up just after I heard the news of a high school friend in her last days, or hours, because of an aggressive cancer. It also came as I anticipate the Christmas holiday with my stepson and reflect on the dynamic we have with each other. Neither of these events are joyful, neither provides the sense of “flow” I associate with joy.
“But,” this pastor continued, “this is why I love being Lutheran, that our theology encompasses the both/and nature of living here and now, what Martin Luther called “simul justus et peccator” of our being, which means that we are both saint and sinner at the same time. For me,” this pastor concluded, “joy is not synonymous with happiness, joy leans toward contentment. In the deepest sense, joy is part of God’s grace, God’s love for us. In this way, nothing gives me joy, but joy is given to me.”
May God give all of us that joy this Advent season and always, a joy that leans toward contentment, no matter what we face in this life, a joy that is full of God’s grace, God’s love for us.
Joy, a gift from God, this Advent and always.
Amen.
The Rev. Eric Christopher Shafer
Senior Pastor - Mt. Olive Lutheran Church
Santa Monica, California
Sunday, December 16, 2018
