The Candle of Joy

  Let’s think of all the songs we know that mention joy: “Ode to Joy” is the name of the famous fifth symphony of Beethoven. We put words to it and sing “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee.” In my youth, we would sing the chorus, “I’ve got that Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy, down in my heart, down in my heart to stay.” And this time of year, we often sing the wonderful carol, “Joy to the world, the Lord has come.” Which leads me to notice that more secular anthem, “Joy to the world, joy to the fishes in the deep blue see, joy for you and me.”  From Queen to John Prine to Taylor Swift, joy is a not just a theme for music, but it is the experience that is often created by singing. What songs of joy can you name? Joy is a characteristic note of the Christian religion. It sets us apart from others whose faith and practice take them in other ways. Yes, there is lament, and we Christians have an entire season of the year focused on lament—we call it Lent. But this is the season of celebration, of joy, of the good news of God. The angels said to the shepherds, “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.” That is the core announcement of the Christian religion, of the gospel of God, of this story in the Bible we read today. We read about Mary and Elizabeth and light the candle of joy. I. Now, let’s review the story. Elizabeth and Zechariah were both Jews, in the family tree of priests, and very old. They had been childless all their married life. One day while going about his priestly duties in the temple in Jerusalem, Zechariah was confronted by an angel who said to him, “Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and you are to call him john. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth. He will be great in the sight of the Lord.” Shortly after, Elizabeth became pregnant. She said, “The Lord has done this for me. The Lord has s8hown favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.” That is the first part of the story. Two old people conceive a child. Should I pause here and make a few comments for all the old people gathered here today? Then comes part two of the story. A young person turns up pregnant. We are more familiar with this, aren’t we? Her name is Mary, and an angel figures in this story, as well. This angel has a name, Gabriel. “Greetings, Mary. You are highly favored. The Lord is with you. Do not be afraid. You have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son. You are to name him Jesus.” In the dialogue that followed, the angel told Mary that her relative Elisabeth was also pregnant. Thus, the outlines of this famous story were set: the old lady got pregnant, and the young girl got pregnant. Both of them out of the proper order, we might say. One was way married and way old and way past her prime; the other was unmarried and way young and just as startled. Thus begins the most famous story in the world. How these two women gave birth, and what happened to their children is a story told around the world: sometimes in sermons, sometimes in cantatas enchanting thousands of people, sometimes in books, and sometimes in art. Last week, we hung the recently floated and framed art of Peggy Rowland, a long-time member of our church. She and her husband Howard now live outside Charleston, South Carolina. I encourage all of you to come close and look at these art pieces. They tell the story we are celebrating this season. The vivid colors convey the joy of the story they tell. Note also the nativity set on the table as you enter and leave the sanctuary. How many of you have a nativity set in your house? Around the world, the nativity set is a common means of telling this story. Every culture on every continent creates their own unique version of this set of characters. Anne Packard is a friend of mine. She lives on St. Simons Island. She is the curator of the Moore Museum of Methodist History at Epworth by the Sea, a conference and vacation center on the island. I plan to be there in January for the annual Southern Lights, hosted by Diana Butler Bass and Brian McClaren. A big part of her museum collection is nativity sets from all over the world.  She has over 150: different fabrics and features, unique colors and flourishes, a rich feast for the imagination. Each of them and all of them help convey to us the details wrapped up in this announcement, “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.” II. One thing is missing from all these nativity sets: Elizabeth, Zechariah, and John.  How would you create these three characters if you were to add them to your nativity set? You would have great latitude in colors and contours, in facial expressions and physical features of all sorts. But somehow, someway the one quality that would need to shine through is joy. How would you convey joy in a nativity set? With faces full of laughter? With hands and feet shaped for a dance? With the mouth wide open in song? Or more simply, with the smile a man shows when he holds for the first time his newborn daughter? What does joy look like? What does joy sound like? What does joy feel like? “I’ve got that joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart, down in my heart to stay?” Remember singing that so long ago? What was it that you had down in your heart? What is it that you have down in your heart now, surrounded by the aches and pains of life, pushed around by the heartaches and problems of this week, burdened by the disappointments and discouragements of the stuff in your family? You still have that joy, or was that just youthful enthusiasm? Elizabeth and Mary had their share of issues. They lived as common people in a small corner of the Roman Empire, subject in every way to the military power of Rome and the religious power of the Temple. One was facing delivery at the age of 90, and the other was facing delivery without a husband. Yet to come was the birth away from home, and later, the flight south to avoid the jealousy of an angry governor. The child of one would end up beheaded, the other crucified. Both at an early age.  Where is the joy in that? What of the joy? When she was accosted by the angel, Mary said, “My spirit rejoices in God my savior.” Later, Mary and Joseph would hear the angle say, “I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” And in our text for today, “The neighbors and relatives of Elizabeth … shared her joy” at the birth of John.” Later, Paul the apostle will write, the fruit of the Spirit is—and the second one mentioned, rather after love—is joy. Isn’t it wonderful to be around people who are, first, loving, and second, joyful? Do you have such people in your life? Can you name somebody you know who is loving and joyful? Are you that person? Would somebody name you as loving and joyful? That is the kind of person I want to be. That is the kind of person I want you to be. Isn’t that the kind of person you want to be? Sometimes you might say, “I want to be rich, or beautiful, or successful, or healthy.” There is nothing wrong with any of these. They are worthy ambitions. Go for it. But what about love and joy? III. Some people find it hard to rejoice but easy to feel jealous. Read the text again: “Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy (in being pregnant) and shared her joy.” It might be easy to be joyful about the birth of Jesus or the resurrection of Jesus. It might be easy to be joyful about the birth of your grandchild or the promotion of your son. It might be easy to be joyful when you win the lottery. But what about when your friend is promoted, and you are not; when your neighbor sells his house for 40% more than you do? When your brother comes out of surgery just fine but you…you have to go back to the hospital because yours didn’t go so well.  When the church down the street is bursting at the seams and your church can remove six long pews and still have more room than they need? Can we be joyful at the success of others rather than jealous? Can we be joyful at just being while others are growing, or winning, or advancing, or succeeding, or selling so many books a second printing is demanded? By the way, have you acquired your book, Living with Hope? God, give us the spirit of joy as we witness the success of others. “Everyone rejoiced with her,” is the way the gospel describes the good people who surrounded Elisabeth. They rejoiced with her. Does not the apostle Paul command us to “weep with those who weep, and rejoice with those who rejoice”? My sister was weeping this week. She called me on Thursday to tell me about her husband. I already knew, of course, that Bill had been dealing with dementia for years. He is only 77 years old. Last year, my sister, his wife, placed him in the care of a home for Alzheimer’s patients. Now, he no longer knows her. Thursday, he fell. She was crying when she said to me on Thursday, “They have called hospice.” “Weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice.” That is the gospel way to live. That is the reason we gather today, to weep and pray with those who weep and to dance and sing with those who rejoice.  I pray each week that when we gather we will, during the course of an hour or more, pray with those who pray, dance with those who dance, weep with those who weep, and rejoice with those who rejoice. “Elf on the Shelf” some say, but my word is “You in the pew” because here, week by week, we connect with those who weep with us when life is hard and rejoice with us when life is good. IV. There is much to be joyful about. We live in a free country where millions of people gather to worship in hundreds of different sanctuaries. We live in a prosperous country where jobs are plentiful and social services are available. We live in a generous country where thousands of non-profit organizations feed the poor, clothe the naked, and care for the sick. We have our own Good Times Gospel Hour, here at Providence. We have much to rejoice. Think about what God has done in and among us this year. In February, we formally adopted a policy of inclusion, making us yet another open and affirming congregation. Because of that, we have received a steady stream of people looking for exactly that kind of inclusive church. This has rescued our church from the edge of collapse. In February also, we received a proposal to sell our sanctuary to the Orthodox Church, and that set in motion some deep thinking about us and our future and where we want to be. We decided, first, to fix some things that need to be fixed around here. It began this week w