Based on Isaiah 35:1-10, James 5:7-10, Matthew 11:2-10, Luke 1:47-55
In what do you rejoice? Put another way, what in your life brings you joy? Note that I did not ask what makes you happy. Happiness is often conflated with joy, but they really are two related but distinct experiences. Social researcher, Dr. Brené Brown in her book, “Atlas of the Heart”, differentiates between joy and happiness. She writes, “…Joy is sudden, unexpected, short-lasting, and high intensity. It’s characterized by a connection with others, or with God, nature, or the universe. Joy expands our thinking and attention, and it fills us with a sense of freedom and abandon. Happiness is stable, longer-lasting, and normally the result of effort. It’s lower intensity than joy, and more self-focused. With happiness we feel a sense of being in control. Unlike joy, which is more internal, happiness seems more external and circumstantial….”
From Dr. Brown’s definitions it appears that we spend more time experiencing happiness than we do experiencing joy. Yet, I suspect that if I polled you about memories of happiness and joy, the experiences that you would remember and relate, would be those intense moments of joy and not so often the times that made you feel happy - those joy-filled moments of feeling connected to people, a community and/or God that left a well-defined and long-lasting memory.
The joy of Jesus comes from connection and community – it is the core of what Jesus was all about and what he taught and modeled. Jesus was intimately connected to Father and Holy Spirit, being of one essence with them, but he was also intimately connected to the Jewish people, into whose family and religious covenants he was born. Jesus was filled with joy because he was connected to something truly good – to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of covenants who fulfilled promises. Finding the joy of Jesus means that we must find those connections to the covenant God who came to be Emmanuel (God-with-Us).
We find joy when we feel connected to something good – we rejoice when we are connected to the ultimate good. Our scripture readings for today remind us of how good God is across all times and circumstances. We can rejoice in God because of God’s goodness to our spiritual ancestors and in our own lives as well. The prophet Isaiah speaks of future joy to the Jews who are under attack from many sides. The prophet reminds the chosen people that God is Almighty and is a God of joy. He prophesies that the redeemed of the LORD will be crowned with everlasting joy and that “sorrow and sighing will flee away”.
We find ourselves at the end of the letter of James. This letter is a collection of wise words from the author about how to live as a Christian. He is writing to people who were being persecuted by Roman authorities. He tells the people to be patient and perseverant in their suffering by understanding that Jesus will be coming again soon. They are to be like the prophets of old who foretold a time of the redemption of God for all God’s children.
John the Baptist is in jail, and he hears things about how Jesus is going about his ministry that make him wonder if Jesus really is the Messiah that was promised. John sends his disciples out to question Jesus about whether or not he’s the “real deal” or if they are to wait patiently for another. Jesus tells John’s followers to tell John about how the prophesy of Isaiah is being fulfilled in their sight. They should convey to John the joy that they see reflected in how the lame walk, the blind see, the dumb regain the power of speech and the spiritually dead are returned to the fold. This joy can only come from God’s Anointed as scriptures had foretold. They are to tell John to rejoice because the kingdom of God has come near.
Mary is singing her song of joy about how God has blessed her and all her people. Mary speaks of how God “has done great things for me” and will be bringing down the rulers from their thrones and lifting up the humble. How God will fill the poor who are hungry and send the rich away empty. Mary’s spirit “rejoices in God my Savior” as her “soul glorifies the Lord” - the God with whom she is intimately connected to for all time.
One of the present-day difficulties we face as followers of Jesus is the culture in which we live. A culture that tells us that we do not need to seek joy, but that we need to seek after things that make us happy. Yet, happiness (as detailed earlier) is self-focused, external and circumstantial and we always need to seek after the next thing or experience that will give us happy vibes. Are we Christians really supposed to settle for happiness or are we supposed to seek the joy of connecting to the ultimate good?
Yale Divinity School Professor Miroslav Volf writes about our search for joy: “…If joy meant simply feeling good, we could take a joy pill…and rejoice. But we can’t, because joy is feeling good about something good. The good over which we rejoice could be a good circumstance in our lives: good health, wonderful family, or winning the lottery, for instance. (The most important of all such circumstances for monotheists is the existence and character of God, which is why they can ‘rejoice in the Lord’ despite otherwise adverse circumstances.) The good over which we rejoice could also be admirable conduct, like leading lives of integrity, humble service, or courage. (The most important source of joy in some strands of Judaism is the Law itself.)
If joy is feeling good about something good, then anything that diminishes the good or our sense of it as good will inhibit joy - which brings me back to desire and responsibility and the way we experience them today in the cultures of postindustrial modernity. ‘The eye is not satisfied with seeing, or the ear filled with hearing,’ writes the author of Ecclesiastes (1:7–8), describing the ancient experience of insatiability. We are finite, but our desire is infinite, limited, it seems, mainly by our need for rest. Insatiability is a human condition - but one that the modern market economy magnifies. According to Kenneth Galbraith, the modern market doesn’t so much respond to existing needs by supplying goods, but rather ‘creates the wants the goods are presumed to satisfy.’ Desire, hunger, and dissatisfaction are the market economy’s fuel. The more fuel it has, the faster it can run, and so it creates the void it seeks to fill.
The result is a rushing stream of both amazing and not-so-amazing goods and services - along with a perpetual lack of contentment and diminished capacity for joy. The relation between joy and contentment at any given moment is straightforward: the less content you are, the less joy you will have (though discontentment often precedes joy). Joy celebrates the goodness of what is, what was, or is to come; the market economy fuels insatiability and malcontent, systematically erodes the goodness of what is, and cripples joy….”
When goodness is constantly eroded, then it becomes more difficult to experience those transcendent moments of pure joy. This is why all the revered spiritual teachers and divinely inspired scriptures speak to us about being connected to some divine greater good – something that can help us to persevere and overcome challenging times and situations. The joy of Jesus came from his strong connection to the good God – and that’s where we find our joy as well.
In this gift giving and receiving season, you can find the joy of Jesus by seeking connection to a God who came into the world in the same way as all of us. In John’s Gospel, Jesus is saying farewell to the Disciples before he is tried and crucified. In the 15th Chapter he tells them, “’…If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete….’”
Jesus shows us the way to find his joy…we need to live as he teaches us to live. To love God and to follow Jesus will bring us the joy which we are seeking, and this joy will be complete and everlasting. May God help us follow the commands of Jesus and live as joy-filled disciples, amen!