Joy Multiplying!
16th Sunday after Pentecost, September 12, 2010
Luke 15:1-10 with Jeremiah 14:11-28 in the b.g.
What is joy?
Have you ever experienced joy?
Let me share with you some of my own experiences of joy. I remember – it was 1979, and the Shah of Iran had been deposed by a new regime of Islamic fundamentalism led by Ayatollah Khomeini. In a few short weeks life in Iran had been turned upside down. All of the Jewish people who had lived there needed to get out. One day during this crisis I was at the airport in Tel Aviv (the story). Hundreds if not thousands of Israeli Jews had gathered at the airport hoping against hope that their loved ones would be able to flee Iran and return to Israel. Now the arrivals and waiting area in the Tel Aviv airport was separated by a wall of glass, bulletproof, but which one can see through. So, when one of the "waiting persons" saw their mother or father, their son or daughter, their close friend, their spouse, their partner they would run up against the wall touching hands, kissing, crying, shrieking. They knew JOY. Their loved one was safe. They would again be together.
Or have you wondered about the emotional state of those miners trapped in the shaft in Chile? What is it like for them? What is it like for their loved ones, as they all wait and hope that come late November or early December they may once again be raised to the surface, literally lifted up from the depths of the earth to see the light of day – and experience the warmth of those they love. What will that day, God willing, be like? Do you think that there will be some joy – some banging on drums, some dancing and singing, some hugging and kissing, some eating and drinking? Do you think that then will be quiet, that any of them will be worried what others might think?
True joy, unmitigated celebration, relief and dancing, singing, springs out of love, of joy and often a concern or relief for others. And when one or many have been lost, physically, emotionally, mentally or spiritually- only to eventually be found, well then there is JOY!
Then, in that experience of joy we are no longer like a preacher who only preaches the law and the fear of God. Then we are no longer like an accountant who can only see a balance sheet, without any mind of what that sheet really might mean for people, businesses, schools, churches, families. Caught up in and by JOY we can no longer be like a parent who only smiles or says, "good job" to their kids when they knock the ball out of the park, or play that instrument flawlessly or bring home straight A's. Caught by the experience of JOY we love and dance no matter our age or other circumstances.
Do you wonder if God ever experiences such joy? Will God be filled with joy when a Christian pastor and the congregation he serves threatens to burn the holy book of Islam? Will God know joy when one or more of God's children randomly douse another of God's child with gasoline and ignite the flames? Does God know joy when so many of God's children are homeless while others in the family live in literal mansions? Can God know joy when the earth herself labors under what we as human beings are doing to her – clear cutting trees, dumping untreated pollutants into rivers, lakes and oceans and continuing to pump mega tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere?
Sometimes, God as loving parent may become furious with us. We are (all of us!) God's children. We see echoes of God's anger in the lesson from Jeremiah. But God's anger is not all there is to God. God still acts with hope. God acts in Jesus. God wills that each of us and all of us be discovered and "found" by the love and forgiveness of God that we encounter in Jesus.
Can we ever imagine what it is like for God when one of God's children speaks again to God after a long time of not speaking? Or what may it be like for God when one of God's children speaks for that first time to God? Might God be filled with joy?
Or, when one of God's children regardless of age or gender says, "I am sorry", to another of God's children, and means it, seeking to live differently with that person and others from that time onwards? Might then God know joy?
Or, when a group of God's children seek to take better care of creation, not just for themselves, but for all of creation, might then God know joy?
I am convinced that God has a dream! Jesus spells part of such a dream out in Luke's gospel. Jesus is quoting from the prophet Isaiah. Yes, this dream of God's has been around for a long time. Jesus says, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." This is the same dream of God that we hear echoed in John's Gospel, "For God so loved the world that He sent His only son". God wills no one to be lost, physically, emotionally, spiritually - now, nor ever.
Some say that there are definitive rules and regulations that we must heed before God can do anything. But did you hear today's Gospel? That wandering sheep did absolutely nothing to be found – nor did the lost coin. And yet the shepherd, often in the Bible an image or metaphor for God, did the looking and the rejoicing as that wandering sheep is found. And that poor woman – we know she is poor – her house had no windows only a door, does all the looking for the lost coin. What rejoicing this woman engages in when that coin is found. Everyone she knows is invited to celebrate.
Dearest, most precious people, could it be that God is one who knows joy and pain? God is one who seeks new life, much love and harmony in this world among all Her/His children. God loves the creation too. May we be so bold as to listen for God's voice – and then respond. May we also prodigiously and generously share the love of God we are so richly given in Jesus with all others whom we meet in word and deed.
One of our largest living questions is, will we be part of this joy and party of God, or, like the scribes and Pharisees will we grumble that God dares to reach out and care for everyone? When we are grumbling, we are not experiencing the joy and life God wills for all.
There can be a joy that is deep and profound for this world, as the children of God are caught up by the joy of the Lord who comes and in response give of themselves without prior or ongoing calculation. Then joy is multiplied! Amen.