Joy

“ A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. ”

What brings you joy? Haven't you had moments in your life when something happened, and you were filled with a deep and abiding joy? A great sorrow was relieved. An important person made a special effort to come to you. You fell in love, and the one you loved fell in love with you. You discovered something truly great about yourself. You learned that you are not alone in the world.

Joy is the Christian form of happiness. Happiness is how you feel when the ice cream is just melting and you have a big spoon. I was once in the freezer at Safeway stores Lucerne ice cream factory in Oakland. Every kind of ice cream they make was stacked to the ceiling on racks. I thought: just to have a spoon at that moment… But that's happiness—cotton candy, tickles from your baby brother, a flower just opened, sunlight on the lawn. Happiness is great, and beckons us on toward joy. Happiness is promise; joy is fulfillment of promise. Happiness is a birthday; joy is your whole life.

Happiness disappears when anything sad comes to overshadow the moment. You can't be happy when a friend dies, but you may know the joy of that friend's going to heaven, ending his suffering here, accomplishing all that this life required of a good and noble man. You cry, for happiness has gone when you heard the news, but in the long run, the joy is deeper. On a day in 1983 I stood in the collegiate chapel of St. Joseph of Arimathea offering up our Evensong when someone came in to tell me that Father Harley Wright Smith had died. I felt like a monk who needed to pull his cowl over his head to mourn in private. They asked me to tell them about Fr. Smith, and so I did. He was a true catholic, a priest to many, and the mentor whose example inspired many men to become priests themselves, who stood against the tide of ecclesiastical wimps who had all but taken over his beloved church. My mourning was turned to joy, being able to proclaim the life of a saint of God's church in the presence of my peers in seminary—James Provence, David Napier, Rod Pomroy. All those men were here yesterday. The joy comes full circle.

Israel had once held a promise of being a nation for God. It failed the promise again and again, dividing in two, having the northern land and its people swept away and lost forever. The southern people held the faith for a time, then departed from it, and were chastened by God through the hand of the Babylonians. When the Persian Empire succeeded Babylon and Cyrus permitted the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild their temple, they found their identity and their God. The Law of Moses was rediscovered by the priests and Nehemiah, the new governor, knew the people needed this Law. So he called a solemn assembly.

“All the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded to Israel… And he read therein …from the morning until midday, before the men and the women… and the ears of all the people were attentive… And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people [and] all the people stood up: And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground… So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading. And Nehemiah… and Ezra the priest… said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the Lord your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law. Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength. So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, Hold your peace, for the day is holy; neither be ye grieved. And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them.” Neh. 8:1-12

You can be hit with conviction—the abominable realization that you have acted very badly, have hurt someone you never meant to hurt, and you have become the kind of person you can't respect—and in that same moment of despair turn to God, repent of all of it, cry, beat your chest, give up your pride, begin your walk again and rise up renewed, refreshed, forgiven, in true and lasting joy. So it was with Israel. So it was with king David.

David had slept with the wife of one of his closest friends, making her pregnant, had tried to cover it up, but eventually arranged the man's death on the battlefield. When his sin was discovered, conviction broke him more deeply than any wound taken in war. He cried to God: “Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.” Psalm 51:8-12 He also sang, “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” Psalm 16:11

Jesus told stories of how this joy might be found. A man found a pearl buried in a field. A shepherd went out to find a lost sheep. Five wise virgins retained enough oil to keep their lamps burning until the bridegroom arrived. A king's stewards were given talents to keep until their Lord's return. When one of them had increased his five talents to ten, the king told him, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” Matthew 25:21

Jesus knew that joy ran deeper than happiness, and that even in dire straits his disciples might know the true joy of the Gospel. They would have to. “Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.” Luke 6:22-23 This joy was in knowing their end. The end of their lives was not a cross, nor a sword, nor wild beasts, nor a flaying knife. They might die in these atrocious ways, but this was not the end—not at all. He had promised, in essence: “You shall go from life to life.” He said, “Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” John 11:26 Never die: if that's true, and if He is really making mansions for us in His Father's house, where we are to dwell in glory forever: how can this world spoil our joy? What can even death do to that abundant joy?

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2 Jesus knew joy even on the cross. It was a part of Him. Circumstances could not rob Him of the Joy. That joy was borne out of His love for the Father, and His love for us. “If ye keep my commandments,” He told His Apostles, “ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” John 15:10-12

In today's Gospel, Jesus acknowledges that sorrow is real. We aren't promised a rose garden, pie in the sky, a fool's paradise by our Savior. He said, “I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful.” And of course they were, at hearing Jesus was crucified, dead and buried. Then He added, “but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.” He gave a parable about a woman who was giving birth. “A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.”

This joy is yours today. The past week, for our Synod, for our Bishop and visiting clergy and lay delegates, we have served them all very well. You should feel a great sense of accomplishment. The delegates all went home glad they came to Chico. That can make us happy. But the deeper joy we feel is in knowing our church is one, our leaders love us, there are still faithful men willing to live and die for Christ and more are being called to the sacred ministry. We are not alone. This is joy.

A great sorrow is relieved. An important person has made a special effort to come to you. You fell in love with Jesus, and Jesus is in love with you. You've discovered something truly great about yourself. You've learned that you are not alone in the world. May you have true joy today and always.

PFH+