Love Came Down in Joy

Sermon Luke 1:45-55, Isaiah 61:1-4, 10-11 December 14, 2014 Advent 3 yrB

Love Came Down in Joy

Mary’s song, the song of Isaiah, the praise of the psalmist ring out loud and clear this Sunday that God is the one who brings us joy. God is the one to whom we lift our voices and God is the one who causes righteousness and praise to spring forth!

This third Sunday of Advent brings into focus our joy for life, our joy for God, our joy of salvation because of the wondrous things God has done for us. The Scripture lessons are filled with words of laughter, joy, rejoicing, praising, shouts, exultation and being clothed in garments of salvation!

BUT, some of you might say to me, those words of joy are cloaked in lament and difficulty, they are surrounded by challenge, loss, and devastation.

Yet…

Sometimes we just need to step into moments of Joy. Sometimes we just need to be reminded of all the good & beauty that exists.

What brings us joy? Where do we find joy in our hearts and in our daily lives?

Three ways to look at how we experience joy are through 1. laughter, 2. wide-eyed wonder, 3. assurance-confidence. We are limited to finding joy only through these means but these are a start.

1. laughter,

Our Oxford dictionary folks tell us that, “Laughter is to make spontaneous sounds and movements of the body and face that are instinctive expressions of lively amusement.”

Part of my self-imposed ritual of the Christmas season is to watch the movies that make me laugh and remind me to loosen up a little and enjoy this time that is so short. My two favorite Christmas movies are Elf and the Christmas story.

Elf is just so incredibly funny because of his pure innocence and joy. When he is asked how did he get to New York, his answer, “I passed through the seven levels of the Candy Cane forest, through the sea of swirly twirly gum drops, and then I walked through the Lincoln Tunnel.” How Will Ferrell’s Elf (2003) found his way to New York

We can’t help but laugh with Will Ferrell. Laughter we’ve been told by the experts about how it is healthy for us. I have a friend who has been trained as a laughter coach. She has gone around to share with us how to have fun. Workshops were held all over Southern Indiana to remind us as Christians to learn to laugh a little. to trigger laughter to find the things to get us started is all we need. And if we can’t do that we can fake it. Because even faked laughter initiates real laughter and helps others laugh. Laughter like coughing and sneezing and yawning is contagious. Laughter increases blood flow, releases endorphins, decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection fighting anti-bodies. Science has done a lot to bring us to an understanding of an innate human function. And Scripture affirms for us people who found themselves in places where they could burst out with laughter.
Mary’s song is a song of joy. And we know that singing has a way of lifting our spirits and even our ability to laugh. We have several songs, hymns, moments of great delight where the people of God find themselves dancing and feasting and rejoicing together.
Another way of finding joy is through wide-eyed wonder. In our ability to ask why we set out on a path of discovery and wonder. Children know very well and start very young asking these questions. And they do not have to be the only ones that ask why. We can still wonder about the wind, how the sun gives us warmth, how a shell gets its shape and why are we the only creatures with opposable thumbs? When we have an insatiable curiosity we explore and we search and we spend our energy in discovery. In these moments we find a depth of joy as we learn how things work and how we are made. Conrad Hyers said this years ago about Scripture, “We discover that sense of marvelous absurdity and incredulous, wide eyed wonder that attaches itself to great surprises, sudden amazements and comic twists.” How absurd, yet a great surprise that our God has reached down from heaven and entered the world in the flesh of a baby.
When we recognize the gaiety and delight of our salvation represented in the birth of an infant we are filled with the wide-eyed wonder of God.
Then there is joy through assurance and confidence.

Rick Warren, the one we know from Saddleback Church and his book Purpose Driven Life says this about his definition of joy:

Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright, and the determined choice to praise God in every situation.

Mary’s simple obedience set in motion God’s story of redemption. Her act was a simple response to the Spirit that came upon her. Her confidence, her assurance, her yes, made it possible for our yes to God.
We might think of Mary as a meek and mild, dressed in blue, quiet woman. But, when we listen to her song we find that she was not the woman we have made her. She boldly proclaims that this child of hers will be strong, will scatter the proud, will bring down kingdoms and will bring justice to those who have been margined and sidelined. Mary knew what was to come for her child and she chose to sing about it for all to hear her. She demonstrated courage to sing the truth and proclaim all of what was to come. She was so assured that she did not shy away from the truth.
May we too have the assurance and courage not to shy away from the truths surrounding us that need to be told and heard and acted upon.
As she sings we discover that she is a mother who will know pain and suffering. She will witness her son’s pain and she will not be immune to his suffering. She will experience isolation as he goes away from home to begin his ministry without her. She will suffer as others mock her and her family that a man can call himself the son of God.
Her song is a place where we can pause to wrap our lives around too.
Many of us have had a tough year. Some have lost a parent, some have lost work, some have experienced health issues that have changed or altered daily living, some have experienced strained family relations, others that you perhaps know have lost homes, or been separated from their loved ones. These challenges can make it difficult to enter into Christmas and find a way to rejoice.
Mary’s song puts reality into perspective when she points the way for us to sing the Lord’s song even when we know the way will not be easy and the way will challenge the current norm. She reminds us of God’s fulfillment through all of life for all of life. The world will be turned upside down and then right side up. God in his heaven has poured out grace upon grace so that we can walk in love and joy.

Sometimes we just need to step into moments of Joy. Amen.