Sermon of 17 December 2017, preached at First Christian Church of Hampton VA.
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BOOK OF ISAIAH 61:1-11 (New Revised Standard Version)
The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion— to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, to display his glory.
They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, foreigners shall till your land and dress your vines; but you shall be called priests of the Lord, you shall be named ministers of our God; you shall enjoy the wealth of the nations, and in their riches you shall glory. Because their shame was double, and dishonor was proclaimed as their lot, therefore they shall possess a double portion; everlasting joy shall be theirs. For I the Lord love justice, I hate robbery and wrongdoing; I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. Their descendants shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge that they are a people whom the Lord has blessed.
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.
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INTRODUCTION
In the Fall of 1983, having started seminary in Kentucky a week after Julie and I were married, which at the time seemed like a good idea(!), I went to one of my professors to talk through some challenging news. Just a few months into serving as a part-time pastor, one of my parishioners had shocked me with news of a major church embezzlement that needed to find a healthy solution.
Serious stuff indeed.
Amid my conversation with Loren, something caught my attention, for hanging above his desk was a portrait of Christ, unlike any I had before seen before. Jesus was raring back and clearly having a really good belly laugh. An odd thing to see while tackling a tough issue. It was only then that it occurred to me that every portrait that I had ever seen before, whether in Bibles or churches, was of a serious, contemplative Jesus without any trace of a smile – basically, all business. The laughing Jesus caused me to look beyond the 2-dimensional one I had been used to… and seeing a glimpse into the fuller humanity of Christ and the joy into which we are invited – regardless of circumstance.
I loved it!
WHY I BRING THIS UP
As a comedian [Grady Nutt] back in the 1970s was fond of saying, “Laughter is the hand of God on the shoulder of a troubled world.” I think that is something to which we don’t readily connect, but if we have any doubt of how this works with God we merely need to remember Isaac’s name means “He laughs” – for how God laughed when Sarah and Abraham thought a child for them was impossible. Not with God!
FOR INSTANCE
If laughter is a gift of God, it is surely a gift that we need in every age and certainly our own as we live amid:
- tremendous anxiety – economic, social, and relational as they play out in our homes, work, or even just driving down the road,
- self-sorting estrangements – dividing our society and even God’s people into “us” and “them” on matters of politics, race, wealth, religion, and gender identity;
- tensions between nations – where hatred sows seeds of war and suffering.
Into this scene, where the words of the hymn are twisted into “all is [NOT] calm and all is [NOT] bright”, we hear the words this morning of Isaiah, and I have to ask: Do they resonate?
I think part of the rub of Advent and Christmas is that they do not exempt us from the difficult stuff that goes on year-round, nor the ways this season may touch upon unhealed moments which aren’t easy… of struggles and losses of one kind or another along with their resulting grief. In this rings true, while “…in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light; The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.” It can be a real mix, if we are spiritually honest with ourselves and God.
I imagine those first hearing the words of Isaiah wrestled with them, when they were first pronounced. Decades before Israel had been defeated and the Israelites taken in captivity to Babylon. The “great bronze sea” some 9 feet across which stood before the Temple in Jerusalem like an oversized birdbath, a symbol of God’s creative act in separating the land from the sea – bringing order to chaos – had been destroyed. Then, as the Psalmist wrote, chanelling the prophets, “by the waters of Babylon (the people) wept” [ Psalm 137:1]. Having left known as Israelites, those who returned were now known as Jews. They were home, but they were not the same. They were home, but not all was well.
The message of the prophet Isaiah is relevant for us because it acknowledges pain, loss and devastation and yet it points to something beyond. When most pressed and stressed, what is needed is not the serious and the somber, but something else:
- The creation will be renewed, the exile will end.
- The sightlessness of spirit will be restored.
- The oppressed, afflicted, poor, humble, weak, and needy will hear the good news amid their sense of powerlessness.
- Those who mourn will be comforted, with God’s “day of vengeance” not about being punitive or vindictive, but leading people through their mourning until they experience joy.
Jesus gathered his disciples and said to them, “You will weep and mourn, you will have pain, but your pain will be turned to joy. No one will take your joy from you… In the world you will have persecution,” as he adds “But be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.” [John 16. 20, 33]
As one commentator [Jim Harnish] has noted:
“The resonant laughter echoing from heaven is not (a)… shallow; it is (a) rich, deep, vivid joy. It is gladness that comes from the same place as suffering; joy that comes from the same place as tears. It is the joy of men and women who face the suffering, injustice and pain of the world in all its fury, but have taken hold of something stronger, deeper and more powerful. They have grasped the assurance of the ultimate triumph of the goodness of God. They are of good cheer because they know that the power of God in Jesus Christ has overcome the world.”
Joy is at the center of a life lived in Christ, as one such as Paul wrote repeatedly, whether to the Philippians [4:4-5], in saying:
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near,”
or to the Thessalonians [I Thessalonians 5:16-19], writing:
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit.”
Even in the toughest times, and perhaps most especially so, we need to laugh, to smile, to have fun as the people of God, as this congregation seems to grasp pretty well without much need of encouragement! Like it was once said [C.K. Chesterton]: “Angels can fly because they take themselves so lightly!”
Our joy is about who Jesus is, the same Jesus that after his time of testing in the desert, worshiped in the synagogue in Nazareth and “and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
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.
And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’”
SO WHAT?
This is the moment when we hopefully get it, the moment when we know what it is to rejoice, to laugh, even in the midst of pain and loss and devastation, to echo the psalmist who sang: “Our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy.” In the Christ, we hear the deep resonant laughter of when God’s hand rests on the shoulder on a troubled world.
So, people of God: be joyful!
Seek out opportunities for laughter.
Do not quench the spirit.
Let the waters flow in the desert.
Let the weeping turn to laughter.
Let the desert become a garden.
Rejoice! You are not alone. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” [John 1:5]
Sea & Anchor 