"Finding Our Joy"

Luke 10:20

Pastor Tom Johnson, September 28, 2014

This morning we are talking about finding our joy in stewardship; that is discovering and cultivating a passion for using our gifts of time, talent, and treasure for the Kingdom of God. The Scripture texts for today for St. Michael and All Angels gives us fertile ground. Daniel discovers his call to put fear behind him—to not let fear and the unknown rob him of finding his joy. Daniel is called to be humble, to rely on the Word of God, and to know that there are many spiritual realities that are hidden and invisible to us at work on our behalf. The archangel Michael and other angels serve God perfectly without much recognition. They serve us as well without much awareness on our part. The Book of Revelation also is meant to encourage us that a spiritual battle is being won on our behalf even though we cannot witness it. And that the angels have conquered by the blood of the Lamb. Daniel says that we will one day shine as brightly as the midday sun reflecting the perfect glory of Christ. “Rejoice then, you heavens and those who dwell in them” says our Scripture from Revelation. And Jesus, in our Gospel, “Rejoice that your names are written in heaven!”

At first it may seem as simple as God telling us to simply cheer up. Or that finding our joy is as easy as just making up our mind to be happy and care-free. The cynic in me gives me pause. Is it worth it to try to convey a message about joy? There are so many unanswered questions that I have. I suspect you also have your own. There are so many challenges in this world. There is so much suffering. To ask of myself to find joy—to ask for you to embark on a journey to discover joy—sounds awfully trite and shallow. Thankfully, it’s not.

Consider the context of Daniel’s vision. He is the victim of human trafficking. His family and friends were enslaved, brutalized, and killed by Babylonian soldiers. He was torn away from his homeland and taken by his Babylonian captors into a strange and foreign land. Daniel needed meaningful and profound joy. Consider the context of John’s Revelation. He is in exile on the Island of Patmos. Christians all across Rome are sent away from their homeland, arrested, imprisoned, and killed by the emperor. Both John and God’s people needed a joy that could thrive even in the face of the palpable evil of this world. Jesus actually safeguards his disciples against triumphalism—that is, he does not want them to derive their happiness from a few successful confrontations with the spiritual forces of evil. Good does not always triumph over evil in this world. There will be days when our demons will get the best of us. If Daniel can find joy in his Babylonian captivity, John in his exile, and the disciples in the face of persecution; you and I can also find joy that is real. Our Scriptures challenge us this morning to rejoice—to find and express our joy. Have you noticed that in each of our texts, joy is something that proceeds from heaven to earth—from what is invisible—from what is hidden from our human eyes—from something that time and space cannot rob us of? Joy is a gift of God.

And just what is joy anyway? Have you noticed yet that I have not defined what joy is? I really don’t want to. And I don’t believe I even could if I tried. Dictionaries, encyclopedias, and “Googling it” seem to fall short. Talking about joy or defining it falls short of what it truly is. It is like the difference between seeing musical notes on a page and hearing a master violinist make her bow dance on the string. It is like the difference between reading the stats of a football game in the newspaper and seeing the soaring spiral of a 30 yard pass live that seems to find its own place in the cradling arms of a runner. Joy is caught not taught. Joy is taking the risk to trust God. Joy means the courage to not be paralyzed by the fear of failure. Joy requires openness to new ideas and ways of perceiving things. It takes living by faith and not by sight. Joy is curiosity about the world around us that we experience every day. Joy is curiosity about those things that we cannot see, hear, taste, smell or touch. “Do not rejoice that demons obey your commands; rejoice that your names are written in heaven!” Find your joy—derive your joy from timeless, spaceless eternity.

It would be good to remind ourselves that heaven is not how we may often think of it—as some merely future reality—as a place that is far off in the corner of our galaxy just behind the Milky Way. Heaven is God’s present reality—the eternal now. Jesus is the great I AM—the One who is, who was, and who is to come. And heaven is not a piece of real estate somewhere in our universe. It is God’s Kingdom presence everywhere. That is why God’s Word can say such bold and mind-boggling things like God has loved us since before Creation. Or that Jesus is the Lamb of God who was slain before the foundation of the world.

Our names are written in heaven! Wow! God’s unconditional love for us is so secure that he has inscribed our names into the stone walls and jewel encrusted pillars of the New Jerusalem! That is the reality of our joy in the Kingdom—and in our King, Jesus. God’s love is inscribed into the hands, feet, and side of his Son. He used Roman nails and a sword for his stylus. It is there we find triumph over evil. It is there we find our joy.