Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee.

Sermon 6NOV11

"Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee"

Matthew 5:1-12


The Beatitudes have long been considered a blueprint for Saint growing and Saint making. Of course, when we hear the Beatitudes on the whole we seem to come up short and think to ourselves "who in the world wants that kind of Gospel? Jesus take that away!".  Who wants to be poor? Who wants to be persecuted for his sake? Who wants all these negative sounding things, of course they all aren't negative. There are some beautiful things in there, and many consider them to be some of the most beautiful words in the Scripture. 

I recall during the Diocesan Convention before last (the last one was just yesterday); George Luck, one of the most respected priests in the diocese, made an interesting comment: "I really never grew to be a Christian until I came to engage the Beatitudes and to learn more about them".  This was central in his spiritual growth; coming to grips with the Beatitudes. Not necessarily an easy thing to do!  

One problem we have is we don't have a good word, so we use the word "Blessed", but in the Greek it's "makarios" and the Hebrew equivalent of that is "asre" which means "a joyfulness that cannot be taken away from you". There's no one that can take the sense of joy, the inner sense of peace that you have in knowing the love of the Lord away from you. No matter what the circumstances are around you, no matter if those around you are saying false things or whatever.  This is an inner joy and peace that is God given! 

Now some translations have tried using the word "happiness" here, but that word is kind of diluted isn't it? "Happy Hour", "Happy Days are Here Again", "Happy Talk", and Dee told me there's a new movie out called "Happy Feet"; but that word has a way of going up and down depending on our spirits. So even though it was used in the "Good News" translation; "Happy is the" instead of "Blessed is the" in the Beatitudes, it just doesn't quite work.  

There's a really fine New Testament scholar in his commentary on Matthew who suggested using the word "Congratulations". It sounds a little strange to us doesn't it? It has to do with congratulations is more divine than human.  God congratulates you on what's going on inside you; that keeps you closer to God in Christ in the indwelling of His Holy Spirit.  Because we can never become holy without the Holy Spirit; that is the work of the Holy Spirit: to make us Holy, to make us Saints! Congratulations, according to the dictionary, has to do with "sympathetic joy on the part of the one who is offering the congratulations" and also a sense of being fortunate. No matter how it sounds or what the circumstances you feel fortunate. 

When you think about it when you're on top of the world, when you're "happy go lucky", and all that wonderful stuff that we like to think about in this world and the pleasures that it brings; we can be farther from God than ever. It's when we're contrite, when we're meek, when we may be experiencing some kind of pain that we also experience the indwelling of God's Holy Spirit and much more strength and growth. So, these things can be good in and of themselves because they open us to the indwelling of God's Kingdom.

There is a Buddhist poem and riddle which is meant to teach that goes: There was a monk that was running from a hungry bear. The monk came to the edge of a cliff and the only chance he had to escape the bear was to jump off the cliff. As he was falling he grasped onto a tree root that was growing out of the cliff face and held on for his life. He looked down below him and saw a hungry lion that was waiting for him to drop. He didn't know what to do, and as he was hanging there contemplating his next move two gophers come out of the cliff face and begin eating on the root he's hanging by, so it looks like all is lost. As he's looking around for a way to escape he notices some strawberries growing on a small ledge next to him with one really large ripe strawberry hanging in the midsts of the plant. He reaches over and plucks the berry, puts it in his mouth and says "delicious".  That's where the riddle ends. The point is that this blessedness that we hear talked about in the beatitudes, this joyfulness we experience is something that is for the here and now.  At one point it does tell us that "great is your reward in heaven", but this feeling of inner peace and joy is something you experience now that makes your life worth living no matter what the circumstances are. You can have the hungry bear above, the hungry lion below, and the gophers eating at the only root you have to hold on to; but you have the sense of joy and peace because God is with you.

We are guaranteed the pursuit of happiness in this country, and there are a lot of people trying to pursue happiness.  They may be pursuing the "blue bird of paradise" only to find out later that they've been following a crow all along.  Many say "if we just had enough money, we would be happy".  That seems to be the American Dream. People think that all their problems will be solved if they had "plenty of money", but some of the most unhappy people in the world are billionaires who don't know what to do with their money.  Some have started to follow a beautiful path by just giving it away, and making their life's work to give away what they've spent their lives accumulating. It really is a beautiful thing.  Then there is the pleasure principle. That brings happiness doesn't it?  But, how long does it last?  Those who find "happiness" in drugs. It won't be long before they find they have a monkey on their back, and that they are addicted. Addiction is one of the most difficult things to overcome. So, their life doesn't become happy; it becomes miserable.  There are all sorts of ways we seek after "happiness".  

There was a piece of correspondence found in "Dear Abbey" many years ago. There was a 15 year old girl who wrote in and said "I am unhappy. I don't have the best clothes in school. I don't get the telephone calls I want. I don't have the best friends in the world. I don't have all the money I need to spend in the mall.", and she goes on and on about all these things she doesn't have. There was a 13 year old girl who wrote back in response to what she'd read from this other girl and said "happiness is when you can walk, when you can talk, when you can sing, when you can hear. That is happiness. I feel sorry for this girl who is so unhappy, but she can do all these things. At thirteen, I can't walk but I'm happy". She was walking into the kingdom of God, even though she couldn't physically walk; because she realized the joy of having those things even though she had a major component in her life missing.  So, even with the bear above, the lion below, and the gophers going at it; there is still the Joy of the Lord! Those who trust in Him can have a marvelous existence no matter what the circumstances are surrounding their lives. 

C.S. Lewis wrote the book "Surprised by Joy". The book had a two part theme to it. Staring out, Lewis was a confirmed bachelor and a confirmed atheist. Then he meets a woman by the name of Joy, who is an American citizen living in England and she has cancer.  She wants to stay in England to be treated there for her cancer, but the only way for her to do that is for her to marry an Englishman.  Lewis says that he had a melting of the heart as a bachelor, and he married Joy. Their marriage lasted for three years until she died. But, during that three years of their marriage relationship he had a greater sense of joy than he'd had in all of his life.  The other surprise was the joy of knowing Christ.  He said "I'd been seeking after all kinds of things that I thought I needed in my life. I had expectations for this and that". He said that only after his conversion did he discover that real joy was a by product. You have your life committed to something, to God in Christ. There's a marvelous way, again no matter what the circumstances are, of having that inner peace and joy in knowing that the Lord is with you. That you can trust in Him.  

There's an Hassidic tale involving a rabbi in a small community who was deathly ill.  All of the Jewish community were talking among themselves worrying because this was the only rabbi they had, how were they going to get another rabbi out here in the middle of nowhere. So, they all decided to go to the synagogue and pray for their rabbi.  Well, the town drunk goes up to the local tavern only to find that it's closed because the owner is at the synagogue praying for his rabbi. Some people pass him on their way to synagogue and chastise him saying "you need to be praying for the rabbi not worrying about getting something to drink". So, somewhat reluctantly, he follows them to pray. "Dear God, please let the rabbi get well so I can have my schnapps".  Well, at the very moment he said that prayer the rabbi was healed, and the rabbi explained to the people: "no matter what you think of this guy; he was sincerely praying with all his heart, with all his mind, with all his spirit. He was trusting that God would give him what he needed". Now, we don't really want to emulate the town drunk, yet he was the only one who was sincere in his prayer, who was completely trusting in God that He would provide his needs.  That's where we need to be in our lives in Christ. To be totally trusting God. 

In Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" it doesn't say "Happy, Happy, We Adore Thee" does it? It says "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee". We are joy filled in Christ with the indwelling of His Holy Spirit. Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee!