Sermon
“Restore us, O God: JOY”
Ever lost your wallet? It is hard to imagine something more inconvenient and anxiety producing. Our wallets contain the proof of our identity, tell others we're licensed to drive a car and get on a plane, carry our cash and credit cards. They often contain just about everything we need to move about in the world and carry out our business.
Bill Fulton lost his wallet, but he
didn't seem to be as panicked as the rest of us when we lose ours. Maybe that's
because he lost it in 1946, and by 2009 he'd pretty much forgotten about it.
Bill's not sure exactly when or under what circumstances he accidentally
dropped his smooth leather wallet with a cowboy design behind the wooden
bleachers at
There it sat for 63 years until a worker found it in the summer of 2009. They were tearing out those old pre-World War II era bleachers during a renovation project at the school. It was right where it landed when Bill dropped it, along with some old homework, lost library books, and a program from the 1964 talent show.
Bill was very thankful when Middle
School secretary Melanie Trindle took the wallet over to his house in
Bill was overjoyed to have it back,
but not necessarily because of what was still in it. His Social Security Card
was still tucked in its usual place, but he had a replacement now. He didn't
have any cash to begin with, so none was missing. His bicycle license was in
there, bearing the address of the house he lived in at the time. Bill remembers
that he needed the license because of his job making deliveries for a local
pharmacy. The only thing missing was his student ID, which
After high school, Bill went off to
the Korean War, then to
Finding something we've lost -- especially something as valuable as a wallet that vouches for who we are -- is cause for both relief and joy. On this third Sunday of Advent, we lit the candle of joy. We are here to celebrate the fact that God exposes our lost and hidden identities. And, to borrow the words of the psalmist restores our "fortunes" (Psalm 126:1, NRSV).
Psalm 126 is one of the psalms of
"ascent." It is a hymn that pilgrims would sing on their journey up
to
divided into two parts, each beginning with the
restoration of the "fortunes" of
The phrase "restore our fortunes" is difficult to translate from Hebrew, says OT scholar James Mays, but it's usually used to denote the radical change between the conditions that existed as the result of God's judgment and wrath (as in the exile) and the conditions that result from God's restoration, forgiveness and divine favor.[2] It means the restoration of the situation between God and God's people that existed before the people's falling away. The restoration of fortunes granted by God to the people result in “shouts of joy” (vv. 2,5,6). The joyful tone is reinforced by the mention of “laughter” (v. 2a) and by the verb “rejoice” in v. 3b.[3]
In our lesson from Luke’s Gospel this morning, Mary’s effusive song of praise (traditionally called the Magnificat) is brought forth after her kinswoman, Elizabeth has shared that her baby, who would become known as John the Baptist had “leaped for joy” (Lk. 1:42, 44) at the sound of Mary’s voice. In response the young mother to be of our Lord sings: “My spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Lk. 1:47).
Indeed, when we see the coming of our salvation in Jesus Christ, when we remember all the great things that God has done for us in the past, when we remember that God has restored our fortunes time and again, how can we do anything but react with praise and rejoicing?
Christmas, of course, is often a time of much rejoicing. At the same time, it can be a time of anxiety, stress and grief for those experiencing difficulties, change and loss in their lives.
Psalm 126 captures this up and down rhythm -- sadness and anxiousness juxtaposed with joy -- that is the very nature of our existence here. Verses 1-3 provide a memory of the joy of thanksgiving the people experienced upon their deliverance from Babylonian exile. Verses 4-5, however, return to a present state of apprehension.
Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
like the watercourses in the Negeb.
May those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy (Psalm 126:4-5).
Something had gone wrong in the
peoples’ relationship to God. The era following the return from exile (in
538 BCE) was filled with difficult issues. Those among God’s people who
had remained in
our own personal blessings when we allow petty personal differences to deter our joy in celebrating the coming of our Savior.
But there are other things -- things over
which we have even less control – which can cause the sort of grief that
bleeds our lives of joy, even at Christmastime. Financial troubles, emotional
issues, addictions, divorce, and death: such matters can hang over our heads
like heavy clouds, especially at this time of year.
Our old friend Martin Luther was a person familiar with the trials and tribulations of life. Raised in the bosom of the stern and joyless Medieval German church, he was haunted, before his reforming breakthroughs, by visions of damnation and death. Yet once he had his transition from the dark, foreboding faith of his Saxon forebears to the bright joy of evangelical truth his spirit was transformed; and especially during his middle years of life, he entertained a bright and light spirit, which belied the tone of both his youth and his older years.
In commenting on the second verse of Psalm 126, Luther writes:
[W]e must raise up ourselves with this consideration -- that the gospel is nothing else but laughter and joy. This joy properly pertains to captives, that is, to those that feel the captivity of sin and death, to the fleshy and tender hearts, terrified with the feeling of the wrath and judgment of God. These are the disciples in whose hearts should be planted laughter and joy, . . . by the authority of the Holy [Spirit], which this verse sets forth.[4]
The same Hebrew word translated “shouts of joy” in verse 2 appears again in verses 5 and 6. Even as experiencing a drought of God’s joyful blessings, the Psalmist(s) could only look back toward a time “When the LORD changed Zion’s circumstances for the better,” (v.1, CEB) and their “mouths were suddenly filled with laughter” and their tongues “with joyful shouts” (v.2). This remembering then allows them to look forward to the time again when “Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves” (v.6, NRSV).
Such joy can be a far cry from “happiness” as we normally think of it. C.S. Lewis writes that: “All joy (as distinct from mere pleasure, still more amusement) emphasizes our pilgrim status; always reminds, beckons, awakens desire. Our best havings are wantings.”[5]
Our best havings are wantings!
Daniel Clendenin reminds us that: “Joy is more elusive, more subtle and more nuanced than happiness. . .. The opposite of joy is not sadness or sorrow but anxiety.”[6] And yes, it is true that we live in anxious and fretful times.
What is to become of our nation, our businesses, our values, our 401k, our Medicare, our Social Security, our culture, our church, our faith? The fate of all of these things haunts us, breeding within us the fear that casts out the perfect love of the Lord, and making joy an irretrievable memory at best.
Still, if we choose to, we can have joy in our hearts, in our minds, in our lives. If we choose to make it so and live in peace with others in the love of Christ, our congregation can be a place of joy that offers us a tangible center of meaning in the midst of our harried lives.
Real joy, however, can only be an option after we've been willing to allow God to deal with the brokenness in our lives. We light the candle of "joy" during Advent because we want to recognize that the coming of Jesus is the climax of all of history and, that in his life, death and resurrection, Jesus has redeemed human history, not only for us, but for the whole world. That's why the babe in the manger is the ultimate discovery.
When we were lost, God himself came to find us! In this indeed, we have joy abiding!
Amen.
[1] "Hard to believe:' Wallet returned after 63 years." MSNBC Website, June 30, 2009. msnbc.msn.com/id/ 31657830/ns/us_news-wonderful_world/#. Viewed May 25, 2011, “Restore Us O, God: Joy, Homiletics 23:6 (November – December 2011), retrieved December 6, 2011 from http://www.homileticsonline.com/subscriber/ commentary_display.asp?installment_ id=93040642&item_id=93054460.
[2] Mays, James L. Psalms. Interpretation.
Edited by James L. Mays.
[3] J. Clinton McCann, “The book of Psalms: Introduction, commentary and reflections,” The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. IV, electronic edition (Nashville: Abingdon Software, 1994).
[4] Martin Luther, comment on Psalm 126:2, Commentary on the Psalms in Charles Spurgeon “A Treasury of David,” retrieved December 6, 2011 from http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/treasury-of-david/psalms-126-2.html.
[5] C.S. Lewis, “5 November, 1959,” Letters of C.S. Lewis Ed. W.H. Lewis (Nw York: Harcourt, Brace, Javovich, 1966), p. 286 in The Quotable Lewis, Eds Wayne Martindale and Jerry Root (Wheaton: Tyndale, 1989), p. 359.
[6] Daniel Clendenin, Journey With Jesus blog for January 15, 2007, journeywithjesus.net/Essays/ 20070115JJ.shtml. Retrieved June 7, 2011 in “Restore Us O, God, Joy,” Homiletics 23:6 (November – December 2011), retrieved December 6, 2011 from http://www.homileticsonline.com/subscriber/ commentary_ display.asp?installment_ id=93040642&item_id=93054460.