Knowing Jesus and Knowing Joy - By Bishop G
Dear Friends,
I read a story about an amazing scene in a busy, crowded airport. The writer, tired and grumpy, gets off a plane after a long flight, and rushes through the crowd, anxious to make his next connection. Suddenly he’s stopped in his tracks by the sight of six couples, dressed in elegant gowns and tuxedos, waltzing to the music of a string quartet. Everyone is stopping to watch. People let their luggage slide down their legs to the floor, mesmerized by the dancers. Faces beam with delight. A man standing near the author has tears streaming down his cheeks.
It is a beautiful sight: the music, the form, the flow and gorgeous grace of these angelic dancers, in marvelous contrast with all the loud, weary chaos of the airport. It brings travelers to a halt, shocking them with wonder and totally unexpected joy.
Have you ever wondered about the connection between knowing Jesus and knowing joy?
To have joy, or as some would say in slang, to do joy, is to rejoice. To rejoice is to have a deep sense of delight. The Greek word literally means, ‘for the heart, in its deepest place of passion and feelings, to be very well.” Joy is rare. But as a friend of mine said, “sometimes suddenly out of nowhere joy lands on us, a glorious surprise, like the airport dancers.” Joy is a gift, a spiritual gift, and sometimes it takes time. But like any of the spiritual gifts, joy can be sought out, welcomed, and practiced.
Here’s a spiritual practice that may lead you to joy: Take some time each day to do one thing at a time. If you’re walking, just walk. If you’re listening, just listen. If you’re sitting, just sit. Looking, just look. The next time you’re sipping tea, just taste it, enjoy the warmth. If you’re petting your dog, feel their fur, take your time, and give your attention to their serious, brown eyes. For a moment, live your life in that space, that moment, and feel your breath. Savor an experience in your deepest self.
For just a minute say yes to whatever you’re doing, and you may find you are living your life as if every moment you’re in contains the very presence of God. In that moment, we have all we need. We accept that God will be God, that this is God’s world, on God’s time, we are God’s creations. This is God’s life and God is at work. In God’s presence, there is healing, hope and joy.
Because Jesus gave himself to us in his life, and gave himself for us in his death, we know God is with us even in our worst moments, even when we suffer. That’s how Paul, who had been beaten, whipped, imprisoned, and condemned to die, could write Philippians from prison urging us to rejoice in all things.
On my hardest days, it’s easy to forget that Jesus and joy go together. It is easy to forget that suffering and joy are connected. Yet joy is also a paradox. In other words, it’s about God’s glory being manifested in a way other than we would have imagined. What if the depth of my suffering is connected to the depth of my capacity for joy? That doesn’t mean I should go looking for suffering. Inevitably, suffering will find us and there’s enough of it to go around. But nor should we deny it. As the women of Julia Tutwiler Prison said when I visited them and talked about their impossibly hard living conditions, “It is what it is.” But saying yes to Jesus in the middle of suffering opens a door for God to transform it.
In that way joy is a mystery. As mysterious as our suffering, somehow in God’s economy one creates space for the other. Remember Jesus prayed for the disciples: “Holy Father, protect them…that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one…so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves.”(John 17;11). I think joy became complete for the sage wise men when they found the baby Jesus.
Wherever I happen to be on Sunday, I am always grateful to worship with you. I love to see you and I love worship. We are the airport dancers. In the middle of everything we stop and do this beautiful thing with anyone who shows up. You don’t have to feel joy if you’re not up for it, and I hope you know you can be who you are and how you are.
I believe Jesus is with us, working miracles we might never see. In the Body of Christ, someone is healed, someone’s heart is changed. Against all odds, someone hopes. Even though his or her life is shattered, someone feels joy. Because where two or three are gathered, Jesus is so close, the air we breathe is God’s Holy Spirit. So, let’s try joy sometime this week. Joy will give us a place in our heart to be well, so even in the changes and chances of this life, we can rest in God’s eternal changelessness, and we can trust in Jesus and the healing joy in God’s world.
“And may the God of peace fill you with all joy and peace…”(Romans 15:13)
As always, I hope I see you at church!
Bishop G