As you may know, I am a young
United Methodist student pastor.
Writing a sermon after the tragedy in Connecticut was very
difficult. It was made more
difficult by the fact that it was right before the third Sunday of Advent when
we are supposed to be lighting the third candle for joy. Somehow we had to have joy after a
horrible tragedy. I am writing
this blog post knowing that 9/10 of pastors out there have already written a
post about this and probably more eloquently than I can. At the same time, I hear enough bad
theology mixed with the good, that perhaps we need to all be writing. So, this blog post is based upon the
sermon I preached last Sunday about two Scripture passages all about joy,
Isaiah 12:2-6 and Philippians 4:4-7.
Philippians 4:4 said, “Rejoice in
the Lord always. I will say I
again: Rejoice!” (NIV) How can we ever have joy in the midst of such a
tragedy? How can we trust and not
be afraid? How do we have joy when all we want to do is cry? These were children! Yet, somehow, we are called to have joy
even when there is evil in the world, to rejoice because the Lord is near, to
rejoice because Jesus is coming soon.
Christmas is near!
So, what is joy? How can we have it this week or after
any tragedy that shakes our world?
One option is what has come to be known as the Pollyanna kind of joy. In
that sweet story, a little orphan girl goes to live with her childless and
unmarried aunt who has no idea how to treat a child. Pollyanna, when faced with adversity big or small, only
focuses on the good. There is no
room for tears.
Is that joy? It is
certainly what many Christians seem to think joy is. Pollyanna’s theory is that you ignore the bad and find the
good. There is no room for grief
or crying and it is only right to smile and be “glad.” This theory falls apart quickly in
light of shootings like the one on Friday. I don’t think that the “glad game” is joy.
I also don’t think joy is an emotion at all. When we talk about an emotion, we talk about being happy or
glad. No person can be happy all
the time. This is an emotional
high. Happiness is temporary,
fleeting. Happiness is a good
thing, but it is no joy.
True joy, though, is born of knowing that Jesus Christ has come, has
died for us, has risen from the dead and will come again. That joy is here no matter what
happens, if we have faith. That
joy is here in the horrors and evils of life. We can have this joy as we cry for those who were brutally
killed. We can have this joy as we
deal with our own losses in life.
Paul in Philippians is writing from a jail cell, Isaiah is writing a
hymn to be used when the Israelites are restored. In the midst of some very bad things, these authors are
calling for joy. And what can be
worse than horrible tragedies like the one on Friday? Where is the joy for the families of those who died? For the parents and families of the 28
people who died in Newtown on Friday.
Where is the joy for those families? Where is the joy for those of us sitting here anywhere else
in the United States knowing that this can happen in our country? Knowing that in China 22 children were
stabbed with a knife on the same day?
Joy is not the opposite of pain.
Joy is not the opposite of grieving or horror or evil in this
world. Joy is the only thing that
gets us through that pain and that horror. Joy in the knowledge that Jesus Christ came at Christmas,
died at Good Friday, rose at Easter, and will come again one day.
Joy is not denying or ignoring evil, like the Pollyanna glad game. Joy is not forsaking all feeling at
all. Joy, instead, is what as we
weep allows us to heal. Joy, that
assurance that God is with us and that Christ is alive, is what allows us to
move forward after these great tragedies.
Joy is the hope in Christ, the peace that can only come from
Christ. I saw a picture on
Facebook the other day. It had
Jesus hugging a child. Jesus is
down at the child’s level with the child’s head on his shoulder as Jesus’ eyes
are closed. That comfort, I
believe, is joy.
Never say that events like these are God’s plan. God does NOT plan evil, God does NOT
cause evil to happen. A good God
cannot cause evil, and there is nothing else to call these events but evil. What God does do is call us to have joy
in the understanding that God is our salvation. We can trust and not be afraid. We can call on God’s name. We can rejoice in the Lord always, because we know that God
is good all the time and that God is with us, was with those who died, is with
those families, and is with all the survivors.
This
may not be a lot of comfort to those families or that community right now, but
if those of us who are watching and praying can have this joy, we can be here
for them as a witness until they are ready. We can stand next to them telling them that God DOES love
them, no matter what they may hear from certain religious groups. So, perhaps, it is our job now to be
that witness.
Amen.
