December 20, 2024

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY: JOY

“Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; break forth in song, O mountains! For the LORD has comforted His people. He will have compassion on His afflicted ones. He says: ‘It is not enough for You to be My Servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the protected ones of Israel. I will also make You a light for the nations, to bring My salvation to the ends of the earth.’” (Isaiah 49.13, 6)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD during the Third Week of Advent 2024:

Let me begin by challenging you, mighty one of God, to read Isaiah, chapter 49. The prophecy of Isaiah was revealed and recorded nearly 700 years before the birth of Christ. In chapter 49, we see the blending of the Messianic Promise in the history of Israel’s call in its past, its present and its future. For me, this says that the same promise exists in our own lives across the span of time from our birth (even before it) to our death (and beyond it) and in all the years in between. Yes, I know that it means in our failures and shortcomings, in the mishandling of the gifts which have been given and created in us and in our decisions to follow or wander, Immanuel: God is with us. While that sense of His presence may cause us to feel shame (or the desire to blame others in order to deflect the shame we feel or to deny it as if there is no shame which amounts to the same truth- we feel shame), be encouraged that the God who knows this has made a provision for a restoration, reconciliation and our revisioning. In other words, God has made a way. Next week leading up to our Christmas celebration and recognition of “that way, truth and life,” we will be lead by the centralizing theme of “love.” “Love,” God’s authentic love, becomes the lens through which we are able to see ourselves and Him most clearly in the person of Jesus of Nazareth who is the Christ. All the elements of our Advent preparation for the renewed revelation of God’s love are magnified (made more visible) and amplified (made more powerful) by love itself. It is where “…all things are made new.” (From Isaiah 43 to Revelation 21) In 2 Corinthians 5.17, we read “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ they are becoming a new creation as the old things are passing away and the new is coming to fruition.” From Philippians 1.6, we read “…being confident of this that the work which God has begun in you will be carried out to its completion on that day of Christ Jesus.” Mighty ones of God, we have been waiting for that day. The world may not fully understand that it has been waiting for that day, too. Even in its denial of God, of Jesus His only begotten Son and the Spirit which reveals the harmony and unity of all things working together for good, the world is bearing witness to the truth of its waiting for that day. And when it comes, as in the words of a favorite Christian hymn, “what a day of rejoicing that will, when we all see Jesus….”

Now imagine if Jesus had never come to earth and the prophecies of His birth, such as the one we read in Isaiah 49, never came true or were never pronounced. As mighty ones of God in Christ Jesus, we should shudder to think of the true despair which would exist. Would the human race have endured this long? Only God can answer that question with surety. Thank God we do not have to consider it because Jesus has come and is coming again. The prophecies of His birth and His death give credence to the prophecies of His return. But, think for a minute, if you will, what it would mean if Israel was all there was. By that I mean, what if being a Jew was the only way to receive the guarantee of eternal life? This was the debate for the beginning Church founders and leadership in the decades following the death and resurrection of Jesus. The debate was not a friendly argument. As in many churches today (and the same might be said of nations, too), “friendly fire” accounts for the greatest number of hurts, wounds and death. We are harder on our own people (and citizens) than we are on anyone else. It is for that reason, mighty ones, that I believe Jesus “had” to give His new command. The Church had to have a new marching orders for engagement because the Church was going to manifest the destiny which awaited everyone. The angel who appeared to the shepherds watching their flocks by night heard the magnification and the amplification of the Advent message: “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” (Luke 3.10) In the thrust of completion the Great Commission of “…go, therefore, into all the world and make disciples of every nation….” (Matthew 28.20), it was all too easy to lose our focus on taking care of those “back home.” The same could be said in a reverse view for those who had no desire for anyone but a Jewish nation to be the “blessed of God.” The focus on “just us” or “just this” leads to alienation and isolation. Maybe it could be better said “the haves and the have nots.” The consequence of that type of thinking is far from joyfulness. And we see that, right? We see it in our own spheres of influence. The lack of joy or the pursuit of things we think “make for joy” actually becomes stressful because it serves no true purpose of lasting importance.

What does? What makes for joy? Joy comes in knowing our lives make a difference in the world. Without purpose, we have no meaning. If we have no meaning, we have no existence. If we have no existence, then we are nothing but dissociative and chaotic matter. If we a chaotic matter, then what truly matters? Believe it or not, even the chaotic matter mattered to God. Without God, there would still be nothing but chaotic matter just existing. We all know the feeling of “just existing.” It is not a happy place. It is not a “good” place, either, whether the definition of good is from a worldly perspective or of the kingdom perspective. The long and short of it would be “no joy.” “No joy” is an idiom which means “no success or positive outcome.” Have we felt “no joy” in our own lives or from our own lives? So, what is that purpose? Ultimately, that purpose is to “honor God” and “serve one another.” The greatest commandments are the stating of that purpose: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength; with the second like it- love your neighbor as yourself.” The rich young ruler asked Jesus that question, right? “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” As a “good” Jew, the rich young ruler felt “no joy.” His life, though rich in terms of the world still lacked something. He was seeking true meaning and purpose, his completion. So who is “the neighbor”? Well, it wasn’t those within the religious confines of Judaism. I know that may surprise some of you, but it was the truth. God was revealing Himself, His true nature and character, to the rest of the world through His people called by His name. They were to be a beacon, a messenger of light (truth, meaning and purpose), to the whole world. Their hub of operations was Jerusalem. Their field of operations, their theatre of operations, was the world. They were to love the world as they loved God. Oops! How was that working for them? Not so great. They continued, and continue, to fight that battle of “identity” territorialism. I can almost hear it, can you, the threat of “terror” in territorialism? They lost their vision and focus. The temptation of sin was to see one’s self apart from God, to practice non-Emmanuelism. Oh my, “no joy.”

But, “joy” was restored in Jesus who restored the vision of God for all people to live in righteousness and not in self-righteousness. The entire birth narrative is about righteousness. It stands against self-righteousness. Take your own inventory of the characters in the birth narrative and see what they divested themselves of self. In its place, the focus was put on God. In a similar fashion, God was doing the same. He took the focus off of Himself and put it on us. He spoke of meaning, purpose, favor, value, truth, justice and most of all love. It is there that we find our joy. We will also find our happiness, our peace and our true self. It comes when we look beyond our selves and see others. Read Isaiah 49 and see if you do not see it there. What God’s fullest intention had always been was restated, restarted and returned. It happens every year at Christmas time when we are reminded of what makes for hope, peace and joy… it is love- love with a purpose of honoring God and serving others so they, too, can get to their place of loving God more than self.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, before we were conceived in the womb, You had already formed us in Your love and by Your Spirit brought us into being. Each one of us is blessed with the opportunity of doing right, being good and producing the fruit of the Spirit in order that others be fed the truth of that same love so that the two will become one. It is our soul’s sincere desire to embrace the oneness You have in mind so we would know we are Your people and You are our God. Lead us in that discovery of the truth and the manifestation of that love for us all. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.