Part of the anticipation and
excitement of the Advent season is the expectation of the coming “gift” of the
Christ Child into the world and into our lives.
It is a “gift” that we know from the scriptures and prophets to be a
most exceptional gift in that it promises to all new beginnings and life . . .
a fresh start . . . that life will be good . . . all wrapped up in the cute
little package of a baby. Everyone loves
babies. It makes us feel good.
So, what happens when the good
feelings disappear and the reality sets in?
The problem with babies is that they
grow up . . . that they are a lot of hard work . . . and, they are not always
what we think they are. Where are the
good times now?
All of us gathered here this morning
are what I would call “veterans of the faith”.
None of us are spring chickens . . . we have been about this faith
business for quite some time. Knowing
that . . . what would you tell someone who is just entering into the faith
journey? Someone who is filled with the
anticipation and excitement and expectation of the “gift” of the Christ
Child. Filled with all the expectations
of new life, new beginnings, and that everything is going to be good. What would you tell them about the reality of
faith? Would you pop their balloon or
would you let them revel in their euphoric state? What would you tell them?
Well, I have always been one for
telling the truth, and the truth is that the journey of faith . . . that
following in the footsteps of Jesus . . . is not easy. Being faithful is hard work. All of you have shared stories of the
difficulty of your faith journeys . . . of the hard times in your life when
nothing felt secure . . . that God seemed far off or inaccessible . . . that
you were alone and forgotten. Each
Sunday morning we spend a portion of our time in worship sharing “concerns”
that we have for others . . . the hardships of their lives and asked for
prayers for them. This exposes the fact
that the journey of faith . . . that following in the footsteps of Jesus . . .
is not all cake and ice cream. Faith can
be difficult.
So . . . what are you going to tell
someone who is wrapped up in the expectation and anticipation of Advent and the
coming “gift” of the Christ Child?
Paul’s letter to the church in Thessalonica
was written for two reasons: to correct some of the misconceptions of his
teachings about faith, and to provide encouragement. Paul recognized that the followers of Jesus
did not quite grasp what he was attempting to convey about the faith . . . that
they were ignoring the fact that there would be difficulties with the journey
of faith and that there would be hard times.
Paul recognized that they were like most of us . . . typical human
beings who embrace what we want to hear and disregard the rest. We tend to embrace the good at the expense
of the difficult and hard. But the
apostle wants them to understand that faith is hard work and that there would
be dark days while on the journey. It
was not all cake and ice cream. At the
same time he wanted to encourage them to keep the faith . . . to put on the
face of “happy, happy, joy, joy”.
Paul writes: “Be joyful always; pray
continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you
in Christ Jesus.”
Here the apostle is encouraging the
people in Thessalonica to remain faithful . . . to hang on tight to the course
set by Jesus . . . no matter how difficult or hard the journey might
become. The reward is greater than the
hardships of life. He wants the people
to put on the face of “happy, happy, joy, joy”.
“Happy, happy, joy, joy” is a song
that was on the children’s cartoon show, Ren
and Stimpy, years ago . . . a cartoon I imagine that many of you did not
have the privilege of viewing unless you now have children in their late
twenties or early thirties.
Unfortunately I do have children in that age range, and unfortunately I
was a victim of my children’s viewing habits.
I endured the reign of Ren and
Stimpy. But the “happy, happy, joy,
joy” song—of which that is the whole song—was introduced as a parody on putting
on the stiff upper lip and enduring in times of hard luck. Trust me, Ren and Stimpy had lives of hard
luck. Their solution to the problem was
to put a smile on their face and start singing “happy, happy, joy, joy” . . .
to make the best of a bad situation because they knew that these times, too,
shall pass.
That is what the Apostle Paul is
telling the people to do . . . but, what happens when it feels as if we can
never dig ourselves out of that hole in which we feel lost and forgotten . . .
when our faith is being challenged . . . and, we can no longer bear the pain of
it all? What happens then?
One of my favorite psalms is Psalm
137. This psalm tells the story of the
people of God being exiled from their homes and homeland. The people of God had gotten too prosperous
and haughty in their ways of living . . . they had become relaxed and lazy in
their faith . . . they were ignoring the means of faith and treating one
another terribly . . . they had drifted from God. Israel was at the height of prosperity in the
world . . . a great nation filled with wealth and power. They had gotten too big for their britches .
. . and, God sent prophets to warn them to shape up or else.
Well, when things are going well
people have a tendency to ignore the signs of trouble brewing . . . and, that
is what the people did. They ignored it
all. The result? They were invaded by their enemies from Babylon
and severely defeated. The Babylonians
destroyed the city of Jerusalem . . . tore down the sacred temple . . . and
made the people captives and exiled them from their homes and homelands. Basically the Babylonians put a major
whooping on the children or God.
And, the people of God felt deserted
by God . . . abandoned by God. All their
beliefs about being the children of God were washed down the drain. All that they believed as the “chosen people”
. . . that God would always take care of them, protect them, and make them a
strong and prosperous nation . . . well, that was all was down the drain. Reality set in and reality sucked . . .
reality was hard.
Which brings us to Psalm 137. The people are being marched to Babylon. It is a hard and difficult march filled with
woe and sadness. Depressing times for
the people of God. Yet, when they stop
and rest their captors demand from them a song . . .demand that they sing for
them. Psalm 137 expresses the feelings
of the people in a time of hardship:
By the
rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept
when we
remembered Zion.
There
on the poplars
we hung
our harps,
for
there our captors asked us for songs,
our
tormentors demanded songs of joy;
they
said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”
How can
we sing the songs of the Lord
while
in a foreign land?
The fact is that when things get tough
. . . and, they will get tough . . . it is not easy to keep the faith. It is difficult to sing a song of joy when we
are in a strange land . . . difficult to sing the songs of Zion when we
remember the good days that now seem so far away. The apostle Paul knows this . . . knows that
hard times will come . . . and, so he tells the people to rejoice and to sing “happy,
happy, joy, joy”.
Paul is not the first to abide by this
wisdom. Those captives over there in
Psalm 137 even realize the power of hope that comes from putting on the “happy,
happy, joy, joy” in the face of difficult times . . . of hanging on no matter
how thin that strand of rope might be.
If I
forget you, O Jerusalem,
may my
right hand forget its skill,
may my
tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
If I do
not remember you,
if I do
not consider Jerusalem
my
highest joy.
Or, to hear it in the words of Paul: “Be
joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is
God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
In the anticipation of the “gift” of
the Christ Child and all that he holds for us in the journey of faith, let us
be realistic in our faith and acknowledge that the road will not always be
smooth and easily traveled . . . there will be hard times. Let us also acknowledge that despite the hard
times the gift is more than we could ever imagine and that despite the
difficulties we are the children of God . . . a people blessed . . . a people
saved. As such we are a people who
realize the “gift” for what it is . . . hope.
Always hope. Because of that we
can persevere through the most difficult times . . . we can sing the songs of
joy . . . we can sing “happy, happy, joy, joy”.
What would you tell an exuberant
newbie to the faith? Well, I would
encourage them to learn to sing . . . “happy, happy, joy, joy”. There is blessing in the journey and Paul’s benediction
upon the people: “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and
through. May your whole spirit, soul and
body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will
do it.”
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