COUNT IT ALL JOY
Zephaniah 3:14-20; Isaiah 12:2-6; and Philippians 4:1-13
Julie Ruth Harley – Dec. 16, 2012 – First United Church of Oak Park
Let me tell you a story about the pink prayer cards . . . When I first
arrived here as lead pastor four years ago, there was a problem. We use
these pink prayer cards in the pew racks each Sunday. People write down
their prayer requests and they’re sent up to the pastors in the offering, and
then one of us has to compose a coherent prayer on the spot. The pastors
were complaining that they didn’t have enough time to organize all the
prayer requests, let alone read them, since some peoples’ hand writing is
barely legible.
So I suggested that we redesign the prayer cards. At the top we list
the words JOY and CONCERN in capital letters and ask people to circle
one. Then the ushers deal them out in the back of the church like blackjack
dealers, separating them into two piles: joys and concerns. This makes it
easier for us to separate the types of prayer requests in the prayers of the
people.
This was a decision of efficiency, but I’m not sure that we served you
very well. In fact, that may have been my first mistake in ministry.
Everything cannot be clearly labeled as a joy or a concern. In many joys
there are hidden concerns. When you get married it is joyful, but then you
find you wake up every day of your life with the same person. When you
have a baby it is joyful, but then they become teenagers.
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The same is true for concerns. Often in the midst of a challenging
situation we find hidden joy.
We live in the space between joys & concerns.
Last Sunday, people submitted four prayer cards for me and my
children. Two were marked JOY and two were marked CONCERN. And I
thought to myself: Yes!
One gift of spiritual life is learning to find the joy that is hidden in
suffering. Paul is a wise teacher in this way.
He writes his letter to the Philippians from a cold, dark prison cell.
He is reaching out to a young congregation threatened from the outside
and fractured from the inside.
His message? “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice.”
All of today’s texts focus on finding joy amidst sorrow.
There was a pastor who was single and dating two young women in
his congregation. One was quite attractive and charming and the other one
was actually rather homely but had many musical talents. She was an
organist, a choir director, and a soloist. The pastor wasn’t sure which one
he should marry so he asked an older man for advice. The man said he
should marry the less attractive woman because she had many practical
skills which would enhance the pastor’s ministry.
The pastor proposed to the musician and they had a beautiful church
wedding. One the night of their honeymoon, the pastor was lying in
bed when his new wife emerged from the dressing room in a see
through nightie with curlers in her hair. Desperately, the pastor
cried, “Sing, Myrtle, sing!”
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Finding joy in sorrow. Our Philippians text shows us this gift can be
nurtured thru five habits of the heart and one core belief.
Five practices:
1. Rejoice in the Lord
2. Practice gentleness
3. Do not worry
4. Pray and let your requests be made known to God
5. Dwell on virtues
One core belief: The Lord is near.
1. Rejoice in THE LORD, not in external circumstances.
This time of year, advertisers tell us we will find joy in a diamond ring,
an iPad mini or a new toy.
One of the most striking statements about meaning of joy comes from
Germany when that nation was being traumatized under the Nazi
ideology of Adolf Hitler.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was one of over 200 pastors imprisoned for
speaking out against Nazi brutalities.
His convictions led him to cooperate in a failed plot to assassinate
Hitler. While in Tegel prison awaiting death, Bonhoeffer wrote this
letter about joy.
It is certain that we may always live close to God and in the light of God’s
presence, and that such living is an entirely new life for us;
That nothing is then impossible for us, because all things are possible with God;
That no earthly power can touch us without God’s will,
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And that danger and distress can only drive us closer to God.
It is certain that our joy is hidden in suffering, and our life in death;
It is certain in all this that we are in a community that sustains us,
In the midst of suffering, we can rejoice in our communion with Jesus
Christ.
2. Let your gentleness be made known to everyone.
Gentleness is a quality that seems to be in short supply. .
We cringe and have to turn off the TV in the face of twenty seven
people, mostly young children, killed by a gunman at an elementary
school in Newtown, Conn. We shudder at reports of Israelis defiantly
building settlements on Palestinian land, causing Christians and
Muslims in Jesus’ birthplace of Bethlehem to feel they are living in an
open-air prison. We visualize 3,500 Syrian children huddled in a refugee
camp in Amman, Jordan, who need rain boots to stay warm and dry
during the cold, rainy winter.
Practicing gentleness is one way to resist evil and find joy in this world
filled with violence and revenge. The book of Proverbs tells us “a gentle
answer turns away wrath,” and it is true. Jesus calls us to be as wise as
serpents and as gentle as doves. When we let our gentleness be made
known, we do not react to crises out of fear. We make a proactive
decision to declare that serpents and doves do not have equal power.
We are 60/40 in favor of the doves.
3. A core belief that allows us to find joy in suffering: The Lord is near.
I still remember the innocent excitement I felt every December in
anticipation of the coming of Christmas Day. We would pore over the
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Sears Wish Book and dream of the wonders that might lie under the tree
for us on Dec. 25. My brother Greg and I could hardly sleep on
Christmas Eve, and we would whisper together for hours, listening for
the arrival of Santa and his sleigh. We would wake up our parents at
the crack of dawn to open presents.
Isn’t it a shame that sometimes adults lose that sense of expectant joy?
Christmas becomes another deadline in our calendars, a date by which
we have to get the holiday thing done, rather than a time when we
dream about a whole new world.
Advent allows us four weeks when we can visualize another reality,
which the birth of Christ ushers in. We discover joy when we realize the
Lord is near.
Three men are breaking up rocks. A passerby asks them, “What are
you doing here?”
The first worker says, “I’m making little rocks out of big ones.”
The second says, “I’m earning a living.”
The third says, “I’m building a cathedral.”
The choice is ours to make. We can focus only on the task at hand,
and our work is merely labor. We can focus on just a paycheck, and our
work is merely a means of satisfying our own needs. Or we can see our
individual efforts as part of God’s greater work of love, justice and joy.
Advent is a time of waiting when we take unique joy in realizing
God’s nearness.
4. Do not worry about anything.
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A pastor in Florida has “Count It All Joy” parties every now and
then. He believes strongly in these verses from James ch. 1:
My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, count it all as
joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and
let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete,
lacking in nothing.
When the pastor faces a difficult situation, he calls friends over
to his house. The say, “Is this a birthday?” No, he says. “Uh, you got
a raise?”
No, he says. “Then why are we having a party?” they
want to know.
“Well,” he says, “I’m going thru this incredibly difficult crisis
right now, and I’m having a count-it-all-joy party. We’re going to
celebrate the difficulty, because I know this challenge is going to
bring something of special value to my life. I don’t know what it is
yet, but I want you to come and count it all joy with me.”
We can experience joy even in times when we are not happy.
Do not worry about anything, says Paul from his prison cell.
5. In everything pray and let your requests be made known to God.
My first symptoms of ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, began back in May.
By July, I was walking with a cane. The deacons got together and
decided to form this wonderful thing called Team Julie. This is a group
of more than one hundred people who bring me meals, go shopping,
take me to doctor appointments, helped me move and furnished my
apartment, made me a beautiful handmade quilt, help me in the office,
visited me in the hospital (12 days in August, 10 days in October), and
most of all PRAYED with me and for me.
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A group of church members and friends prayed with me every
Sunday morning in the chapel for the last three months. They anointed
me with oil. They gave me Kleenex and let me cry. They also laughed
with me, and shared their concern for my daughters.
I have not been cured; in fact, my symptoms are getting worse
quickly. But I do have joy. I feel peace. I trust that God will provide.
And I know I am deeply loved, in a way I did not realize when my body
was in perfect health. Our prayers have been effective, so effective that
other people notice.
6. Focus on virtues: Whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, pleasing,
commendable, excellent . . . think about these things.
This is the motto of Northwestern University, where I went to
college, and those words from Philippians have sustained me
through many trials in life and ministry.
We are always tempted to focus on what we lack, to lick our wounds,
and to indulge in “Why me/poor me/I’m just a victim” dramas.
Philippians points us to a more excellent way.
The disease I have is known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease because it is
named after a famous baseball player for the Yankees. Lou Gehrig
developed this disease when he was in his thirties and gave a famous
Farewell Speech to Yankee fans. This is what he said:
Some say I got a bad break.
But I would say that I’ve had the priviledge in ball fields
around America where I have been welcomed with open arms. I have
played with some of the finest players in my sport. I have worked
with two of the best managers in baseball. I’ve had a wonderful
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family and a devoted wife. I would say I am the luckiest man on the
face of the earth.
I’d like to take a page from Lou Gehrig. I’ve preached in dozens of
churches. I’ve had a fine education, and learned my doctor of
ministry degree. I was blessed with great parents and a loving
family. I have the best daughters in the world. I am privileged with
many amazing friends. I served wonderful congregations for 16
years and worked as a chaplain for 11 years. I wrote a book and ran a
half-marathon (not at the same time).
Some say I had a bad break getting ALS, one friend said it is just so
fucking unfair. I’m so glad I got to say ”fucking” in a sermon. You
can’t fire me now.
What I also know is it’s time for me to take myself out of the batting
order here at First United and let Team Julie take care of me.
I’m the luckiest woman on the face of the earth, because I count it all
joy. Amen.
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