Children:

Do you know what today's date is?  June 24.

What is special about it?

Tomorrow is June 25 and that means we are exactly half way to Christmas.  One of my favorite Christmas songs is "Joy to the World" which we'll sing today.

Do y'all know what Joy is?  Joy is a state of great delight or happiness.

How do you get joy?  Is it something you can buy at the store?  I went to HEB this last week and bought some JOY.  This is ultra concentrated joy (for dishes).  Now are we all joyful?

So how do we get joy?  I learned this from a Nun when I was in second grade:

Take a look at the letters:  J, O, and Y.  To get joy you put Jesus first, Others next, and Yourself last. 

How do we do this?  To put Jesus first, we seek God and we follow the examples Jesus showed us on earth.  To put others next, we do things for other people such as letting them go first and helping them when they need it.

How do you feel when instead of playing, you make something as a gift for someone to cheer them up?  How do you feel when they see it and it makes them happy?  It brings JOY.

When you do things for other people or follow Jesus' example, it brings joy.  Remember Jesus, others, and yourself.

---

Adults:

So what do you think the kids will remember from the Children's sermon?

a) That it is half way to Christmas?

b) That you can buy Joy at HEB?

c) Maybe the advanced ones will remember how to spell the word Joy.

I think Joy is a concept that people greatly desire but sometimes can be very elusive.  It is also something that we don't talk about much.  We get the occasional song with the word joy in it, but do we stop to consider what joy is all about?

I saw a definition of Joy on the internet (so it must be true)... "The emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something good or satisfying."  This is better than my dictionary which had 2 definitions, the first "intense happiness" and the next "source of this". 

I  found 2 prewritten sermons on Joy on the internet that spoke on this topic.

The first sermon (Dr. Janet Noble-Richardson Presbyterian) said that there were 210 verses in the Bible that contain that word.  She focused on the verses that contrasted joy and its opposite sorrow.  We may have a temporary sorrow but there is Joy knowing we will be in "God's presence again."  Being in God's presence is "Ultra Concentrated Joy".  This is what he described was the meaning of "The Joy of the Lord is my strength"

The second sermon (some dude named Bob Tasler sounded kind of baptist) had a similar message giving the formula for real Joy which is as I had told the kids:  Real Joy comes from keeping Jesus first in life, Others come second, and yourself last.  I'm going to plagiarize here because I like his comments.

"J = Jesus comes first-  To the world this sounds like fanaticism, but to the Christian this is so obvious.  To have real joy, Jesus must come first.  If we give Him first place, here's what He promises:  "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be yours as well:  Matthew 6:33.  "When you seek Me with all your heart, you will surely find Me."  Jeremiah 29:13)  "Whoever comes to me I will never send away empty."  (John 6:37).  When Jesus is first all the rest falls into place.

O= Others come second in life.  Its tempting to think we should come next.  But to have true joy, you need a servant's heart, one that wants to help others.  Finding joy means others come second.  "Others" means family -- spouse and children.  "Others" begins with family, then friends and those who need us.  Jesus said "Love God above all, but then love your neighbor as yourself."

Y= Yourself comes last.  This doesn't mean you neglect self.  Your're not asked to be a martyr.  It certainly doesn't mean always saying "yes" when others ask.  When you've placed God first, other people second, then take care of yourself.  Be good to yourself."

So we have a formula and a proof ->  being in the presence of God (Seeking God) is super ultra concentrated JOY and we find it when we seek him and as he reveals himself through others.

 Before I had done the research I asked myself what brings Joy? 
What comes to my mind is when something I have worked hard on for someone comes out right. (Christmas when you find the right gift for someone, You get recognition for solving an important problem (Thanks Tom Clark), and you help someone who needs help.  What this congregation has done in worship -- and especially how God is revealing himself through the guest speakers over the last several weeks.

I then tried to put it in terms of the Jesus/Others/Yourself.  I feel joy in how this congregation is seeking Jesus first (reflecting the presence of God) by volunteering their effort (VBS yesterday was a great success, we have had some great messages delivered by Lay folks (I just wish I could do that), we had a volunteer take communion to those who can't make it to church, we serve the community through medical lending and the daycare.  We found a way to allow the Pastor a sabbatical.  All with the smallest Lutheran congregation in the Austin area.  We are making an effort to put Jesus first.  And we should feel joy. 

In all of the activities I just mentioned, as we put Jesus first, we serve others and let Jesus reveal himself to others through us.  Being near Jesus and seeking Jesus, we will find an infinite amount of Joy we can share with the world!  It feels great to share that Joy and can witness others receive the same joy.  I saw how happy those VBS students were yesterday and I think their response reflected the love shown by all of the wonderful folks serving God and helping teach and feed the students.  God is present when many gather in his name.

Shifting gears slightly, I want to talk about the Opposite of Joy:  Yoj.
What happens with Yoj? Yoj can be ugly.  What happens if you put yourself first and neglect Jesus and others?

It is an easy trap to fall into.  Excuses are very easy to make when considering doing the right thing vs. doing what you want to do.  My favorites are, "I'll do it later", "I'm too tired", "I want to go watch Jesus throw a perfect spiral with the Holy Spirit".  (You had to be here for Nancy Johnsons football analogy to get that one).

I have great intentions about giving blood to help others in need.  I'm good at not getting this done.

I wanted to write a great message for today.  Maybe next time.

The problem with Yoj is it leads to not feeling good about yourself.  If I'm down, I also want to bring others down.  If I see other people joyful and I'm not or I don't think they should feel joy watch out.  It's no wonder why Yoj leads to such yearning and unhappiness. 

We need to be beacons of J.O.Y to others (even the Y.O.J folks out there).

Quick Summary:

Being in the presence of God is Super ultra concentrated JOY.

How do we put Jesus first
Seek Jesus-  Read the Bible.
Reflect Jesus to others- Don't be afraid to let the Joy of the Lord be your strength

How do we put others next-  mak'em feel needed, give encouragement
Yourself- Take care of yourself to put you in a position to put Jesus first and others second.

How do we apply to today's text?

I had thought originally (up until last night) that the text was Galatians 3:23-29 and Luke 8:26-39.

Galatians 3:23-29 in my version of the Bible says:  Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed.  So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.  Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.  You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. 

This had a good connection to Joy with the first sermon above by Dr. Janet Noble-Richardson.  The text there was Nehemiah 8:1-10 where Ezra was reading the law to the Israelites assembled in the square.  The people were weeping as they listened to the words of the Law and realized they fell short.  In chapter 10, Nehemiah said "This day is sacred to our Lord.  Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength".    In other words, the Israelites were realizing they needed to put Jesus first (due to this trinity thing) and it set them right in the Joy of the Lord. 

The Law in the old testament was the way to seek the Lord.  Now we belong to Christ through faith and that JOY is our strength!

The other story was Luke 8: 26-39 about Jesus healing a demon possessed man.  This man for a long time had not worn clothes or lived in a house but had lived in the tombs. He healed the man sending the demons called Legion into a herd of pigs that then ran into a lake and drowned.  He told told the dude now in his right mind to go home and tell how much God has done for you.  Here we see Jesus putting others first and setting a good example of service.  The guy was naked and someone everyone wanted to avoid.  He healed him and revealed himself to all around.  After being healed, he begged to go with Jesus (seeking Jesus first) and being in the presence of God.  When instructed to tell others about God, he obeyed, and revealed and reflected the presence of God to others.

With the lessons printed today about John the Baptist, the word Joy actually appears.  God revealed himself to Elizabeth and Zechariah and in verse 58 it says "Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy and they shared her Joy. " The Joy in the presence of the Lord radiated through the community and was too much to contain verse 65-  The neighbors were all filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things.  Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, "What then is this child going to be?" for the Lord's hand was with him.  HUGE HUGE joy near the presence of the Lord.

We also get a Yoj example.  When the angel had earlier gone to Zechariah, he gave an excuse -  "My wife and I are too old."  Because of this reaction, he was unable to speak until the child was born.  At that time he sought God and I'm sure he lived joyfully ever after.

Soap analogy?  Sin is dirt, with the ultra concentrated joy, just a little bit can cleanse the dirt from a huge huge number of people making them happy.

May you find the Joy of the Lord in all you do.

Amen.

 

 Charles Bachand

Ascension Lutheran Church