A sermon preached at St. Francis by the Lake Episcopal Church, Canyon Lake, TX.
The lectionary readings for the seventh Sunday of Easter are here.
Happy Mothers’ Day. It is a day of many emotions. Being a mother is challenging and complicated. Having a mother is challenging and complicated. All relationships are complex and the mother/child relationship is perhaps the most. And acknowledging this, we look for the joy today: that ‘so-much-more-than-an-emotion’ feeling that we get as we ponder what it is to bring life into this world whether it be by giving birth or by nurturing another to be who they are created to be. The joy of Mothering is done with hope for the future.
For our weekly readings during this season of Easter, we step away from reading Mark’s telling of the Good News and focus on John’s version. And beginning two week’s ago when Fr. Chuck was here we get bits and pieces of Jesus’ final words with his disciples before his arrest. Jesus tells them earnestly that the point of this last sermon is so that they won’t lose their way, that they will have what they need to follow The Way even when he is no longer physically with them. He is giving them the joy of hope.
In the three chapters from John 15 through 17, Jesus speaks the word we translate as Joy 6 times. In last week’s gospel reading Jesus is speaking directly to the disciples and says “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete”. In today’s reading, Jesus is praying for the disciples and says to God, “I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves.”
Joy is the ‘so that’ of following Jesus. Jesus often likens the joy of living as God’s Beloved to that of a new mother. Giving birth and raising children isn’t easy, to put it mildly, there is anguish and pain and struggle bringing life into this world AND there is so much joy. Joy in watching babies discover their fingers and toes and recognizing the faces that love them; joy in seeing their personalities develop over time; joy in watching them grow and become parents themselves.
Joy is why Jesus invites us into the Kingdom of God here and now with the directive to Love God, our neighbor, and ourselves; Joy is why he tells us to be disciples making disciples, so that we can experience the mothering joy that God knows in watching us discover who and Whose we are. Joy is what happens when we simply delight in others as fellow image bearers of God, when we discover that it isn’t our job to turn others into God’s image but to journey together in the lifelong process of becoming who God created and calls each of us to be.
In all of Jesus’ teachings he never tells us to make the world perfect and he never tells us we have to fix ourselves or other people. Jesus shows us in flesh and blood how to heal ourselves and others with love and he does this SO THAT we may know joy.
God didn’t create all that there is out of duty but because the power of love is a creative power; the more love we offer the more love there is. God delights in creation, in all that God made – flowers and birds and butterflies and puppies and kittens and trees and mountains and rivers and stars and sunsets and rainstorms and oceans and dolphins and coral reefs and snakes and spiders and lions and tigers and bears, oh my. At each stage, God calls it good and then God made us and all of creation was ‘very good’.
It was when we humans decided we could know better and do better than God that things went sideways. And from this moment God has invited us back to his presence, to the joy of remembering who and Whose we are. Joy is what God saves us for. Joy is why God calls us to love and serve the world in God’s name. Joy is the reason Jesus says ‘follow me and share God’s love with others, remind others that they are image bearers, too, SO THAT they can know the Joy of being God’s beloved’.
This is what Jesus is praying for – that in the midst of the struggles of this world we can find hope and strength and courage to keep loving better and better because we know that we are God’s beloved. Joy is knowing we are God’s beloved, regardless of our circumstance. As I was working on my sermon this past week, I did a little digging into how the word we translate into English as ‘world’ is used here and one of the definitions was ‘ungodly multitude’ which made me laugh probably more than I should have. Another commentator described it as those who don’t yet know the truth of God’s love. This is how Jesus sees and wants us to see the people – not as projects or something to fix and not as our enemies, but as fellow image bearers who don’t yet know the joy of God’s love.
Let me tell you a fun secret about Jim – he loves Little Debbie’s Honey Buns and there is always at least one box in our pantry. Currently, on the back of the little Debbie honey bun box is a picture of a honey bun being dunked in a cup of coffee with the words ‘pure joy’. Now, honey buns and coffee may be what makes Jim so sweet but when Jesus prays for us to have joy he wasn’t talking about our morning pastry and beverage choices. We can, and do, spend a lot of energy trying to pass the happiness of things outside of ourselves off as joy but true joy isn’t dependent on our circumstances. Joy comes from the very core of who we are.
Joy comes from being who we are created to be, when we let go of who we think others want us to be or who we think we should be to earn God’s favor and let the Way of Jesus and God’s love reveal to us who we are: God’s beloved people.
Joy doesn’t mean that we won’t ever have struggles or hardships. Joy means that even in the difficulties we are aware of God’s presence with us and we hold on to the hope of God’s promises. Joy is a choice and joy takes intentionality.
Jesus says we are sent into the world sanctified by the Truth. Being sanctified means to be set apart, to be made holy. The joy of God’s presence with us, knowing we are God’s beloved is the truth that sets us apart so that we can show the ungodly multitudes, I mean those who don’t yet know God’s love, the truth of who and Whose they are. We are created to live in this world so that all people can come to know the truth, the joy of God’s love.
I’m going to invite you to do something this week: as you leave today, don’t drop your bulletins in the recycling basket. Take it home with you and read Jesus’ prayer each day. Or better yet, dust off your Bible and read the whole of it in John chapter 17. The last thing Jesus did for his disciples before his arrest was to pray for them and he prays for us. Jesus prays for us! Read Jesus’ prayer as often as you can this week; let the words permeate and percolate; be aware of God’s love for you and experience the creative and healing power of that love. We are all created and called to share God’s love in this world so that others can know the joy of God’s mothering love, too. Amen.
Mother Nancy's Coffee Thoughts 