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Sermons from Commons Church. Intellectually honest. Spiritually passionate. Jesus at the centre. Since 2014.
I wanna propose that a major aspect of joy is that joy is not something we control, and it's hardly a thing of the past. Joy is about newness and discovery. Okay. We are in our fourth week of the joy series, and maybe you're like, what? Still?
Speaker 1:Yeah. We're still on about this. Joy is up this week, and then we'll hit the theme once more before we wrap the series next week. And I love the way that we are staying almost uncomfortably long with Joy this spring. By beating at joy like a drum, we are insisting that joy is for all of us.
Speaker 1:The depressed, the hurting, the weary, the overwhelmed, and the numb. Joy is egalitarian. You don't even choose it. Joy chooses you. Now in the journal write up for this series, which I hope you take some time with throughout the teaching year, we wrote this.
Speaker 1:It's on page 90. There are forces pushing you to feel bad about absolutely everything. But deep down, we know feeling bad forever isn't how we shape a better world. Laughter, hilarious banter, not taking yourself too seriously, That's the stuff that makes you feel alive. Can you imagine that the heart of God loves a good joke?
Speaker 1:Like a classic setup and punchline, the zanier the better. And what if when we come together in community to celebrate every blessing, we find that joy liberates us one hearty laugh at a time? So I don't know about you, but I am not done hearing about joy just yet. So far in the series, Jeremy walked us through joy that is refreshingly mundane, in joy that reanimates after all hope is lost. And last week, Scott walked us through joy as a creative force, and he did this great job helping us to see joy in the Psalms as attestation of God's goodness as they span hundreds of years and thousands of heartbreaks.
Speaker 1:Over and over and over again, the people of God always come back to singing and dancing and creating and expressing and sharing their joy. Today, in our second to last stop in this survey of joy through the scriptures, We'll talk about Jesus, the spirit, and the church, and how our own spirituality can be jolted to life with joy. But first, let's take a quiet moment. Let us pray. Loving God, we take a moment to even further settle in here.
Speaker 1:We thank you for the resilience and the care that we experienced this week. And we return our hearts and our minds just to the present. We take a moment to notice maybe any tension in our bodies, maybe in our jaw, our shoulders, our gut, and we try to just soften a little and release some of that stress, taking a few deep breaths together. I know I need them, which might be some of the most spiritual stuff we do all day. So with gratitude, with awareness and stillness, we imagine our hearts open to learn and to change and grow.
Speaker 1:We pray that the beauty of creator, the peace of Christ, and the life of the spirit would be upon us to establish the work of our hands. Amen. Alright. Today, we'll be in Luke 24 and Acts chapter one to consider the intersection of joy with the final moments of Jesus' life on earth. We'll talk about banter, astonishing conversations, joy in your spirituality, and ascension.
Speaker 1:But first, can I tell you about what might be the strangest prayer I've ever prayed and how it came true? You know you wanna hear it. When I was in seminary, I had a bunch of friends from all over the world, and some of those friends were from cultures that were amazing at banter. Like, if there was an opening in a conversation to riff, to crack a joke, to keep it going, to poke fun, to get a laugh, to call back these people, they never missed the opportunity. And being a polite Canadian, I would say our culture is sometimes less amazing at this kind of banter.
Speaker 1:I mean, we can do it, but it takes some work. I mean, just look at your faces. You're pretty serious. We can be a bit serious, a little too nice, not quite trusting enough to get what is being put down sometimes. Now believe it or not, I prayed about that.
Speaker 1:I maybe even prayed about it more than once. I wanted in on the fun. Now was my prayer answered overnight, in six months, at all? I don't know. But what I do know is that there came a time when I was caught up in some blessed banter and I wasn't just listening.
Speaker 1:I wasn't just laughing along. I was yucking it up and I was adding to the humor and I was living my life like it was an improv skit. And then it hit me like an act of the Holy Ghost. My banter prayers, they came true. Now I am not saying I am the queen of banter.
Speaker 1:I might actually be the queen of awkward, but I love it when the flow is good and the jokes are just popping off. For me, banter is the experience of the definition of joy. Now Brene Brown defines joy as a feeling that is sudden, unexpected, short lived, and intense. It's characterized by a union, a sense of union with God, nature, and others. And it expands our thinking and fills us with a sense of abandon.
Speaker 1:Now I could have easily thought that banter just wasn't for me. I wasn't good at it, and I should just let it go. But there's this stagnancy in staying comfortable in a story that you think you know. It's better to, like, find the edges of ourselves and to push past premature endings. So in the last chapter in Luke, the women go to Jesus' tomb with their ritual spices.
Speaker 1:And no surprise to us at this point, the tomb is empty. And the men don't believe the women, so Peter takes off running to the tomb and discovers, you guessed it, that the women's experience was to be trusted. Then there's a scene change and two disciples are just walking to the village of Emmaus just outside of Jerusalem. And while they're discussing the resurrection, the resurrected Jesus comes up to them, walks with them, and dives right into their conversation. Yet they still don't realize it's him until they're sitting down to dinner.
Speaker 1:And just as soon as they recognize him, he disappears, and they are left with mystery. But they don't get stuck there. They get up, and they run right to Jerusalem. Find the 11 and the others, and I imagine that conversation, it started like this. We saw him.
Speaker 1:And the others say, you saw who? Jesus. And the others say, there's no way. Yes. Way.
Speaker 1:And the others say, how did you know it was him? Well, we didn't until and while they were still speaking, Jesus himself comes out of nowhere and says, peace be with you. And everyone in the room is startled and frightened. They think they've seen a ghost, and Jesus says, why are you troubled? Why do you have these doubts in your mind?
Speaker 1:Look at my body, my hands, and my feet. It really is me. And I just love that while there's this assertion and affirmation of Jesus' real body, he's still like too much to look at. Like, hard to recognize. Jesus is his body and he's somehow so much more.
Speaker 1:And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, do you have anything here to eat? You gotta love a savior who knows when he needs a snack. And they gave him a piece of broiled fish and that is a whole verse in the bible. Just that. Joy.
Speaker 1:And he took it and ate it in their presence. And from there, Jesus goes on to remind them of what he taught them and how everything was to be fulfilled as it was written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms. Now two things here. There's the story and there's what the story is trying to do. As a story, this is one that you can feel.
Speaker 1:The men on the road to Emmaus were told they are sad that Jesus, their prophet, was killed. The resurrected Jesus points out that they are also foolish at how much they still don't know. And the men are astonished when Jesus leaves and they say, how were our hearts not burning within us? And when Jesus appears in the room in Jerusalem, the crowd is startled, terrified, frightened, and full of doubt. It is a whole mixed bag of emotion.
Speaker 1:And you know where joy comes in? Joy and amazement are feelings on the way to illumination, but they first describe confusion. The disciples don't get it, but they do feel it. When joy arrives, jumping into the scene like a jackrabbit, pay attention. A truth you might not fully comprehend could be standing right in front of you.
Speaker 1:The revelation of God. A spark of your passion. The gift of the moment. Remember Jesus' followers felt the earth shake and the sun get dark when he died. And it's joy that jolts them back to life, turns their heads toward what is true.
Speaker 1:The essayist Hanif Abdurrakib says that joy in a violent world can be a rebellion. There's the story you feel, and there's what the story is trying to do. Now Luke says that Jesus explains with the scriptures what is going on with him. Moses, the prophets, the psalmists all spoke of it, except they didn't really. That's why there's no specific citation here.
Speaker 1:Early Jewish eschatology just didn't account for a messiah who would die like Jesus did and rise to life and then not return immediately to usher in this final judgment. What the story is trying to do is so much more than proof text the events. Luke shapes that addresses the questions and worries of early Christians. They'd ask, what kind of resurrection was it? And the answer was that it involved Jesus' whole body.
Speaker 1:And they'd ask, well, who's the leader now? And the answer was Peter and anyone who saw resurrection for themselves. And they'd ask, is this still Jewish? And the answer was, yes. It's still a part of that story, and it's turned into something more.
Speaker 1:With all of these crashing emotions and complex questions, the gospel shapes a spirituality by talking about what really matters. I mean, what do you think spirituality is anyway? It is grappling with life and searching for meaning, purpose, and connection. And look, it is hard to shape a spiritual life when so much feels out of our control. But you know what's even harder?
Speaker 1:Doing any of that alone. We need more astonishing conversations if we want a spirituality that is shot through with joy. In Acts, before Jesus ascends to heaven, his followers ask him, is this the time when you'll restore the kingdom to Israel? As in, we asked you this before, but you didn't really do it. And now that you've defeated death, is it time to take over?
Speaker 1:And look, it is easy to throw shame on these guys and their obsession with a future of national victories and political wish lists, but their questions make sense. They are just nostalgic for a kingdom that existed a long, long time ago through their monarchy before exile by Babylon and Assyria, and they are nostalgic for the Hasmonean priest kings who ruled Judea before Rome stomped them out. And they are even a little nostalgic for the kings of the recent past like Herod the Great who did powerful things like rebuild the 2nd Temple. So, yeah, they're pretty into kings. But Jesus redirects them.
Speaker 1:He said to them, it is not for you to know the times or dates the father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the holy spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. In other words, all that nostalgia about kings and kingdoms, it will steal your joy. We aren't going backwards. We aren't consolidating power.
Speaker 1:No. That is not God's way. Jesus tells them that they are going forward and the power they have is meant to be shared with the whole world. What generosity. I wanna propose that a major aspect of joy is that joy is not something we control, and it's hardly a thing of the past.
Speaker 1:Joy is about newness and discovery. In grappling with the world that is changing, the disciples reach for what they know, a kingdom. Yes. That's gotta be it. A sweet little place of solace and just enough power to keep us safe.
Speaker 1:And Jesus says, oh, guys. No. I'm so sorry. We're going forward toward a future that neither of us really know. Theologian Will Willeman calls it a world still open ended to the movements of the spirit.
Speaker 1:So why don't we take a little bit of an inventory on just how open ended and available for discovery our spiritual life is. Let's consider some scenarios. Have you sensed something reverent in someone else's meaning making? Like, hey, that is new to me and I could learn from you. Has a new idea or a possibility about God or the universe sent a little thrill down your back and, like, flip flopped a couple of times in your stomach?
Speaker 1:Like, you're not totally comfortable with it, but you're leaning in? Were you surprised by something so beautiful that you basically fell over yourself trying to express it? Did a bit of comedy hit you so hard that you open mouth laughed and then, oh, sighed? Does how you practice faith make you feel just a little lighter and more expansive and open to mystery? Did wisdom, like, wave you down from somewhere you weren't expecting and you thought, oh gosh, that's good stuff right there.
Speaker 1:If your faith and your spiritual practice, your walk with Jesus doesn't feel joyful at least some of the time, I don't wanna tell you that you're doing something wrong because I actually don't think it's on you. We are often told that religion is just so serious And Jesus came to save your soul, and everything else is unimportant. And here's what we say to that. Who invented fun? Who laughed at death?
Speaker 1:Who pranked his friends? Like right up to the very end. Jesus brings life and life is supercharged with joy. So back in Luke, the disciples' joy goes from disbelief to something like a party. After Jesus promises that the spirit will cover them and be with them, Jesus either hangs around for a few more weeks like it's talked about in acts or he zip zips right up to heaven like it's stated in Luke.
Speaker 1:Remember, there's always the story and what the story is trying to do and both are sacred. Don't be afraid of the beautiful discrepancies in the bible. They have purpose, they show real intelligence, and they welcome multiple perspectives. Luke and Acts are just doing different things. Luke is about Jesus.
Speaker 1:Acts is about the apostles. They both tell a sacred story of a spiritual community even with their differences. It's not a history lesson. So in Luke, Jesus led them out to the vicinity of Bethany. He lifted up his hands and blessed them.
Speaker 1:And while he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and they stayed continually in the temple praising God. Like, that's the end. Those are the final words in Luke. Now, did you ever notice how joy starts and ends the gospel of Luke?
Speaker 1:All the way back at the beginning, when the pregnant Mary travels to be with her cousin Elizabeth, Elizabeth's baby, John the Baptist, leaps for joy in her womb on their arrival. And of course, there's joy in the shepherd's amazement. And I imagine there's so much joy in the safe delivery of this baby. But the bookend joy that I'm talking about is, wait for it, it's in the temple. When Mary and Joseph present Jesus in the temple, Simeon and then Anna, these figures of towering devotion, cross paths with Jesus' family and they are beside themselves with joy when they meet this squirming little messiah.
Speaker 1:It bubbles over as worship in the temple. Joy is not frivolous in the story of Jesus. Joy is there at the beginning and it carries through to the end. It's in every encounter, every new revelation, every loving confrontation. And after death, recovering joy is what makes this story complete.
Speaker 1:Jesus ascends and the disciples worship him with great joy. They stay continually in the temple like Simeon and Anna praising God. But let's talk about the Ascension for just a moment before we wrap. Why is it important? And what are we to do with it?
Speaker 1:Because truthfully, the ascended Jesus isn't all that compelling to me if I don't understand the story as Luke sets it out. And one of my favorite things about the ascension is how something like it happened before. And scholars call this prophetic typology. In second Kings, the prophet Elijah is on the precipice of his own ascension. But before he is lifted up to heaven by a whirlwind, there's this back and forth between Elijah and his protege, Elisha.
Speaker 1:Sounds very similar, but just listen carefully. I think you'll catch the difference. Elijah keeps saying, stay put. The Lord has called me to such and such a place. And every time Elisha says, nah, I'm gonna go with you, and he does.
Speaker 1:And other prophets keep telling Elisha, watch out. The Lord is taking your master from you. And Elisha keeps saying, I know, but shh. But then there comes this point where there's no prolonging it. Elijah is about to go and they feel the wind of heaven as it kicks up the dust of the earth.
Speaker 1:And Elijah yells against the wind, what can I do for you before I go? And Elisha says, please let me inherit a double portion of your spirit. And Elijah says, if you see me go, it will be yours. And so it was. Ascension had happened before.
Speaker 1:Seeing Jesus ascend thrills his friends with recognition. They had that story living in their bodies. It's a spatial metaphor that demonstrates this incredible transcendence. And it's easy for us to read the story of Jesus' ascension like he has kinda, like, left the building. That wherever Jesus is now, it's not close enough to where we are and how we suffer.
Speaker 1:And when we read the end of Luke and the beginning of Acts this way, we miss out on the joy of ascension. Jesus left one place so that he could be in all places. He transcended time so that he could be always available. And what's more and I don't think we take this seriously enough or we could say joyfully enough, Jesus gave us spirit. It is ours.
Speaker 1:And he said we do greater things, double things, greater things than he did. And the church would be his body. This story is that story is our story too. You have everything that you need to experience joy, to let it lift you even in the wake of loss, even when you don't know what's coming next, even when it feels like God has left you, God has not. The point of the story, it's the opposite.
Speaker 1:Christ fills the expanding universe and animates it with love. So let us shape a Christology that puts no limits on where Christ will meet you next. Joy in conversations and witty banter. Joy in life's surprising and very strange epiphanies, joy in lingering a little longer in sacred places together. Let us pray.
Speaker 1:Loving God, nothing is hidden from you. In our lives are great pains and losses, and our world is great tragedy and so much confusion. And so often, we feel lost and we feel lonely. And still and still, we are given these holy gifts like love and friendship and celebration and joy. And we do nobody any good when we refuse them.
Speaker 1:So Jesus, won't you give us a sense of your laughter today? Maybe we can imagine the crinkle in your eyes when you smiled, the pride you felt for your friends, the trust you offer us to carry on being your peace in the world. The spirit of the living God present with us now, enter the places of our need and longing and heal us of all that harms us. Amen.
Speaker 2:Hey, Jeremy here, and thanks for listening to our podcast. If you're intrigued by the work that we're doing here at Commons, you can head to our website, commons.church, for more information. You can find us on all of the socials commonschurch. You can subscribe to our YouTube channel where we are posting content regularly for the community. You can also join our Discord server.
Speaker 2:Head to commons.churchdiscord for the invite, and there you will find the community having all kinds of conversations about how we can encourage each other to follow the way of Jesus. We would love to hear from you. Anyway, thanks for tuning in. Have a great week. We'll talk to you soon.