Another dimension to the biblical theme of joy is suffering.
This may come as a bit of a surprised to you. In Scripture, joy is linked to suffering. Joy is experienced not only in life’s happy moments; joy is also birthed out of suffering and out of our longing for restoration. Christian joy is realized in the midst of suffering.
In the Story of Jesus, joy, patient waiting, and suffering are linked. The Christ Event, which leads to the world’s greatest joy, is wrought with suffering and ends in the death of the Savior. And even amidst the joy of Jesus’ birth and infancy, there’s great pain and suffering as the tyrant Herod orders the slaughter of all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under.
Joy is also realized in the midst of the suffering of God’s people. Hear the words of the apostle Peter: “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you, to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share in Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when Christ’s glory is revealed” (1 Pt 4.12-13).
Remember that when Peter penned those words he was being persecuted for his faith and he was writing to Christians who were being persecuted for their faith. Peter encourages believers to rejoice in their sufferings, just as he does. And this is because the source of Christian joy is the risen Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit. In spite of life’s circumstances the Holy Spirit enables us to rejoice in the Lord and to glory in God’s promises. Our hope of resurrection life with Christ is enough to keep us full of hope and joy in the worst of times.
Christian joy doesn’t come and go with our circumstances. When things are going badly our joy doesn’t just vanish. Joy is a constant in the highs and lows of our life experience. God calls us to rejoice in our time of trial, for this is when we truly “share Christ’s sufferings” and experience the hope of the gospel. Our joy takes shape in the time of trial precisely because our joy is rooted in our relationship with the crucified Jesus and in our hope of resurrection life with him.
Joy is a distinctive mark and an abiding quality of our new life in Jesus Christ. Joy transcends our circumstances and endures beyond the grave. Regardless of what’s going on in, or around us, we “serve by the Spirit of God” (Phil. 3.3) by “rejoicing in the Lord always” (Phil. 4.4).
Consider the words of the poet Wendell Berry in his Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front:
Listen to carrion – put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts…
Practice resurrection.
December 23, 2009
December 19, 2009
Advent and Joy-filled Waiting
Philippians 4.4-5: “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say, rejoice. Let your moderation be known to all people. The Lord is near.”
I have vivid memories of the births of our two children, Micah and Georgia. These were truly amazing moments in my life. And the only word Julie and I can find to describe the experience and feeling we had after the birth of our children is “joy.” In those moments, intense feelings of joy welled up from deep within our souls and overflowed in tears and laughter and embracing. The miraculous birth of a newborn and the amazing joy that brings, what a wonderful gift from God!
Joy and rejoicing is a hugely important theme in Scripture. In the New Testament alone, the words for joy occur some 326 times.
It’s no wonder that joyous celebration characterizes the birth and infancy narratives in the Gospels. The angel of the Yahweh tells Zechariah that he “will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice” at the birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1.14). The angel Gabriel tells Mary that her response to Jesus’ birth will be one of joy, thanksgiving, and worship (Luke 1.46-49). The angel of Yahweh comes to the shepherds bringing “good tidings of great joy for all people,” for born that day in the city of David is the Savior, Christ the Lord (Luke 2.10-11). And when the magi find the house where Mary and Jesus are staying they “rejoice exceedingly with great joy” and “fall to the ground and worship Jesus” (Matthew 2.9-11).
For Christ’s church, the season of Advent is a time of joyful anticipation. Advent is a time of rejoicing and celebration at the coming of Jesus the Messiah. “Cry aloud and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 12.12).
Joy-filled waiting. In Advent we wait. We wait in joy and in hope, not only for the celebration of the birth of the baby Jesus in Bethlehem, but also for the coming again of the Prince of Peace and the Liberator of the Oppressed. We wait in joy and in hope for God to relieve the pain and suffering of our bodies, of our communities, and of all creation.
The time of Advent is God’s gift to us, wherein we’re encouraged to slow down; meditate on the life and death of Jesus; discern the voice of the Holy Spirit; focus on walking the path of discipleship; and consider our call to pick up our cross, to suffer for the gospel’s sake.
But we do all of this in an attitude of patient, joyful expectation of the coming of God’s good future, the renewal of all creation!
In Advent and beyond, we wait for, we long for, we anticipate the time of full redemption. As the apostle Paul says in 1 Cor. 15.24, we wait for the time when Jesus “delivers the kingdom to God the Father and when he abolishes all rule and all authority and power.”
Until that time what characterizes our joy-filled waiting is nothing less than our “labor in the Lord.” It may sound like a contradiction but Christian waiting is active. We wait for Christ to come as we move out into the world and serve God.
In 1 Cor. 15.58, Paul says, “Stand firm! Let nothing move you! Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” As we wait for the time of resurrection and new creation, we are to joyfully practice resurrection and new creation. Active, joy-filled waiting is a distinctive mark of the Christian life. God’s Spirit equips us to joyfully engage the world and to work in hope toward that time of complete renewal. In this we create foretastes of what the world to come looks like.
It’s kind of like when you go to the movies and watch the “trailers” before the main feature. The point of the trailer is what? It has some of the funniest lines, the best scenes, and the biggest explosions...Sometimes the only funny lines and good scenes, but whatever! The whole point of a good trailer is to make you elbow the person next to you and say, “Hey, we gotta see that movie when it comes out! It looks awesome!”
We ought to see our lives as a trailer for God’s kingdom still to come. Begin to imagine that the world to come is the biggest and most spectacular blockbuster movie you could possibly imagine and your life is a trailer to it. So that when people see the justice we do, the help we give, the joy and love we express, their meant to say, “Hey, I want to see the real thing!”
It’s out of that foretaste of the kingdom that people come to know Christ, they are set free, and they go out to serve God in the world. So let us wait in hope for Christ to come as we move out into the world and serve God.
I have vivid memories of the births of our two children, Micah and Georgia. These were truly amazing moments in my life. And the only word Julie and I can find to describe the experience and feeling we had after the birth of our children is “joy.” In those moments, intense feelings of joy welled up from deep within our souls and overflowed in tears and laughter and embracing. The miraculous birth of a newborn and the amazing joy that brings, what a wonderful gift from God!
Joy and rejoicing is a hugely important theme in Scripture. In the New Testament alone, the words for joy occur some 326 times.
It’s no wonder that joyous celebration characterizes the birth and infancy narratives in the Gospels. The angel of the Yahweh tells Zechariah that he “will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice” at the birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1.14). The angel Gabriel tells Mary that her response to Jesus’ birth will be one of joy, thanksgiving, and worship (Luke 1.46-49). The angel of Yahweh comes to the shepherds bringing “good tidings of great joy for all people,” for born that day in the city of David is the Savior, Christ the Lord (Luke 2.10-11). And when the magi find the house where Mary and Jesus are staying they “rejoice exceedingly with great joy” and “fall to the ground and worship Jesus” (Matthew 2.9-11).
For Christ’s church, the season of Advent is a time of joyful anticipation. Advent is a time of rejoicing and celebration at the coming of Jesus the Messiah. “Cry aloud and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 12.12).
Joy-filled waiting. In Advent we wait. We wait in joy and in hope, not only for the celebration of the birth of the baby Jesus in Bethlehem, but also for the coming again of the Prince of Peace and the Liberator of the Oppressed. We wait in joy and in hope for God to relieve the pain and suffering of our bodies, of our communities, and of all creation.
The time of Advent is God’s gift to us, wherein we’re encouraged to slow down; meditate on the life and death of Jesus; discern the voice of the Holy Spirit; focus on walking the path of discipleship; and consider our call to pick up our cross, to suffer for the gospel’s sake.
But we do all of this in an attitude of patient, joyful expectation of the coming of God’s good future, the renewal of all creation!
In Advent and beyond, we wait for, we long for, we anticipate the time of full redemption. As the apostle Paul says in 1 Cor. 15.24, we wait for the time when Jesus “delivers the kingdom to God the Father and when he abolishes all rule and all authority and power.”
Until that time what characterizes our joy-filled waiting is nothing less than our “labor in the Lord.” It may sound like a contradiction but Christian waiting is active. We wait for Christ to come as we move out into the world and serve God.
In 1 Cor. 15.58, Paul says, “Stand firm! Let nothing move you! Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” As we wait for the time of resurrection and new creation, we are to joyfully practice resurrection and new creation. Active, joy-filled waiting is a distinctive mark of the Christian life. God’s Spirit equips us to joyfully engage the world and to work in hope toward that time of complete renewal. In this we create foretastes of what the world to come looks like.
It’s kind of like when you go to the movies and watch the “trailers” before the main feature. The point of the trailer is what? It has some of the funniest lines, the best scenes, and the biggest explosions...Sometimes the only funny lines and good scenes, but whatever! The whole point of a good trailer is to make you elbow the person next to you and say, “Hey, we gotta see that movie when it comes out! It looks awesome!”
We ought to see our lives as a trailer for God’s kingdom still to come. Begin to imagine that the world to come is the biggest and most spectacular blockbuster movie you could possibly imagine and your life is a trailer to it. So that when people see the justice we do, the help we give, the joy and love we express, their meant to say, “Hey, I want to see the real thing!”
It’s out of that foretaste of the kingdom that people come to know Christ, they are set free, and they go out to serve God in the world. So let us wait in hope for Christ to come as we move out into the world and serve God.
December 5, 2009
Just Cities
The following is a review of chapter 23 of the newly released book The Justice Project, edited by Brian McLaren, Elisa Padilla, and Ashley Bunting Seeber. Chapter 23 is written by Chad R. Abbott (a pastor) and the focus of the chapter is "What does the call to justice mean for life in our cities?"
Abbott argues that in urban contexts, the church must always strive toward just ways of living - that is, we must always seek to discern "the right use of power in our relationships with others." One of the important implications of this is that our Christian communities should enfold a diverse group of people - politicians, nurses, public health experts, ex-cons, the homeless, ect.
In the city where he lives, Abbott "began to realize that to do justice in this context requires a great deal of courage, faith, friendship, and perhaps above all the ability to laugh out loud at ourselves and the sheer madness of life in our cities."
We are challenged to admit that we need others. We are not fundamentally separate. The church is the body of Christ. We are interconnected, interdependent. We were created by God to suffer with those who are suffering and laugh with those who are laughing.
And so, a major question that arises for us is: "If the relationships we share in the urban context are ones of interdependency, then how can we demonstrate the right use of power and get to the root causes of injustice?" For Abbott, the "path toward justice must first travel through two doors: (1) friendship and (2) humility."
Abbot finds biblical justification for his approach to living justly in the city through two passages in the New Testament: John 15.15 and Mark 11.1-11. In the first passage Jesus tells his disciples that he no longer calls them "servants/slaves" but now he calls them "friends." Thus, living justly means following Jesus in establishing friendships that operate out of mutual giving.
Mark 1.1-11 narrates the a-triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem while riding on the back of a colt. For Abbot, Jesus' humble, lowly entry into the city of Jerusalem "suggests that in the kingdom of God, we overcome injustice not through a top-down approach of control, domination, and violence [perhaps like the approach of Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea in the time of Jesus] but rather through a grassroots movement of friendship, solidarity, and hope that grows from the ground up."
Thus, it is proposed that justice "begins to take root in our cities when we allow friendship and humility to guide our path toward solutions at the root of our systems."
I agree that friendship and humility must guide the church's path toward just solutions in our cities. But there are other important things that we must also focus on, namely "faith, hope, and love" (1 Corinthians 13.13).
Our vocation and calling as the body of Christ must always include the welcome of friendship and the posture of humility but the path toward just solutions involves so much more.
Our relationships with others must always have a view towards an all-important faith-based relationship with the one true God, revealed in Jesus Christ. For it is that relationship which allows all people to realize their true humanity and to more fully love their neighbor as God loves their neighbor. It is that relationship which enables us to live justly and to live peaceably in our cities.
But a living relationship with the true God is also and always our source of lasting hope. What is a discussion about the call to justice in our cities without hope? Not a whole heck of a lot. A sense of hope for a good future is what's lacking in so many people's lives. Is it not our hope for God's good future that compels us to live justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God and neighbor? It is in friendship, in solidarity with "the other" that we seek, struggle, suffer, and persevere toward that new world God will bring to birth out of this world, which still groans in travail. And so, at the core of any relationship we foster with others there must be a deep longing toward the hope of the gospel, which brings life and peace to all of us and to all of creation.
Abbott argues that in urban contexts, the church must always strive toward just ways of living - that is, we must always seek to discern "the right use of power in our relationships with others." One of the important implications of this is that our Christian communities should enfold a diverse group of people - politicians, nurses, public health experts, ex-cons, the homeless, ect.
In the city where he lives, Abbott "began to realize that to do justice in this context requires a great deal of courage, faith, friendship, and perhaps above all the ability to laugh out loud at ourselves and the sheer madness of life in our cities."
We are challenged to admit that we need others. We are not fundamentally separate. The church is the body of Christ. We are interconnected, interdependent. We were created by God to suffer with those who are suffering and laugh with those who are laughing.
And so, a major question that arises for us is: "If the relationships we share in the urban context are ones of interdependency, then how can we demonstrate the right use of power and get to the root causes of injustice?" For Abbott, the "path toward justice must first travel through two doors: (1) friendship and (2) humility."
Abbot finds biblical justification for his approach to living justly in the city through two passages in the New Testament: John 15.15 and Mark 11.1-11. In the first passage Jesus tells his disciples that he no longer calls them "servants/slaves" but now he calls them "friends." Thus, living justly means following Jesus in establishing friendships that operate out of mutual giving.
Mark 1.1-11 narrates the a-triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem while riding on the back of a colt. For Abbot, Jesus' humble, lowly entry into the city of Jerusalem "suggests that in the kingdom of God, we overcome injustice not through a top-down approach of control, domination, and violence [perhaps like the approach of Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea in the time of Jesus] but rather through a grassroots movement of friendship, solidarity, and hope that grows from the ground up."
Thus, it is proposed that justice "begins to take root in our cities when we allow friendship and humility to guide our path toward solutions at the root of our systems."
I agree that friendship and humility must guide the church's path toward just solutions in our cities. But there are other important things that we must also focus on, namely "faith, hope, and love" (1 Corinthians 13.13).
Our vocation and calling as the body of Christ must always include the welcome of friendship and the posture of humility but the path toward just solutions involves so much more.
Our relationships with others must always have a view towards an all-important faith-based relationship with the one true God, revealed in Jesus Christ. For it is that relationship which allows all people to realize their true humanity and to more fully love their neighbor as God loves their neighbor. It is that relationship which enables us to live justly and to live peaceably in our cities.
But a living relationship with the true God is also and always our source of lasting hope. What is a discussion about the call to justice in our cities without hope? Not a whole heck of a lot. A sense of hope for a good future is what's lacking in so many people's lives. Is it not our hope for God's good future that compels us to live justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God and neighbor? It is in friendship, in solidarity with "the other" that we seek, struggle, suffer, and persevere toward that new world God will bring to birth out of this world, which still groans in travail. And so, at the core of any relationship we foster with others there must be a deep longing toward the hope of the gospel, which brings life and peace to all of us and to all of creation.
December 2, 2009
Advent is Upon Us!
We are currently in the first week of Advent (last Sunday was the first Sunday of this new church year).
For those who are unaware, the season of Advent marks the beginning of the Western (Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Protestant churches) Christian year. Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas and ends on Christmas Eve.
From the Latin adventus, Advent means “coming” or “arrival.
Throughout church history this season has been observed as a fast, with its purpose focused on preparation for the coming Christ. During Advent Christians all over the world prepare themselves to receive the newborn Savior in a lowly manger at Bethlehem, to celebrate the birth of Jesus the Messiah.
In this time, Christians also look forward to Jesus’ coming again and the establishment of God’s new creation.
Throughout Advent, Christians humbly confess their sins, seek God’s forgiveness, and joyfully look to Christ’s indwelling presence through the Holy Spirit. We wait and hope for Christ’s light to break through the darkness of our world. We wait and hope for the revelation of Christ with us, Christ among us.
But we who are members of Christ's body are called to do much more than simply wait and hope. God calls us to action! In Advent, God calls his church to be Christ's light for salvation to the nations. This happens through the redemptive work of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives.
During this season we are empowered by God to enact his peace and justice in the world. We are to cry out on behalf of those who are poor and afflicted, and thus, provide further fulfillment to Jesus' words in Luke 4.18-19:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord!"
Consider also these words of Jesse Jackson:
"Let us gather and embrace our families. Let us join together to protect the babies in the dawn of life, care for the elderly in the dusk of life. Let us nurture the sick, shelter the homeless. Stop for the stranger on the Jericho Road. Work for the promise of peace. Surely that is the point of the story [of Advent and Christmas]."
For those who are unaware, the season of Advent marks the beginning of the Western (Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Protestant churches) Christian year. Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas and ends on Christmas Eve.
From the Latin adventus, Advent means “coming” or “arrival.
Throughout church history this season has been observed as a fast, with its purpose focused on preparation for the coming Christ. During Advent Christians all over the world prepare themselves to receive the newborn Savior in a lowly manger at Bethlehem, to celebrate the birth of Jesus the Messiah.
In this time, Christians also look forward to Jesus’ coming again and the establishment of God’s new creation.
Throughout Advent, Christians humbly confess their sins, seek God’s forgiveness, and joyfully look to Christ’s indwelling presence through the Holy Spirit. We wait and hope for Christ’s light to break through the darkness of our world. We wait and hope for the revelation of Christ with us, Christ among us.
But we who are members of Christ's body are called to do much more than simply wait and hope. God calls us to action! In Advent, God calls his church to be Christ's light for salvation to the nations. This happens through the redemptive work of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives.
During this season we are empowered by God to enact his peace and justice in the world. We are to cry out on behalf of those who are poor and afflicted, and thus, provide further fulfillment to Jesus' words in Luke 4.18-19:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord!"
Consider also these words of Jesse Jackson:
"Let us gather and embrace our families. Let us join together to protect the babies in the dawn of life, care for the elderly in the dusk of life. Let us nurture the sick, shelter the homeless. Stop for the stranger on the Jericho Road. Work for the promise of peace. Surely that is the point of the story [of Advent and Christmas]."
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