Sermon - December 6, 2009

Advent 2 - Year C
December 6, 2009
Philippians 1:3-11 & Luke 3:1-6

Anticipating God’s Joy

This wooden sign (a carving which bears the simple words "Pastor Christ") has moved from location to location in my office. For the past several months, it has been leaning against the bookshelf behind the door. It has suffered a bit of damage, during the remolding. But it has been in my office ever since I got to Clemson. It was also in my office in Houghton for the last three years I was there. As you can image - and as you are about to find out - this sign has sentimental value to me. It meant a lot to me at the time and (on those days when I might feel otherwise) it reminds me why I am a pastor.

This sign was a gift to me from Randy. Randy’s name won’t show up on the roster of any of the churches where I served as pastor - I don’t think he ever came, even once to a worship service or a bible study. And yet, he made this sign for me and ever since, I have kept it very close by.

Randy was in the Houghton County Jail. I honestly cannot remember the charges which resulted in his being arrested. I do know that he had been there for a while and that he wasn’t getting many visitors. He decided that he would like to have a pastor come talk to him. I wasn’t the first to be asked to visit with him. In fact, our little church was so small that few even knew we were there. A guard at the jail had started making calls, trying to find a pastor who would come to visit with Randy. He went, first of all, to the larger congregations in town. With no commitment to visit, he decided to call the preacher at that little church - the one that used to be a house. And so, I started visiting Randy.


Randy had started reading the bible, but he didn’t understand what it meant. He wanted someone to help him understand what he was reading. I would sit with him in the snack room and respond to his questions about this verse or that chapter. I tried to help him understand God’s love for him and to encourage him to be strong in his hope for a return to a “normal” life. Finally, after months in the county jail, he was released. Not completely set free, he went to the home of a friend where he was under house arrest. He had one of those ankle brace things, connected to the telephone. The phone was connected to a machine which could dial up the house and tell whether or not Randy was there.

When Randy got out of the jail - others began to come and visit with him. Some of them weren’t too keen on this new-found church friend (me) and if I happened to be there when they dropped by, it was very uncomfortable. And so, after a while, Randy and I stopped getting together.

It had been a while since I had seen Randy when he stopped by the office one day. He was carrying this. He handed it to me and he thanked me. And then he told me that things weren’t going so well for him. He knew it was a lot of different things - some things of his own making, others which he was powerless to control. But he had made the sign for me and he wanted me to have it. He told me how he missed those months when he was in the Houghton County Jail and we were visiting and talking and he was so close to capturing a sense of hope for his life.

I never saw him again. I heard later - a year, maybe six months - that he was back in jail. This time it was the State Penitentiary in Jackson. He wrote me one letter from there. He never replied to my reply.

I keep this sign in my office, as a reminder. It reminds me that sometimes the most meaningful events in our lives are marginal events. Sometimes, the significance of an event cannot be measured by its outward appearance.

John, son of Zachariah, could not be evaluated based on his outward appearances, either. He comes to be known as John the Baptist, and he has the distinction of being labeled as the Messiah’s messenger. He is the one who gets to tell everyone that their savior is coming. But his proclamation of that message isn’t in the comforts of his own little village or its temple grounds. No-o-o-o, he has to go out into the wilderness, out in the barren countryside where he eats a diet of locust and wild honey. He gets to tell everyone that they are about to see the salvation of God, but he has to speak these words while standing knee-deep in the muddy waters of some back-wash little stream.

Sometimes, the significance of an event cannot be measured by traditional indicators of a good time.

This insight is revealed in the book of Philippians. The letter is known for its continual reminders of the “joy” which had infected Paul’s life. He says, “I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you.” Later, he encourages the Philippians to make my joy complete by having the same mind and being in full accord. Paul speaks of this joy, even though he writes the letter from prison. He is in jail, and yet he is filled with joy and must find some way to let this joy be known to those in Philippi.

Sometimes, the significance of an event cannot be measured by its outward appearance.

Paul was in prison, and yet he encouraged others to join him. John looked like a raving maniac, and yet the crowds flocked out to hear what he had to say. These were not attractive men living exemplary lives. And yet, there was something which drew others to them. What was it?


In a very short writing, addressing the same reality of which I now speak, Joseph Sittler said what was so attractive about these men was precisely the joy of which Paul writes. Sittler says that joy is a highly desirable gift. It attracts us and draws us close. Those who possess joy are a marvel and we want to get enough in hopes it will rub off onto us.

Sittler is very careful to point out that joy is different from happiness. Happiness is contingent upon the circumstances of our lives. We are happy when good things happen to us; we become sad then things don’t go too well. Joy, Sittler writes, is something different; something lasting; something not dependent upon the waxing and waning of lives’ circumstances. Joy, he says, is the awareness that we are part of something larger than ourselves. Joy is the gift which comes to those who know they are valued and that this value can never be questioned. Joy, is a trait which belongs to those who have experienced the depth of God’s love.

St. Paul was filled with joy. He wasn’t very happy about his imprisonment - but he was filled with joy. He knew that in all things, God would be with him and would care for him. John didn’t go out to the wilderness because he thought it would be a great place to establish an amusement park. He went out there in order to remove the detractions of a life consumed with the agendas of our own making. It is with joy that he proclaims the arrival of God’s salvation. My friend Randy wasn’t happy in that Houghton County Jail cell, but for a little while he was allowed to believe that his life could be meaningful. He glimpsed the joy, seeing enough to at least know what he was missing.


We can work really hard, and through our efforts a great deal of happiness can come into the lives of those we love. By our attention to detail, we can craft celebrations which will bring a smile to the faces of those around us. We can bring a great deal of happiness by purchasing and placing under the tree just the right gift. We should do such things - it is appropriate for us to bring as much happiness as we can into the lives of those around us.

But Joy is a gift which comes from knowing that we are part of something larger than our own lives, more encompassing than our own well-planned social events, longer lasting than the glitter which adorns our homes and shopping malls. Joy is knowing that God has taken notice of us and in response to our needs, God is coming to make his home among us. We sign of this reality every time we intone: “Joy to the World! The Lord has come!”

I am looking forward to this evening’s congregational Christmas party. It is a fun event, and one that brings much happiness. Particularly happy are the students, as they gobble up the food and watch their stockings fill with good things. But, it isn’t the happiness which comes as a result of our efforts which matters. Happiness isn’t enough. We gather in order to celebrate the joy which has entered our world and now seeks to enter our individual lives.

The same is to be said with regard to all our gatherings. We should strive for happiness in the lives of God’s children. But it is our connection with God which will brings Joy. Joy is God’s gift to us; it is the confidence of knowing that our lives have greater significance than might be revealed in outward appearances.

Let’s not worry so much about making everybody happy. Focus instead on bringing joy into their lives. Focus on bringing joy into your own life. When we focus on the joy, it becomes much easier for us to bring happiness into the lives of those around us.

Amen.