May 13, 2021
Joy has been my earworm this week. You know earworms, right? Those things (often songs) you just can’t get out of your head. You hear them on repeat even though no one is singing them, no radio or phone playing them, your headphones aren’t even in but they may as well be cranked up to 11. Well, joy has been my earworm. I’ve heard it in the voices of others, I’ve heard it in the voice in my head. Joy has been ringing in my ears from Sunday’s gospel reading when Jesus reminds us that his teachings, his life, his commandment to love, his prayer for us, has all been, “…so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”
Jesus spends his final night with his disciples sharing an extended goodbye with his disciples because Jesus wants them to be joyful. Jesus wants you to have joy. When we are grounded in the gift of God’s grace and centered in the love of Christ, we find that kernel of joy. Joy that does not dismiss the challenges or the grief or the suffering but is present in and through them like laughter at a funeral. Joy that abides in us because God is abiding with us.
The joy I remember singing about in Sunday School at St. Martin’s growing up and at Camp Chrysalis. Perhaps you know one or all three of these songs.
I’ve got joy, down in my heart, deep, deep down in my heart.
J-O-Y down in my heart, deep, deep down in my heart
Jesus put it there, and nothing will destroy it
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I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart. Where?
Down in my heart. Where?
Down in my heart.
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Go out with joy and be led forth in peace.
The mountains and the hills shall break forth singing.
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Today on the church calendar is Ascension Day. The day we remember the Risen Christ taken up into the fullness of heaven. When Jesus goes to be in the fullness of the divine presence, he is in the midst of blessing his followers, as Luke writes, “While [Jesus] was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven,” (Luke 24:51). I love that Jesus is in the very act of blessing them as he is taken into heaven. I think it invites us to imagine Jesus continuing to bless his followers right here and right now.
How is Jesus blessing you? What words do you imagine Jesus speaking over you? What has been a source of increasing joy for you?
As joy keeps ringing in my ears, I hear the blessing of Christ like this today, “You are so loved. God looks on you with favor and calls you by name. You are holy and beloved and you have received grace upon grace. Remember that sharing grace and joy and giving away what you have is always an invitation deeper into joy and grace and peace and love. Go out with joy and hear even the mountains breaking into song.”
In our Wednesday What Comes Next? Conversations at 7 PM, we’re talking in-depth about what it means to be the body of Christ right here and right now. We have started to put some flesh and bones on our words and ideas, and let me tell you, the joy is palpable. When we follow the lead of Christ, even amid difficulty and grief and anxiety and all of it, we find joy. When we share in life together, joining with others and inviting them to follow Christ alongside us, our joy grows.
Catch up on those Wednesday conversations y clicking here.
May the God who brought Jesus from death to life fill you with new life and open you up to the presence of the risen Christ with you now and always.
Pastor Drew
PS – A reminder about our recent changes to worship
As of now, the Sunday morning schedule will continue to look like it did before Palm Sunday:
8:45am email liturgy
8:50am Sunday School for adults via Zoom
10am Worship (online & in-person)
11am Zoom fellowship time
When in-person worship services are being held, they will also be at 10am moving forward. You should have received a letter from me this week about changes to worship going forward. You can also read and see more on our website at http://spiritinthehills.org/covid19-response-updates/