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Listen "Sermon | Luke 1:24-45 | Advent: HOW DOES A WEARY WORLD REJOICE? - 2. "We Find Joy in Connection""
Episode Synopsis
Sermon | Luke 1:24-45 | Advent: HOW DOES A WEARY WORLD REJOICE? - 2. "We Find Joy in Connection" given by Rev. Joseph Sanford
This is our story, too.
We tell this Advent story, the story of the ancient coming of Jesus, while we also tell the story of Jesus coming again.
In the weariness of war, weather, and worry we tell this story again…
Because it’s our story…
We carry our weariness to God as we acknowledge that Christ is already ruler over our lives. We sing songs of joy as we come together and lift our voices.
Because joy comes when we connect with one another.
There is no Christmas tradition or celebration we do on our own, because joy comes in community.
I’ve seen mourning spouses, children, and parents who can come together with others who have felt the loss of spouse, parent, or child…
The sorrow and burden they carry on their own becomes sustenance for someone else experiencing that tragedy.
I remember when I lost my dad and stood in the receiving line at his funeral viewing: I could tell who had lost a parent and who had not. There was a comfort offered by the words and presence of those who had shared my experience that simply wasn’t there from those who had not.
There is a shared depth in that connection. And it brings comfort just by sharing the experience.
Mary and Elizabeth understand each other through their connected circumstances—through their scandalous pregnancies and difficult futures…through their shared hope about the possibilities that lie within their wombs.
This is one reason why we are having our Comfort & Joy service this Thursday evening—because it is healing to come together.
Weariness allows space for joy and comfort when people come together in their grief.
There can be laughter amid the tears in those settings.
The pain doesn’t go away or even wane.
But you can feel joy—which isn’t happiness or even smiles every time.
Sometimes it’s just feeling the depths of your soul surface…
It’s knowing the deepest part of you has a place to exist and be honored by another.
There are seasons in life—they consistently come and go—many of them…all at once.
So many of those seasons leave us feeling like Elizabeth and Mary…
Saying, “This thing that’s happening…did it really have to happen NOW?”
“It couldn’t have come sooner…”
“It couldn’t have waited until a more convenient moment????”
“I’m not ready…
How will people understand?
How can I deal with this?”
And yet, this place…this family of God around you now…is the place where we can come together in all of our weariness and sing songs of joy and peace.
We need to come together to find the joy in connection…
Despite the difficulties we face as a community and world, perhaps we can embrace the good news of God’s grace once more…
not with the feeling of “by what way will I know this to be true”
Perhaps with room for “now…how exactly is this going to happen?”
But DEFINITELY with a “May it be as you have said, God” belief and faith, that we may not only FIND the blessing of these women, but we may carry it into our world to be birthed through us once more.
If not us…then who?
If not here…then where?
If not now…then when?
Let us look to these incredible women and be led by their strength, wisdom, and witness to the power of connection.
Let us see that God chose these women…in those places…in that moment…because that was the appropriate time even if it was inconvenient and unconventional.
May we acknowledge our weariness…so that we can bring it with us fully as we come together.
May we share our weariness and allow the Holy Spirit to come and stir our hearts and souls—that through coming together we may find joy, too.
That we may recognize that life is born within our hearts and souls through the power of God and presence of the Holy Spirit…
That something new and joyful is coming into the world through the body of Jesus Christ…when we come together as one and tell this story once more.
This is our story, too.
We tell this Advent story, the story of the ancient coming of Jesus, while we also tell the story of Jesus coming again.
In the weariness of war, weather, and worry we tell this story again…
Because it’s our story…
We carry our weariness to God as we acknowledge that Christ is already ruler over our lives. We sing songs of joy as we come together and lift our voices.
Because joy comes when we connect with one another.
There is no Christmas tradition or celebration we do on our own, because joy comes in community.
I’ve seen mourning spouses, children, and parents who can come together with others who have felt the loss of spouse, parent, or child…
The sorrow and burden they carry on their own becomes sustenance for someone else experiencing that tragedy.
I remember when I lost my dad and stood in the receiving line at his funeral viewing: I could tell who had lost a parent and who had not. There was a comfort offered by the words and presence of those who had shared my experience that simply wasn’t there from those who had not.
There is a shared depth in that connection. And it brings comfort just by sharing the experience.
Mary and Elizabeth understand each other through their connected circumstances—through their scandalous pregnancies and difficult futures…through their shared hope about the possibilities that lie within their wombs.
This is one reason why we are having our Comfort & Joy service this Thursday evening—because it is healing to come together.
Weariness allows space for joy and comfort when people come together in their grief.
There can be laughter amid the tears in those settings.
The pain doesn’t go away or even wane.
But you can feel joy—which isn’t happiness or even smiles every time.
Sometimes it’s just feeling the depths of your soul surface…
It’s knowing the deepest part of you has a place to exist and be honored by another.
There are seasons in life—they consistently come and go—many of them…all at once.
So many of those seasons leave us feeling like Elizabeth and Mary…
Saying, “This thing that’s happening…did it really have to happen NOW?”
“It couldn’t have come sooner…”
“It couldn’t have waited until a more convenient moment????”
“I’m not ready…
How will people understand?
How can I deal with this?”
And yet, this place…this family of God around you now…is the place where we can come together in all of our weariness and sing songs of joy and peace.
We need to come together to find the joy in connection…
Despite the difficulties we face as a community and world, perhaps we can embrace the good news of God’s grace once more…
not with the feeling of “by what way will I know this to be true”
Perhaps with room for “now…how exactly is this going to happen?”
But DEFINITELY with a “May it be as you have said, God” belief and faith, that we may not only FIND the blessing of these women, but we may carry it into our world to be birthed through us once more.
If not us…then who?
If not here…then where?
If not now…then when?
Let us look to these incredible women and be led by their strength, wisdom, and witness to the power of connection.
Let us see that God chose these women…in those places…in that moment…because that was the appropriate time even if it was inconvenient and unconventional.
May we acknowledge our weariness…so that we can bring it with us fully as we come together.
May we share our weariness and allow the Holy Spirit to come and stir our hearts and souls—that through coming together we may find joy, too.
That we may recognize that life is born within our hearts and souls through the power of God and presence of the Holy Spirit…
That something new and joyful is coming into the world through the body of Jesus Christ…when we come together as one and tell this story once more.
In God we trust