Prayers – Page 18 – Lakewood United Church of Christ

Advent 2011 Daily Reflection 8

The theme for this Advent season at Lakewood United Church of Christ is JOY to the World. Each day during the Advent season, a reflection on a scripture passage related to JOY will be posted. We hope these daily reflections help you to have a joy-filled Advent.

Then I’ll be able to hold my head up,
even with my enemies surrounding me.
I will offer in your Tabernacle
sacrifices of great joy –
I’ll sing and make music to you, Adonai!
Psalm 27:6

The Christmas season is a time of gift giving. The carol, “We Three Kings” celebrates gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh being brought to Jesus to honor him. Advertisements and stores entice us with gift ideas. We may encourage children (and adults!) to make Christmas lists of what they would like to receive for Christmas. Take a few moments to think about some gifts that you have received at Christmas. Is there a special one? Something that really stands out? Can you remember gifts from childhood? Do you still have special Christmas gifts from years past?

This is a season not just to receive gifts, but also to give gifts. Maybe you have a list of the gifts you are giving to others – family, neighbors, coworkers. Think back over Christmases past. Consider some of the gifts you have given. Can you remember something that took special thought or effort? Is there one that was simply perfect? Can you remember the expression on the face of the person to whom it was given? The circumstances? The reaction of others? Take time to remember some gifts you have given at Christmas.

In thinking back on Christmas gifting, did you find you remembered more about what you received or about what you you gave? What came to mind more readily? What was most memorable? Most meaningful?

As we think about joy this season, consider the joy factor associated with exchanging gifts. Do you think you felt more joyful about gifts received or gifts given? Is there truth for you in the scriptural adage, “It is more blessed to give than to receive?” [Acts 20:35]

The verse from the Psalms cited above mentions being surrounded by enemies. Yet even in those dire circumstances, the writer celebrates what he is able to give. The writer associates joy with sacrifice. Making an effort, giving, offering something is a source of joy. So as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus, maybe we will experience more joy if we shift our focus from what we will get to what we are giving.

Prayer
We are blessed to live in a context of abundance in which we can give and receive gifts. While our culture lures us into consuming things, may our focus shift to what we are offering, giving, and even giving up this season. This is in keeping with the true spirit of Jesus who had few material possessions and gave of himself freely not counting the cost, but instead savoring the joy. Amen.

Advent 2011 Daily Reflection 7

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,
the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly,
and rejoice with joy and singing.

Isaiah 35:1-2a

When we think of joy, we often think of it as a feeling in the vast array of human experiences. People feel joy at the birth of a baby, or after accomplishing something significant, or in response to the beauty of nature, as well as in many other circumstances. Can you think of a time when you have experienced joy? When have you witnessed joy in someone else?

In the beautiful portrayal of a restored land, the prophet Isaiah talks about the land itself experiencing joy. The land is glad. The land rejoices with joy and singing. There is the sense that the land itself is alive; that it has feelings and that it is aware of conscious experience. This fits with the Gaia Principle today expressing the idea that the world itself is a living organism.

The idea of the land experiencing joy also reflects the belief that nature is a manifestation of God. God is revealed in the power of a storm, in lightening and thunder, in the quaking of the earth, and the churning of the seas. The ancients believed that nature was under the direct control of God, and that nature revealed God. So the land expressing joy can be understood as a way that God is showing joy to the human community. Humans may not directly see God, but they can see the land, and the land can be an expression of God.

When we look at the land today, at Creation, we can think about how we see joy in the land. How is joy revealed in the beauty of nature? In its diversity? In the amazing complexity and design? Fertile land images convey joy when everything is in balance as it should be: When there is right relationship between people, and between people and God, and between people and Creation. There are also images of the land parched, dry, and barren. This is a way of conveying pain, disappointment, and devastation. The land is barren, an expression of pain, when things are not in right relationship. When there is injustice and abuse. The barren land is an image used when humanity has departed from the Divine will.

So this season is a time to reflect on what the land and all of Creation has to teach us about joy as well as the lack of joy in the world.

Prayer
We pray for the fertility and abundance of the land which sustains us. We cannot live without a healthy environment. May Creation be a source of joy for us and may it help us to cultivate our connection to the Source of life and joy. Amen.

Advent 2011 Daily Reflection 6

You have multiplied the nation,
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as people exult when dividing plunder.

Isaiah 9:3 New Revised Standard Version

This verse is from a well-known passage of the prophet Isaiah: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. . . For a child has been born for us, a son given to us: authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. . .”

This beautiful passage is a celebration of the help and hope God is sending in a child. As Christians, we see this promise fulfilled in Jesus. This passage is a celebration of peace. We are told that the authority of the Prince of Peace, “shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore.” [Isaiah 9:7] Here is a promise of permanent peace with a foundation of justice.

It is interesting that in the middle of these glorious images of peace, there is the phrase, “as people exult when dividing plunder.” In another translation we read, “as warriors celebrate when dividing spoils.” This image is used as a way of expressing the extreme joy that the people feel toward God for sending this leader who will save them and bring peace. Somehow, dividing the spoils of war does not seem to fit with this vision of peace. This is especially true when we consider that the spoils of war included people, especially women who were captured, often raped, and taken as slaves.

When speaking of joy, I don’t think that we can associate joy with the pain of someone else. I don’t think joy comes at some else’s expense. I don’t think we can feel joy as a consequence of someone else’s hardship. When someone is murdered, maybe the family of the person who was killed feels relief that the perpetrator is found. At the end of the trial, they may feel closure. But can there be joy in such a circumstance? If you and a coworker are great friends and colleagues, and the company decides it must downsize one of you, do you feel joy when your friend is fired and you keep your job? No. Maybe, again, you feel relief. But I don’t think it can be joy.

Joy must be pure. It cannot be at someone’s expense. It cannot be as a result of harm done to someone. Or the oppression of someone. Or the ill-treatment of someone. It cannot be associated with ill-gotten gain.

This season, we sing, “Joy to the World.” Let that be our reminder. Joy to the whole world. To everyone. Not just to some as the expense of others.

Prayer
This season as we prepare to celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace, may we seek the joy that comes with true peace. May we seek to do what is good and right. And may we uphold justice, as Jesus did, so that all the world may know JOY. Amen.

Advent 2011 Daily Reflection 5

God is in your midst,
a warrior who gives victory;
God will rejoice over you with gladness,
God will renew you in love;
God will exult over you with loud singing
as on a day of festival. Zephaniah 3:17

December 1 is World AIDS Day. While treatment and testing are available, and the disease is not spreading as it was in decades past in the US, AIDS is still wreaking devastation especially in Africa. Given what we have been able to learn about this disease, we could all but prevent its spread. And yet, it continues.

December 1 is also the anniversary of Rosa Parks’ bold stand, or shall we say, sit, on the bus in Montgomery, AL in 1955. She tells of that day:

“When he saw that I was still remaining in the seat, the driver said, ‘If you don’t stand up, I’m going to call the police and have you arrested.’ I said, ‘You may do that.’

“Two policemen came and wanted to know what was the trouble. One said, ‘Why don’t you stand up?’ I said, ‘I don’t think I should have to.’ At that point I asked the policemen, ‘Why do you push us around?’ He said, ‘I don’t know, but the law is the law and you’re under arrest.’” [Quoted in Imaging the Word: An Arts and Lectionary Resource, Volume 1, p, 36]

Next week we will remember Pearl Harbor Day and the terrible suffering and death that came in its wake.

There is so much trouble, suffering, and pain in this world that we as human beings are responsible for. We do harm to ourselves and to others. We devastate the natural world. We kill. We destroy. We oppress. We harm. And we neglect so much good that we could do.

Here is this beautiful world and this glorious life, and it’s hard to fathom, sometimes, how we can make such a mess of things. Yet the words of the prophet ring out and tell of God’s delight in humanity. The images speak of God’s joy in the human community. “God will rejoice over you with gladness. . . God will exult over you with loud singing as on a day of festival.” God is joying over humanity!

While we might be tempted to give up on ourselves, God never gives up on us. We are a source of joy to God!

Prayer
May we truly repent for all the harm that we contribute to as individuals, as the church, and as a society. May we accept God’s grace and love which can heal, transform, and reconcile. May we remember that each of us as well as each and every human being is God’s child, and brings joy and delight to God. May we also take joy in ourselves and one another! In the spirit of the one whose birth we prepare to celebrate. Amen.

Advent 2011 Daily Reflection 4

The king shall joy in thy strength, O Lord;
and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice! Psalm 21:1, KJV

For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness [sic] of your faith in Christ. Colossians 2:5, KJV

In newer translations of the Bible, when there is reference to expressing joy, the word “rejoice” is used. The people will rejoice. The king rejoices. I rejoiced. In many hymns there is mention of rejoicing. I think of the Advent hymn, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” with its refrain: “Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel!” or “Rejoice, You Pure in Heart,” with its refrain, “Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, give thanks and sing.” For me, “rejoice” is a word that I associate with church, hymns, and Bible verses. It’s not a word I use much in every day parlance.

In some cases in the King James Version of the Bible, when people express joy, instead of using the word “rejoice,” the word “joy” is used as a verb as we see in the two examples above. “The king shall joy,” and the writer of Colossians is “joying.” “Joy” is used a verb: to joy. There are at least nine instances in the King James Bible where this occurs: Habakkuk 3:18, Zephaniah 3:17, Isaiah 9:3, 2 Corinthians 7:13, Philippians 2:17, 18, I Thessalonians 3:9, and the two cited above.

For me the word “joy” has broader associations and applications than the word “rejoice.” I think of the books, The Joy of Cooking and The Joy of Sex. I would guess that the word “joy” is used far more than the word “rejoice” in everyday speech. So, I like the idea of verbing the word “joy.” To joy. This makes joy not just something we feel, but something we do and express and it is much broader than the church-associated term “rejoice.” Maybe if we used the more common “joy” as a verb as well as a noun, we might notice more joy in our lives!

So today, joy. Joy about something. Let some experience today make you joy!

Prayer
We give thanks for the vast range of human experiences and feelings. When we remember the Christmas story and the life of Jesus, we see many facets of human life. This is why Jesus can be our Master, our Guide, our Savior. May we celebrate all of life’s richness and fullness, even in church. May we not set church apart for just certain dimensions of life. May our faith show us how to joy in the many aspects of this glorious experience we call life! Today and everyday, may we joy! Amen.