Weekly Seeds: For All the Joy

Sunday, December 1, 2024
First Sunday of Advent | Year C

Focus Theme:
For All the Joy

Focus Prayer:
God of Hope, surround us with your joy in season and out of season. Amen.

Focus Scripture:
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 (in conversation with Luke 21:25-36)

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
⁹ How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you? ¹⁰ Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and restore whatever is lacking in your faith.
¹¹ Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. ¹² And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. ¹³ And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

Luke 21:25-36
²⁵ “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. ²⁶ People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ²⁷ Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. ²⁸ Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
²⁹ Then he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; ³⁰ as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. ³¹ So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. ³² Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. ³³ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
³⁴ “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, ³⁵ like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶ Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place and to stand before the Son of Man.”

All readings for this Sunday:
Jeremiah 33:14-16 Psalm 25:1-10 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 Luke 21:25-36

Focus Questions:
What brings you joy?
What challenges your joy?
Have you made a commitment to joy? Why or why not?
How do or can you realize joy beyond life circumstances?
What keeps you vigilant?

Reflection
By Cheryl A. Lindsay

I was serving as a facilitator for an intensive learning experience for pastors focused on worship. During a scheduled open session, a few of us gathered around a piano and started singing various songs the group considered for a worship service they were planning. Someone suggested a spiritual from the African American tradition, and the musician began to play. As the group sang, I felt disquieted. The musician was exceptionally gifted and brought a jazz aesthetic to their interpretation of the song. It was cheerful…really cheerful. I couldn’t sing it, and I couldn’t keep silent. In part, I felt the responsibility of my role as a worship scholar and teacher but also, as an African American woman, I have always sung these songs with remembrance, thanksgiving, and awe of my ancestors who endured and survived tremendous horrors so that I might live today. While many spirituals reflect great joy, I would not categorize them as cheerful.

I won’t belabor the fullness of that conversation, but I did note that there is a difference between happiness (or cheerfulness) and joy. Of course, they can reside together or companion side by side, but the testimony of so many who have experienced great suffering reflects the truth that joy can exist in spaces where happiness cannot breathe. Cheer is driven by circumstances; joy is a life choice.

The Apostle Paul writes of being content beyond his circumstances, and we may recall that he and Silas responded to imprisonment by singing the hymns of the church so exuberantly the locks on their cells could not bear the strength of their joy. Anne Frank, in her diary, wrote, “I don’t think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains.” Whenever I come across one of her quotes, beyond being inspired, I am struck by the fact that she did not write these words for the world. She probably never considered that one day they would be published and her name and deepest thoughts would be shared throughout the world in countless languages. She wrote this for herself, to process what she experienced. And, in the midst of misery, she found beauty.

In Paul’s letter to the church at Thessalonica, he writes to a church that is thriving. In many of his letters to the churches, he uses the opportunity to offer encouragement to those under the threat of persecution, to frame his theology, to correct false teaching, to address specific problems, or to give thanks for and solicit their continued support. This letter is the earliest written within those found in the biblical canon.

[quote] 1 Thessalonians seems to be the first of Paul’s letters and was probably written from Corinth sometime between 49 and 54 AD. It is addressed to the new believers in the city of Thessalonica. Despite the fact that Paul and his companions had spent less than a month there (Acts 17:1-9), a flourishing church had been born. But these believers were suffering persecution and so he wrote this intimate letter to give them comfort and instruction. He commends them for standing firm and for their testimony, and encourages them to continue, sustained by the hope of Christ’s return.
Joe Simfukwe

It’s important to remember that epistles are letters written to a particular audience not a book, like the gospels, intended for a wider reading. In the same way that Anne Frank wrote for herself, Paul is writing to a body of believers in Thessalonica in real time. These were pastoral messages. Further, Paul lived with the expectation of Christ’s imminent return; he likely would have been shocked to find the church still gleaning wisdom and guidance from his counsel two thousand years later. That does not suggest they do not have value; rather, it provides strong encouragement to read these letters with an understanding of the context of the original recipients.

[quote] The Roman Empire was not a distant and inconsequential authority on the horizon of the Thessalonians’ life. Having been founded in 316 BCE by the amalgamation of a number of small settlements, Thessalonica was defeated in battle by the Romans in 197 BCE and from then began its comprehensive imperialization. The Thessalonians drank freely of imperial ethos, philosophy, and culture, which together were a dominant influence on every aspect of their existence. Thus, when Paul and his companions entered the city and began to proclaim the gospel concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, it is inevitable that the interpretative lens through which their message was heard and understood would have been one profoundly influenced by imperial ideas, ethos, and culture. It is this that we need to consider if we are to hear Paul as the Thessalonians heard him. Moreover, we should allow the possibility that even if Paul did not directly intend to make references that might be understood as challenges to the imperial ethos and culture, the Thessalonians themselves, from where they stood in this extraordinary blend of Greek and Roman imperial culture, may well have drawn conclusions that engaged with their situation politically as well as spiritually.
Edward Pillar

In the opening of the letter, Paul expresses gratitude “for all the joy” the Thessalonian church brings to him. Then he prays for the church, including his connection to them. The tone of his greeting is markedly different from the gospel reading, with Jesus’ dire and foreboding prediction of calamity, violence, and confusion. Yet, underlying both messages is encouragement to remain faithful, vigilant, and strong.

[quote] Ultimately the rhetorical concern is not about timing but confidence that, no matter what the ambiguities and unfulfilled promises of human history, God’s purposes—God’s reign—will be accomplished, with humanity flourishing as God intends. The rhetorical concern also extends to the character of life-in-the-meantime that will suit Jesus’ listeners for participation in that divine realm, imaged here as standing in the presence of the Son of Humanity….The final words given to Jesus in his public teaching ministry exhort listeners to live in a manner that will enable them to survive the eschatological ordeals he has just described (vv. 34–36). With emphasis on alert, vigilant readiness for an End that will come swiftly, on its universality, and on responsible conduct that comports with the commitments of God’s realm—these concluding lines of the discourse resume concerns already prominent in 12:35–48 and 17:22–37. Anxious preoccupation with the affairs and routines of life work against the kind of alert preparedness that will be needed to navigate eschatological crisis and orient listeners toward the coming reign of God (cf. 8:14; 12:22–32, 35–40; 17:26–30).
John T. Carroll

The realities of life compete against our commitment to joy. As Carroll suggests, preoccupation is not the same as vigilance. Being alert differs from being fixated. Living into the kindom of God requires a dual residency. We give allegiance to the reign of God while being surrounded by the impact of empire. A righteous branch is called to maintain joy as a manifestation of the kindom while being agents of justice in the world. The season of Advent, as we reflect upon the coming of the Word made flesh and dwelling among us, challenges us to make our love incarnate, our hope unmovable, our peace tangible, and our joy complete.

We do this with the assurance and example of Christ before us and with us. For all the joy.

Reflection from Voices of People of African Descent
The 33rd General Synod adopted a Resolution to Recognize the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024). As part of its implementation, Sermon and Weekly Seeds offers Reflection from Voices of People of African Descent related to the season or overall theme for additional consideration in sermon preparation and for individual and congregational study.

“won’t you celebrate with me”
By Lucille Clifton

won’t you celebrate with me
what i have shaped into
a kind of life? i had no model.
born in babylon
both nonwhite and woman
what did i see to be except myself?
i made it up
here on this bridge between
starshine and clay,
my one hand holding tight
my other hand; come celebrate
with me that everyday
something has tried to kill me
and has failed.

For Further Reflection
I don’t think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains.” ― Anne Frank
“Without pain, how could we know joy?’ This is an old argument in the field of thinking about suffering and its stupidity and lack of sophistication could be plumbed for centuries but suffice it to say that the existence of broccoli does not, in any way, affect the taste of chocolate.” ― John Green
“They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.” ― Tom Bodett

A preaching commentary on this text (with works cited) is at //ucc.org/SermonSeeds.

The Rev. Dr. Cheryl A. Lindsay, Minister for Worship and Theology (lindsayc@ucc.org), also serves a local church pastor, public theologian, and worship scholar-practitioner with a particular interest in the proclamation of the word in gathered communities. You’re invited to share your reflections on this text in the comments below this post on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SermonSeeds.