Pentecost 26 C: Joy in November

Luke 21:5-9

Dear Partner in Preaching,

Want to shake things up a little bit this Sunday and invite a fresh hearing of an extremely challenging Gospel reading? Then move the hymn of the day to before the sermon and sing “Joy to the World.”

Now, I suspect I know what you’re thinking: why would we sing a Christmas carol in mid November? The truth is, however, that “Joy to the World” wasn’t originally composed for Christmas but was part of hymn writer Isaac Watts’ attempt to translate, and set to new music, the Psalms for Christian worship. Watts’ inspiration for this hymn was Psalm 98, the Psalm appointed for this day. Moreover, he wrote it to celebrate Christ’s second coming, rather than his first, keeping with the apocalyptic theme of today’s Gospel.

All of this isn’t to say that “Joy to the World” can’t serve as a wonderful Advent/Christmas carol, just that it might fit today’s readings and help us reframe what we hear in the passage and perhaps are experiencing in everyday life. Because here’s the thing: there may be a lot of excited people in your congregation after the Nov. 8 U.S. election, and there may be a lot of dejected people after the election, but there will certainly be a lot of exhausted people in your congregation who are feeling rather wrung out by the length, duration, tone and tenor of this year’s election.

Which means it may be an important time to remind folks that wherever we may be politically, we come together on Sunday to give thanks for God’s love for the world – the whole world – Republicans, Democrats, rich, poor, women, men, young, old, persons of all races and ethnicities. God loves us all. And we are united not by gender or race or economic status or political affiliation but rather by faith – faith that God created all things and people, sustains all things and people, and will redeem all things and people, all because of God’s overwhelming love for all things and people.

What makes this passage challenging, of course, is its apocalyptic themes and imagery. And while the popular religious culture has taught us to think of apocalyptic passages as predictions – if not an outright road map – of the end times, that’s not the way such passages functioned for those who first heard Luke’s Gospel. Apocalyptic passages were offered to help believers struggling from oppression and persecution put their struggles into the larger context of the universal struggle between God and the forces of evil. In this way, such passages provided comfort that no matter how difficult things became, God would not abandon them and that God would ultimately prevail, thereby encouraging believers to persevere in the meantime and, indeed, to witness to their faith in times of persecution. (It may be helpful to provide this little bit of context to our folks so that can hear this passage as directed as words of comfort and encouragement to Luke’s community as they endured oppression and discrimination in the late first century.)

But while the imagery and stark themes of apocalyptic passages may be one thing that makes them hard to preach, I think an even more challenging aspect is that the conditions Jesus describes – the intense persecution of believers – are absolutely unfamiliar to most of us. There are, in fact, Christians who are being persecuted for their faith today and they deserve our prayers and support, but not many of them are in our congregations. In fact, our challenge is nearly the opposite. Our culture isn’t hostile to the Christian faith; it’s indifferent. Where once we had the support of a culture that actively encouraged congregational participation, that support has withered. And there are now so many options for how our folks can spend their time on Sunday morning and so many narratives to which they can look for meaning, that going to Church isn’t a given and, indeed, is a less and less attractive option for an emerging generation that often doesn’t see the connection between the faith we talk about on Sundays and their day-to-day lives the rest of the week.

Which is why I think singing “Joy to the World” – whether in place of the Psalm, or just before the sermon – might help. For whereas apocalyptic passages like today’s are often misused to try to predict the future, Psalm 98 – and Watt’s hymn – remind us that God is active in the world now, that there is evidence of God’s majesty and goodness all around us, and that the proper response to the world we live in and people we meet is not fear or apprehension but joy, wonder, and gratitude.

Which brings us back to Jesus’ ominous words in Luke. Rather than intended to predict some future event, Luke probably used this memory of Jesus’ preaching to describe something that was already taking place in his community so that they could a) see themselves in it and b) hear afresh Jesus’ promise that they did not need to worry because he would give them “words and wisdom none of your opponents can withstand” (21:15). This promise transforms the challenges these early Christians are facing into opportunities to witness.

Might we also imagine that in the midst of very different challenges – indifference rather than hostility, a demoralized community rather than a persecuted one – we might also see an opportunity to testify by being joyful. Friedrich Nietzsche, son and grandson of Lutheran pastors who became a harsh critic of the Christian faith in the late nineteenth century – once said that he rejected Christianity in part because so few of its adherents demonstrated the resurrection joy it claimed.

So perhaps our response to the exhaustion of this year’s political season, the uncertainty of a sluggish economy, concerns for an endangered environment, and a host of other things afflicting us might be to sing words of joy, thanksgiving, and praise. For God is still at work – both in us and through us for the health of this world God loves so much. And that is cause for singing.

Blessings on your proclamation, Dear Partner, as your words and witness make a bigger difference in the lives of your people than you’ll ever know.

Yours in Christ,
David