Father Phil -- JOY!

THE EPISCOPAL PARISH OF SAINT BARNABAS ON THE DESERT

SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

May 17, 2009

Enjoy! Enjoy!

You have now heard everything I have to say this morning. But there is so much more to say because this is at the very heart of my Biblical faith and what I believe it means to be a Christian...

Author Harry Golden grew up on the Lower East Side of New York City in the early part of the last century. In one of his essays he speaks of his Mother’s faith in God. His Father was an intellectual who spent a lot of his time discussing God. Golden writes: “My mother, of course thought all those discussions were nonsense. She cooked and sewed and cleaned for the family and the neighbors. Even if a dish turned out well she would not take credit. The credit went to God. My mother talked with God all the time, actual conversations.”

Out of this faith came one of the few English words she knew—Enjoy! Golden writes, “When my Mother served our meals and placed before us a dish that may have turned out particularly well, she would always say, ‘Enjoy, enjoy’. The word covered hundreds of other situations. When the school had an outing and we all went off with our teachers, the last thing we heard going out the door was, ‘Enjoy, enjoy’.”

For nearly fifty years, Harry Golden’s mother’s faith and admonition have given illustration to a basic tenet of my Biblical faith—Enjoy!

One sentence in the Gospel this morning is one of a dozen passages of Scripture that provide the framework of my faith.

In the midst of a long conversation with his disciples, Jesus put it this way: “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.” (John 15:11)

Out of her deep faith, Mrs. Golden put it this way: Enjoy! Enjoy!

I put it this way: God wants us to enjoy this life—and the next. In Jesus he has given us the way. Walk the path with me for a few moments.

Jesus said, “I have said these things…” What things?

Be at one with God. “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

Be at one with yourself and your neighbor. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)

It all comes together in Matthew’s gospel at a time the enemies of Jesus are trying to trap him into saying something for which he could be arrested. One asked, “…which commandment in the law is the greatest?’” and he replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And the second is like unto it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 23:36-39)

Be at one with God. Be at one with yourself and your neighbor. But there is yet one more thing he said that is of critical importance. As you read a little beyond our lesson today Jesus reminds his disciples that “If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own.” (John 15:18-19) Don’t abandon the world. Just don’t be owned by it.

If we are at one with God and at one with ourselves and our neighbors, it is not possible for the world to own us. Conversely, it the world owns us it is not possible to be at one with God and at one with ourselves and our neighbors. We cannot enjoy the world if the world owns us. It is that simple.

Jesus said, “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.” What is the joy that these things bring?

First let me say, the joy promised is not the mad dash for happiness we see in the proliferation of books on the subject nor the ever expanding market for better living through chemistry nor the preachers promising financial success.

I have followed the current financial crisis economically and sociologically. From a theological point of view, I am convinced that at the bottom of it all is the thought that we have a right to happiness.

In a recent column, David Brooks comments on a study of 268 prominent young men who entered Harvard College in the late 1930’s. These were young men who had everything the world had to offer and yet over the years many of them made a mess of their lives. Brooks writes: “There is a complexity to human affairs before which science and analysis simply stands mute.” I believe that it is in that complexity we find the promised joy.

Of course, the promised joy is happiness, but it is also sadness. It is deeper than both. It is a mystery that keeps opening to us as we walk life’s way. And it is a gift. It was demonstrated on the cross and made real in the empty tomb.

Between the pursuit of happiness and the gift of joy is a very fine, perhaps mystical, border where we come face to face with God—where “science and analysis simply stand mute”.

There is so much I want to say about this joy because it is so central to my Biblical faith—to my understanding of what it means to be a Christian. Let me put it as starkly as I can: I enjoy both the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains and the glitz of the Las Vegas strip—recognizing each for what they are. I believe that is Biblical joy.

The movie Angels and Demons premiered Friday. The critics and panned it and the religious folks have dammed it. It’s just a story. It’s curious to me that we have so much trouble having fun with our religion—poking fun at it a bit.

Someone said, “Life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways totally worn out shouting ‘Wow, what a ride!’” I believe that is Biblical joy.

In my life I have experienced the normal highs and low, successes and failures but I have never experienced anything catastrophic. If I do, it is my prayer that I will have the faith to experience the joy of those terminally sick persons who decide to spend their days living rather than dying. It has been said, “Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.” I believe that is Biblical joy.

I believe God wants us to enjoy this life—and the next.

Be at one with God. Be at one with yourself and your neighbor. Don’t let the world own you.

The travel writer, William Least Half-Moon, shares the complaint of a woman he met. “I got a livin’ room, but in my life I got no room to live and that means I’m doin’ some wrong livin’”.

Jesus said, “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.”

Out of her life of faith, Harry Golden’s mother said it all. Enjoy! Enjoy! Amen.

Philip Lawrence Carlson+