Pink River of Rejoice Always

Sermon on Rejoicing,

with Isaiah 61:10, the Magnificat, and 1 Thessalonians 5:16

St. James Evangelical Lutheran Church, Youngstown, PA

Sunday, December 14, 2008,

Third Sunday of Advent, Year B

(word count: 995)

Pink River of Rejoice Always

One of the themes of Advent is rejoicing. As we said last Sunday, part of preparing for the comings of Christ is repenting. Another component of preparing for Christ is rejoicing, and certainly we rejoice once Christ arrives.

Our readings repeatedly mention rejoicing. Our first passage, which Diane just read, says in verse ten, “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD.” In our psalmody, Luke 1:46-55, pregnant Mary declares, “My spirit rejoices in God my savior.” In our second reading, in 1 Thessalonians 5:16, Paul even goes so far as to exhort us to “Rejoice always.”

“Rejoice always”? What does it mean to rejoice always? “Rejoice always” does NOT mean that we have to act happy all the time. Jesus isn't happy all the time. He weeps, he yells. His sweat falls like great drops of blood because he is so full of anxiety. We can express other emotions besides joy.

“Rejoice always” does not mean that we cannot grieve. Have you ever been at a funeral, and a well-meaning person says, “We shouldn't be sad. We should be happy because the person is in heaven”? It is true that the person is in heaven. It is also true that we may be sad because we will miss that person. If Jesus can weep at Lazarus' funeral, then we can weep at funerals, too.

So then, what does it mean to rejoice always? I'm not sure. Perhaps it means that, even when we are angry, sad, scared, bored, or frustrated, we still have flowing through us a steady river of rejoicing. Even when we are furious with each other, Kim and I still love each other, thanks be to God. In sickness and in health we always have flowing in our relationship love for each other. Likewise, maybe “rejoice always” means we are always to have flowing through us a pink river of rejoicing, even when we are full of grief, fury, loneliness, or disease.

What keeps it going? What is the source of this pink river of rejoicing that is to flow within us?

For help with the answer, listen again to Isaiah 61:10. The prophet trumpets, “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD [ . . . ] for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation [ . . . ]” Similarly, Mary makes it clear that she is rejoicing because God has blessed her by making her the mother of the one who will flip the world upsidedown with the power of salvation.

We Christians are to rejoice always because Christ has come, will come, and is here to give us salvation. God has clothed us with the garments of salvation.

Paul sings both in 1 Thessalonias 5 and Philippians 4 that we are to rejoice always. Why? Paul's letters reveal that the love God shows us through Christ's sacrifice is the source of our being and power. Remove that love and we are dried-up river beds, or, as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13, we are nothing but noise. The love of God through Christ is the source of the river of Rejoice Always.

How's your river? Look inside you. Do you have flowing within you the pink river of rejoicing always in response to Christ's comings to save us? Even when sick, in pain, worried, tired, or hungry, do you still have flowing inside you the pink river of Rejoice Always? Do I? Does Saint James? Many congregations boast that they are friendly. Can we boast that we are a rejoicing congregation? Maybe.

Do you rejoice over the comings of Christ, past, future and present? Do you take the time to rejoice? We humans do a great deal of complaining and lamenting, and God is open to our complaints and laments. How much rejoicing do we declare as we anticipate and celebrate Christ's comings?

Not allowing the pink river of Rejoice Always to dry up can be difficult. When we lose our job, when we are worn-out, when we keep bouncing checks, when people we love keep hurting themselves with cigarettes, alcohol, bad relationships, or drugs, it is easy to allow the pink river of Rejoice Always to dry up. Satan builds dams in our river to stop the flow.

Part of the Good News, though, is that God remains the river's source. The Holy Spirit keeps feeding the river through Christ coming to us in Scripture and sermon. God continues to feed the river through Christ coming to us in the form of people helping us and in the form of us helping others. God keeps feeding the river through Christ healing us by answering our prayers.

Has Satan dammed your river? Let us know. Christ has sent us, your fellow Christians, to help.

Many of us have an especially difficult time preserving our river this time of year. As we hiss and scratch to get ready for Christmas, we often find ourselves not in the Christmas spirit. Do you have trouble summoning the Christmas spirit? Are you having difficulty preparing spiritually for the celebration of Christ's birth? How's your river?

Here is something to try. This can be done in as little as five minutes. Play your favorite sacred Christmas music. [“Mary, did you know?”] Light a candle [Walk to pink candle.]. Focus on the candle, listen to the music. Picture your pink river flowing out of the candle, from God and into you. See it flowing, pink, serene, the river of Rejoice Always, flowing no matter what.

Your river flows from God and into your heart. Now start rejoicing: I rejoice, Christ, for you came to die for us. I rejoice, Christ, for you will return to fix all problems. I rejoice, Christ, for you come to us now through worship, Scripture and sermon, people we help. We rejoice for you coming to baptize through us NAME. We rejoice over the ways you clothe us in the garments of salvation. Thank you. Thank you. Rejoice. Rejoice. Rejoice. [Stare at pink candle.]