Dear Tab Family,
And here when I thought being a good Christian was only about the hard work of liberation and salvation, Pastor Katie reminds us that God wants us to experience and embody joy! We see this when Jesus turns gallons of water to wine. “Wine is deeply symbolic, and wine and the abundance of it in the Hebrew Scriptures has to do with joy. Wine is a symbol of joy!” In her sermon, Pastor Katie goes on to ask,
“What if the miracle of this story is the miracle of joy? The gift of joy that comes to us in times where we think there is no more, times when we think we have run out?”
I have been there, my friends, thinking my joy has run out, and not just in the winter, although winters can be particularly rough for many of us. In our neck of the woods, the snow is no longer soft; it’s packed down, dirty and frozen solid. Winter feels hard and long at this point in the season – so does the pandemic! I am not saying we need to pretend to be happy, because happiness and joy aren’t the same thing. Although hard to define, “joy has to do with gratitude in the moment, and a connection to a power greater than ourselves at work.” And like Pastor Katie, I too forebode joy and imagine all the things that can go wrong when I find myself at peace or content with life. Brené Brown tells us foreboding joy is a defense mechanism against the vulnerability of joy. As a child I wasn’t always reassured by my parents or given the tools I needed to lean into God, to experience love, joy or God’s grace.
But God has not created us to live our lives clutching empty jars of fear and dread. We may find joy in places where we thought there was none, in moments when we thought we had run out, if we allow ourselves to be open to vulnerability, grace and love. God’s love and grace are over the top, and we can start practicing this joy through gratitude. Like love and grace, joy grows the more it is shared and practiced. Pastor Katie says, “Perhaps it is time for you to ask God to fill you with joy, and to give you courage to open up to the vulnerability and gift of it, and to let go of foreboding and fear. Because you are loved with a love far more dependable than your own love. You are prized more highly than you ever imagined. When it comes to matters of love, grace and joy, God goes over the top.”
Reflection Questions
- How have you been foreboding joy?
- Can you find a seed of joy to cultivate today? If so, what would that look like?
- How does it feel in your body to know that God’s love and grace are over the top?
Please feel free to email me at lanenalinda@gmail.com with your reflections. I would love to hear from you.
Warmly,
Sana DelCorazón
UTS Seminary Student & Member of Tabernacle United
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in faith so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13
In case you need to listen to Pastor Katie’s sermon again, here it is: https://youtu.be/RPusD0OQ-Us?t=1892
Prayer from Bukie*
“More like, moved like”
God who leads us
God who made us
You shape us still
In this moment and before
You have heard our joys
You have heard our gratitude
And you’ve listened to our lamentations
Divine Spirit, Christ Jesus who intercedes for us
We ask that you answer our prayers and petitions
That you have mercy on us —
Have mercy on us
Give us freedom from pain
from suffering
from shame
from anger
Give us freedom from the silence that perpetuates injustice —
Have mercy on us
Help us to be more like Mary —
open to your will
Help us to be like our elders and ancestors, challenging hate
Like Jesus, challenging hate and
sowing seeds of love
Help us to be like them —
striving for peace,
compassion,
justice,
kinship
Help us to be the church,
practicing radical love
May we move like Jesus
May we move like our elders and ancestors
Who have changed lives in ordinary ways
God, Have mercy on us.
by Olubukola Adekoje
*shared during Tuesday morning prayer gather