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SUNDAY, JULY 6, 2008

THE EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Matthew 11:25-30 (A devastating shortage of joy)

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TODAY’S SERMON THEME:

We can forget about water shortages, oil shortages, money shortages, power shortages. The worst problem in the world today is a devastating shortage of JOY. There is a simple lesson we must learn -- and share with each other: Whether we are coming or going in God's service, we are supposed to be filled with JOY. His JOY.

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1. As I do every week, I spent some time recently talking to several people who are hovering -- whether they know it or not -- between life and death. I can always tell when I meet these folks, these people who hover between life and death, mainly because they all have a similar personality characteristic: They are all completely devoid, empty, of anything JOYFUL in their lives. They have fallen into deep despair, and everything around them looks horrible, helpless, hopeless. Some of them seek escape in alcohol or drugs. Some seek escape in more drastic measures. Maybe you know what THAT looks like. I know I do. At any rate, one of the young men I visited last week at the Salvation Army reminded me a great deal of a former colleague of mine in the newspaper business, Cal Samra. Have you heard of Cal?

2. Cal Samra is one of the most important people in our country today, but few have ever heard of him. Let me tell you a little about him: Cal was a newspaper reporter in Detroit in the 1970's and 1980's. And like a lot of us who worked in the news media back then, he was aggressive. He was thorough. He was dedicated. I was also a newspaper reporter and editor back then -- in Memphis -- and I remember Cal's byline. At 27 years old, I was one of the youngest city editors in the nation, working for a major metropolitan paper, and I guess I had also established something of a reputation. But Cal Samra was good. Very good. But, like many of us, he was compulsive about his work. By 1983, he was losing his family -- his wife and two daughters. By 1984, he was losing his health. He wound up moving, by himself, to Arizona. And after a month alone down there, he decided that life was not worth living anymore. He decided to end his life. He simply could not go on anymore. He was totally devoid of anything JOYFUL in his life. And everything around him was horrible, helpless, and hopeless. One night, he decided he could not go on one more minute. And here is where his story gets very interesting.

(a) Cal drove out into the desert that night with a rope in his trunk. He had decided to HANG himself. His pain was so great that only death seemed like an answer. But the farther he drove into the desert, the more he realized that there were not any TREES in the desert.

(b) He then made a decision to DROWN himself -- to hold himself under the water and slowly slip away. But the farther he drove into the desert, the more he realized that there were not any RIVERS or LAKES in the desert.

(c) Late that night, Cal he steered his Jeep into the wilderness and finally found a riverbed. A DRIED-UP riverbed.

(d) At that point, Cal spent a long, sleepless night in the desert. A long, sleepless night standing beside his Jeep with a rope in his hand, next to a 4-foot tall cactus, right beside a dried-up riverbed. He just stood there wondering how in the world he was going to end his life.

(e) It was at that precise moment that Cal realized that GOD HAS A SENSE OF HUMOR. He began laughing at his predicament. And then crying. And then he started to pray, and pray, and pray. He gave his life to God right there, right in the middle of the desert. And he went on to form, in 1987, a group known as “the Fellowship of Merry Christians,” a fantastic organization that publishes a monthly newsletter known as “The Joyful Noiseletter.” I became a charter member of that group, and the Joyful Noiseletter is the most important publication I receive. (Some of its cartoons are reprinted with permission in our Cathedral Caller.)

3. I have been in Cal’s shoes . . . and I know that some of you have been there, too. I have stood at the end of my rope on several occasions . . . waiting and watching. And each time I have been there I have realized -- just like Cal Samra did -- that God has a wonderful sense of humor. A tremendous sense of humor. A glorious sense of humor. Each time I have found myself at the end of my rope, I discover that God is holding on to the OTHER end of the rope. Smiling at me. And inviting me to smile back at Him and to share in His miraculous JOY. God reminds me that HE is in charge of everything, not me.

4. One of the most important lessons Christians can learn is this: Our God is a joyful God. And He sent His Son Jesus into this world so that we, too, might be filled with His JOY. I have been reminded of this lesson many times in my life, and particularly during difficult times. Now, when I talk about JOY, I am NOT talking about happiness, or ecstasy, or giddiness, or even silliness. I am talking about God’s JOY -- which begins in us with a deep sense of security and steadfastness, knowing that there is nothing in this life or in the next life that can ever separate us from the love of God. I am talking specifically about the Hebrew word KHED'VAW -- a word which means complete and utter JOY, a joy that infuses the entire person. The word is very akin to the Hebrew word SHALOM -- peace. Inner peace. Inner security. A sense of security so powerful that it brings about those other things I mentioned: happiness, ecstasy, giddiness, silliness. This is an important concept to consider: God’s JOY begins in us when we accept it, accept HIM, unconditionally. And it LEADS to a deep sense of security that our lives are SAFE in God’s hands. Only then -- with that sense of security -- are the outward appearances of that joy manifested. JOY bubbles up in our lives from the inside out. From our spirits, to our minds, to our bodies. NOT the other way around.

5. The book of Nehemiah makes an astonishing claim -- in chapter 8, verse 10. The scribe Ezra has just read the word of God to the repopulated city of Jerusalem, following the exile of the 6th Century BC. And all the people wept and sobbed upon hearing as God’s Word, the Torah, was read aloud. But Ezra stopped them by making the incredible promise that “THE JOY OF THE LORD WILL BE OUR STRENGTH.” JOY. Khed'vawt Ado'nai. Here is the verse:

Ki-khed'vawt Adon'nai hi ma'uzt'khem "The JOY of the LORD will be our STRENGTH." To the world, that is a ludicrous comment. How can JOY lead to STRENGTH? Joy is far too often equated with weakness. Strength is to be found in mental toughness, right? That is what the world tells us. But GOD’S JOY -- the joy of the LORD, KHED'VAWT ADONAI -- can make us STRONG . . . once we accept that JOY (that relationship with the Lord that HE offers to us) into our hearts. But we must accept that JOY unconditionally, on God’s terms, not ours.

6. All of this brings me to the main point I want to emphasize this morning -- on this Sunday of the Fourth of July weekend. I firmly believe that our founding fathers and mothers understood this much better than we do today -- for the simple reason that they relied MORE on the Lord then than we do today. Here is my point: We can forget about water shortages, oil shortages, money shortages, power shortages. The worst problem in the world today is a devastating shortage of JOY. There is a simple lesson we must learn -- and share with each other: Whether we are coming or going in God's service, we are supposed to be filled with JOY. His JOY.

7. Our Gospel lesson today from Matthew 11 contains a great promise for those of us looking for "something more" out of life. Something more than the daily grind. Something more than the daily dose of pain and misery. Jesus promises us something MORE. Jesus promises us REST, PEACE, HOPE, even JOY. But there is a catch. We must ASK for it. In our lesson today:

(1) Jesus has finished giving instructions to His disciples, in the area north of the Sea of Galilee, and He has returned to Capernaum, on the sea.

(2) He has met and helped the disciples of John the Baptist, who had been imprisoned by Herod Antipas. John (who was at the point of being martyred) sent word to Jesus to ask if He was "the One." Jesus tells John's messengers to report what they see -- the blind seeing, the lame walking, the dead being raised.

(3) Jesus pronounced WOES on the cities filled with UNBELIEF, and then He offers the invitation for those who labor and are heavy laden -- those beaten down by life, those searching for "something more." COME UNTO ME, He says.

(4) Jesus promises SHALOM. Peace. Rest. Security. The very things that we need in order to experience His JOY. But we must first come to Him humbly. In John's version of this story, Jesus also promises His own JOY to us.

8. So. How can the average person be filled with the JOY of the Lord? The KHED'VAWT ADO'NAI? As simple as it sounds, we ASK FOR IT. When we go before the Lord in humility, asking Him to give us that "something more" that the world cannot give . . . He always does. Or, we can do like Cal Samra did, and when we get to the end of our rope, LOOK UP!