Finding Joy (Isaiah 61)

Waking up Monday morning, I thought back on the first two Sundays of Advent: the Sunday of Hope, and the Sunday of Peace.

Prior to those two Sundays, the news had been anything but hopeful or peaceful. It’s been said that a preacher is supposed to preach with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. Well, the headlines I was metaphorically holding in my hand (and my heart) had been anything but hopeful or peaceful.

The deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. Two unarmed black men killed by white police officers who ultimately were not indicted.

Yes, the incidents are not as simple as they are presented to be. I do not know all the details, and it’s probably not right to judge or condemn the individual police officers or the grand juries that decided not to indict.

But what I have heard does make it hard to not judge or condemn.

What is clear is that there is a larger problem here. The names of Eric Garner and Michael Brown join a much-too-long list: Tamir Rice. Tanesha Anderson. Amadou Diallo. Sean Bell. Deshawnda Sanchez. Anthony Baez. Trayvon Martin. Jordan Davis. John Crawford. Lennon Lacy.

The recitation of names could go on all day.

It’s too many names to speak of an isolated incident. There is racism in our society, and it is, literally, killing us.

Today is the Sunday of joy.

Yeah.

Monday morning, I woke up and decided that, this week, after two weeks of focusing on the fragmentation of our world, I was going to find the joy.

I was going to search the headlines for joy.

I was going to keep my eyes open for joy.

I was determined to find joy.

If there was anything joyful to be found in a world of dismal headlines, I was going to find it.

And guess what?

I did.

It began (Monday morning) when I heard the news commentators talking about the Los Angeles Galaxy’s victory the day before, making them the Major League Soccer Champions.

Now I’m not really that into sports, but there is something else to this story, something that was the focus of the commentators conversation. One of the Galaxy players, Robbie Rogers, is the first openly gay athlete in major professional sports.

And why is this a cause for joy?

For the answer to that, we look to Justin Fashanu, who became the only top-level player to come out as gay while playing in England in 1990. Fashanu received appalling treatment from fans, fellow players, and his coach, and eventually hung himself.

So when Robbie Rogers came out as gay, he simultaneously announced his retirement. No way could he be a major league soccer player who was gay.

Shortly after his announcement, he was invited to train with the Galaxy, and then invited to join the team. Skeptics said it would never work. Team morale would not survive an openly gay player in the locker room, and without team morale, team spirit, the team would not be able to succeed.

The Galaxy proved the skeptics wrong.

Robbie Rogers found acceptance among his fans, friendship among his teammates, and now, a championship.

Clearly we have made progress in justice, equality, and human rights. We have not arrived at our destination, but we have made progress on the journey.

And that fills me with joy.

So that was how my search for joy started Monday morning. But my search wasn’t done yet. In fact, it was just beginning.

It just so happened that an hour later, I found myself sitting in a crowd of people on the playground of Bobbie Smith Elementary School, behind rows and rows of students in their navy blue Bobbie Smith Elementary School t-shirts.

Yeah!

The school renaming ceremony began, and after a few words from dignitaries, Bobbie Smith [BKCC member] spoke about her upbringing in Mississippi, attending school during “separate-but-equal,” and receiving support from family and friends as she made her way to college and to the Long Beach school board.

You know, when I woke up Monday morning and made the decision to start searching for joy, I didn’t expect it to be so easy!

Yes, there is a lot wrong with the world. Yes, injustice occurs on a daily basis. Yes, God calls us to continue the struggle for equality and justice and peace in our world.

But we can’t ever forget to stop and experience joy. That’s easy to do when we’re caught up in the struggle. I know some people who get so caught up in the struggle, that they have lost the joy. They’ve lost the alleluia. They’ve lost the doxology.

We can’t do that. In the midst of everything, we have to remember the joy.

Now, despite how Monday went, the search isn’t always easy, and Tuesday morning I got off to a rough start.

The newspaper headlines Tuesday included the Senate Intelligence Committee Report chronicling years of torture and abuse carried out by the CIA. I read a few excerpts from the report summary, and found them deeply disturbing.

In fact, every person of faith, every person who cares about human rights, and every person who cares about the reputation of America should find it disturbing, what we have done.

So now we have police officers choke holding unarmed men, ignoring their repeated cries of “I can’t breathe;” and we have the CIA inflicting interrogation techniques that are cruel and atrocious.

But I’m searching for joy. And I found it, Tuesday evening, in downtown Long Beach.

You couldn’t imagine a more diverse group of people. I estimate there were at least 150 of us, even though the Press-Telegram said only 100. (Just look at the picture!)

We gathered peacefully, to demonstrate our unity, and to let the world know that how we treat people is important. It’s always important to treat people right, to not deny them their rights, and certainly not deny them their life, even if they are suspected or accused of committing a crime.

We affirmed the good practices of our Long Beach Police Department and the positive connections it has with the community; at the same time, we recognized that structural, systemic, and institutional racism still has too strong a hold in too many places in this country.

150 of us, from different religions, different races, different ages, different sexual orientations and gender identities… and we held hands and prayed and sang. We made a statement for peace and for unity.

And when it was over, we were filled with joy.

OK, we had to work to make it happen. But we weren’t working by ourselves, we were united with each other, and united with God. And when you’re united with God, well, there is always joy to be found.

In fact, we are called to be the ones who bring joy to the world. I know that it’s Jesus who we recognize as bringing joy to the world at Christmas, but as followers of Christ, his task is our task.

And the Spirit of the Lord is upon us, and the Lord has anointed us, to give those who mourn a reason to rejoice. Because God says that those who are oppressed, brokenhearted, and held captive, they are to possess a double portion of blessings, and everlasting joy shall be theirs.

The prophet says “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my whole being shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness. The Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.”

I kept up my search for joy throughout the week. But I think I’ll stop here. I think the point is made. There is joy in the world. United with God, we can live with joy, and we can bring joy to a world that is so desperate for good news.