The Pillars of Joy: Humor, Acceptance and Compassion Preached on December 15th, 2019 At Wollaston Congregational Church Scripture: Luke 1:46-55 Today we are reflecting on the song of Mary, the Magnificat, a song of joy we just heard as one of our lectionary readings. This is a beautiful passage in itself, but if we are to understand it, we need to go back in Luke’s story a little. As we ponder the story and the song, we will discover three elements of joy: acceptance, compassion, and perhaps surprisingly humor. And so, I invite you to listen for God’s word for us, in this time and place, as we explore the joy of Mary. The narrative of Luke’s gospel begins with the birth of John the Baptist, to an elderly childless couple, Zechariah and Elizabeth. The angel Gabriel visits Zechariah while he is serving priestly duties in the Jerusalem temple. Gabriel gives Zechariah the news that Elizabeth will become pregnant with a baby who is to be called John. John will prepare the way for the people of Israel for the coming of the Lord. Zechariah cannot believe the angel, and so he is struck dumb until the child is born. Meanwhile, Elizabeth does indeed become pregnant and she is overjoyed. Perhaps she is also anxious, because of the likelihood of miscarriage and so she hides in her house for several months. In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy the angel comes to visit a younger woman, Mary, who is engaged but not yet married. Gabriel tells Mary that she is highly favored and blessed. She will conceive and give birth to a son. She is to name him Jesus. She asks how this can be, as she is still unmarried. The angel replies that the Spirit will come upon her, she is not to worry about the details. The holy one born will be called the son of God. Gabriel tells Mary that her barren relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age. This is a sign for Mary. And so, Mary consents to Gabriel “let it be with me according to your word.” Now Mary sets off on a journey to the hill country, to Elizabeth and Zechariah’s house. When Elizabeth, now six month’s pregnant, greets Mary at the door, the child in her womb leaps for joy. The unborn child, John, has recognized that Mary is carrying Jesus. And so Elizabeth blesses Mary, asking “why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?” And in response, Mary bursts into the song we heard a few minutes ago. It is a song of joy, full of what the presence of God means to the world. Mary has just navigated the dangerous hill country around Galilee to get to Elizabeth and Zechariah’s house. She knows the world is not always a hospitable place for one bringing peace and joy. And still she sings of what it means to see God in the world. She sings with joy about signs of what God does in the here and now, and what God will do in the coming of Jesus. The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, of South Africa, also know that this world is not a hospitable place for those bringing peace and joy. The Dalai Lama has spent the past 60 years in exile from his home in Tibet. He longs to go home, and grieves for his people who have experienced terrible persecution. And at the same time he lives with joy. Archbishop Desmond Tutu has also experienced suffering, for himself and for his people. Their land was taken and occupied by the Dutch and the British during colonization. Tutu’s people were forced into servitude. And during his childhood, Tutu’s family was forced to move many times. The Archbishop was a spiritual leader for the black people of South Africa as they fought apartheid and worked for majority rule. Even as that goal has been accomplished, many black South Africans still live in poverty and suffering. And, yet, the Archbishop also lives with joy. “The Book of Joy” by Douglas Abrams documents a conversation between the His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu on the meaning of joy. At the time, the two older men were meeting to celebrate the Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday. Pictures throughout the book illustrate their mutual joy in one another’s company. They touch, they tease, they eat, drink and dance together. They are filled with joy. [1] These two wise men talk of 8 pillars of joy: perspective, humility, humor, acceptance, forgiveness, gratitude, compassion and generosity. These are the pillars that enable all people to experience joy, even in places of suffering. The Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu exude the pillar of humor. It seems that they are always laughing. It may seem that humor is inappropriate when people are suffering, but the Archbishop says it is actually helpful. During the most violent times in South Africa’s struggle, Tutu would conduct funerals for the people who had been killed by police. There were hundreds of people in attendance – this was the only kind of gathering that was permitted. And so funerals also became political rallies. In order to contain the anger and grief, Tutu would use humor. With the police waiting just feet away, he would tell a joke at his own expense to defuse the tension. [2] Doug Abrams recalls a Mexican shaman who said “that laughing and crying and the same thing – laughing just feels better.” [3] Laughing in times of grief is entirely appropriate. In every funeral I have presided, family members have included some kind of humor in their eulogies. In my own family we cry for the loved one we have lost, of course. And yet we also remember the funny things: their quirks and idiosyncrasies that made them human. When my father in law passed away several years ago we had recently spent a family Christmas in Florida. He was struggling at the time. He suffered from the pain of cancer and the pain of the loss of my mother in law just two years before. The family planned to go to Universal Studios and he wanted to come along too, so we agreed to get a motorized scooter for him. We were an unwieldy extended family - German, English and American. After a couple of rides together we decided to split up. We agreed to meet for lunch at a particular spot. But when we all assembled, there was no dad. My husband and his brother in law circled the park, in opposite directions, looking for the scooter. Surely he would be easy to find. They arrived back at the lunch spot with no dad, both looking anxious. Had something happened to him? While we were brainstorming what to do next, when he rolled up on the scooter. Where had he been? Oh, he replied, I was waiting over there when a man came and said to me “Come this way, sir, and so I went … he put me on the King Kong ride. It was great, I avoided the whole long queue!” We all laughed out loud with relief, this was a joy we could remember when he was gone. Joyful humor is never mean, of course. And yet those who are oppressed will find humor in lampooning the high and mighty. And so, Mary declares, “God has brought down the powerful from their thrones.” The high and mighty are the people who take themselves too seriously. They are brought down by a joke: God coming into the world in such a way that the mighty king Herod does not even notice. Imagine Mary and Elizabeth’s laughter as the two pregnant women greet one another … an elderly first time mom and a young unmarried woman. They secretly contain revelations of God’s great joy for the world within their bodies. This is God’s joke for humanity. Another pillar of joy is acceptance. The Dalai Lama quotes the 8th century Buddhist monk, Shantideva, who said “Why be unhappy about something if it can be remedied? And what is the use of being unhappy if it cannot be remedied?” [4] Abrams points out that acceptance is not resignation and defeat, it is the opposite. The two older men’s “activism [for peace comes] from a deep acceptance of what is.” Archbishop Tutu “did not accept the inevitability of apartheid, but he did accept its reality.” Abrams says “We cannot succeed by denying what exists. The acceptance of reality is the only place from which change can begin.” [5] Acceptance of “what is” is one of the gifts of Advent. Acceptance allows us to move on to fullness of joy. Mary gave her consent to the Angel Gabriel. She accepted the calling to birth the savior. The joy of her acceptance shines through her song: “God has looked with favor on the lowliness of God’s servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed.” Some say Mary did not know what was ahead. They say she did not know what Jesus’ ministry would look like. She did not know that his preaching, healing and speaking the truth in love would lead to his crucifixion. They believe she was joyful because of her ignorance. I beg to differ. I believe that she knew all of this and more. I believe that Mary suffered with Jesus all his life, even going to the cross to watch him die. “Suffer with” is the meaning of compassion, another pillar of joy. That is what mothers do. They suffer with their children. As the Dalai Lama says, we learn compassion from the people who nurture us, most often our mothers. Jesus was a most excellent example of compassion, he surely learned that from Mary. It’s not surprising that Mary expresses this pillar of joy, particularly for the poor and lowly who are lifted up in God’s presence. And so today, on the Advent Sunday of joy, we are invited to become filled with joy. As we contemplate what God is calling us to in this time and place, may we embrace humor, acceptance, and compassion. You are encouraged to fill yourself up with humor. Look for the absurdities in this world, the jokes God is playing on us. Anticipate the toppling of the pompous and haughty. It will get you through the holiday dinners with that bombastic person who knows best. Even in our church, ponder the quirks and idiosyncrasies of our congregation and our building. May we laugh with one another and with God. And, as a church and in our lives, we are invited to practice acceptance. In our church, perhaps we will stroll around the building, examine the leaks, the plasterwork, the cold rooms and the warm ones. And accept. In our lives, we will look with kindness on that family member or that friend, that co-worker or classmate, who rubs us up the wrong way. And accept. Above all, though, we are invited to practice compassion. To suffer with does not sound joyful, until we remember that it is our separation from one another that brings us pain. May we have compassion for bombastic leaders who live joyless lives. May we have compassion for the poor of the world, who are to be lifted up. May we have compassion, too, for ourselves. May we treat ourselves and one another kindly this season, understanding the tenderness many of us feel this time of year. Then, Church, we will then marvel and sing at what God has done within these walls, and what God will continue to do beyond these walls. God takes joy in us. And so we sing, dance, and laugh out loud for joy this holy season. Amen [1] His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu with Douglas Abrams, The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World, (New York: Penguin Random House, 2016) [2] Ibid., 17 [3] Ibid., 216 [4] Ibid., 223 [5] Ibid., 224-225
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
If you enjoy a sermon or have a question, please leave a comment. If you would like to quote any of my material in your own sermons or writings, please use appropriate attribution. I look forward to hearing from you!Archives
April 2022
Categories |