JOY & SORROW ON THE JOURNEY

This week in worship at the Village we read the story of Jesus entering Jerusalem for the last week of his human life among us. For those at home with their Bibles, Luke Chapter 19. For those who do not have an experience of the story, it’s a great way to start a week. Jesus rides into the capitol city on the back of a beautiful horse. He’s greeted as the hero, entering triumphantly. Praises flow, in another telling of the story, palms are waived. The people have a hero, a king, an idol.

But, in case you are new to the story, the week’s not going to end that way. Jesus was sent to shake things up, and we all know what happens to those who shake up the norm, right? If not, look up what happened to people like Ghandi; Martin Luther King, Jr; etc. Things are not going to go well at the end. But that’s Good Friday. Jesus, thinking of the human part of his experience might give it another name, but fortunately, he also knows what’s on the side. Too often though, we as followers of Jesus, want to skip that part, and go right to Easter. Don’t skip the Easter part, but don’t skip the sorrow either.

“Joy and sorrow live together”. Boy, I wish I could claim credit for anything that profound, but Joyce Rupp, a writer on prayer, gave us that wisdom. She offers a prayer that sums up the week that comes now, “joy and sorrow live together”. Try praying that one this week. As you start your days, start it with that thought.

Today at the Village we celebrated a lot of joy. We celebrated our Fifth Month in our worship space. Our firth month celebrating worship together weekly. We also celebrated the joy of baptism. The joy of a person joining us all on the journey that is being a follower of Jesus. Today we are saying yes to Jesus. But, we didn’t just say it once, no, it was FIVE times. Most churches have to wait for years to have that kind of joy. We waited five months.

But we didn’t give these new travelers a diluted version of the story. We explained that on our journeys, as will be their experience too, joy and sorrow will be with them, as will we, and so will God. That’s what the difference is. But our story from the Bible this week has that all too.

Jesus enters into Jerusalem to great joy. But he knows what’s coming for the city. He knows there will be great suffering in the city later. The Temple will be destroyed, the city will face many crisis over the coming years. So, Jesus weeps, right there surrounded by this throng of welcome and praise. Next he’ll clean out the Temple. You see, the Temple had become a place of commerce. A shopping mall rather than a place of healing, empowerment and praise.

Next he will gather with his friends, his disciples, and have one “Last Supper” together. They’ll celebrate the Passover meal and he’ll give us all the gift of Communion. Later that night, he experiences the abandonment of his friends (the disciples can’t even stay awake when he begs them) and worse still a betrayal (but having played Judas in a production, I have a certain sadness for him. Someone had to do it, and Judas pays heavily for his role). He’ll be arrested, given a sham trial (Jesus could have used Johnny Cochran), a conviction even his judge didn’t want to give him (can you tell I played Pilate too? Cheri really loved tormenting me in the first years of our marriage when she did casting for Passion plays) , a jeering crowd (made up of some of the same ones who were cheering days before) and torture and death in a horrible way (no matter what your views on capital punishment, crucifixion is not gonna pass a “cruel & unusual punishment” prohibition).

But, again, Joy & sorrow live together. Without the sorrow of Good Friday, there is no joy to follow. And believe me, joy comes in the morning, Easter Morning. Whether you come to the Village or another church, don’t miss that joy. Every church’s worship that days reflects a joy that we all need.

Whether you’re on the journey with Jesus or not, you’re on the journey of life, where joy & sorrow await. Most of us, myself included, have tried wandering aimlessly. But I can tell you, when you go on the journey with Jesus, you don’t have to go alone in this. When you chose the way of Jesus, you chose to go with others, to use our gifts and our energies and our resources to change the world for good. Followers of Jesus are not just looking out for themselves, they are looking out for everyone. Today we celebrated that by sending out a time to feed the hungry, by hosting a group for supporting those who our society does not look upon with favor and tomorrow by celebrating an effort completed to protect us all.

The way of Jesus is the way of compassion and community; it is the way that says until all are free, no one is free; until everyone has food to eat, good educations, health care and . . . we are all not complete. That’s what it means to be on the journey with Jesus. I don’t just care about me and mine, I care about everyone. We call this the outward journey.

It also means we pay attention to this relationship with God. We pray and we grow. Just like any relationship, romantic love, family or friendship, it has to be nurtured or it will become stale. I must confess I have lost too many friends by not nurturing that relationship. That’s why prayer and study are such an important part of this journey. The nurturing of this relationship with God is the inward journey.

We pay attention to this relationship when we come together as a community of faith as well. We come to worship to connect with other people on the journey. Not just because we are in need of some support, but sometimes because we are full of that joy. You don’t know when another traveler needs you there to be the joy they are lacking, to be the shoulder they need to cry or lean on. That’s one of the things we promised each other today in our baptism ritual, we promised to nurture each other in faith. We can’t do that if we don’t show up.

The journey with Jesus is one of joy & sorrow. No sprinkling of water and saying of a prayer takes away the sorrow, but the joy, well that’s amazing. Hearing the stories of those coming forth to be baptized today, you could not help but see the joy. Not only their joy, but ours as our little faith community, in only five short months, has indeed begun to “Follow Jesus and Change the World”.

The five folks today, Jesse, Terri, Sara, Vanetta and baby Faith, they know sorrow. But they also tell us they’ve experienced joy thanks to us. An unconditional acceptance into a family of faith. Fellow travelers who will be there in sorrow & joy, who will be there in doubt and faith, in comfort and betrayal.

Joy and sorrow live together on life’s journey. But, that’s ok. It’s ok because God is with us. We’ll get through the sorrow because we follow the path shown to us by Jesus. Jesus experienced the joy and the sorrow of this life. And Jesus showed us the joy that comes in the morning.

We marked five new people with what we like to call an invisible tattoo. It’s an invisible mark of God’s love and acceptance. Like any tattoo, it doesn’t go away (ok you can get a real tatto removed if you want, so the analogy kinda of breaks down), no matter what you do, it’s there. God loves us and once we’ve claimed that love, it’s there for us, when we need it, no matter what.

Are you wandering alone on the journey? Do you need a home where you can find someone to help you through the joy and the sorrow? Well, if you’re near Toledo, check out this home. If you’re not, we are not the only place the start of the journey can be found. Go find another trail head on the journey and some travelers. Peace be your journey this week, through the sorrows of Good Friday and the joy of Easter morning.