Readings:  Isaiah 35:1-10, Luke 1:46b-55, Matthew 11:2-11

JOY – You cannot fake it

Honestly its difficult to be joyful in 2022.  Brutal war.  Cynical politics.  Extreme views normalized.

But this week was a delegate to COP15.  It was a really good experience both time I visited.  Impressive to see the organization and proud to be citizen of a city that can offer such a great centre as Palais de Congress.  Every participant must show proof of vaccination and a daily Covid test, so gathering is done responsibly but still there are risks; that you get disappointed.

A wonderful speech by Justin Trudeau, is followed the next day by the rejection of petitions and resolutions to safeguard land at Technoparc, the Federal land, the largest part, including Monarch breeding ground. It is our land leased to the airport. Request rejected!  Nature is still capital asset.  Blatant contradictions.

But look again at the Bible passages we read today and they also only strike us because of contradictions.

I love the phrase we heard in Matthew, from Jesus to the crowds asking him about John the Baptist who has been put in prison.  ‘What did you go out to see?’

The message of Jesus came in a time of huge contradictions, sadness as well as joy.   The joy only comes because of sadness, like light in darkness.   Somehow they rely on each other.

This helps me arrive at a gospel message today about Joy; it is a creative surprise.

That question of Jesus, what did you go out to see? is a challenge to people to be open, not fatalistic or naive.  It is a challenge I put to myself when I, in sadness, felt there was no point in going on the big march yesterday.  With blatant hypocrisy walking the corridors of COP15. What is the point?  Actually I learnt that overnight Federals have promised to  protect part of the land at Technoparc called Champ Des Monarchs.

Hear again the prophet Isaiah.  Words coming out of times that Jewish people were enslaved, corrupted, contradicted by warfare and insecurities.  So the wilderness was a threat.  Wilderness was a symbol for everything that could take away life, yet there, in the midst, God was going to bring new life:  35:1 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus 35:2 it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing: 35:6 For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; 35:7 the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water;

Joy, a creative surprise.  Changes things. 

Now we get surprises every day.  I had an eye test this week and it includes measuring the reaction of the eye to blasts of air.  Probably a dilation capacity.  You know you will get a sudden puff on the eye, its coming and it still makes you jump.  I saw cute videos this week of animals like lions or bears, who jump just like we do, when surprised.  The reactions in that instance are instinctual and all of this is protect what is vulnerable, like eyes and vital organs around the abdomen.

But Joy is far more. The creative surprise of discovering flowers blooming in arid land.  My joy that some of our underwater plants can flower here.  I changed my view of the plants.   When C S Lewis wrote about his own Christian conversion he wrote Surprised by Joy, because he was changed. This COP15 is seeking joy, creative surprise and Isaiah encourages us to be joyful, because the restoration of community follows restoration of wilderness,

Isaiah 35:5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
35:6 then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.

Then Christians found this fulfilled with Jesus, as we heard today, he said tell John, (Matthew 11:5) the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.

The Blind, lepers and the deaf were communities of themselves. They are embraced by the hopeful vision of Isaiah and the promises of God. And today this inclusion is literally at play with so many excluded communities in cities and jungles, a diversity excluded from power, autonomy, to decide about roads, pipelines or trains that run through them.

This comes from the Global Forest Coalition website: The mission of the Global Forest Coalition is to advocate for the conservation and restoration of forest ecosystems, through defending and promoting respect for the rights, territories, traditional knowledge and sustainable livelihoods of the Indigenous Peoples, local communities and women that co-exist with them

Biodiversity through cultural diversity. The cultural diversity and traditional knowledge of Indigenous Peoples, local communities and women is vital to biodiversity conservation and the protection of forest ecosystems and should therefore be protected, with an emphasis on inter-generational dialogue and the crucial role of young people.

It is as if Mary is singing her Magnificat for, His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. Luke 1:50

What more can be more creative than birth?  Who has control over birth.  It is beyond us, unique, divine.  It brings true joy.

If……….

Theres another second ingredient to real joy, for joy cannot be faked.   This is desire.

The longing for a better world, is in the words of the prophet Isaiah and in the joy of the Magnificat.  My soul magnifies the Lord.  There’s no faking desire, who one is, ones soul.

Friday night I enjoyed a Christmas Concert by Lyric singers, people whose soul is in music.

The soccer world cup attracts people whose soul is in kicking a ball.  Interesting that this evokes phrases like the soul of soccer.

For myself this week I had an experience of real joy at COP15 when I stumbled upon a lunchtime event of faith leaders.  An Imam from near my home-town spoke about the Green initiatives of Balsall Heath.

Here is the map that was produced this year as part of a community festival.  It does not show the streets, rather the places of nature. Our garden Sacred Spaces of Balsall Heath

You can see you-tube videos of the area to appreciate that this story is like the deserts flowering in Isaiah.  They tell of bombing in WW2 that left huge scars, poverty and pollution.  Houses with no value, just places for the poor, the left behind or newbies like immigrants.   The map commentary says: Balsall Heath, one of the most densely populated parts of Birmingham tends to be celebrated for its people not its wildlife.  Its sounds are the beats of the carnival, the hum of buses, the continuous blast of car horns on pavements during Eid. Being in a busy inner-city neighbourhood it can be hard to feel connected to nature. Wildlife can seem like something that belongs to the country not part of our daily life.   Our garden Sacred Spaces of Balsall Heath has created this map to help open our eyes to nature that is within and around us in Balsall Heath right where we are.

My soul doth magnify the Lord.  This story met my desire with creative surprise. Oh joy!

So what about you, what do you go out to see. What is your desire and where are there wildernesses?  Do you desire this church to be renewed?  What creative surprise are we willing to receive, to be open to birth. 

What do you go out to see, with your friends and family?

What do you go out to see, with your soul?

What is your desire for a better world?  Let our hope and faith bring joy.  Amen.