We all laughed, but we had to acknowledge that it is not easy to be comfortable with joy. We do not always take the time to name it. Gomes says that good news in the Bible nearly always comes unexpectedly. He describes how Moses and Mary accept God's calls to them with great reluctance. When Moses is asked to lead his people out from slavery, he sees it as a task, a burden. Moses finally accepts the responsibility, but not with joy. Similarly, Mary is reluctant to believe the angels are asking her, an unmarried woman, to give birth to a son. It is only after she visits her cousin, Elizabeth, that she begins to "magnify the Lord and rejoice in God, her savior".

Our class agreed that it takes "eyes to see and ears to hear" God, but there is great joy when we are open to God's love. Our job is simply to accept that God loves us. We seek to be faithful to God, because God desires a relationship with us. God loves us lavishly. The joyful freedom of God's love traces the horizon of our joy, That is why the joy we know in the company of God is not dependent on immediate circumstances such as health or wealth or friendships. Joy reflects a divine care so broad that it enfolds the whole of creation. And yet God's care is so sensitive that it registers the fall to earth of a single sparrow (Matt. 10: 29). And joy cannot be held onto. It is fleeting, transient. The poet,William Blake, expresses it this way:

                    "Those who bend themselves a joy
                    Do the winged life destroy.
                    But those who kiss joy as it flies
                    Live in eternity's sunrise."

The Scripture lesson this morning from Isaiah describes a mother comforting her child. This is how God comforts Her people, Her Jerusalem. There are also many masculine images that describe the close relationship God has with His people. Jesus addressed God with the familiar word for "Father" meaning "daddy". But the verses in Isaiah employ female images to speak of Jerusalem -- labor and birth; womb and deliverance. Isaiah speaks of the people as nursing at Jerusalem's consoling breasts, and drinking, from her glorious bosom. God says, "As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem."

Isaiah joins economic well-being with motherly care. Rejoicing, and mourning are part of a whole. Psalm 30 expresses it this way. "Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes in the morning," ( v. 5). "You have turned my mourning, into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy" (v. 11). Though "exile" was part of Israel's experience and is part of all human experience, God's desire for human life is joy, a joy rooted in the God who "like a mother, comforts her child."

In the book of James he says, "Count it all joy" (1:2). This robust embrace of all facets of experience reveals that the spiritual life is a journey into the fullness of joy, a joy as complete as the love between God and Her daughter, Jerusalem, and between Jesus and his Father (John 15: 9 - 11). The author of Hebrews reminds us that "for the joy that was set before him, (Jesus) endured the cross (Heb. 12: 2). So encompassing is this joy that, like a desert sunset, it sheathes in gold every stony hour of suffering, every bony tree of our endurance. Paul recalls an experience among the Christians in Macedonia that graphically portrays the power of joy to transfigure a human landscape: "During a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part" (I I Cor. 8: 2).

I have often wished that my nickname didn't have an "e" In it. Rather than J-0-E-Y, my name would be J-0-Y. But whatever our names, we can seek to be open to joy, to "count it all joy". We can prepare ourselves -- through music, with a walk in the woods, by making each meal a banquet rather than an obligation. We can phone or "e-mail" a friend or family member.  Clearly, these things should not become burdens, but it is important from time to time to prepare the soil. But the soil we prepare is not the same for each person. I was sharing with the adult Sunday school class a story I've told you before about my dad. All the family thought Dad had worked so hard all his life, that he should retire and move to town. Mother was elated to move out of the house where she had been born. So my parents moved to the town that was some 20 miles from the farm, and my brother-inlaw took over the farming. We all knew Dad had to have something to do with his time, so we were pleased to learn that he had a job at the bank, deciding when money should be loaned to farmers. But instead of enjoying this bank job, he hated it. What was he supposed to do until 9:00 in the morning? How could he refuse lending money to his farm friends? I concluded my story by saying that Dad hated being a banker! Again there was some silence until Neville Platt spoke up and said, "I worked in a bank for 38 years and I thoroughly enjoyed it.!" My dad and Neville needed to prepare their soil in completely different ways, yet both found joy in what they were doing, -- one as a farmer, and one as a banker.

I sometimes wonder if we at CCC do enough to prepare for joy. We come together on Sunday mornings, seeking to be open to God's love, and knowing, that God's love for us is expressed in our love for each other. But we don't always include the visitor, the stranger in our midst, whom Abraham cautioned might be an angel unaware. I know there are many, including myself, who think our children add to our joy when they come forward for children's time. I will never forget the Sunday morning that one of our young boys did cart-wheels down the aisle to get to the front of the church! His joy, if unusual, was nonetheless contagious!

Meanwhile we can learn from the experiences of two neighboring churches in PG County. One is primarily black, Amistad Church, with a lot of enthusiasm but no building. St. Paul's Church is primarily a white congregation with a good building in need of repairs and enthusiasm. These two churches are discussing ways to work together. Amistad's music lends itself to participation -- clapping, joining in the singing, This is fairly typical of black churches. Do you remember when the choir from Faith United Church of Christ sang here? The choir director turned around in the middle of the piece and said, "Is anybody listening? Clap your hands! Sing for joy!" St. Paul's Church, like our own congregation, tends to sit quietly, listening intently but quietly to the music. Is there room for both kinds of music? Similarly, the preaching styles from Amistad and St. Paul's are very different. Amistad's style invites participation. St. Paul's is more traditional. Is there a way to combine these different approaches? Clearly there needs to be a lot more conversation, just as we need to have more conversation about making changes in our sanctuary. Jim and I have been delighted about the openness to change we've heard in the conversations taking place after worship and on Sunday evenings. Change can foster anxiety, but it can also lead to great joy. We will need to be open to how the Holy Spirit leads us. We will need to remember the words from the Book of James, "Count it all joy!" As we embrace chance -- for change is happening. -- we just have to decide if we want to shape that change. This change takes us on a spiritual journey into the fullness of joy.

"Joy," writes Anne Ramirez, "is found through facing and enduring suffering until one is able, however briefly, to forget oneself through wonder at the world and service to others." May the Holy Spirit help each of us to discover such joy! May the Holy Spirit help each of us to count it all joy! Amen.