We will gather for
mid-week fellowship and study this evening at 6 PM with a very special meal
prepared with much love, followed by Bible Study at 6:30 PM and then choir
practice at 7:30 PM.
One week from
tomorrow we will be celebrating "Thanksgiving". One of the readings for
Thanksgiving day is Psalm 126. “our mouths were filled with laughter, our
tongues with songs of joy.” Rejoicing is the theme of this psalm. Joy
characterizes the Christian journey.
The Broadway musical Fiddler on the Roof describes life as “One season following another, laden with happiness and tears.” Life includes sadness; “There is a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance” (Ecclesiastes 3:4). Joy is not the absence of sorrow; it is the ability to have faith and be thankful in the midst of all conditions. Joy is as unpredictable as the One who gives it, so much so that C.S. Lewis titled his autobiography Surprised By Joy.
Joy is the outcome of the Christian life; we don’t generate it—The Lord does. None of us has joy within ourselves. People seek to attain joy through entertainment, which offers temporary, artificial joy. The vast entertainment industry in our nation is a sign of the depletion of joy in our culture. The joy of Psalm 126 is past, present, and future: “We were filled with laughter” and “songs of joy”, vs 2; “we are filled with joy”, vs 3; and we “will return with songs of joy” vs 6. This joy is lavished on Israel, giving the nation a reputation for blessedness. In vs 2: “Then it was said among the nations, ‘the Lord has done great things for them’.” The “nations” refers to the heathen gentiles, who became convinced that Israel had something special that set them apart—a God who took care of them. The gentile nations were impressed; they admitted that God had accomplished “great things” for Israel.
We are given comforting assurance in verse 5: “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.” The image here is of harvest time. Sheaves were bundles of grain, usually wheat or barley, cut and gathered together. The joy in harvest was a highlight of the year, a time of great blessing.
Joy is essential to our lives; it is the experience of knowing that we are loved, and that nothing in this world can take that love away. We often discover joy in the midst of sorrow. During the most painful times we become aware of a spiritual reality larger than ourselves, that enables us to hope. Henri Nouwen writes, “My grief was the place where I found my joy.” We may undergo hardship, but God will have the last word. This means we can rejoice even when our wishes are not realized.
Joy is not an escape from sorrow. We foolishly think we can achieve joy by eliminating the things in life that hurt us. We are experts in constructing futile strategies for achieving joy. When we come to the end of our resources we realize that joy is what the Lord gives, not what we work up. True joy enables us to face reality, because we do so with the assurance that our Lord is working in our lives, even the things that cause us pain, to bring about His perfect will.
The Broadway musical Fiddler on the Roof describes life as “One season following another, laden with happiness and tears.” Life includes sadness; “There is a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance” (Ecclesiastes 3:4). Joy is not the absence of sorrow; it is the ability to have faith and be thankful in the midst of all conditions. Joy is as unpredictable as the One who gives it, so much so that C.S. Lewis titled his autobiography Surprised By Joy.
Joy is the outcome of the Christian life; we don’t generate it—The Lord does. None of us has joy within ourselves. People seek to attain joy through entertainment, which offers temporary, artificial joy. The vast entertainment industry in our nation is a sign of the depletion of joy in our culture. The joy of Psalm 126 is past, present, and future: “We were filled with laughter” and “songs of joy”, vs 2; “we are filled with joy”, vs 3; and we “will return with songs of joy” vs 6. This joy is lavished on Israel, giving the nation a reputation for blessedness. In vs 2: “Then it was said among the nations, ‘the Lord has done great things for them’.” The “nations” refers to the heathen gentiles, who became convinced that Israel had something special that set them apart—a God who took care of them. The gentile nations were impressed; they admitted that God had accomplished “great things” for Israel.
We are given comforting assurance in verse 5: “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.” The image here is of harvest time. Sheaves were bundles of grain, usually wheat or barley, cut and gathered together. The joy in harvest was a highlight of the year, a time of great blessing.
Joy is essential to our lives; it is the experience of knowing that we are loved, and that nothing in this world can take that love away. We often discover joy in the midst of sorrow. During the most painful times we become aware of a spiritual reality larger than ourselves, that enables us to hope. Henri Nouwen writes, “My grief was the place where I found my joy.” We may undergo hardship, but God will have the last word. This means we can rejoice even when our wishes are not realized.
Joy is not an escape from sorrow. We foolishly think we can achieve joy by eliminating the things in life that hurt us. We are experts in constructing futile strategies for achieving joy. When we come to the end of our resources we realize that joy is what the Lord gives, not what we work up. True joy enables us to face reality, because we do so with the assurance that our Lord is working in our lives, even the things that cause us pain, to bring about His perfect will.
In
Christ,
Brown
A special
Community-wide Thanksgiving service be held on Saturday November 17, 2012 at the
historic First United Methodist Church in Endicott, located at 53 McKinley
Avenue, Endicott, New York. The evening will begin with coffee Fellowship at 6
PM followed by a service of worship and thanksgiving, which will start at 6:30
PM. The worship band from the Davis College will be leading in worship; Dr. Dino
Pedrone, the president of Davis College, will be preaching. Aric Phinney will be
at the piano with Yancey Moore at the Organ. This special Thanksgiving service
is sponsored by the Union Center United Methodist Church, 128 Maple Drive,
Endicott.
All are welcome. For
Information call, 607-748-1358 or 607-748-6329
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