moadmin – Page 26

A God Who Cannot be Contained

May 31, 2015 By moadmin

For centuries, Christians have been wrestling with the idea of the Trinity, but in the end we have a God who cannot be contained.

Vicar Meagan McLaughlin
The Holy Trinity, year B
texts: Isaiah 6:1-8, Psalm 29, Romans 8:12-17, John 3:1-17

The love and joy of the Triune God be with you, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Today being Trinity Sunday, I should stand before you and eloquently explain the doctrine of the Trinity, perhaps even using a three-leafed clover metaphor, as St. Patrick did centuries ago. On the surface, the idea of the Trinity seems pretty straightforward—three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God. Simple enough, right?

The reality is that battles have been fought, and people have died, because of differences in understanding this core element of our faith. There are many heresies defined by particular ways of describing the Trinity, and the eastern and western churches are still divided in part by nuances in this doctrine. And yet the Trinity stands, and we confess it here at Mount Olive each week in the creeds. “We believe in one God, the Father the Almighty . . . . We believe in Jesus Christ, his only son our Lord . . . . We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life . . . .”

I am sure you will be relieved to hear that I will not attempt today to sort out the two millennia of conversations, and arguments, and councils that have wrestled with the question of the Trinity. Far more important for us here today, I believe, is what does the Trinity mean for us? Why does it matter?

Although the word “trinity” never appears in scriptures, the images in our readings for today reveal a lot about the Triune God. In Isaiah and the psalm, we hear about God called Lord, seated on a throne, surrounded by seraphs singing “Holy, holy, holy!” Isaiah is surrounded by the majesty of God, and feels completely inadequate. This is God, Lord of the Universe, deserving of glory, before whom none of us, truth be told, are quite ready to stand. The full majesty of God makes us quake in our boots, at least a little bit.

The power of God revealed in waves crashing on the ocean, in the flashes and crashes of powerful storms, in the silent formidable presence of enormous trees centuries old. God’s majesty surrounds us, overwhelms us, and although it touches us, we can’t quite bear to touch it. It is no wonder that Isaiah’s first response is, “Woe is me! I am unclean, and yet I have seen the Lord!” And it is a miracle of grace that prepares Isaiah, so that he cries “Here am I. Send me!” And God invites not just Isaiah, but us, you and me, to go out for him, to witness to his glory!

Jesus tells Nicodemus about God-in-flesh, God who comes to us in human form so that we can have life, be saved. God loves us enough to give us God’s very self, to be in relationship with us, on our terms. And in that relationship, because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, our brokenness is redeemed, and our joy is made complete.

God enters fully into our suffering, as well as our joy. God-in-flesh embraces our grief at the death of a loved one, and shows us through the resurrection that death will not be the final word. God enters our joy at the birth of a child, revels with us in the beauty of creation. God sits with us, eats with us, laughs with us, cries with us. Because God revealed Godself to us in Jesus, we know that God is not only majesty and splendor and power, but intimately involved in our everyday life. Because God became fully human, we know we are never alone. We have a God who understands what it is to be human!

The Spirit is perhaps the most difficult aspect of the Trinity for us to understand. It’s like trying to capture . . . well, the wind! “The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.” The Spirit empowers us to recognize who we are as children of God, and it is only through the Spirit that we call God Abba, Father. The Spirit in breath brings life to dry bones in the desert, anoints and calls the apostles in fire at Pentecost, calls Jews and Gentiles alike to baptism in the days of the early church. “The wind blows where it chooses . . .”

Revealed in the Trinity, our God is all these things for us—majesty and power, a fellow traveler intimately acquainted with our human experience, one who tells us who we are and empowers us to witness to the world. There are three persons in our one God. And when these persons come together in the one God, something happens that goes far beyond division of labor, each person filling their appointed role. It cannot be adequately captured in any one metaphor, although I am sure you can imagine that doesn’t stop me from trying!

In Quest for the Living God, Catholic feminist theologian Elizabeth Johnson describes the Trinity as three persons in a dance that never ends. “The three circling around in a mutual dynamic movement of love, God is not a static being, but a plentitude of self-giving love, a saving mystery that overflows into the world of sin and death to heal, redeem, and liberate.”

Johnson presents an image of God in relationship with Godself, equal, fully grounded in love. This is the motivation for creation—God did not create the world to follow law or to do God’s will, but to be in loving relationship with God and the rest of creation. And the Triune God is a God of constant movement, changing, circling, over-flowing. As hard as we may try to neatly define the persons in the Trinity and understand it, God will not be contained.

Paul tells us that we have been given a Spirit of adoption. We are not slaves, but adopted as children of God. The Triune God who is constantly creating, moving, loving, healing, inspiring, transforming. We have been adopted not just as children of God the Father, and not just as brother of Jesus, but adopted into this creative, moving, loving, healing, inspiring, transforming Trinity. We are adopted into the love that overflows into our broken world.

Jesus tells Nicodemus, “The wind blows where it chooses . . . and so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” We are adopted into the Trinity, and we are called to follow the Spirit where it chooses. Not to understand, not to define, certainly not to limit—for ours is a God who will not be so easily contained. We are children of the Triune God, and we follow the wind.

Thanks be to God.

Elizabeth A. Johnson, Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in the Theology of God (New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2007), 213-214.

The Olive Branch, 5/27/15

May 28, 2015 By moadmin

Accent on Worship

My birth story is my favorite story to tell. You may have heard it already, but it’s got a surprise part that I love. It’s the part where, despite ultra sounds and medical knowledge, my parents did not know that they were having two babies instead of just one. Surprise! After my twin sister Amy squirmed her way out into the light of the world, no one was anticipating that there was another baby waiting in the wings, umbilical cord wrapped around my neck, pressing for light and air. Alas, with many exclamations of disbelief greeting me, I made my grand entrance. I’d like to consider it a blessing, although I imagine for my parents it was more of a shock.

My twin sister and I share a type of bond that only other twins can know. It’s one of separation and sameness alike. It’s another person who is so similar to you in experience, there from the literal beginning, and sharing in the lifeblood that makes a human a human. We have the same face, the same mannerisms, and dispute certain memories we both share.

This experience as a twin gives me even the smallest sense of what it means to be one, but three. To be whole, separate, complete, but to be a part, a moving piece with no boundaries or borders between the others. This Sunday we acknowledge the triune God, that there is community within God – not outside, but reflecting from within. One of the most grounding phrases for me right now is “in you we live and move and have our being.” It eliminates any separation between us and the God the flows within, before, beyond, and forever around us. This is an encouragement to me on the days when I feel like I’ve let things fall away, or I’m holding back out of worldly fears, or just laziness- the matter that I the triune God in all the ways that the Spirit moves in the world, despite my efforts or lack thereof.

Far from understanding all of the intricacies of the triune God, I will lean in to my understanding of being a twin – of sharing in the special relationship that we have as a guide to how we all, as sisters and brothers under one God the Father live, move, and have our being together in this world.

– Anna Kingman

Sunday Readings

May 31, 2015: The Holy Trinity
Isaiah 6:1-8
Psalm 29
Romans 8:12-17
John 3:1-17
______________

June 7, 2015: 2nd Sunday after Pentecost, 10 B
Genesis 3:8-15
Psalm 130
2 Corinthians 4:13—5:1
Mark 3:20-35

Sunday’s Adult Forum: May 31, 11 a.m.

Lora Dundek and Larry Duncan will share high- lights from the recent Minneapolis Area Synod Assembly.

Book Discussion Group Update

Mount Olive’s Book Discussion Group meets on the second Saturday of each month, at 10:00 am in the West Assembly Area at church. All readers are welcome!

For the June 13 meeting, the Book Discussion group will read The Last Chinese Chef, by Nicole Mones, and for July 11, Bleak House, by Charles Dickens.

Calling All Graduates!

On Sunday, June 14, we will honor our graduates at a reception following the 9:30 a.m. liturgy.
If you are graduating from high school, college, seminary, or another post-secondary school, or if you know of some-one else from Mount Olive who is graduating this spring, please take a moment to notify the church office. We want to be sure that all of our graduates are invited!

Personal-sized Toiletries Needed!

During your summer travels, save the personal-sized toiletries provided by hotels. We are collecting them for distribution to the homeless who stay at Our Saviour’s Shelter. Place them in the designated basket in the coat room.

That Campaign? We’re Still Giving

The “asking” phase of last year’s campaign to restore funds borrowed from Mount Olive’s restricted funds and to create a reserve fund to see us through future general-fund shortfalls ended some months ago, but we continue to receive gifts—and they’re welcome and needed.

Paid gifts now stand at $107,578, and outstanding pledges total $10,600. (It should be noted that close to half the dollars received to date come from households that did not turn in pledge cards!)
What should your priority be if you have outstanding pledges to the campaign and to this year’s general fund and find it difficult to give to both just now? Give to the general fund, from which we pay the congregations ongoing expenses.

To check the status of your campaign pledge or to adjust it, phone or email Cha at the church office.
If you’ve forgotten the exact purpose of the campaign, here’s a quick recap. We’ve repaid what the congregation borrowed from its restricted funds in lean times several years ago, and now have formally made those funds unavailable for future borrowing. We’ve established a reserve fund, now about $26,000, from which we could borrow before needing to turn to more costly short-term loans at the bank. The reserve fund will be minimal—but still important—even if all pledges are fulfilled.

– Donn McLellan, Director of Stewardship

YOUR Neighborhood Garage Sale: June 20, 9am to 3pm

This is a great opportunity for you to step into the journey of BEING THE PRESENCE OF GOD in this neighborhood. Please join in this activity and connect hearts, break barriers and spend some fun time in your church neighborhood.

Actions you can take to participate:
• Be a vendor!

Find some items you no longer need and reserve a parking space size spot in our church parking lot to sell your goods and have fun with neighbors. We will call you a vendor for the day. Our youth will be selling food and drink to raise funds for their mission. Bring your own table.

• Be a volunteer!
Take a shift from 8:00am – Noon or Noon – 4:00pm to assist with set up and hosting for the day. We will welcome the vendors, put up signs to encourage neighbors to stop by and shop and just be available and visible. We open our sanctuary doors to welcome any who want to take a peek inside these walls and see who is here and what is going on. We will also offer restrooms to the vendors.

• Be a promoter and spread the word!
Take an assignment to walk the neighborhood and deliver flyers door to doors and/or post flyers in businesses so people know what Mount Olive is doing on June 20.

Questions? Contact any Open Space team member to join in or for further information: Tim Pipkorn, George Ferguson, Connie Marty, Julie Manuel, Carol Austermann, Paul Nixdorf, Patsy Holtmeier, and Anna Kingman.

Thanks be to God for our life together!

Help Earthquake Victims

From your Global Missions Committee–Our ELCA Lutheran Disaster Response is working with the Lutheran World Federation and Lutheran World Relief on large scale disaster response in Nepal. If you would like to contribute to this effort, please mark either a blue envelope contribution or a donation check ELCA Lutheran Disaster Response and our collected contributions will be forwarded to this important work.

Communion Ministers Needed!

Every week, parishioners bring the Eucharist to Mount Olive members who are unable to join us for liturgy. Additional communion ministers are needed, especially for the summer months. If you are willing and able to bring communion to Mount Olive members in their homes, please contact Tom Graves and Ginny Agresti.

The Ninth Annual BACH TAGE

Bach Tage is Saturday and Sunday, June 6 and June 7. Two public concerts are a featured part of Bach Tage – invite your friends!:

• Saturday, June 6, 4:00 pm: Music of Johann Sebastian Bach presented by the Bach Tage soloists and orchestra

Cantata BWV 196, Der Herr denket an uns, by the Bach Tage soloists and orchestra; Concerto for Oboe and Violin, BWV 1060R, with soloists Marc Levine and Stanley King; and Prelude and Fugue in c minor for organ, by Cantor David Cherwien.

• Sunday, June 7, 4:00 pm: Service of Evening Prayer with Cantata BWV 150, Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, and Buxtehude’s Befiehl dem Engel dass er komm will be performed by the participants in the weekend conference, with soloists and orchestra. Kathy Romey of the University of Minnesota is our guest conductor for the weekend, with Cantor David Cherwien, organist.

Great music at both programs. Tell others, and don’t miss!!

May 31 Adult Forum

On May 31, there will be an opportunity to hear what the Minneapolis Area Synod did during the Synod Assembly a couple of weeks ago. The Assembly theme was “The Word Was Made Flesh and Moved into the Neighborhood.”

The Mount Olive representatives to the Assembly were Lora Dundek and Larry Duncan, and they will present a few observations on the gathering. Meet in the Chapel Lounge following the liturgy, and after you get your coffee, of course!

The Bargain Box

Saturday, August 1 will be a busy day at Mount Olive! We will be helping to get neighborhood children ready for school year with Bargain Box fitting children with new school clothes and distributing school supplies during the Community Meal.

We are looking for donations of cash, new and gently used children’s clothes (no adult clothes, please), school supplies, and backpacks.

If you have time to help with the meal, or assist with clothing or school supplies, please plan to come to the August Community Meals!

– Neighborhood Ministries Committee

Olive Branch Summer Publication

During the summer months of June, July, and August, The Olive Branch is published every other week. June issues will be published on June 4 and June 17. If you have information to be published in these newsletters, please have that information to the church office by Monday, June 1, and Monday, June 15, respectively.

News From the Neighborhood
Anna Kingman

Coming Soon! Summer A.C.T.S. (Adults, Children Teaming to Serve)

This is going to be fun! Neighborhood Ministries Summer Program this year is an opportunity for adults and youth from the congregation and community to work together on “jobs” with meaning and purpose while building relationships and learning from each other. The program will run four half-days a week for four weeks from June 22 through July 16 (10:00 AM to 2:00 PM including a light lunch). Youth ages 9 to 14 can work for four weeks, two half-days a week on either Mondays and Wednesdays or Tuesdays and Thursdays, and earn $30/week. Adults can volunteer to work on a team with youth for any length of time – whatever fits into your schedule. Each week we will focus on a different community project and skill building. The program will culminate on July 17 with a celebration! Job sites include: food packing at CES, Artwork at Courageous heARTS, cooking/baking skills at Mount Olive, Urban gardening, etc!

Do you have a child, grandchild or friend who would like to work this summer, earn a little cash, and learn about service at the same time? Would you like to take two half days off work and be a part of the action? Are you available this summer and looking for a way to serve as a mentor, helper, or kitchen worker extraordinaire? WE NEED YOU!

For applications for participants, sheets are located outside the main office or from Anna
If you are interested in any way, please contact Anna Kingman Coordinator of Neighborhood Outreach and Ministry at 612-827-5919, neighborhood@mountolivechurch.org, or just talk to her on Sunday.

Upcoming Grant-Writing Workshop Opportunity!

Mount Olive is hosting a 2-day grant writing workshop held by Grant Central USA on July 16 – 17, from 9am-4pm. For hosting, we are given two free spots at this event. Are you interested in attending this free workshop? Whether professional, personal, non-profit, or fun, please let Anna know ASAP if you’d like to attend. For more information, visit: http://www.grantwritingclasses.org/gallery.html or contact Anna at church or neighborhood@mountolivechurch.org.

Spanish phrase:

Part of sharing in community is understanding one another through language, culture, or experience. As we explore our community and get to know our neighbors, let’s continue with some helpful language lessons.
English: “We are a part of Mount Olive Church”
Spanish: ”Somos parte de la Iglesia Mount Olive” (Sow-mohs par-tay day lah Eeg-lay-see-ah Mount Olive)
Review: ‘Where is your family from?”’ Spanish:”De donde es su familia?” (Day-dohn-day es sue fah-meel-ee-ah)
Go out and be fearlessly friendly folks!

Needed!

Neighborhood Ministries is currently in need of two things:
• Paper grocery bags with handles (these may be left in the donation area of the coat room)
• 10×10 pop-up canopies to borrow for the Neighbor-hood Garage Sale on June 20 in our parking lot.

Keep Heroin out of Hennepin County!
Learn, share, and support the Keep Heroin Out of Hennepin County Town Hall. This meeting will take place on Thursday, May 28 (tomorrow!), from 7:00- 8:30 pm at the Church of Gitchitwaa Kateri (3045 Park Ave.) right down the street. Heroin, Opiates, and Meth are a problem everywhere, so let’s support the efforts to stamp them out.

Looking for Jesus

May 15, 2015 By moadmin

When Jesus ascended, the disciples stood gazing at the heavens in wonder. A man asked them why they were looking at the heavens. Our work is before us, not above us. Jesus came to show us how to live, to be his hands and feet in the world.

Vicar Meagan McLaughlin
The Ascension of Our Lord
texts: Acts 1:1-11, Psalm 47, Ephesians 1:15-23, Luke 24:44-53

The peace of the risen Christ be with you, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

What a time, Jesus’ friends were having! They had lived and traveled and worked and eaten with Jesus for several years, before he was taken from them and hung on the cross to die. And then, Jesus rose from the dead and came back to them, just when they had given up hope. The disciples are not sure what is going to happen, as Jesus is preparing to leave again. They had seen him several times over the 40 days since Easter, since the day Jesus rose from the dead. And now he is leaving for good. Jesus didn’t overthrow Rome before he died, and the disciples wonder and ask if maybe now he is finally going to restore justice to their world. The disciples still don’t seem to fully understand what Jesus has been doing, all this time.

Jesus responds to their question by telling them that God’s timing is not for them to know, but THEY will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes. He tells the disciples to wait until they have received the Holy Spirit, and then go and share the good news with the world. Jesus did not come so that HE could set things right. Jesus came, and died, and rose again, so that WE might live as Jesus did, so that WE might be empowered to do justice and mercy in this world.

And after Jesus has ascended, the disciples are still sorting through everything that has happened, all that Jesus has told them, as they stare at the place in the air where they last saw Jesus before he disappeared from view. And as they stand there, they get another message about their mission. “Why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” Jesus has gone, and he is coming again, but the real news lies before the disciples, not above them.

The real news for us, too, lies before us, not above us. The promise is there, and we live in hope, knowing Jesus will come again. We know what Jesus did and said while he was here. Our mission is to live as he did, actively, with love, engaged in what is happening in the world in front of us. Our mission is to understand and live knowing that Jesus is all around us!

We are called to look for Jesus among our neighbors. We are called to see Jesus in the man who comes to Mount Olive asking for a laundry voucher. We meet Jesus in the fellow community member learning of a cancer diagnosis. Jesus is among the people of Nepal living in grief for those they have already lost to earthquakes, and living in terror that more will die. We don’t look up to find Jesus, we hear Jesus in the person on the other end of the phone at the pharmacy when we call to renew prescriptions, we see Jesus in the mail carrier delivering our mail. Jesus comes to us every day in our co-workers and classmates, our spouses, our children.

Like the disciples, we can easily forget this simple truth: we find Jesus in everyone we meet, and we are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus, working for justice, caring for those around us. Fortunately, like the disciples, when we forget, we are reminded. “Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?” And the Holy Spirit inspires and empowers us to do what Jesus is calling us to do: go, share the good news. Jesus is alive. Jesus is coming again. And in the meantime, we have work to do, seeking Jesus in the world, doing the work of Jesus in this world.

Today, we stand with the disciples, saying goodbye once again to Jesus-in-flesh-and-blood, re-focusing on what Jesus has taught us, and what we are called to do. On this feast, it is tempting to look at the place we last saw Jesus, rising to God. It is tempting to ask ourselves and each other, when is Jesus coming again? Where, and how? Is this the time when God will finally heal the wrongs of this world? Together with the disciples, we get our answer: “It is not for us to know the day or hour. Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?”

Because Jesus died and rose, we won’t ever be alone, even though we will not physically see him anymore. Today, we anticipate the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, knowing that through the power of the Spirit Jesus will be with us wherever we go, empowering us to do his work in this world. We can, with the disciples, be joyful and expectant, knowing Jesus will come again. And like the disciples, we are sent out from here to carry on the work of Jesus wherever we are.

Jesus’ Ascension is not the end of his work in the world. It is just the beginning. Jesus’ life, teaching, preaching, healing was all to prepare us. Jesus has shown and told us what we are to do, after his Ascension. Have we been listening? Are we looking ahead of us, or are we still looking to the sky? Listen to the voices saying, “Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?” Jesus is coming again, we don’t know when and where and how. In the meantime, let us go out and carry on the work he has given us to do.

Amen.

Looking for Jesus

May 15, 2015 By moadmin

The peace of the risen Christ be with you, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Amen.

Complete Joy

May 10, 2015 By moadmin

We abide in God’s love, and Jesus promised that his joy would be in us and our joy would be complete. We are called to practice joy, and share it with the world.

Vicar Meagan McLaughlin
The Sixth Sunday of Easter, year B
texts: Acts 10:44-48, Psalm 98, 1 John 5:1-6, John 15:9-17

Joy and peace to you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

For Christmas last year, we gave my 2-year old nephew a drum. And not just any drum. We found a lollipop drum, with a long narrow handle and rainbow colored swirls covering the metal surface, complete with a drum stick with a ball at the tip. He opened it and laid the drum on the floor and began to hit it with the stick. The sound was somewhat flat with the drum laying on the floor, so I picked up the drum by the handle and held it for him, and he struck it a couple more times, producing a very satisfying—and LOUD—bang that echoed through the house. I watched his face, and in a flash, there it was—pure joy. Eyes sparkling under his curly mop of hair, mouth wide open with all his teeth showing, giggling as he eagerly took the drum from me and marched around the room as he continued to play it.

My nephew’s unbridled joy didn’t come from achieving anything. His joy wasn’t the result of a carefully crafted plan that went something like, “I would be really, really happy if only . . . .” It didn’t come from our approval—he didn’t need an audience, although he certainly had one! The joy my nephew felt simply bubbled up in him as he reveled in wonder and amazement at the sound he could create by hitting the drum with the stick. And his joy overflowed, filling me with joy as I watched him!

What brings you joy? What does the face of joy look like to you?

Jesus says his joy will be in us, that our joy may be complete. Joy, true joy, comes from God, not from external circumstances. It might be thought of as “grace recognized,” the knowledge of God’s love and care for us. And all of this, Jesus tells us, comes out of knowing we are chosen, abiding in God’s love.

I have been watching my garden beds hopefully, since the snow melted, waiting to see if the Japanese Lilac tree we planted last spring would bloom again. To see if the hosta we planted in the summer would come back this year. And sure enough, our tree is covered in buds waiting to burst into leaves, and even the slowest-growing hosta has poked little fleshy spikes of green above the soil.

And the miracle of it, to me, is that I didn’t have to do anything to make that happen. Thank goodness! And neither, really, did the tree, or the hosta. The tree and hosta simply abided in the water and soil that surrounded and fed them, and they grew. They abided in the sun and warmth, and what looked like dead branches and lifeless dirt have been transformed into new life before our eyes.

As we have heard over and over the last few weeks in the Gospel of John, we, each one of us, abide forever in God’s love. We abide in God’s love, and just like the tree and hosta, we are transformed. We are not slaves any longer, Jesus tells us. And we did not have to do anything to make that happen. We have been chosen. Jesus calls us his friends, his joy is in us, and we are appointed to bear the fruit of joy in the world.

Joy is an emotion, one that often takes us by surprise. It is not within our control, and we don’t always feel it. Joy is also a choice, a spiritual discipline, if you will. We can practice joy by listening to God say to us, in the midst of fear, “Be not afraid, I am with you.” God loves us, and in Jesus God laid down his life for us. Just think about that for a moment. Jesus laid down his life for you. Because Jesus died, we can live. Because Jesus died, and rose, we need never be afraid, because we can face even our own death knowing the promise of the resurrection. Each one of us abides in God’s love, a love so deep that death itself has been banished, forever.

We can practice the discipline of joy by seeking evidence of God’s presence in each moment, seeking evidence that Christ is alive, as Mary and Thomas did. In doing this, we consciously abide in the extravagant love of God in each moment as it comes. We meet God in the present. Children, like my nephew, seem to know this instinctively, finding wonder in things that we adults often overlook. You children can teach us adults a lot about joy!

Jesus tells us to love one another—“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” As Jesus’ friends, we are called to love one another, as God loves us. We are to lay down our lives for each other, to love each other with everything that we are, and that too, is joy.

Just like my nephew’s infectious grin and giggle, joy is contagious, and it grows as it is shared. We as a community are called not just to practice joy ourselves, but to go and tell others. In our baptisms, we celebrate the Spirit of God that pours over everyone, without distinction, lavishing us with gifts meant to be shared with the world. And the greatest gift is the joy of the hope we have in Jesus.

Our joy doesn’t come from achievement or success. It isn’t the result of a carefully crafted plan that sounds something like, “I would be really, really happy if only . . . .” It doesn’t come from the approval of others. Joy comes from simply being in the presence of God who loves us abundantly. We are transformed by God’s love in Jesus into people of the resurrection, knowing that whatever happens in our lives, God is with us, God loves us, and the best is yet to come. And because of that, we can be the presence of God’s love and joy for others. The joy of Jesus is in us, and our joy is complete.

Thanks be to God!