December 16, 2007, Bulletin InsertThird Sunday of Advent - Joy
Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not
leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until
he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And
when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them,
“Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.” Just so, I tell you,
there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over
ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. (Luke 15:4-7)Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God; for, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all people, that all people might repent and come unto him. And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all people unto him on conditions of repentance. And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth. Wherefore you are called to cry repentance unto this people. And if it so be that you should labor all your days, in crying repentance unto this people, and bring save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father! And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy, if you should bring many souls unto me! (Doctrine and Covenants 16:3c-4a)
There is an old campfire song called “If I Were Not Upon the Stage.” The song goes through several other things people could be including a preacher man. The preacher man is then portrayed as saying, “Don’t do this, and don’t do that! Repent! Repent! Repent!” Coupling the ideas of joy and repentance together, as the second scripture does, seems strange if not contradictory to many people. Even so, they really do fit together.
We live in a world that pursues happiness and pleasure. We want to enjoy life and all of its delights. We are always looking for an easier way of doing things so we will have more time and energy to do what we want to do. We crave new experiences. We want to live life to its fullest. Yet we often do so limiting our sense of life at its best to our physical world and appetites. We assume happiness is an end in itself. But happiness isn’t necessarily joy.
According to the dictionary, joy is
the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of
possessing what one desires. It’s
also described as delight or a state of happiness.
George Bernard Shaw suggests a different kind of joy:
This is the true joy
in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one;
the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being
a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and
grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you
happy.*
This is coming close to the idea of joy in the scriptures—being aligned with and participating in God’s great purpose of redeeming humankind and all of creation. Most of us would not speak of the end of our lives as being thrown on the scrap heap, but we can identify with living full lives in the cause of the kingdom of God. And we know the difference between living just for ourselves and our own happiness and living selflessly for the good of all. This leads us back to repentance.
Repentance is about changing directions. It is about realigning our lives. “Repentance requires taking in a whole new point of view; looking at it God's way.” ** The call to “cry repentance” is not about condemning people or being killjoys about the things in life that bring us happiness. It is about inviting people to experience new life and new joy—to see life from God’s perspective and reorient their lives in alignment with God purposes
Let us cry repentance so there may be joy in heaven and on earth as people are brought to their God.