04-13-25

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS 
April 13, 2025
Today, in worship, we are going to focus on awakening joy in our lives. Among the many parables Jesus shared, I think about the three parables of lostness (the youth focused on one of the parables during Youth Sunday) found in Luke 15. There we read, “Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” A changed attitude brings joy!  Of course, joy is so much more than happiness. It is a deep and abiding relationship with God that is centered in love, purpose, and value. It begins with the Good News of a God who has chosen to walk with us no matter the circumstance. In each of the parables in Luke 15, there is joy in the one who finds what has been lost. There is purpose in their work! But not only do each of the parables point to how there was value worthy of a search, but upon being found, the one who was lost (sheep, coin, and son) discovers their inherent value. When we learn of God’s love always finding us, no matter how we might have wandered away, and then finding purpose as we share what we have learned, we discover value in ourselves and communicate that value to those who have been lost, felt forgotten, and too often treated as if they have no value. And according to the parable, the joy spreads to the very gates of heaven. As I learn that I am loved unconditionally, discover my purpose within that great gift of love, and find that it is not only joyous to embrace my immeasurable value in the eyes of God, but to make sure others know it as well, my joy finds new depth. 

O God, may the joy I know become the joy my neighbor knows. And may the joy in my neighbor bring renewed joy to my life. Amen.