Party time!
Commentary
Object:
During the Middle Ages, parts of Europe had a wonderfully unusual annual celebration called the Feast of Fools. It didn't occur, as one might expect, on April 1; most often it was celebrated at the turn of the year, the same time as our modern New Year's Eve parties.
At the Feast of Fools, everyone put on masks, sang outrageous songs, and made as much noise as possible. Society was turned upside down: those of low social position put on the clothing of rulers; they were in charge of church and state for a few brief hours. Every "normal" convention of serious life was mocked and lampooned.
Theologian Harvey Cox wrote about the Feast of Fools in a book by that title, calling people in our serious world to find time to celebrate life and love and God again. The pace of our workaday world is a killer, he says. Often the only thing we know how to do is take rushed "vacations" from it all in a mad dash for rest that never comes. What we need, he claims, is a sense of fun and celebration in our lives that keeps us from taking ourselves too seriously and that reminds us on a regular basis of grace and freedom.
You only have to read today's lectionary passages to know that that is good theology. In fact, when God introduced himself to Israel at Mount Sinai, God not only gave them a code of behavior to shape society; God also mandated a regular routine of parties -- weekly sabbaths, seasonal celebrations, and special events that might occur only once in a lifetime. For some, life is a burden. For others, life is putting in time. But for Israel, life was meant to be a party, a festival, a celebration of the grand things an intimate relationship with God could mean.
The idea of life as a celebration is constant throughout scripture. Jesus often compared the kingdom of God to a banquet. He instituted a fellowship meal as the identifying feature of his community. And no picture of eternity could fully describe the visions of glory seen by John from the island of Patmos as well as that of a wedding reception. Those who know God's love and care often say "It is party time!" in the best sense of the term.
Deuteronomy 26:1-11
The festival calendar of daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly markers was not for Israel so much a schedule of holidays that broke up the work seasons into manageable pieces. Rather, it was the rhythm of married life with Yahweh. It was the way in which the covenant relationship was acknowledged daily and weekly, and then encouraged the deep permeation of the relationship as a kind of living testimony through the multiple anniversary remembrances throughout the year.
An ancient Jewish legend declares: "Pentecost is the day on which Torah was given." According to this teaching, it was on the day that eventually became the feast of Pentecost that God gave birth to the Hebrew nation by speaking the divine covenant to them at Mount Sinai.
As the book of Acts makes clear, Pentecost was the day on which the New Testament church was given birth. Just as God spoke through Moses to bring the nation of Israel into being at Mount Sinai, so God spoke through Peter to create the first elements of the new faith community.
It was symbolically powerful for these events to take place on Pentecost. In its first use "Pentecost" was essentially a nickname or label. The feast of Passover was one of the most significant holidays in the Jewish community, since it recalled the manner in which God miraculously brought the nation out of Egypt. Seven Sabbaths and a day later (7 x 7 + 1 = 50), the people celebrated this next major religious event as harvest season began in Palestine. Since it occurred fifty days after the Passover, people started referring to it as the "Feast after Fifty" or Pentecost.
Yet the real significance of the event was more clearly understood through its original name -- Feast of Firstfruits. Regulations for the celebration, briefly stated in today's lectionary reading and fleshed out more fully in Leviticus 23, required all Israelites to assemble at the temple in Jerusalem, bringing with them the first sheaf of grain from their fields. As the time of harvest approached across the land, even before the regular reaping started, a single bundle of grain was cut on each farm and toted off to the temple.
There it was "waved" before the Lord as an offering (Leviticus 23:11), along with two loaves of bread that were baked from the newly harvested grain (Leviticus 23:17). Furthermore, to broaden the impact of the event two male lambs were also brought from the first castings of each flock (Leviticus 23:12).
As these gifts were presented to God in the temple courts, all of the men danced around the altar that carried the smoke of the gifts toward heaven. The crowds of women, children, and elderly men too old to jump around wildly formed a large circle around these revelers and sang Psalms 113-118. According to historical reports, the celebration was often wild and uninhibited.
We might ask what the purpose was behind these religious revelries. The instructions of Moses declared that the feast was a theological testimony. The nation was making a confession that no general harvesting for profit would begin until God had laid claim to the "firstfruits" of the fields and the flocks. By devoting the first of the new produce to God, the people were acknowledging that everything came from God and belonged to God. Whatever benefit they might receive from the harvest that year was a direct result of God's care and providential intervention.
With that background, the significance of Pentecost as the birthday of the Christian church takes on new meaning. A new era of God's kingdom began that day, as God claimed the firstfruits of a worldwide faith harvest. The mission of the church began only after God had first miraculously owned the original converts from each nation represented in Jerusalem that day.
God has big plans for the world and the church. At the dawn of creation God sowed a world of hope and possibility. Evil storms and tragic seasons may have slowed the harvest of greatness on planet earth. But if anyone wants to know what the true and best harvest will look like, she should check out the church.
That may seem funny to us. We would have a hard time seeing the church as a picture of God's profit margins. Yet for God the church is the firstfruits of the great harvest.
Maybe that's why we ought to take ourselves in the church less seriously and more seriously at the same time. Less seriously because there is an awful lot of humor in what God is up to. More seriously because God's humor is the first smile of love that the rest of creation around us needs desperately to see.
Philippians 4:4-9
Paul's reference to the "whole palace" in Philippians 1:13 could possibly indicate a provenance of Caesarea as well as Rome (though not as likely), but his specific note about fellow Christians "who belong to Caesar's household" (4:22) can hardly be taken as anything other than the royal courts of the empire capital. Because of such clues it is very reasonable to understand that Paul's letter to the Philippians was written while he was in Rome between 57 and 59 AD.
There are also some hints that Philippians was written earlier in this stay, and the other "Prison Letters" (Philemon, Colossians, Ephesians) were penned near the end of it. Paul appears to be somewhat settled into prison life as he writes to the Philippians, while it is clear in his note to Philemon that Paul expects to be released soon and free again to travel.
* Sometime in the spring of 57 AD Paul arrived in Rome. Although he was clearly a prisoner, awaiting adjudication before Caesar himself, Paul was also a Roman citizen with rights and freedoms. And since the charges against him were sectarian (Jewish religious practices) rather than capital crimes, Paul was able to establish his own living circumstances within the larger palace precincts while remaining under a type of house arrest.
* Probably late in 57 AD or early in 58, Epaphroditus, who had been serving as pastor or congregational leader in Philippi, brought Paul a rather significant gift from that church (Philippians 2:25; 4:10). It may have included both money and supplies, and greatly enhanced Paul's comfort in his limited circumstances.
* Epaphroditus stayed on with Paul for some time, assisting him as a servant. Unfortunately, Epaphroditus became ill and nearly died (Philippians 2:25-30), and only very recently had returned to full health.
* Paul believed that homesickness for Philippi and the congregation there might have contributed to Epaphroditus' grave malady, and vowed to send him back home as soon as he was able to travel. Of course, a letter of appreciation and encouragement was a necessary part of all these things, so Paul penned Philippians, probably sometime in early 58 AD.
* Paul's letter to the Philippians is the most joyful and uplifting note of the entire New Testament. Even in Paul's confinement, he is filled with delight in his relationships and amazed at what God is doing (Philippians 1). Almost without needing to do so, Paul reminds the congregation of the great example of Jesus, who gave up everything in order to express the love of God to us (Philippians 2:1-18). Another example of this selfless care is found in both Timothy and Epaphroditus, each of whom had given up much in order to serve others, especially the faith community in Philippi (Philippians 2:19-30). More encouragement to serve follows, with Paul reflecting on his own changes of behavior and value systems, once he was gripped by the love of God in Jesus (Philippians 3). A few personal instructions and notes of appreciation round out the letter (Philippians 4).
Although other letters of Paul are more intentionally "theological," this small epistle has a particularly wonderful poetic reflection encapsulating the entire ministry of Christ in a few lines (Philippians 2:6-11). Because of its condensed and hymnic character, some think Paul brought these verses in from an early popular Christian song or creedal statement. Perhaps so. Nevertheless, the whole of this short book is lyrical and reaches for the superlatives in life through lines that are both economical and majestic in today's lectionary passage.
John 6:25-35
Food is a very big part of our lives. Hunger can be a time clock ticking inside, regulating the hours of our days with calculated passion. Or it can be a biologic need, demanding fuel stops on our restless race. Even more, hunger functions as a psychological drive, forcing us to crave chocolate when we lack love, or driving us to drink, drugs, and sex.
But deeper than all of these things is our search for meaning beyond the drudgery and repetition of our daily activities. It is the spiritual need each person has to know that she is not alone in this gigantic and sometimes unkind maze of life.
Hunger is what the writer of Ecclesiastes means when he said that God has "set eternity in the hearts of men" (3:11). Hunger is the pilgrimage of the soul. In other words, the old adage is true: "You are what you eat."
So life beckons us to follow the latest fad, to search for the newest fulfillment, to seek the richest treasure. We consume and devour until we are fed up with life, so to speak. And still we want more.
Then a word comes to us from heaven. In part it is a word of judgment against us: since you are what you eat, take a look at what it is that you are consuming. If you eat garbage, you become garbage. If you feast on pornography, as Ted Bundy said in his dying confessions to James Dobson, you become filthy. If you think that wealth can satisfy the cravings of your soul, you will become a calculator and a penny-pincher. If the adoration of the community feeds the hunger of your psyche, you refashion yourself into a code of law and ethics, toeing the line without compassion. If another high is what it takes to get you through the stomach cramps of another day you will shoot up or smoke up or pop some more or tease yourself with illicit sex, and end up becoming a bag of used chemicals and a bottle of cheap thrills.
You are hungry, and you are what you eat. The cravings of your soul will not be stilled. A meal will reset the alarm of your biological clock. Food will keep your hungry body going. Potato chips and a soda will stop the munchies for a while. But what are you eating for your soul?
This is the beauty and simplicity of what Jesus told people in today's gospel reading: "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." Through the symbolic nourishment of spiritual depth and richness, something satisfying begins to grow inside. Tasting the things that make heaven shine and earth blossom, we begin to find the values and goals and visions and dreams of God giving shape to our lives.
I thought of that when my daughters asked me who knew me better than anyone else in life. They suggested several possibilities: my colleagues at work, my parents, my friends. All along, of course, they knew that it was their mother, my wife, who knew me best. Yet how did she know me so well, they asked. As we probed the matter further we finally agreed that it had to be by my actions and attitudes toward her. Whatever lives in me eventually comes out from me in words, deeds, and perspectives. I cannot hide long what grows powerfully inside.
Augustine knew this as he reflected on the spiritual character of our race. "Man is one of your creatures, Lord," he said, "and his instinct is to praise you. The thought of you stirs him so deeply that he cannot be content unless he praises you, because you made us for yourself and our hearts find no peace until they rest in you."
What are you eating today? Tomorrow and next week those who are close to you will know whether there was any eternal nourishment in your diet.
Application
Sometimes we distort what it means to party, particularly on "secular" holidays like Thanksgiving. Trimalchio's banquet, staged for the Emperor Nero in AD 60, was outlandish in its overabundance of food -- guests were required to regurgitate what they'd eaten in between each of the four courses in order to be able to go back to the table and gorge again. In like manner, the overwhelming proportions of a feast celebrating the installation of the Archbishop of York, England, in 1470 (10 fat oxen, 6 wild bulls, 300 pigs, 300 hogs, 3,000 calves, plus approximately 25,000 deer, birds, and rabbits, just to mention the meat dishes) led to a later prohibition guarding against clerical excess at the table. Too often our celebrations of Thanksgiving begin and end only with food.
That party does not focus on one's own accomplishments. When the hostess noticed George Bernard Shaw standing alone in a corner at her celebration, she worriedly asked him if he was enjoying himself. "Certainly," he replied, "there's nothing else here to enjoy!"
The Bible's idea of a party involves keeping our eyes on life as God's gift and love as God's treat. It doesn't take away all the inconveniences and hurts we experience from day to day. Nor does it keep us from being drained at times by the dullness of some of our routines. It does put a framework around life that calls for joy in living, hope in expectation, and delight in salvation.
And that may be the best reason of all to celebrate Thanksgiving today.
An Alternative Application
Philippians 4:4-9. In the East, the story is told of an extremely wealthy king who ruled a vast domain from magnificent palaces. He had the respect of his citizens and peace within his borders.
But for some perplexing reason he was quite unhappy. The king's doctors could find no medical problem. Neither could psychiatrists figure it out. But one old wise man, an advisor to the king's late father, had this advice: "There is but a single cure for the king. Your majesty must sleep one night in the shirt of a happy man!"
Strange advice, to be sure! But the desperate king needed only a hint of finding release from his malady to command that the search begin. So his messengers scoured the land, looking for one truly happy person.
The messengers could find no one. Not one happy person! Everyone had experienced days of sorrow and times of mourning. Many could laugh for a moment, but sooner or later each person would settle back to reflect on the pain in his or her life.
Finally, the messengers happened upon a beggar next to the road leading back to the palace. He wore a smile. He giggled uncontrollably. He laughed at life as it surrounded him. Here was a truly happy man!
"Give us your shirt," the messengers demanded. "The king has need of it!"
But the fellow only doubled over with spasms of hilarity. "I'm sorry!" he gasped, between fits of laughter. "You see, I have no shirt."
The English language has a number of similar words that relate to good feelings inside. Pleasure, for instance, reflects our delighted response to sensations that stimulate us. Happiness surrounds us because of certain happenings in our lives. And then there's joy.
In a sense, pleasure is an "it" word; it mostly has to do with things that touch our senses. And happiness is a "me" word; its primary focus is my response to events that come and go in my life. But joy is really a "we" word; it usually reflects what happens between people, between me and you, between me and God.
Joy starts in the heart. It's a relational word. Robert Rainy, onetime head of New College in Edinburgh, Scotland, used to say that "joy is the flag which is flown from the castle of the heart when the king is in residence there!"
Paul would agree.
If joy starts in the heart, it is refined in the mind. It is more than an emotion that comes and goes. It is deeper than a reflexive response that needs the right kind of stimulation. It is an act of the will. "Rejoice in the LORD!" commands Paul. Joy grows from heartfelt relationships. But it is also a choice of the mind.
Someone once attributed to the Christian church "the haunting fear that someone, somewhere may be happy!" How sad! And in 1769, Alexander Cruden, who was one of the most meticulous Bible students of his day, wrote: "To laugh is to be merry in a sinful manner." How tedious and tasteless!
John Wesley was more on track with Paul when he said, "Sour godliness is the devil's religion." Such an attitude doesn't belong in a heart responsive to God's love. It has no place in a mind that hears the psalmist's command.
Every language reflects the culture that produces it. Some Eskimo languages have more than thirty different words for "snow." Some African tribal tongues have no word for "ocean." And Hebrew, the language of Paul's Jewish background, has 27 different words for "joy" and "rejoicing." Can you imagine that? Joy was as much a part of the Israelite culture as life itself!
That is the heritage of the Christian church. What other religion in the world has such a tradition of music and singing and joyful worship? Some time ago a woman came to our church on a Sunday for the very first time. She had never been to a Christian worship service before in her life. What struck her most? "You sing so much!" she said.
Right!
At the Feast of Fools, everyone put on masks, sang outrageous songs, and made as much noise as possible. Society was turned upside down: those of low social position put on the clothing of rulers; they were in charge of church and state for a few brief hours. Every "normal" convention of serious life was mocked and lampooned.
Theologian Harvey Cox wrote about the Feast of Fools in a book by that title, calling people in our serious world to find time to celebrate life and love and God again. The pace of our workaday world is a killer, he says. Often the only thing we know how to do is take rushed "vacations" from it all in a mad dash for rest that never comes. What we need, he claims, is a sense of fun and celebration in our lives that keeps us from taking ourselves too seriously and that reminds us on a regular basis of grace and freedom.
You only have to read today's lectionary passages to know that that is good theology. In fact, when God introduced himself to Israel at Mount Sinai, God not only gave them a code of behavior to shape society; God also mandated a regular routine of parties -- weekly sabbaths, seasonal celebrations, and special events that might occur only once in a lifetime. For some, life is a burden. For others, life is putting in time. But for Israel, life was meant to be a party, a festival, a celebration of the grand things an intimate relationship with God could mean.
The idea of life as a celebration is constant throughout scripture. Jesus often compared the kingdom of God to a banquet. He instituted a fellowship meal as the identifying feature of his community. And no picture of eternity could fully describe the visions of glory seen by John from the island of Patmos as well as that of a wedding reception. Those who know God's love and care often say "It is party time!" in the best sense of the term.
Deuteronomy 26:1-11
The festival calendar of daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly markers was not for Israel so much a schedule of holidays that broke up the work seasons into manageable pieces. Rather, it was the rhythm of married life with Yahweh. It was the way in which the covenant relationship was acknowledged daily and weekly, and then encouraged the deep permeation of the relationship as a kind of living testimony through the multiple anniversary remembrances throughout the year.
An ancient Jewish legend declares: "Pentecost is the day on which Torah was given." According to this teaching, it was on the day that eventually became the feast of Pentecost that God gave birth to the Hebrew nation by speaking the divine covenant to them at Mount Sinai.
As the book of Acts makes clear, Pentecost was the day on which the New Testament church was given birth. Just as God spoke through Moses to bring the nation of Israel into being at Mount Sinai, so God spoke through Peter to create the first elements of the new faith community.
It was symbolically powerful for these events to take place on Pentecost. In its first use "Pentecost" was essentially a nickname or label. The feast of Passover was one of the most significant holidays in the Jewish community, since it recalled the manner in which God miraculously brought the nation out of Egypt. Seven Sabbaths and a day later (7 x 7 + 1 = 50), the people celebrated this next major religious event as harvest season began in Palestine. Since it occurred fifty days after the Passover, people started referring to it as the "Feast after Fifty" or Pentecost.
Yet the real significance of the event was more clearly understood through its original name -- Feast of Firstfruits. Regulations for the celebration, briefly stated in today's lectionary reading and fleshed out more fully in Leviticus 23, required all Israelites to assemble at the temple in Jerusalem, bringing with them the first sheaf of grain from their fields. As the time of harvest approached across the land, even before the regular reaping started, a single bundle of grain was cut on each farm and toted off to the temple.
There it was "waved" before the Lord as an offering (Leviticus 23:11), along with two loaves of bread that were baked from the newly harvested grain (Leviticus 23:17). Furthermore, to broaden the impact of the event two male lambs were also brought from the first castings of each flock (Leviticus 23:12).
As these gifts were presented to God in the temple courts, all of the men danced around the altar that carried the smoke of the gifts toward heaven. The crowds of women, children, and elderly men too old to jump around wildly formed a large circle around these revelers and sang Psalms 113-118. According to historical reports, the celebration was often wild and uninhibited.
We might ask what the purpose was behind these religious revelries. The instructions of Moses declared that the feast was a theological testimony. The nation was making a confession that no general harvesting for profit would begin until God had laid claim to the "firstfruits" of the fields and the flocks. By devoting the first of the new produce to God, the people were acknowledging that everything came from God and belonged to God. Whatever benefit they might receive from the harvest that year was a direct result of God's care and providential intervention.
With that background, the significance of Pentecost as the birthday of the Christian church takes on new meaning. A new era of God's kingdom began that day, as God claimed the firstfruits of a worldwide faith harvest. The mission of the church began only after God had first miraculously owned the original converts from each nation represented in Jerusalem that day.
God has big plans for the world and the church. At the dawn of creation God sowed a world of hope and possibility. Evil storms and tragic seasons may have slowed the harvest of greatness on planet earth. But if anyone wants to know what the true and best harvest will look like, she should check out the church.
That may seem funny to us. We would have a hard time seeing the church as a picture of God's profit margins. Yet for God the church is the firstfruits of the great harvest.
Maybe that's why we ought to take ourselves in the church less seriously and more seriously at the same time. Less seriously because there is an awful lot of humor in what God is up to. More seriously because God's humor is the first smile of love that the rest of creation around us needs desperately to see.
Philippians 4:4-9
Paul's reference to the "whole palace" in Philippians 1:13 could possibly indicate a provenance of Caesarea as well as Rome (though not as likely), but his specific note about fellow Christians "who belong to Caesar's household" (4:22) can hardly be taken as anything other than the royal courts of the empire capital. Because of such clues it is very reasonable to understand that Paul's letter to the Philippians was written while he was in Rome between 57 and 59 AD.
There are also some hints that Philippians was written earlier in this stay, and the other "Prison Letters" (Philemon, Colossians, Ephesians) were penned near the end of it. Paul appears to be somewhat settled into prison life as he writes to the Philippians, while it is clear in his note to Philemon that Paul expects to be released soon and free again to travel.
* Sometime in the spring of 57 AD Paul arrived in Rome. Although he was clearly a prisoner, awaiting adjudication before Caesar himself, Paul was also a Roman citizen with rights and freedoms. And since the charges against him were sectarian (Jewish religious practices) rather than capital crimes, Paul was able to establish his own living circumstances within the larger palace precincts while remaining under a type of house arrest.
* Probably late in 57 AD or early in 58, Epaphroditus, who had been serving as pastor or congregational leader in Philippi, brought Paul a rather significant gift from that church (Philippians 2:25; 4:10). It may have included both money and supplies, and greatly enhanced Paul's comfort in his limited circumstances.
* Epaphroditus stayed on with Paul for some time, assisting him as a servant. Unfortunately, Epaphroditus became ill and nearly died (Philippians 2:25-30), and only very recently had returned to full health.
* Paul believed that homesickness for Philippi and the congregation there might have contributed to Epaphroditus' grave malady, and vowed to send him back home as soon as he was able to travel. Of course, a letter of appreciation and encouragement was a necessary part of all these things, so Paul penned Philippians, probably sometime in early 58 AD.
* Paul's letter to the Philippians is the most joyful and uplifting note of the entire New Testament. Even in Paul's confinement, he is filled with delight in his relationships and amazed at what God is doing (Philippians 1). Almost without needing to do so, Paul reminds the congregation of the great example of Jesus, who gave up everything in order to express the love of God to us (Philippians 2:1-18). Another example of this selfless care is found in both Timothy and Epaphroditus, each of whom had given up much in order to serve others, especially the faith community in Philippi (Philippians 2:19-30). More encouragement to serve follows, with Paul reflecting on his own changes of behavior and value systems, once he was gripped by the love of God in Jesus (Philippians 3). A few personal instructions and notes of appreciation round out the letter (Philippians 4).
Although other letters of Paul are more intentionally "theological," this small epistle has a particularly wonderful poetic reflection encapsulating the entire ministry of Christ in a few lines (Philippians 2:6-11). Because of its condensed and hymnic character, some think Paul brought these verses in from an early popular Christian song or creedal statement. Perhaps so. Nevertheless, the whole of this short book is lyrical and reaches for the superlatives in life through lines that are both economical and majestic in today's lectionary passage.
John 6:25-35
Food is a very big part of our lives. Hunger can be a time clock ticking inside, regulating the hours of our days with calculated passion. Or it can be a biologic need, demanding fuel stops on our restless race. Even more, hunger functions as a psychological drive, forcing us to crave chocolate when we lack love, or driving us to drink, drugs, and sex.
But deeper than all of these things is our search for meaning beyond the drudgery and repetition of our daily activities. It is the spiritual need each person has to know that she is not alone in this gigantic and sometimes unkind maze of life.
Hunger is what the writer of Ecclesiastes means when he said that God has "set eternity in the hearts of men" (3:11). Hunger is the pilgrimage of the soul. In other words, the old adage is true: "You are what you eat."
So life beckons us to follow the latest fad, to search for the newest fulfillment, to seek the richest treasure. We consume and devour until we are fed up with life, so to speak. And still we want more.
Then a word comes to us from heaven. In part it is a word of judgment against us: since you are what you eat, take a look at what it is that you are consuming. If you eat garbage, you become garbage. If you feast on pornography, as Ted Bundy said in his dying confessions to James Dobson, you become filthy. If you think that wealth can satisfy the cravings of your soul, you will become a calculator and a penny-pincher. If the adoration of the community feeds the hunger of your psyche, you refashion yourself into a code of law and ethics, toeing the line without compassion. If another high is what it takes to get you through the stomach cramps of another day you will shoot up or smoke up or pop some more or tease yourself with illicit sex, and end up becoming a bag of used chemicals and a bottle of cheap thrills.
You are hungry, and you are what you eat. The cravings of your soul will not be stilled. A meal will reset the alarm of your biological clock. Food will keep your hungry body going. Potato chips and a soda will stop the munchies for a while. But what are you eating for your soul?
This is the beauty and simplicity of what Jesus told people in today's gospel reading: "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." Through the symbolic nourishment of spiritual depth and richness, something satisfying begins to grow inside. Tasting the things that make heaven shine and earth blossom, we begin to find the values and goals and visions and dreams of God giving shape to our lives.
I thought of that when my daughters asked me who knew me better than anyone else in life. They suggested several possibilities: my colleagues at work, my parents, my friends. All along, of course, they knew that it was their mother, my wife, who knew me best. Yet how did she know me so well, they asked. As we probed the matter further we finally agreed that it had to be by my actions and attitudes toward her. Whatever lives in me eventually comes out from me in words, deeds, and perspectives. I cannot hide long what grows powerfully inside.
Augustine knew this as he reflected on the spiritual character of our race. "Man is one of your creatures, Lord," he said, "and his instinct is to praise you. The thought of you stirs him so deeply that he cannot be content unless he praises you, because you made us for yourself and our hearts find no peace until they rest in you."
What are you eating today? Tomorrow and next week those who are close to you will know whether there was any eternal nourishment in your diet.
Application
Sometimes we distort what it means to party, particularly on "secular" holidays like Thanksgiving. Trimalchio's banquet, staged for the Emperor Nero in AD 60, was outlandish in its overabundance of food -- guests were required to regurgitate what they'd eaten in between each of the four courses in order to be able to go back to the table and gorge again. In like manner, the overwhelming proportions of a feast celebrating the installation of the Archbishop of York, England, in 1470 (10 fat oxen, 6 wild bulls, 300 pigs, 300 hogs, 3,000 calves, plus approximately 25,000 deer, birds, and rabbits, just to mention the meat dishes) led to a later prohibition guarding against clerical excess at the table. Too often our celebrations of Thanksgiving begin and end only with food.
That party does not focus on one's own accomplishments. When the hostess noticed George Bernard Shaw standing alone in a corner at her celebration, she worriedly asked him if he was enjoying himself. "Certainly," he replied, "there's nothing else here to enjoy!"
The Bible's idea of a party involves keeping our eyes on life as God's gift and love as God's treat. It doesn't take away all the inconveniences and hurts we experience from day to day. Nor does it keep us from being drained at times by the dullness of some of our routines. It does put a framework around life that calls for joy in living, hope in expectation, and delight in salvation.
And that may be the best reason of all to celebrate Thanksgiving today.
An Alternative Application
Philippians 4:4-9. In the East, the story is told of an extremely wealthy king who ruled a vast domain from magnificent palaces. He had the respect of his citizens and peace within his borders.
But for some perplexing reason he was quite unhappy. The king's doctors could find no medical problem. Neither could psychiatrists figure it out. But one old wise man, an advisor to the king's late father, had this advice: "There is but a single cure for the king. Your majesty must sleep one night in the shirt of a happy man!"
Strange advice, to be sure! But the desperate king needed only a hint of finding release from his malady to command that the search begin. So his messengers scoured the land, looking for one truly happy person.
The messengers could find no one. Not one happy person! Everyone had experienced days of sorrow and times of mourning. Many could laugh for a moment, but sooner or later each person would settle back to reflect on the pain in his or her life.
Finally, the messengers happened upon a beggar next to the road leading back to the palace. He wore a smile. He giggled uncontrollably. He laughed at life as it surrounded him. Here was a truly happy man!
"Give us your shirt," the messengers demanded. "The king has need of it!"
But the fellow only doubled over with spasms of hilarity. "I'm sorry!" he gasped, between fits of laughter. "You see, I have no shirt."
The English language has a number of similar words that relate to good feelings inside. Pleasure, for instance, reflects our delighted response to sensations that stimulate us. Happiness surrounds us because of certain happenings in our lives. And then there's joy.
In a sense, pleasure is an "it" word; it mostly has to do with things that touch our senses. And happiness is a "me" word; its primary focus is my response to events that come and go in my life. But joy is really a "we" word; it usually reflects what happens between people, between me and you, between me and God.
Joy starts in the heart. It's a relational word. Robert Rainy, onetime head of New College in Edinburgh, Scotland, used to say that "joy is the flag which is flown from the castle of the heart when the king is in residence there!"
Paul would agree.
If joy starts in the heart, it is refined in the mind. It is more than an emotion that comes and goes. It is deeper than a reflexive response that needs the right kind of stimulation. It is an act of the will. "Rejoice in the LORD!" commands Paul. Joy grows from heartfelt relationships. But it is also a choice of the mind.
Someone once attributed to the Christian church "the haunting fear that someone, somewhere may be happy!" How sad! And in 1769, Alexander Cruden, who was one of the most meticulous Bible students of his day, wrote: "To laugh is to be merry in a sinful manner." How tedious and tasteless!
John Wesley was more on track with Paul when he said, "Sour godliness is the devil's religion." Such an attitude doesn't belong in a heart responsive to God's love. It has no place in a mind that hears the psalmist's command.
Every language reflects the culture that produces it. Some Eskimo languages have more than thirty different words for "snow." Some African tribal tongues have no word for "ocean." And Hebrew, the language of Paul's Jewish background, has 27 different words for "joy" and "rejoicing." Can you imagine that? Joy was as much a part of the Israelite culture as life itself!
That is the heritage of the Christian church. What other religion in the world has such a tradition of music and singing and joyful worship? Some time ago a woman came to our church on a Sunday for the very first time. She had never been to a Christian worship service before in her life. What struck her most? "You sing so much!" she said.
Right!
