Joy and Despair in the Modern World
A Reflection based on Isaiah 65:17-25
65:17 For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind.
65:18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight.
65:19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress.
65:20 No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out a lifetime; for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth, and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.
65:21 They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
65:22 They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
65:23 They shall not labour in vain, or bear children for calamity; for they shall be offspring blessed by the LORD– and their descendants as well.
65:24 Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear.
65:25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox; but the serpent–its food shall be dust! They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the LORD. 1
THE REFLECTION – “Joy Begins Now” 2.
My Dutch husband looked at me sternly. “Stop walloping in despair”, he said. Mostly his English was perfect but his description of my state of mind was on the ball and it made me laugh. I was indeed wallowing in my despair. It was some years ago and I was in my first job as a Minister. Nothing was going right at the time and I was losing hope. JOY seemed to be impossible.
In a world filled with sorrow and suffering, wars, and social injustice, the experience of JOY can seem unlikely to say the least. Yet the prophet Isaiah insists that we are to be glad and rejoice forever, and what’s more, these are God’s very words. This is no “Pie in the Sky” claim. It is not about the shallow happiness that comes from getting our own way or achieving success at another’s expense. This Joy is deeply felt in the heart and it comes from God.
Isaiah’s pronouncement to BE JOYFUL is no idle claim. Things were tough in his day. A couple of generations earlier, the people of Israel had returned from their exile in Babylon.3 They had been relieved, happy and hopeful and had embarked on an ambitious plan to rebuild their shattered land. Now, some years later, things were not working out well. Think modern day Syria, post war, with no international aid. Everyone was depressed because they were getting nowhere. Then along comes Isaiah with his outrageous claim that Joy Begins Now; and it seems that God is insisting on this. But it’s impossible, isn’t it?
Human nature doesn’t change much. People in the past, and the present, become discouraged and want to give up in the face of impossible odds. DESPAIR sets in.
DESPAIR is defined in the dictionary 4 as a loss of hope. Despair happens when we realise that nothing will ever be the same again no matter what we do. We can feel despair on a personal level as we get older and have less energy and there are health concerns and friends and family pass away. We may lose hope that anything will ever be good again.
We despair.
When we look at the state of the world and all the injustice and cruelty that exists, it’s understandable that we lose hope that anything will ever be right.
We despair.
When we look at the diminishing numbers in our church; when changes happen and much loved activities and programs have to be given up we lose hope that we will ever be happy with our church again.
We despair.
Despair is a natural response because in a strange way it’s more comfortable and controllable than hope and joy. When there is no hope that things will return to their former state, despair can feel familiar and almost safe as we cling to our sense of hopelessness.
At times we may even despise the idea of JOY. “It’s pie in the sky” we say with contempt. “Joy is unrealistic. Despair is the realistic position.”
Despair is easy. Joy is risky because Joy may disappoint us if things don’t work out. Disappointment is exquisitely painful. It feels worse that just sitting “walloping” in despair. John Bunyan’s book, “The Pilgrims Progress” is the story of the Pilgrim “Christian” and his travels through life. At one point his journey is held up because he sinks into the slough of despond. Bunyan captures the sense of being trapped in a swamp of despair and hopelessness, where we are just stuck.
But Isaiah is having none of it. JOY BEGINS NOW. Believe that things are worth celebrating right now and that everything is going to get better. And that is the word of God, Isaiah claims, because JOY comes from God.
Isaiah has a marvellous dream about the Realm of God. Everyone is joyful. There is no more suffering or hate. He sees a wolf and a lamb (natural enemies) feeding together and a lion eating straw – its predatory nature gone.
This amazing state of affairs is what we have to look forward to. It is not yet with us but we see glimpses of it RIGHT NOW, even in the midst of great suffering and injustice. We see joy, for example, in all expressions of love, and every time there is an unlikely expression of kindness to strangers. (Have a look at the story of Raimondo Arruda Sobrinho and Shalla on Facebook.)
GOD COMMANDS US TO BE JOYFUL BUT HOW CAN WE DO IT?
Here are some steps toward an experience of JOY.
STEP ONE – ASK GOD TO GIVE YOU JOY. We cannot will ourselves to believe, to hope, to experience joy in the face of calamity. We don’t have the strength to do it. Joy is a GIFT from God. Ask God to help you give up the security blanket of despair and allow God to give you back a sense of hope.
STEP TWO – LET GO AND LET GOD. Let go of your ideas and your will and your strength and trust that God’s way will be done.
God will bless us in the way God determines, not in the way that we determine.
God’s blessings will be abundant and more marvellous than anything we can imagine.
God’s blessings are terrific.
Remember God is doing a NEW thing among us and that new thing may surprise us, and even unsettle us. But when we let go of the old ways of the past we can embrace the new with joy.
STEP THREE- LIVE IN THE NOW. Isaiah wanted the people to stop looking backwards. So stop looking over your shoulder and living in the past, and live now. We are to give thanks for the past and maybe confess the past if we’ve done things we are ashamed of. We can’t change what has already happened so leave the past with God.
We are to stop worrying about the future and place the future in God’s hands. We can’t control what is to come. Worrying is pointless. Let God take care of what is to come.
We only have NOW.
Look for God’s peace and joy, in the midst of the suffering and mess of the world. Do it RIGHT NOW.
STEP FOUR – GIVE IT A GO. Try to be joyful. This is God’s command. We have to act as though the marvellous future envisioned by Isaiah has already arrived. Now is the time to rejoice and participate in this world that God is creating.
A HELPFUL HINT to start each day joyfully.
An elderly man I knew had struggled with depression all his life, but each morning when he awoke he would say the words from Psalm 118:24.
“This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
Try it. It works.
ANOTHER HELPFUL HINT
Start each day by giving thanks for all the good things in your life and the world around you. That works too.
CONCLUSION
With God’s help and much prayer, we can choose the path of joy rather than the swamp of despair. It is a choice we need to make over and over again. We are not seeking superficial happiness but the deep emotion of JOY which comes from the conviction that God is good and that God will save us and bless us.
Amen
