Isa. 61:1-4; 8-11, Luke 1:47-55                        Choosing Joy?                                   E/DC               Dec.11, 2005

1. My parents called me Myriam ? you probably know me by my Greek name Mary.  It?s significant I think that they named me Myriam, meaning rebellion.  In these dark times of intense poverty and political oppression, our lives at the whims of tyrants, it?s no wonder parents name their daughter ?hope of change?.  But my parents didn?t plan on my turning things upside down quite this much!

2. Maybe it was the name that got me thinking, listening for God?s will.  Watching.  Mind alive I reached out, inviting God to inspire.  Then the strangest thing happened.  Was it a dream?  ?Greetings, favoured one.  God has chosen you to bear a son, Jesus, which means God saves.?  ?How is this, I know not!? I cried, stumbling in God?s mystery.  ?But you speak and all things come together.  I will as you say let it be.?  In my heart then I knew I would have this baby.  God?s Holy Yes to our aching need. My terrified yes.  A child who would grow to live Holy Love in ways that would be life ? changing.

3. Well it certainly changed my life.  I walk down the streets, people scatter, mouths wagging, self-satisfied smirks scarring their faces.  My brother caught in embarrassment and rage, yelled, ?Who do you think you are? A silly peasant girl!  Why would not the Holy One of Israel Blessed Be have chosen a princess in a palace or the daughter of a Jerusalem priest, or even of a wealthy merchant if a woman were even needed to bear the Messiah!  My mother tried to understand, to believe me, but tired brown eyes told the worry.  And Joseph, my poor beloved Joseph.  The things his mother said to me.  I don?t even want to guess at what she and others said to him.  We?d never live in her home, she was very clear about that.  And then Joseph had a dream.  Holy is the name of the One who speaks in dreams.  Making clear the choices for people who seek to know the way.  God has come in vivid imagery to the help of my companion and I.  Reminding us that God the dreamer never leaves us to walk the pathway alone.  Joseph promised me it would be all right.  I wondered how?

4. My family sent me off to visit Elizabeth, for their sake, for my sake.  Elizabeth, dear, Elizabeth, a cousin, but so much more.  You know relationships that defy definition?  She was much more like my strong mom.  Laughing, praying, talking with me when she came to visit.  As I walked the long hill journey, I wondered.  Would I see the same shame in her eyes that unwillingly reproached me from my family?s eyes?  Elizabeth, one accepting look, a cry of joy and I fell into the embrace of loving arms.  Holding me close, stroking my head, laughing and crying and babbling about how blessed I was and how her baby leaped for joy in her womb.  Then it all poured out, my fear, my shame, what if I was wrong?  Why indeed would the Holy One choose one of so little worth?

5. Elizabeth laughed.  Maybe because you said, ?Yes??  Then she continued.  ?You heard the scripture last week??  ?You mean Hannah?s song?? I asked, ?When she realized how God could use her longed for son??  Elizabeth nodded.  ?It seems like God?s idea of worth is way different from ours.  Achievements of the proud and mighty are only hollow compared to those like you who have opened your heart for loving choices. Often those who groan about eating too much, feel unsatisfied soon after, while those who eat a simple meal with gratitude are nourished for the day.  You have chosen to birth love and in doing that you?re choosing joy.?  ?How can I choose joy?? I exploded, ?when everything is so dark and complicated and difficult??

6. Elizabeth took my hand and began.  ?What do you do when it?s dark??  ?Look for a light!?  ?Of course.?  She continued, ?Do you remember Anna??  I searched my memories of other visits.  ?Oh, of course.?  ?After her husband died and she became so poverty stricken and bitter and whiney, I had a hard time to visit her.  I went once and her nightgown was gaping at the front, covered in the remains of meals past.  She began to tell her painful story again, and it took everything possible to keep me sitting there.  She seemed so ugly to me, and when I let that thought reach daylight I felt so guilty.  The next morning, I sat at breakfast, looking out at a tree, devoid of leaves in the early winter morning light.  The thought crossed my mind how barren and ugly it seemed.  I turned my eyes to my breakfast, and when I looked up again, the sun had come up further.  The tree was bathed in light, and was beautiful.  Ashamed but greatly relieved I recognized a valuable lesson.  What seemed to have no worth in my eyes, when seen through the light, is beautiful.  I was able to see her many times, and come to deeply love her.  Choosing to look at things through the Light of the Holy One gives the possibility of joy.?

7. ?Worth is a funny thing, isn?t it??  Think about what the High Priests are saying about the Roman Occupation being worth thousands of talents in temple contributions.  It?s all about money.  No concern with the consequences.  Peasants taxed past endurance, our men conscripted into the army while they?re still boys, petty tyrants snatching precious lives at a whim.  How can you put a monetary value on that?  That?s why our prophets have always spoken about how God yearns to change the hearts of the proud and powerful.  So they can see what?s really important.  And it?s not just the proud and powerful in government.  I believe it?s also in families.  Those who have the power to choke off live-giving family if you are different or if something has happened that you can?t explain.  She looked at me and I knew her meaning.

8. She went on.  ?I heard one of the rich merchants in the square say, ?Whatever I want I get.  That?s the beauty of being worth 2000 talents.  I thoroughly recommend it for everyone.  He totally missed the point.  We can?t all amass that much of a fortune.  It?s not possible.  And he?s not worth that much money.  He lays claim to it.  His worth is exactly that of yours and mine.  Infinite ? as a beloved child of the Most High.  When we can see our worth as God?s child and equal to all others no matter what our work or our bank account is, we?re in a good position to choose joy.

9. ?You see, Elizabeth continued, ?Joy is not about having and getting, but the joy that comes from freeing, healing, restoring, sharing, transforming.  Our people have learned down through the centuries to celebrate even when things have not yet come about.  They are willing to make a claim on the future that transforms the present.  Oh of course not all of us.?  She laughed.  ?Old Josiah?s philosophy is to look for the worst.  He proudly proclaims that if he?s expecting the worst, and something good happens, he can celebrate!  What he doesn?t seem to realize is that those who dare to expect the best can still celebrate when it happens!  And we don?t eat away at our health and everyone else?s patience!  Sometimes those who look for the worst even miss the good.  Or see darkness that?s not there.  It does take courage to look for joy in the midst of circumstances that are difficult and to give thanks and celebrate all God has done and will do.  And to believe that God continues to act.

10. ?That?s what you meant about me choosing joy, wasn?t it??  She nodded.  And then, something tight burst, and I chose to reject the powers of hopelessness and confusion that had bound me.  I started to sing.  The song of my people made new because now I get it!  God is at work in the world.  The achievements of the proud and mighty are hollow compared to those who open their hearts for simple loving choices. Those who have too much may feel unsatisfied, while those who have little and are grateful may feel abundantly blessed. Rejoicing is about choosing freedom and new life, even when we don?t yet see it. Choosing to live right now as people healed and transformed, completely changes the present.

11. I will choose joy because it will be the Holy strength to get me through these next grueling months.  I will look for Holy Light to transform what I might see as not having worth.  I will see my own worth, not as the world sees it, but in that Holy Light.  I will look for goodness, God at work, even when I don?t know how it could possibly be.  I will choose joy!  How about you?