The journalist, H.L. Mencken, defined Puritanism as “the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, might be happy.” This is in direct opposition to the joyfulness of today’s texts from Zephaniah and the Gospel of John. We struggle in the church with joyfulness, thinking that we ought to clam up and “look holy” – whatever that means. Every generation offers its view of pop culture ignoring the dour for the celebration. Both of these texts offer us windows into an ancient celebration and one from the life of Jesus.
The notion of the wedding celebration smacks the face of the dour unhappiness of Mencken’s definition of Puritanism and reminds me of other joy-filled moments in my life. One such memory comes from my college years. For scores of you who are fans of the Beastie Boys, you will remember a little tune from 1986 “You Got to Fight for Your Right to Party”. That hit song put “party” in the front and center of the pop culture of the day. Patti and I were frequent dancers at our school on the weekends. Songs like this, by the Beastie Boys and others, were joyful and identified the abandonment of all things stodgy.
In the Cana story, we find Jesus cornered and outed by his mother when the hosts run out of wine. In the preaching moment, I will unpack the scandal that such a thing would cause and how the first miracle of Jesus – turning water into wine – is not the focus of the story, although it is cool!
And that cool connects with the notion that it is more than okay to be a follower of Jesus and enjoy a good time with friends and family. All the feelings of joy and celebration are not to be repressed, rather to be expressed! In her book Woven, Meredith Miller reminds us of many places in the Bible that celebrate “joy”. She mentions the seven Festivals throughout the Jewish calendar and celebrated annually: Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles. In the Gospels, there are three found story parables: the Found Sheep, the Found Coin, and the Found Son, to name a few.
Therefore, we can conclude that “joy” in its proper place counters sadness and the reserved outer exterior we put on when we want people to think we are “spiritual” or “religious”. If you are faking “religiosity” or “spirituality”, people are going to see through that easily. When we are honest about the things that come from the heart we are filled with joy! So, do not deny part of your creation as a human being, be joyful, celebrate, and enjoy your life.
Pastor Todd