Reading on Joy & Sorrow
December 16th, 2021 | Community Updates
On Joy & On Sorrow 
Psalm 138
I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
before the “gods” I will sing your praise.
I will bow down toward your holy temple
and will praise your name
for your unfailing love and your faithfulness,
for you have so exalted your solemn decree
that it surpasses your fame.
When I called, you answered me;
you greatly emboldened me.
May all the kings of the earth praise you, Lord,
when they hear what you have decreed.
May they sing of the ways of the Lord,
for the glory of the Lord is great.
Though the Lord is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly;
though lofty, he sees them from afar.
Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve my life.
You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes;
with your right hand you save me.
The Lord will vindicate me;
your love, Lord, endures forever—
do not abandon the works of your hands.
Here As In Heaven by Elevation Worship
Reader: Some of us come with hearts dashed with disappointment
Together: Let us hear your hope whispering in our ear
Reader: Some of us are deep in the dark of the night
Together: Let us see the sun rising in the distance
Reader: Some of us are exhausted from conflict
Together: Let us find strength in each other
Together: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened; I will give you rest.”
Reader: Some of us come hardened by bitterness
Together: Let your tender touch soften our souls
Reader: Some of us are frightened by the future
Together: Let us find guidance and wisdom from your Spirit
Reader: Some of us are haunted by failures
Together: Let us find healing in your embrace
Together: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened; I will give you rest.”
Reader: Some of us feel defeated and without answers
Together: Let us find an unexpected way forward
Reader: Some of us are stubborn and refuse to surrender
Together: Let us trust your spirit and just let go
Reader: Some of us need to say sorry to another
Together: Let us seek repair and let apologies flow from our lips
Together: In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, amen.
Here As In Heaven by Elevation Worship
Reader: Some of us come with hearts open to new opportunities
Together: Let us hear you guiding us forward
Reader: Some of us are experiencing new light and new life
Together: Let us see the sun and bask in it’s warmth
Reader: Some of us are living in a time of peace
Together: Let us reach out to others in distress
Together: “I have come so that you may have life and have it to the full.”
Reader: Some of us are experiencing great delight in our circumstances
Together: Let your goodness remain in our lives
Reader: Some of us are hopeful for the future
Together: Let us remain in hope and trust in Your guidance
Reader: Some of us are finding joy in success
Together: Let us give thanksgiving and praise for Your blessings
Together: “I have come so that you may have life and have it to the full.”
Reader: Some of us feel victorious and content
Together: Let us continue moving forward in embracing this reality
Reader: Some of us have found complete joy in surrendering
Together: Let us continue in trusting in Your Spirit
Reader: Some of us at peace with our relationships
Together: Let us use our position to empower and equip
Together: “I have come so that you may have life and have it to the full.”
Here As In Heaven by Elevation Worship
“Thanksgiving at the Return of Joy”
For a long season, O Lord,
I considered as an impossibility
What I now know as unshakable truth:
That after loss, pain tragedy, tears,
Sorrow, doubt, defeat, and disarray,
I will hold a more costly and precious joy
Than any I have held before;
And this is not in denial of my loss,
But manifest in the very wreckage of it.
And so I know this unexpected joy
Is no glib and passing fancy.
It is rather the Diamond-hard treasure
Unearthed and recognized
Only wen lesser hopes have collapsed.
It is the knowledge of your unwavering
Faithfulness, O Christ, now experienced
And owned. It is the bright beacon
Of your promises blooming in the night
Like signal fires upon mountain peaks.
I came to the end of my own hope, O God,
And found that your hope held me still.
I saw through the ruin of my own happiness
That your better joy stood firm-
And unassailable fortress that even death could not throw down.
And you have lifted me from where
I lay wounded on war-torn fields, and have
Planted my feet solidly upon your ramparts.
O God, guard my heart against
Any tendency to transmute this joy
Into the guilt of a survivor, as if to delight
In your good gifts were somehow
A betrayal of my love for the one I lost.
No, my Lord, let me never believe
Such a lie. This sense of returning joy
Is no offense against their memory-
Indeed, it blooms from the very seed
Of the hope of a world made new,
And encompasses the expectation
Of their resurrection, and of my own,
And of our jubilant reunion.
And so I will celebrate your goodness in
the land of the living. I will delight in this life,
Even as it is lived in the shadow of death,
For a day will come when all of your children will
rise eternal, taking joy together
In these created spaces.
Yes, in this age I will mourn with all my heart.
And that is right. And yes, I will rejoice
With all my heart as well. For that is also right.
You, O Christ, have faithfully shepherded me,
Your child, through the passages of a world
Broken and fraught with separation and loss,
And you have guided me again to the bright
Remembrance of joy – even of a joy that
Wells up within my sadness.
You have lifted my eyes to the sight of
Sunlight shafts piercing the darkest of clouds,
Gracing in gold a distant hill to which
I will inevitably one day come.
You have whispered to me again and again,
That the end is not the end.
And I have begun to believe it-
Not jus tin my head, but in the blood and
Bones and heart of my own experience.
This surprising joy is like the aroma
of a wedding feast prepared and awaiting
My arrival in some verdant wildflower meadow.
It is the substance of all secret hopes.
It is the assurance that all lost things
Will be found, that grief will be upended, that all
Spaces hollowed by sorrow will become eternal
Repositories of glories untold, and that all things
Will one day be revealed as mysteries of
Mercy and grace, designed for your glory,
O god, and for the great good of your people,
Your bride, your beloved.
O my soul, water this joy with your tears,
Bathe all remaining tears in streams of joy,
for this joy is now small passing thing.
It is the very spring of eternity bursting
From the parched soil of your sorrow,
Flowing forward into eternity. Deep has
Called to deep, and deep has answered.
This joy will not be quenched!
Take joy! O my soul,
Take everlasting joy, and drink!
Let it be so.
Discussion Questions
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What is one word or phrase that stood out to you while reading/listening? Take a moment to reflect on why that word or phrase stood out to you. After a few moments, ask one another questions about why their word or phrase stood out to them.
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What did you feel in your body while reading/listening? Or while discussing your word or phrase? Where did you feel it? Take a moment to do a box prayer.
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What does this liturgy, or your observations, teach you about the nature and character of God?
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What does this liturgy, or your observations, teach you about the nature and character of humanity?
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Great Are You, Lord by All Sons & Daughters
Benediction
May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, hard hearts, half-truths, and superficial relationships so that you may seek truth boldly and live from deep within your heart where God’s Spirit dwells.
May God bless you with anger: at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that we may work for justice, freedom, and peace.
May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that we may reach out our hand in comfort and turn their pain into joy.
May God bless you with foolishness to believe that through Jesus Christ we’ll have the strength and power necessary to create change in this world and in our neighborhood, so that together we will courageously try what others claim cannot be done.
May God bless you with remembrance that we are called to continue God’s redemptive work of love and healing in God’s place, in and through God’s name, in God’s Spirit, continually creating and breathing new life and grace into everything and everyone we touch.
Let it be so.