Shield the Joyous

Charlotte Collins Reed

Christ Church Episcopal

May 6, 2018

6 Easter B

Once a month, a group of us from Christ Church gather at a local restaurant for Pub Theology.  The evening is open to anyone who is available that night for fellowship and conversation around a theological topic.  Our topics have run the gamut from “Where do we find the Promised Land” to “How do you keep holy the sabbath?” to this week’s question “What does it mean to be Easter people?”  But before we order our food or begin our conversation, we pray the beautiful and ancient evening service of compline.  In my humble opinion, compline contains one of the most beautiful prayers in our prayer book.  The words to the prayer are: “Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work or watch or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep.  Tend the sick, Lord Christ, give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous, and all for your love’s sake. Amen.”   I always think of those who work around the clock in hospitals or in public safety, those who are sick, or persecuted or oppressed, and people in war-torn parts of the world.  But in addition to praying for those in any need or trouble, this prayer also asks God to shield the joyous.  Why would the joyous show up on a list with the weary, the dying, the suffering, and the afflicted?  From what do the joyous need to be shielded? 

I am reminded of that prayer this morning when I hear Jesus say “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.  I have said these things so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.”  Then Jesus goes on to tell the disciples “This is my commandment-that you love one another as I have loved you.”  Like last week, our gospel reading comes from what is called the Farewell Discourse, an extended section of John’s gospel where Jesus prepares the disciples for his death.  In John’s gospel, Jesus is completely aware of his impending crucifixion.  Jesus does not ask God to take this cup from him, as Jesus does in the other gospels.  Instead, Jesus prays for his disciples, and when they go to the garden, Jesus basically goes to turn himself in to those who seek his death. 

Despite knowing all that is to happen to himself and to the disciples, Jesus tells the disciples that they are to love one another as he has loved them so that his joy may be in them and their joy may be complete.  Clearly, joy is not the absence of hardship or suffering, nor is it the kind of joy that wears off after a while, like chocolate joy, sunshine joy, or even holding a baby joy or spending time with loved ones joy.  If Jesus’ joy is to be in the disciples, that joy must have something to do with being connected to Jesus.  But what?

Jesus also says to the disciples “You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer because the servant does not know what the master is doing.  But I have called you friends because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.”  What Jesus has told them, and prepared them for over these several chapters, is that he is leaving them.  Jesus is not calling the disciples friends in a casual, “let’s do lunch” sort of way.  Jesus is calling the disciples his friends in the deepest sense of the word.  The disciples are the people with whom Jesus can bare his soul and be vulnerable.  Jesus can speak to the disciples about abiding in his love, not as a master demands his servant do something, but as a friend implores someone to do what is best for them.  The disciples are now connected to Jesus in a new way, as trusted friends rather than as servants.

The joy Jesus wants for his disciples is the joy of being fully connected to Jesus.  That joy is not the absence of pain or suffering, but instead is a joy that makes us vulnerable to both God and the world as Jesus was willing to be vulnerable.  Jesus’ joy is a joy that takes risks for the gospel as Jesus did.  We see Peter, one of the disciples, taking a risk for the gospel this morning in the reading from Acts as he orders the baptism of all on whom the Spirit has fallen, whether they are Jew or Gentile.  While that action may seem fairly obvious to us, the baptism of Gentiles was a bold and risky move at the time.  Up until that point, baptism was only for Jews who were followers of Jesus.  What barriers do we need to tear down so that others can experience the joy of being connected to Jesus?  What risks is God calling us to take for the sake of the gospel?  Where is God calling us to allow ourselves to be vulnerable?  The joy of Jesus does the gospel work of breaking down barriers so that everyone can experience that joy.

And so, we ask God to shield the joyous.  As people whose joy is complete because we are connected to Jesus, we know that our joy is not simply for our own benefit.  That joy motivates us and sends us out into the world.  In asking God to shield the joyous, we ask God to keep the joyous safe as we make ourselves vulnerable to others in the sharing of our faith.  We ask God to protect the joyous as we take risks for the sake of the gospel.  We ask God to be our defense as we break down barriers that separate us from each other and from God.  We ask God to be our shield as we engage the joyous but sometimes costly work of being Jesus’ friends.

Amen.