Christian Joy

​Our readings for this morning offer us a picture of two dance parties. Setting them side by side can correct a serious mistake that a lot of people make.
 
We sometimes talk as if sin is fun, and holiness is dreary. But that is getting things exactly backwards. Some kinds of sin might seem fun in the moment. But sin is turning away from God, which means turning away from life and light and love. Over time, sin makes us miserable, not happy.
 
On the other hand, trying to live as God calls us to live can sometimes be hard. It can sometimes involve sacrifice. But in the long run, living as righteously as we can is the only road to true joy.
 
That’s what we see in the parties in our readings this morning.
 
Mark describes the birthday party of King Herod. At first, the party seems innocent enough. His “courtiers and officers and…the leaders of Galilee” were all there. The wine was flowing. The music was playing.
 
As I imagine it, most of the guests were thrilled to be celebrating with the movers and shakers of their world, and enjoying the kinds of luxuries only a king could afford.
 
Enter Herodias. All eyes turn to her, and she dances for the assembled guests. People loved it. Especially Herod.
 
In a burst of good cheer, Herod promises to reward Herodias with whatever she wants. It’s a generous offer, worthy of a king surrounded by his courtiers. At this point, I imagine the guests leaning forward, eager to see what magnificent thing Herodias will request and whether Herod will follow through.
 
It’s all fun. Or so it seems. But things take a dark turn.
 
Imagine the guests’ shock when Herodias asks for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Probably not many liked John, who could be a thorn in the side of the rich and powerful. But I doubt they wanted to see John’s dismembered head in the middle of Herod’s birthday party. Certainly Herod himself didn’t.
 
Mark leaves it to our imagination how Herod’s party ended. I’m guessing everyone went home soon after John’s head was presented, and nobody felt good about what had happened that day.
 
What may have seemed fun at first was clearly, in the end, a turning away from God, and from life, and from love. No true joy there. Even Herod could see that.
 
Contrast that to our Old Testament reading.
 
After a period of great national turmoil, things have settled down in Israel. David is the newly established king of the reunited kingdom, with a shiny new capital in Jerusalem. In order to show his gratitude to God for those blessings, David and his people process the Ark of the Covenant into the city.
 
And what a procession it was! But we can focus just on David himself. We are told that “David and all the house of Israel were dancing with all their might.” In case we miss it the first time, the author repeats that “David danced before the Lord with all his might.” Then we are told that “King David [was] leaping and dancing.” That is a man having fun!
 
When the procession reached Jerusalem, David offered sacrifices to God. Then David blessed his people and distributed food to everyone. It’s a Eucharistic moment.
 
And I imagine how David and his people were feeling at the end of that day. My guess is, a lot better than Herod’s guests at the end of Herod’s birthday party! They had had a holy experience, with God at its center and all the people united in celebration.
 
Now, I would like to think that none of us have been to a party as bad as Herod’s. And, speaking for myself, I have never danced before the Lord with all my might. But I suspect many of us have experienced in less dramatic ways the contrast we see in our readings.
 
Believe it or not, there was a time when I was a party animal. It was a long time ago, back in my early twenties. But Carrie can confirm that it’s true.
 
The parties I attended at that time in my life, and sometimes even hosted, were more or less innocent, especially if our standard is Herod’s party. Nobody died.
 
But you didn’t have to look too closely to see the darkness of our fallen world lurking around the edges of those long-ago parties.
 
At them, I occasionally had the odd sensation of being alone in the middle of a big group of people, like everyone else was having fun while I watched from the outside. People were together. But it didn’t always feel like we were connected by anything meaningful.
 
And, if I was one of the hosts, the next day, as we cleaned up, it was pretty common for us to feel a little empty inside. It wasn’t like we had been at Herod’s party. We had had fun of a sort. But the fun didn’t endure, and there usually wasn’t much real joy in it, especially after the fact.
 
I contrast how I felt after those parties to how I feel on Sunday afternoons.
 
On Sunday mornings, we don’t normally dance with all our might. But in important ways, we do what David and his people did. We consciously enter into God’s presence. We share Eucharist, which is our symbolic feast. We are sacramentally united with God and with each other.
 
Afterwards, I am tired, and usually coming down from a serious sugar high. But almost always, I feel full in the best sense of the word. Here, unlike at my youthful parties, I find God, and life, and love, and joy.
 
That’s true for me virtually every week.
 
But it is especially true this week because this morning is special.
 
Alex LaCamera, age eleven, is being baptized. Alex will be sealed by the power of the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ’s own forever. Afterwards, Alex will have his first communion.
 
That makes this a big day for Alex, and a big day for all of us who welcome Alex into the household of God.
 
But there is even more to it.
 
Tyler is not Alex’ birth father, but he has adopted Alex as his son. The adoption became official in the last week. And Tyler and Alysha and Alex are marking that adoption with vows and a prayer this morning.
 
Alex’ adoption is a beautiful example of what God does for Alex and for all of us in baptism.
 
Here is how our reading from Ephesians puts it. God “chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. God destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ.” And, skipping to the end, baptized Christians are “marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit.”
 
That is cause for celebration. I am still not going to dance with all my might. But this is our kind of party. This is love at work and on display. This is an occasion for true Christian joy. This is the kind of thing that gives life meaning and purpose.
 
Who would be so foolish as to trade the love and joy that come from union with God and each other for the “fun” to be had at Herod’s party?
 
And so, on this blessed day, I give thanks to God for adopting us as God’s own beloved children. I thank God for the sacraments of baptism and Eucharist to celebrate that adoption. And I ask God to fill us with the life and joy that only God makes possible.
 
In Christ’s name. Amen.