December 16th, 2024
by Pastor Jim Szeyller
by Pastor Jim Szeyller
Leaping For Joy
Isaiah 12: 2 – 6
Luke 1: 39 – 55
December 15, 2024
Advent III
I am always struck by the measurements that scientists are able to make and then declare as fact. For example, those who are attending our Wednesday evening Advent classes will remember from last Wednesday night that social scientists have been able to document the decline in our adult attention spans.
We were talking about waiting and how difficult that is for many of us. Part of that difficulty comes from our declining attention spans. That should come as no surprise to any of us. John Ortberg, in one of his books on prayer, talks about the assault of what he calls chattering monkeys on his prayer life.
Ortberg, and I think many of us, bemoan the fact that as soon as he sits down with the intent to be in prayer a million things flash into his brain, the chattering monkeys he calls them, all trying to distract him from his intended activity of prayer.
We can probably all think of those chattering monkeys, those distractions that seek to pull us away from our intended thoughts. According to a report I read this week, adult males – in general, I am sure there are great exceptions – adult males in our culture have the measured attention spans of 8.25 seconds. 8.25 seconds, and then the chattering monkeys get roaring, and we are distracted.
Okay, it seems a little short and I guess I can imagine that there are ways to measure our attention focus. But the kicker was this. Adult males have an 8.25 seconds, on average, attention span; but goldfish? Goldfish have a 9 second attention span. How do they measure that?
How do they measure such things….. on a goldfish?
Similarly, in my preparation for this morning, I read several fascinating journal articles on the reality that we are hardwired to more quickly remember – and hold on to that memory – of
negative things. Apparently, the most primitive part of our brain – hardwired for protection and security - has what is called a negativity bias.
That is to say that negative memories – threatening memories, dangerous memories, painful memories – imprint on our brains within 3½ seconds. And I guess, if you think about it, with protection and safety as an ultimate concern it makes sense that we remember and respond to threats more quickly than we do safe things. 3½ seconds for negative memories to imprint on our brains. Negativity bias.
Correspondingly, depending on whose research you are reading, it takes between 12 and as much as 24 seconds for positive things to imprint in your memory. 4 to 8 times longer!
Maybe this is why Pastor Rob Fuquay, in his book “On the Way to Bethlehem” writes the following. “My former bishop, [Fuquay is a Methodist pastor] the late Mike Coyner, used to have his cabinet take time in their meetings to acknowledge ‘Glory-Sightings,’ stories of how they have witnessed God at work. He said too much of the time we can lapse into ‘Gory-sightings,’ naming all the problems and obstacles to the work of God.” Fuquay finishes, “We have to be intentional about seeking glory.”
Negativity bias. Short attention spans. A preference for “Gory-sightings.” In the face of all of this, is it any wonder about our preoccupation with finding happiness? Happiness, this great filling emotion of bliss, of ecstasy, of satisfaction.
Happiness comes – we think – in the right job, the right relationship, the right physical gratification. Happiness comes – we think – in the next paycheck, the next purchase, the next artificial physical enhancement. Happiness come – we think – in the next thrill, the next competition, the next victory.
And yes, happiness – that thrill, that ecstasy, that sense of bliss, those emotions can come from all of those things. I remember being the co-captain of a team that won the West Coast All Marine Volleyball Championships one year. We were ecstatic. We were beside ourselves. 1- and 2-star generals were slapping me on the back and congratulating me on our success.
Less than 8 hours later I was on the operating table. 5 days in the hospital, my first three totally incapable of moving my surgically repaired knee and leg. Lost 24 inches on my vertical jump – I never played competitive volleyball again. The happiness of just 8 hours before was a fleeting and now long-gone emotion.
And that is the problem, isn’t it? Happiness is an emotion contingent on events around us. We seek happiness as a state of being, as the status quo, as life as we typically experience it. Happiness, as wonderful and beautiful as it is – happiness is an emotional blessing! But it doesn’t have the longevity that we yearn for. It doesn’t have the staying power. Too many chattering monkeys. Too many negative memories imprinted on our brains that dilute, if not eliminate, our sense of happiness.
But friends, as wonderful as happiness is, we are expecting it to carry us in ways that it is not designed to function. Happiness is forever external, forever contingent on what is going on around us. Happiness is a fleeting thing.
Today, this third Sunday in Advent, we are reminded of a state of being that provides all the meaning, all the strength, all the sustaining power that we are looking for. Perhaps what we are looking for….. is joy.
Joy – a deeper, more profound state of being, a gift of the Holy Spirit that can sustain us even in the darkest, most frightening of times.
Mary, in our second lesson, knew this joy. Young, probably no more than 12 or 13 years of age, this Mary faced all of the ridicule, all of the scorn, all of the abuse that her culture could throw on her as a young woman now pregnant outside of marriage. Mary’s very life was at risk. The elders of her village could have demanded that she be dragged to the front steps of her father’s home and there stoned to death in obedience to Old Testament Law.
Mary, chosen by God and told of this by the angel Gabriel, responds, at first, not with happiness but with a question, “How can this be?” Mary, even when she is told that this is God’s plan, that she has been favored by God, even then responds only with obedience, not joy. “Let it be with me according to your word.”
But when she travels to her cousin Elizabeth, when these two women both pregnant with babies according to God’s salvation plan – a plan surrounded with fear and misunderstanding – these two faith heroines both speak of blessing….. and of joy.
Joy – that state of being that we all so desperately seek – tends to arise from within, it is not contingent upon external circumstances. Joy is a gift of the Holy Spirit that allows us to transcend even the darkest of storms in which we might find ourselves. Joy is a practice, is a discipline, is a choice to seek our “Glory-sightings,” and not be preoccupied and dragged down by “Gory-sightings.” Joy allows us to attend to the needs of others instead of fixating on how we might prolong our pleasing circumstantial emotion.
I recently took three of our grandchildren on a fishing trip. When fishing on a boat, with multiple rods in the water and any one of them possible of getting hooked up, the normal practice is to rotate who catches the next fish. When the bait gets hit, whoever’s turn it is, grabs the rod and boats the fish. Hopefully
The three grandkids all took their turn. No squabbles. No fights. They all helped the one who was trying to catch the fish by keeping things out of their way or helping to net the fish. About halfway through the day, one after another turned to me and said, “Grandpa, it’s your turn. We all have caught multiple fish; you need to catch at least one.”
And they had. They all caught fish – multiple fish, big fish, consequential fish with pictures to prove it! They were so happy – each of them. The smiles on their faces, the way they worked together, the genuine emotion they expressed for each other. For me, it was more than happiness. It was pure joy. It was the joy of connections, the joy of memories created that will never be forgotten. It was the joy of family. Maybe when they are older, they will understand. I didn’t need to catch a fish. I had the joy of being with them – all of them – as they did. It was - for me – pure joy.
Joy transcends our happy times. It also sustains us in our darkest times. It is the joy of the Lord that reminds us that God owns the final page. It is the joy of the Lord that tells us that death does not have the last word. It is the joy of the Lord that reminds us that the sunrise always – ALWAYS – follows the darkest of nights. The joy of the Lord, this Gift of the Spirit helps us to persevere.
Friends, my prayer for you this Advent Season is that you not be satisfied with happiness. Enjoy it as it comes, give thanks for what it is, but don’t settle for that. Seek joy – God’s joy. It is ready to sustain you through the roller coaster that is life in this world. Seek joy. It will transform your life. Amen.
Isaiah 12: 2 – 6
Luke 1: 39 – 55
December 15, 2024
Advent III
I am always struck by the measurements that scientists are able to make and then declare as fact. For example, those who are attending our Wednesday evening Advent classes will remember from last Wednesday night that social scientists have been able to document the decline in our adult attention spans.
We were talking about waiting and how difficult that is for many of us. Part of that difficulty comes from our declining attention spans. That should come as no surprise to any of us. John Ortberg, in one of his books on prayer, talks about the assault of what he calls chattering monkeys on his prayer life.
Ortberg, and I think many of us, bemoan the fact that as soon as he sits down with the intent to be in prayer a million things flash into his brain, the chattering monkeys he calls them, all trying to distract him from his intended activity of prayer.
We can probably all think of those chattering monkeys, those distractions that seek to pull us away from our intended thoughts. According to a report I read this week, adult males – in general, I am sure there are great exceptions – adult males in our culture have the measured attention spans of 8.25 seconds. 8.25 seconds, and then the chattering monkeys get roaring, and we are distracted.
Okay, it seems a little short and I guess I can imagine that there are ways to measure our attention focus. But the kicker was this. Adult males have an 8.25 seconds, on average, attention span; but goldfish? Goldfish have a 9 second attention span. How do they measure that?
How do they measure such things….. on a goldfish?
Similarly, in my preparation for this morning, I read several fascinating journal articles on the reality that we are hardwired to more quickly remember – and hold on to that memory – of
negative things. Apparently, the most primitive part of our brain – hardwired for protection and security - has what is called a negativity bias.
That is to say that negative memories – threatening memories, dangerous memories, painful memories – imprint on our brains within 3½ seconds. And I guess, if you think about it, with protection and safety as an ultimate concern it makes sense that we remember and respond to threats more quickly than we do safe things. 3½ seconds for negative memories to imprint on our brains. Negativity bias.
Correspondingly, depending on whose research you are reading, it takes between 12 and as much as 24 seconds for positive things to imprint in your memory. 4 to 8 times longer!
Maybe this is why Pastor Rob Fuquay, in his book “On the Way to Bethlehem” writes the following. “My former bishop, [Fuquay is a Methodist pastor] the late Mike Coyner, used to have his cabinet take time in their meetings to acknowledge ‘Glory-Sightings,’ stories of how they have witnessed God at work. He said too much of the time we can lapse into ‘Gory-sightings,’ naming all the problems and obstacles to the work of God.” Fuquay finishes, “We have to be intentional about seeking glory.”
Negativity bias. Short attention spans. A preference for “Gory-sightings.” In the face of all of this, is it any wonder about our preoccupation with finding happiness? Happiness, this great filling emotion of bliss, of ecstasy, of satisfaction.
Happiness comes – we think – in the right job, the right relationship, the right physical gratification. Happiness comes – we think – in the next paycheck, the next purchase, the next artificial physical enhancement. Happiness come – we think – in the next thrill, the next competition, the next victory.
And yes, happiness – that thrill, that ecstasy, that sense of bliss, those emotions can come from all of those things. I remember being the co-captain of a team that won the West Coast All Marine Volleyball Championships one year. We were ecstatic. We were beside ourselves. 1- and 2-star generals were slapping me on the back and congratulating me on our success.
Less than 8 hours later I was on the operating table. 5 days in the hospital, my first three totally incapable of moving my surgically repaired knee and leg. Lost 24 inches on my vertical jump – I never played competitive volleyball again. The happiness of just 8 hours before was a fleeting and now long-gone emotion.
And that is the problem, isn’t it? Happiness is an emotion contingent on events around us. We seek happiness as a state of being, as the status quo, as life as we typically experience it. Happiness, as wonderful and beautiful as it is – happiness is an emotional blessing! But it doesn’t have the longevity that we yearn for. It doesn’t have the staying power. Too many chattering monkeys. Too many negative memories imprinted on our brains that dilute, if not eliminate, our sense of happiness.
But friends, as wonderful as happiness is, we are expecting it to carry us in ways that it is not designed to function. Happiness is forever external, forever contingent on what is going on around us. Happiness is a fleeting thing.
Today, this third Sunday in Advent, we are reminded of a state of being that provides all the meaning, all the strength, all the sustaining power that we are looking for. Perhaps what we are looking for….. is joy.
Joy – a deeper, more profound state of being, a gift of the Holy Spirit that can sustain us even in the darkest, most frightening of times.
Mary, in our second lesson, knew this joy. Young, probably no more than 12 or 13 years of age, this Mary faced all of the ridicule, all of the scorn, all of the abuse that her culture could throw on her as a young woman now pregnant outside of marriage. Mary’s very life was at risk. The elders of her village could have demanded that she be dragged to the front steps of her father’s home and there stoned to death in obedience to Old Testament Law.
Mary, chosen by God and told of this by the angel Gabriel, responds, at first, not with happiness but with a question, “How can this be?” Mary, even when she is told that this is God’s plan, that she has been favored by God, even then responds only with obedience, not joy. “Let it be with me according to your word.”
But when she travels to her cousin Elizabeth, when these two women both pregnant with babies according to God’s salvation plan – a plan surrounded with fear and misunderstanding – these two faith heroines both speak of blessing….. and of joy.
Joy – that state of being that we all so desperately seek – tends to arise from within, it is not contingent upon external circumstances. Joy is a gift of the Holy Spirit that allows us to transcend even the darkest of storms in which we might find ourselves. Joy is a practice, is a discipline, is a choice to seek our “Glory-sightings,” and not be preoccupied and dragged down by “Gory-sightings.” Joy allows us to attend to the needs of others instead of fixating on how we might prolong our pleasing circumstantial emotion.
I recently took three of our grandchildren on a fishing trip. When fishing on a boat, with multiple rods in the water and any one of them possible of getting hooked up, the normal practice is to rotate who catches the next fish. When the bait gets hit, whoever’s turn it is, grabs the rod and boats the fish. Hopefully
The three grandkids all took their turn. No squabbles. No fights. They all helped the one who was trying to catch the fish by keeping things out of their way or helping to net the fish. About halfway through the day, one after another turned to me and said, “Grandpa, it’s your turn. We all have caught multiple fish; you need to catch at least one.”
And they had. They all caught fish – multiple fish, big fish, consequential fish with pictures to prove it! They were so happy – each of them. The smiles on their faces, the way they worked together, the genuine emotion they expressed for each other. For me, it was more than happiness. It was pure joy. It was the joy of connections, the joy of memories created that will never be forgotten. It was the joy of family. Maybe when they are older, they will understand. I didn’t need to catch a fish. I had the joy of being with them – all of them – as they did. It was - for me – pure joy.
Joy transcends our happy times. It also sustains us in our darkest times. It is the joy of the Lord that reminds us that God owns the final page. It is the joy of the Lord that tells us that death does not have the last word. It is the joy of the Lord that reminds us that the sunrise always – ALWAYS – follows the darkest of nights. The joy of the Lord, this Gift of the Spirit helps us to persevere.
Friends, my prayer for you this Advent Season is that you not be satisfied with happiness. Enjoy it as it comes, give thanks for what it is, but don’t settle for that. Seek joy – God’s joy. It is ready to sustain you through the roller coaster that is life in this world. Seek joy. It will transform your life. Amen.
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