Scripture Readings: Psalm 66, Nehemiah 8:1-12, Luke 2:8-14, 1 Peter 1:3-12

A few years ago, right before and during the global pandemic, there was an influencer and television host who would tell her audience to go through the items in their homes and one-by-one see if the item “sparked joy.” If the item did spark joy, it was kept. If the item didn’t spark joy, then it was discarded. This method caught on as people huddled in their homes and offices and realized just how much junk piled up. It even became a running joke as an exasperated family member might tell another “your behavior is not sparking joy!”  I’ve even said it to my dog a few times.

As followers of Jesus, we know that our material possessions cannot bring or even spark joy. Sure, tidying up and downsizing may make our homes, offices, or lives seem more manageable. However, the root of joy is not found in what we have in our homes, closets, or bookshelves. 

True joy is sparked in a relationship with the Almighty through Jesus Christ. Peter writes to the church dispersed throughout the Roman Empire that even though they had not had the one-on-one discipleship that Peter enjoyed with Jesus, these persecuted and disowned believers love Jesus. They worship and rejoice in joy that defies their circumstances. 

These believers had lost or were at risk of losing everything they thought they could count on. Families had disinherited and disowned them. Their religious community shunned them and sought to turn them over to a hostile Rome. 

In Nehemiah, a people who had endured their own persecution by Babylon had returned to Jerusalem to rebuild their homeland. In doing so, the scribe Ezra who had determined to teach God’s word established a large Sunday School class and began to teach the Bible. When the people had heard just how Holy God is, and how far they had fallen, they began to weep. But Ezra and his Sunday School teachers tell the people to rejoice! For they were hearing the word of God and they understood God’s word.