Mark 6.30-44 - Bringing Joy
Recently, I looked at a photo of someone in my family enjoying a good day out. The person in the photo was smiling in away that they rarely get the time to do. They were enjoying themselves. It was a good photo. It was a good day out; I remember it well.
Joy is something that we all tend to remember very well because it is a very simple and primary need of all human beings on the planet. There is a lot of trouble for us in life, there are many challenges and fears to face, so it is little wonder that times like that day out are times we naturally wish for and would like to experience more of.
In today’s gospel reading, in amongst all the important tasks of teaching people, showing hints of his heavenly authority and guiding his disciples to live by faith, Jesus took time to bring a moment of joy to his disciples. It was an invitation to spend time with Jesus with no interruptions; a holiday with him!
It turned out to be a little busier than expected, but Jesus again took the opportunity to consider the emotional needs of the crowd that had come to see him. Yes, he showed them the power of the kingdom of God through the symbols and stories of the old testament— those carry over’s and connections with the story of Moses on the mountain side bringing the 10 commandments— but the primary need was to satisfy the peoples’ physical need for food; to share a meal with them, which is the symbol of acceptance and friendship in any culture isn’t it. I bet that brought a lot of joy! And I bet it was that, the closeness they shared with him, that was primarily remembered and valued from that day.
I consider that a definition we could make for the whole purpose of life is for us to bring joy to others.
We can do that fairly easily for those we are close to, although there might be times when that is also a challenge. And maybe for those who are far from us, the aim might be to reduce the gap, that is to bring ourselves a little closer to them, in order that one day we could bring joy to them too.
Jesus is the joy of God.
And as such he brought us joy through his presence among us in much the same way. That joy took many forms but it was the basis of his whole ministry. And the selflessness required to bring that joy— that takes many forms too, but that is the basis of all of his teaching, wherever you find it in the gospels.
When I was in Japan, I did a very foolish thing. I attempted to do some gardening, specifically I dared to try to grow potatoes in front of the rectory. In Japan, it’s around about now that you can dig down and start digging them up. And whilst I was doing that, my boy Martin came back from school along with one of his friends. I called them over to have a try themselves.
In the middle of Tokyo, that friend had very little opportunity to experience the reality of something growing being harvested. To be honest- it was a first for me too, I wasn't expecting to have succeeded in the task! But that time together was marked by a sense of excitement and discovery; a joy that came from a new shared experience. The excitement of finding potatoes — such ordinary things — under the ground, had become for that inexperienced child like a treasure hunt for gold. It simply amazed me too, that nature would have ignored all my attempts to meddle with it and grow anyway!
It was a simple and lovely thing to share in. And that friend was even more happy to take some of the harvest home with him too.
Bringing joy happens to be the role of the Church of Christ, too.
If we are working for the opportunity to bring joy into people’s lives, we will be bringing them the opportunity to experience something of the person of Jesus.
And I believe that through meeting those basic needs, Jesus himself, by his spirit, will, like the feeding of the 5000 on that lonely hill top, let his deeper meaning and spiritual truths be revealed at their own pace and in the right way.
Who needs the word mission, when we have the word joy?
Let us aim to make many opportunities for people to share joy.
Let us make it our church’s life’s work.