This sermon was preached at Glenwood and Canoe Ridge Lutheran Churches, Decorah, Iowa, on May 6, 2018. It’s based on John 15:9-17. If you’d prefer to listen to it, find it at https://soundcloud.com/stacey-nalean-carlson.
Our confirmation students tossed around the idea of celebrating their confirmation this morning with a confetti cannon—confetti held under pressurized air until it is released to fly everywhere. I was not so enthusiastic about that idea, but perhaps I should have been. Nothing says “joy,” like flying confetti, right? And today is definitely about joy.
“I have said these things to you,” Jesus tells his disciples, “so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11). Joy.
Just imagine all the things Jesus could have given his disciples in this moment. Their world is about to be turned upside down. Their teacher, their friend, is about to be betrayed by one of their own, arrested, convicted, crucified. They will be confronted with grief and fear unlike anything they’ve ever known.
And even after that first Easter morning—even after they learn that death has been destroyed and Jesus is alive—even then everything is going to be different. Jesus is returning to God, the Father. And though he will remain connected to them, though he will continue to be their strength, their security, their source of nourishment, life is going to look different for his disciples. Life is going to be different.
They are stepping into a vast unknown, not unlike many of our area graduates in the next few weeks. And what does Jesus want for them?
I have said these things to you so that my strength may be in you? No.
So that my peace may be in you? No.
So that my love, so that my hope, so that my courage, so that my passion, so that my commitment may be in you? No.
“I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete.” Filled to the brim. Joy, like confetti, released from the pressure of sin and sadness, grief and fear, cascading everywhere.
This joy is not mere happiness, dependent on circumstances. This joy is grace recognized—the awareness of God’s grace, present and powerful in the happiest of moments and in the most painful.
It’s joy born out of relationship. The love between Jesus and God, the Father, is now the love that animates our lives, the love that names us beloved, the love that claims us for mission, calling us to love as we have been loved.
It’s joy born out of an encounter with God’s word.
Toward the beginning of the gospel of John, John the Baptist is speaking with his disciples. Describing his relationship with Jesus, he says, “I have been sent ahead of him. He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. For this reason my joy has been fulfilled” (John 3:28-29).
We don’t have confetti today, but we have the voice of Jesus. We have the word of the bridegroom. We have the word of God.
We’ve heard it in the witness of our confirmation students as they’ve shared the word they’ve heard:
“The Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9). Joy.
“God will direct you” (Proverbs 3:6). Joy.
“I fear no evil, for you are with me” (Psalm 23:4). Joy.
“We walk by faith” (2 Corinthians 5:7). Joy.
“Don’t be afraid, just believe” (Mark 5:36). Joy.
In the waters of baptism, you have been marked with the cross of Christ forever. You have encountered the Word. You have been welcomed into abiding love, freed from the pressure of sin and sadness, grief and fear, for lives of joy filled to the brim—constantly aware of God’s grace for you. Let the confetti fly. Amen.