The Parable of the Good Samaritan reminds us that looking to the needs of others as true neighbours brings joy both to them and to us.
A teacher found that most of her class got through their reading work very quickly. This made it hard for the slow readers and hard to keep discipline.
She found an answer to the problem that made everyone happy. When the fast readers finished they were set the task of helping the slow readers. In this way the class stayed very happy whenever it came to reading time.
The children were given a task of service and in fulfilling that task they rose above their inadequacies into joy.
So it is, to come back to you and I, that Jesus doesn’t promise us joy other than in facing our limitations and then reaching out beyond them into his service and the building up of his kingdom.
We’re not encouraged to delight or find happiness in ourselves, much as he loves us, but in putting ourselves to his work.
I looked for my soul, but my soul I could not see.
I looked for my God, but my God eluded me.
I looked for my brother and I found all three.
Joy comes as we repent, or turn away from our own selfish desires towards God and neighbour.
Happiness is self-forgetfulness. It can’t be worked up. It’s worked out.
How is it worked out?
Firstly by working out our sin and short-comings and confessing them. This is a vital discipline we do on our own but there is a sacrament available. As we could have read to us later in this service from the Book of Common Prayer, it might be that some of you requireth further comfort or counsel; let him come to me, or to some other discreet and learned Minister of God’s Word, and open his grief; that by the ministry of God’s holy Word he may receive the benefit of absolution, together with ghostly counsel and advice, to the quieting of his conscience, and avoiding of all scruple and doubtfulness. Priests are ordained to provide absolution. Appointments are possible at St Giles even!
Joy comes firstly as we repent, or turn away from our own selfish desires towards God and secondly as we set ourselves to the service of our neighbour, directing our energies outside of ourselves.
In doing all of this – facing inadequacy, rising above it, pushing ourselves outwards in service - we receive a ‘buzz’ and that ‘buzz’ is as near to happiness as we ever get on this earth.
We find the deepest joy through letting Jesus show us more of our inadequacy and our need for him - for only by depending upon him can we reach full potential.
What a strange process it is, this growing to full potential within the Communion of Saints.
We start life dependent upon our parents.
We struggle towards independence.
Our fulfilment though lies in achieving interdependence with others.
God grants us our independence not that we may go our own way but that we may choose to depend upon him as we turn our lives to the common good.
To live as Jesus Christ promised – as the children of God – is a calling to interdependence. This is a state of joy, one that openly proclaims our individual inadequacy and our reconciliation to God and neighbour.
For there is no joy for those without a sense of inadequacy in the ultimate picture of things!
So we come to the Lord through the confession of sin, not trusting in our own righteousness but in his manifold and great mercies.
We come seeking afresh the joy of the Lord who can bind up the wounds within us, pour in his healing balm and set us afresh on the path of service.
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