Stay Close: Joy

Sermon from the 9:30 Service on Sunday, September 14, 2025

The Rev. Megan Collins

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Over the next few weeks at church, we’ll be looking at what it means to walk in step with God. We’ll be looking at several stories and teachings from the life of Jesus in the gospels, how what Galatians calls the “fruit of the Spirit” are evident in Jesus’ life, and how they can (and should be) evident in our own. 

The list of the fruit of the Spirit comes from Galatians 5 where it tells us to “keep in step with the Spirit” and lists some specifics on what this looks like, living with love,  joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. 

The first fruit on the list in Galatians is love. Dave actually preached on love just a couple of weeks ago when we talked about what it means for us as a church to love loud. If you missed it, I’d encourage you to go back and listen here.

Since we just talked about love a few weeks ago, today we’ll be jumping in with the second fruit of the spirit, and that’s joy.

I know it might feel like a weird season to talk about joy. 

We might think joy should be held off when things out there in the world are easier, until things get better, or at least until the temperature comes down.  Sure, kids can be happy and joyful but we adults have some big things to deal with. We don’t have space for joy. We need to take some time looking off into the distance looking pensive, and then doom scroll on our phones and get in a fight on social media. 

Or maybe joy feels like an impossible idea because of what’s going on in your life. I know you have your own things you are dealing with, and it’s hard. 

Maybe joy feels silly right now, out of touch, irresponsible even.

But what if joy isn’t naive? 

What if it isn’t just for children? 

What if joy is more than just a happy feeling we get when things are going well?

What if there is a way we can have joy even when things are really overwhelming? 

I believe that we can. 

Things were just as difficult in Jesus’ time on earth, and they were certainly bad in the time when the letter to the Galatians was written. There were plenty of reasons to have fear and anxiety and anger then too. And yet, even in Jesus’ time, even knowing the trials he would face,Jesus says this in the gospel of John, chapter 15:

11 I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”

Jesus says he has joy, and he wants that joy to be in us, not just a little bit, but completely. 

But how? 

That’s what we’ll talk about today. 

We’ll look at Jesus for the kind of joy that isn’t dependent on how your day has gone, 

or what season you are in.. We’ll seek the kind of joy that makes us believe the world really can be a better place.We’ll believe there is joy that isn’t a fleeting feeling, but an act of hope. 

When I was a kid, September was pretty exciting.

September was the time when the Christmas decorations started coming into the stores.  Sure, it was still 90 degrees and we were in the pool every afternoon. But there, in between the Halloween yard skeletons and fake fall leaf door decorations, a few little Christmas trees would start to be on the shelves. I would get so excited.

As a kid, Christmas was the most joyful time of the year by far. Even if things weren’t going great at school or at home, there would still be cookies and twinkly lights and carols and the expectation of opening presents on Christmas morning. Christmas, to me as a kid, was the peak holiday for joy.

But as an adult, I have a new favorite.  When it comes to joy as an adult, my new favorite holiday is a little more off the radar. It’s not Christmas, with the cookies and carols and the birth of Jesus. It’s not even Easter, which is certainly joyful with the resurrection story and chocolate bunnies and family photos.

My new favorite holiday for joy is Ash Wednesday.

On Ash Wednesday, as we start Lent, we burn the palms from the previous Palm Sunday. Then we grind them down into ashes, and we smear those dark ashes on our foreheads and then we wear that dark little smudge around all day. It’s so fabulously weird, and it brings me so much joy.

Because on Ask Wednesday, we tell the truth about one thing.

We remember, when we wear those ashes on our heads, that we are human.

We remember that we are sinners, that each of us have our own brokenness, not to mention the bigger communal sins and harm we participate in. 

We remember that we are mortal, that no matter how much we might try, none of us will live forever. 

We remember that we are human. 

See. I told you it was joyful.  If that was the end of the story of Ash Wednesday, that we are human and so we are mortal, and sinners and will never really get it right, I can see how it would be a bummer.

But the story of Ash Wednesday is that yes, we are human, but we are not alone, because we have this God. We have a God who loves us, who gives us grace when we mess up, who has promised us resurrection. That, in fact, it’s good news that we are human, because we don’t have to be God. God has that well covered. So we rub ashes on our head and wear them around and are full of joy because we can be just human. 

I know it’s not always easy to be a human. Life can be really hard. The problems we are facing are very big, and it’s a lot out there.  The world is so angry. So when Galatians dances into our scripture readings and says “Hey! Have joy!” it seems really out of place. It would be easy to talk about fear or anxiety or anger. If those were fruit, we would be all set. We’ve got those things for days. But joy?Joy sounds weird, out of touch.

But what it the kind of joy Galatians is talking about has less to do with our circumstances, and more to do with the bigger picture? What if joy means saying . . .

I’m so glad to be just human.

I’m so glad it’s not all up to me.

We are not alone . . . because we have God. 

So I can make today count and do the best I can to do good and make a difference 

and also trust that I am not carrying the whole world on my shoulders. The joy of Ash Wednesday is the kind of joy that gets us through days when we couldn’t possibly feel happy, because it says you have the permission to be human.

Let’s look at John 5:

“4 Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, 

Our passage today gets a little poetic and wordy, and it can easily become the kind of verse we just skim over. There’s lots of abiding and fruit and vines and then more abiding. But picture the image of what Jesus is talking about here.

Dave and I are empty nesters now, which means we are very invested in being plant parents to the various plants on our balcony. This passage makes me think about when I dig down into the dirt with my hands and cover the roots of the plant in the soil. As the plant grows, branches move out from that center vine, forming their own leaves and flowers. Eventually small fruit forms where the flowers were, and starts to grow. This is what happens, Jesus says, when you abide in me, when you put your trust in God. 

When you can see that you are human, you see your need for God.

 You see your need to be connected to the source, and that’s when the fruit of joy starts to grow. Joy relies on being connected to the vine. 

Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 

When we lived back in our house with a big back yard, there was this one vine that would climb its way up the fence. It eventually covered everything, and it was seriously the strongest vine in the world. These little green offshoots would grab onto the fence and quickly form hard branches that would leaf and flower. Some of it even produced these little fruits. No matter how much we cut it back or control it, it was just too strong.The only thing that we could do was cut off the vine at its source on the ground. Then we would wait, as it would start to whither and weaken. Over time it would start to break, and we could pull it off the fence. When we are connected to God, we become stronger in our joy, almost obnoxiously difficult to break. But when we try to do it on our own, when we aren’t connected to the source, we whither. 

7 If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

Notice Jesus didn’t say you should have joy. He says I will give you my joy. Joy isn’t something we do, or force, or create on our own. It’s what happens when we stop trying to be God and let ourselves be connected to the one who is. With everything happening in our world in this season, the injustice, the rhetoric, the hatred, the violence, and then the quiet struggles of our own lives, the illnesses, the grief, the heartache, the pressure, joy will not always come easy to us. The things we witness everyday are not something we are built to be able to handle on our own. It’s a lot. But when you stay connected to God, there is still joy to be found in being human.

You are mortal and make mistakes and are still figuring all of this out, but you are not alone. 

You were never meant to do this on your own. God is calling you to abide. 

The word abide still sounds so lofty and spiritual and maybe even unattainable to us. 

So what does it really mean? Practically, how does one “abide”?

If I put abide on my to-do list, what does that mean?

Certainly we abide when we pray and read the Bible. We abide when we are quiet, and take a deep breath, and ask God to come near to us. Prayer can really be that simple. A deep breath, and asking God to be there, with you. Abiding can also mean looking for the joy in being human. It sounds so silly to me to say go looking for joy in sunsets and in kids playing and dinner at your table and time with your friends and in taking a walk. These are just simple everyday things. But they are also deeply human. They ground us in our humanity, and when we know our humanity, we also know our need for God. 

Frederich Beuchner wrote:

"The unspeakable joy sometimes of just being alive. The miracle sometimes of being just who we are with the blue sky and the green grass, the faces of our friends and the waves of the ocean, being just what they are. The joy of release, of being suddenly well when before we were sick, of being forgiven when before we were ashamed and afraid, of finding ourselves loved when we were lost and alone. …joy is a mystery because it can happen anywhere, anytime, even under the most unpromising circumstances, even in the midst of suffering, with tears in its eyes. Even nailed to a tree.  Anyone who is truly joyous has a right to say that he is doing God's will on this earth. Where you have known joy, you have known him.”

I think most of us would agree that the world is not what we wish it were these days.

But you can still find joy in being human. It doesn’t mean we naively deny what is happening. 

Continue to do the work God calls you to do. Protect the vulnerable. Speak out with courage against injustice. Live with hope for a better world. 

But also ground yourself in the joy of being human. Watch the sunset. Eat a grilled cheese.

If you have a dog, definitely your dog out for a dog popsicle, because there is truly nothing better than a watching the joy of your dog eating ice cream. Hug your family tight. Plant a garden. Take a walk.  Breathe deeply.  

When you feel your joy wavering, draw closer to God. Give whatever it is you are carrying over to God’s care. Ask for help, for strength, for courage, for hope, for joy. 

Remember you aren’t alone.

It’s not all up to you.

God is here. God is good. God is working. 

Remember that we also have each other.

In fact, we need each other. 

A few years ago Dave and I got this small avocado tree to plant in our yard. (Because if you can grow guacamole in your backyard, why wouldn’t you?)We carefully planted it and water it, and the tree settled in well with these big leafy branches that started producing flowers.

I hopefully watched each day for the baby avocados to appear. The plant looked healthy, but over time the flowers just fell off. And there was not an avocado in site.I talked to a plant person and learned that avocado trees are much more likely to make fruit if there are other avocado trees around them. They need each other.  

That’s us too, isn’t it?

To have this fruit of the spirit Galatians talks about  in our lives, we have to stay connected to the vine, to Jesus.And we also need each other close by.

So go abide in God this week.

Take a deep breath. 

Ask God to draw near.

Look for joy anytime you can. 

Remember that you are human. 

Remember that God is enough.

Then come back here next week.

So we can be together. 

Next week, we’ll look at another seemingly impossible fruit . . . peace.