Make my joy complete

Bible Reading

1 John 1

That which was from the beginning which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life--the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us--that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

This passage is electric. John is talking about the "beginning." We all want to hear about our beginning. I have been studying the beginning this year, as I walk through the book of Genesis. Genesis is such a gift. But in my own life, I have always loved hearing my mom tell stories of my childhood. In this passage, there is a similar dynamic of story telling. The story telling does something. Story telling creates joy. The "good news" is the greatest way to make "joy complete." I think that

• Getting a Starbucks coffee
• Having lunch with  a friend,
• Celebrating a birthday, will fill me with the greatest joy. 

But it is all so short lived.

As John shares these words with the church, and with us today in the church, it really meets me exactly where I needed to be met. This morning I raced out of bed, raced the kids to school, and never felt rested in my mind. So many things twirling around in my head---exam on theology coming up, selling our house, Christmas changes, and even basketball practice tonight. Nothing was settled.

Last night I told myself I would start with prayer and scripture in the morning. But I didn't. I was off and running. And now that I drink in this scripture, above, this is exactly what I was hoping for and exactly what my spirit needed. I often get choked up when I hear someone's testimony. We all need to hear "testimony." We all have "testimonies." And this testimony is from John, the one who saw Jesus, heard Jesus speak, and who was probably his closest friend.

The second thing I notice is the "tangibility" of this faith. This is a faith that is made "manifest." This is not a pipe dream. No. This is real. That is what I love about Jesus. He allows us to actually use our 5 senses to engage Him. Christianity is accepting and dependent upon these 5 senses. This is not philosophy. This is life. As my life is swirling around me, I hear the testimony of John, and it makes me pause, and it not only fills his joy, but it fills my lacking joy. I have a little moment of joy, just reading the words. And I have that joy because I see what he is talking about. He is talking about "fellowship." I have fellowship with Jesus. Right now. Union with Christ. Theologians for time immemorial have talked about union with Christ. We, as believers, have fellowship with the Father. And that is the most important thing in life. The purpose of life is to connect with God, in union and communion. That is it. And that is the God that is "from the beginning."

And, if you are interested in the picture above, this weekend (November 2014) we celebrated my parents' 50th wedding anniversary. I gave them this picture from my dads family back in the 1950's.