So what is Jesus offering when he speaks of complete joy….Relationship is at the heart of what Jesus is offering – that is why he was accused of being a drunkard and glutton. He was spending so much time sitting down at the table with everyone and anyone that it was held against him. But it really wasn’t about drinking too much and eating too much – though I’m sure Jesus enjoyed the meal. Eating at someone’s table was (and still is) the key way of forming relationship in Middle Eastern Jewish culture. Jesus wasn’t there to eat and drink. He was there to form a relationship, a deep connection, with the people with whom he sat at table. He was there to let God’s love and compassion flow through him – to the tax-collectors & sinners – that’s everyone!
When Jesus invites us into his complete joy, he is inviting us into relationship – a deepening relationship with God, a deepening relationship with the Way that Jesus taught us to live, a deepening relationship within this church community, a deepening relationship with family and friends, with strangers and enemies. It is in our relationships with God, with Jesus, with each other, and with unexpected people along the way that we will find the joy of which Jesus spoke.
Now every relationship doesn’t bring happiness, and eating and drinking too much and other addictions get in the way of good and healthy relationships with ourselves and with others. That’s why Jesus invites us into something that is more than pursuing happiness. He invites us into a relationship with God and with each other in which we share in each others joys and sorrows, in which we dance together in celebration, and weep together in grief. Such relationships take time – we need time together with God in daily prayer and reading scripture and worshipping together. We need time with each other.
The ironic thing is that our culture’s focus on the pursuit of happiness & success takes us away from each other. The pursuit of happiness breaks down relationship. We have less time than ever for having meals together, just sitting at table together in conversation & getting to know each other’s joys & sorrows. We are an exhausted culture, a weary culture – always pursuing, never finding that elusive “happiness.”