A new year for rejoicing?
There's something mildly offensive about injunctions to rejoice in suffering. It's hard to join in some of the more happy Christian songs when life is difficult and Christmas can be a particularly poignant time for many. Christians have, indeed, been guilty of thoughtless trivial inappropriate jolliness, implying that being a Christian should give us joy automatically and protect us from the grief and sorrow of this life. Consequently, when hard times come, some Christians experience a sense of failure and begin to doubt their faith.
Peter did not assume that all would go well for Christians. We may indeed have to suffer trials of various kinds, even the worst we can imagine. We are not protected. We will experience some of the various ups and downs of human life. But we have a living hope through the resurrection. So if we do feel full of joy today, we should indeed rejoice and praise the Lord for the wonderful things that Peter lists about being a Christian; new birth with a new beginning, the promise of heaven, the certainty of the resurrection, which Peter himself witnessed.
But if joy is the last word we would use to describe our feelings then we may need to spend time identifying the situation that stops us rejoicing. It may of course be something we can change or put right. But if there is no way through, except with endurance and patience, then we need to face up to it, give it up to the Lord, and recall that the gifts Peter lists are still ours. And then too, we need to be there for each other. Paul didn't tell the Roman Christians to 'buck people up'. He said, 'weep with those who weep'. The warmth of loving understanding and sympathy can go a long way to help us remember that our living hope is in Jesus, who knows what this world's pains feel like. Then we may find room for the beginnings of joy and a living hope for 2008.
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