Jesus the Joy in You
John 15:1-11
15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
Message:
As we close out the summer we will be looking at a few of the virtues that we as Christians should be building into our character. Stuff that should remain in us even when we are not attending church.
Last week we looked at the importance of loving God and loving others or as some remember it “The Golden Rule” or the “Shema prayer of the Jews”.
Today we take a look at a virtue that keep us motivated to walk with Jesus through every step of our life in this world.
Today we look at how Jesus is meant to be the Joy in you.
We should look at the JOY that Jesus feeds into our hearts as that which gives us the euphoria that is our life. It comes from loving and obeying what Jesus taught us.
You see for Joy to truly be a part of who we are as a Christian we have to have Jesus put it inside of us as we allow Him to live in us. He is the main vine. As Jesus puts it we must “remain in the vine”. Only then can we be transformed from the inside out as we receive the kind of Joy that can only come from knowing Jesus.
Why do some of us as Christians lack a real sense of Joy in our lives?
Often we can be people who are reluctant to express the emotion of Joy. This can causes others to think we were baptized in lemon juice instead of water.
The scriptures clearly show us that this was not the case with Jesus as He enjoyed people, He enjoyed celebrating with them at weddings and dinner parties and Jesus had a very obvious sense of humor. Jesus would use exaggeration to get His audience's attention. Not unlike some of the jokes comedians use today. Jesus did this time and time again when He shared parables.
Matthew 7:3 New International Version (NIV)
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
Most of us have heard this comparison so many times that the exaggeration has lost its power of humor on us. It’s not unlike hearing someone tell the same knock – knock joke one too many times. Little kids get this exaggeration right away the first time they hear it they giggle but we forget its power to attract our attention.
Jesus was all about spreading Joy among a people who were oppressed and defeated. Rome was a foreign power and was dictating the limits of daily living for the Jews. Jesus knew this and so He did a lot of funny things including paying His taxes and Peter’s taxes by instructing Peter to go fishing. Peter caught a fish with a coin in its mouth right in front of the tax collector that was the exact amount necessary to pay both Jesus and Peter’s taxes. Now tell me that’s not funny. Matthew 17:24-26
“When a retired missionary was asked what he would pack in his suitcase if he were ever to return to his overseas mission ministry, he quickly responded by saying…”A sense of humor.” Another missionary said “You need two things if you want to be happy in God’s work overseas, “A good sense of humor and no sense of smell.” Source: Jokes Quotes & Anecdotes by A. Daniel Goldsmith www.xulonpress.com 2010.
When Norman Cousins was given up to die, he determined not to spend his last days in gloom and sadness. He got tapes of all the funny people he could find and watched them for hours. “Ten minutes of belly-laughing,” said Cousins, relieved me of pain for hours.” He recovered from his illness and went back to work.” Cousins served as Adjunct Professor of Medical Humanities for the School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he did research on the biochemistry of human emotions, which he long believed were the key to human beings’ success in fighting illness. Source: Wikipedia.
It would seem that Mr. Cousins knew that the Bible tells us to be joyful in hope.
Romans 12:12
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.
Joy is to be a part of every aspect of our Christian character but some of us are less likely to include it.
The effects of that lemon juice that some of us were baptised in can sometimes be seen on our faces.
“There are some people who still insist that a bagpipe is a musical instrument. I heard of a little boy who went up to a piper and said…”if you let go of that thing mister it will probably stop squealing.”
Source: David Arrol MacFarlane “Ignite Your Life” This Way Communications 2012. Pg. 120
Some of us as Christians have let the air out our joy and we tend to sound like a deflating bagpipe instead of the musical instrument that God intended us to be.
The air is Jesus and we must be filled with Him if we are to have sufficient Joy to get through the ups and downs of this life.
Have you ever cried tears of Joy?
Maybe when you brought your child into the world or maybe when you watched them step onto a school bus for the first time. Joy can be one of those emotions that covers the entire range of human experience.
I have seen brides and grooms both shed tears of joy as they exchange wedding vows.
Often the Father of the Bride is also crying but that comes after he gets the bill for the reception.
Friends Jesus does not want to see you end up on the burn pile of unfruitful unjoyful human beings. Jesus wants you and I to remain in Him for only in Him will we find the kind of Joy to sustain us through this life which can sometimes be a vale of tears.
Let your smile shine through no matter how difficult life gets.
Let Jesus and His words remain in you to provide the joy you will need to get you to the time of harvest.
Jesus can dispense all we need to cure our lack of Joy today,
I’m reminded of the elderly couple who engaged to be married. Jacob was 92 and Rebecca was 89. While planning their wedding they happened to go for a stroll and stopped in at a pharmacy.
Jacob asked the man behind the counter…are you the owner?
Yes sir came the reply.
We’re about to get married says Jacob, “Do you sell heart medication?”
Of course we do said the pharmacist.
How about for circulation?”
“All kinds” said the pharmacist.
“Do you have medicine for rheumatism?”
“Definitely”
“How about for memory problems and arthritis?
The answer was yes, we have a large variety, - the works.”
Jacob then asked… what about vitamins, sleeping pills, and muscle pain?”
“Absolutely” was the reply.
One more question asked Jacob, “Do you sell wheelchairs and canes and walkers?”
“Yes we have all sorts and sizes.”
At this Jacob said… well then we would like to register here for our wedding gifts.
Source: Jokes Quotes & Anecdotes by A. Daniel Goldsmith www.xulonpress.com 2010.
Friends we need a variety of virtues to carry us through our Christian life and Jesus possess all of them and gives them all to us freely but we have to register with Him. Is your name in the Lamb's Book of Life? If not it can be there before you leave here this morning.
Take time today in the quiet of your own heart and ask Jesus to supply your every need. Remain in Him and He will remain in you and He will make His joy complete in you when you are invited to that great and glorious wedding feast of the Lamb. – Amen.
