Real Joy Endures
My first Christian Service assignment was leader of a Youth for Christ Fellowship Group in Hapeville. The chorus we used as our theme song is familiar to all of you who were teenagers in the forties and fifties:
If you want joy, real joy, wonderful joy,
Let Jesus come into your heart . . .
Your sins He’ll wash away,
Your night He’ll turn to day,
Your life He’ll make it over anew . . . !
Real joy comes from knowing and serving Jesus!
He is the source and the object of all Christian endeavor - I Peter 4:11 . . .
Peter is speaking of the two most important activities of the Christian Church – preaching and practical service – and the aim of both must be to glorify God.
Needless to say, but I’ll say it anyway: Preaching is done not to display the preacher, but to bring people face to face with God. Christian service is rendered not to bring prestige to the one who renders it, but to turn people’s thinking to God. Introducing people to Jesus Christ is the way to do that! Real joy is the outcome!
In the course of these two endeavors . . . there is the inevitability that some hearers of the gospel are going to be rubbed the wrong way – to the point that the bearers of the good news and the practitioners of the good deeds, if not persecuted, at the least can expect to be shunned, protested, or if carried to the extreme, silenced. To silence Him was the real reason why the authorities demanded the crucifixion of Jesus.
Thus, endurance is a necessary factor that must be taken into consideration when we determine that God is calling us into active Christian service whether it takes the form of preaching, or, practical Christian service – I Peter 4:12-13 . . .
Remember last week’s 5 R’s for the Remaining Days of Our Lives? Right in God’s sight . . . Reverence the Lord . . . Be aware of the Reason for your hope . . . Resolve to finish on a high note . . . Be Ready for the coming of the Lord.
Yet, Peter’s “law” of the “inevitability of suffering” must not be forgotten! Why? The way of the Christian and the way of the world of evil are incompatible! It is human nature for people to dislike, resent, regard with suspicion . . . Christians who dare to be different.
Even within the ranks of the clergy, not just people in the pews, there are sharp contrasts in how we view the world and what our responsibility in the world should be. For all Christians, though, regardless of doctrinal or political differences, Peter reminds us that persecution, whatever form it takes, should be viewed as a test (“fiery” ordeal) of true commitment to Jesus Christ. So . . .
For goodness’ sake, we need to “get our act together” - preaching Christ, rendering practical service in His Name - even if we are misunderstood - even if ulterior motives are ascribed to our compassionate responses and merciful acts of kindness – all of which are characteristic of our Lord’s life as well as His teachings.
However, believe it or not, the very goodness of Christianity is oftentimes seen as offensive to a world in which selfishness trumps selflessness. There appear to be more than a few who desire to compromise with the anti-Christian world and, for the sake of going along to get along, seek to play down the differences between the Christian way and the world’s way simply to accommodate “comfort-ability”.
Well, let Peter tell us what ought to make us feel “comfortable” to the point of rejoicing! If you are persecuted for Christian beliefs and practices, guess what? So was Christ who died for you, and whose “sufferings” you are now sharing in – which can only mean one thing: You will share in His glory too!
Folks, as I have heard so many preachers of the gospel say, “The Cross is the way to the Crown.” Our Lord is no one’s debtor; we are indebted to Him; He paid it all; so, our joy comes from the realization that, even in the midst of suffering, His joy and crown await those who have been true to Him through thick and thin.
What an experience of inner exhilaration - not only to be ours in the hereafter but also is ours in the here and now – I Peter 4:14-16 . . . Does it register in your mind what Peter said? The “Spirit of GLORY rests on you”!
“Shekinah glory” would have been familiar to Jewish recipients of Peter’s letter, as it is to anyone who studies the Bible in depth – a reference to that luminous, glowing, cloud-like representation of God’s presence that was visible to God’s people in OT times.
Something of “the glow of God’s glory” rests on the person who “suffers” for Christ – for example, Stephen, whose face was said to be like that of an angel as he was stoned to death. Others, throughout Christian history and even in our own lives, have appeared to “glow” not in terms of a “halo” but in terms of the impression they made on us by their devotion and commitment to the Cause of Christ.
The old apostle was wise to qualify his argument inasmuch as he was aware how some people tend to latch on to the slightest inference gleaned from a remark someone has made, and stretch it to make a mountain out of a mole hill.
“No, I’m not talking about suffering for a wrong against society - whether on a large or small scale – that you brought on yourself.”
“What I’m saying is, if you are going to be ridiculed, rebuked, reprimanded because of your Christian faith, be sure your words and deeds are above reproach - in the sense that no one can accuse you of wrongdoing, but instead, folks will see the spirit of Christ reflected in you in a way that brings glory to God!”
This necessity of a Christian living above reproach was very dear to Peter’s heart - for good reason: Not only had he gone through embarrassment, trials and tribulations associated with his denial of Jesus, he is keenly aware of the judgment faced by all Christians – sooner or later – and he sees only one way to deal with it – that is, to entrust oneself to your Maker, Father and Redeemer - I Peter 4:17-19 . . .
During our lifetime of multiple Bible studies, if we have learned little else from prophets like Ezekiel, we (as a nation and as individuals) need to recall one lesson in particular: Where privilege has been greatest, judgment will be sternest. To whom much is given, much is required!
And if judgment is to begin with the Church of God, and by extension with a Nation whose God is the Lord, what will be the fate of those who have been disobedient to the commands of God?
When we’ve said and done all we can to make others aware of their need to get right with God and do right, and we have helped them as best we know how, we are still left with the requisite to take care of personal business -“sweep around our own front door” (as mama used to say) – and continue to do right in God’s sight, regardless of whether others do or don’t. And to do so:
I know of no better way than that which Peter prescribed: ENTRUST oneself to the LORD God – Maker, Father and Redeemer – the one and only Supreme Being on whom we can rely. Why? He sent His Son to die, then raised Him from the dead, thereby proving who He is, and why we must only trust Him and, as our Lord God says, “have no other ‘gods’ before me”!
With that thought in mind, and if you don’t mind, we finish with a very brief word study: The word translated “entrust” presents quite a vivid picture. Its use technically had to do with “depositing money with a trusted friend” because there were no banks back then. So:
Going on a journey, turning over (entrusting) one’s silver and gold to a person of honor and integrity was the smart thing to do for safekeeping until one’s return. In like manner, if we ENTRUST ourselves to God, we can be sure that He will not fail us! Now hear this:
The word for “entrust” in the original language (paratithemi) is the very word Jesus used in the last of His sayings as he hung on the Cross: “Father, into Thy hands I entrust (commend) my spirit!”
Unhesitatingly our Lord entrusted His life to God, knowing “of a certainty” that at the end of His earthly existence, God would not fail Him! Likewise, we entrust our lives to the Lord; we know of a certainty that He will not fail us!
For you see, as the Psalmist put it: “In thy presence is fullness of joy!” (Ps. 16:11) Real joy endures for the rest of our days and throughout eternity! Amen.
