2 CORINTHIANS 11:23-28
Apostle Paul wrote . . . “I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.”
SERMON TEXT – “RING YOUR BELLS OF JOY”
You may be thinking, “For a topic about joy, that sermon scripture about what Apostle Paul said, that was just read, sure doesn’t sound joyful.” How easy is it for you to be joyful or happy or content, or as Jesus said in his sermon on the mount, to be blessed? Especially, if you’ve gone through some of the things Apostle Paul went through.
I truly believe that Joy doesn’t come from what happens to us but rather how we respond to the things that happen to us. No matter what predicament we are in, we should ask ourselves two questions:
1. How does God want me to view this situation and
2. How should I feel about it?
Then we can choose—with God’s help—to have the proper frame of mind. Let’s start by contrasting the frame of mind of two different individuals.
The first is a man who had joyful things in his life as well as not-so-joyful things. He chose to focus on the not-so-joyful things. It got so bad that he decided to jump off the local bridge into the river and end his life. He was on the bridge climbing up the rail when a police officer drove by in his police car. The officer pulled over, got out of the car, and cautiously approached the man on the bridge, calmly reassuring him that nothing in his life could be so bad as to even contemplate ending it by jumping off the bridge. The man said you just don’t know what’s going on in my life, and he proceeded to take at least 30 minutes telling the officer all the bad things that had happened to him—ending with how even his own dog didn’t like him and had bitten him that very morning. After listening to the man, the officer told him, “I am so sorry for all you’ve been through.” He took the man’s hand and they both jumped off the bridge.
Now for the second story about the frame of mind of another individual: There was a General of Napoleon’s called Massena who had 18,000 men who were on their way to attack an Austrian village that he knew had no protection. As he headed toward the town, he was very confident. Meanwhile, the city council was meeting. They knew Massena and his troops was coming their way. They all wanted to surrender except for one older gentleman who was a leader in the local church. This man stood up and said, “Today I am full of joy because it’s Easter. It’s the day we celebrate the beautiful gift that God gave us—Jesus—who hung on the cross and died for our sins so that we can be with him in heaven. I say let’s have our church service anyway and let’s ring our church bells with joy stronger, longer, and louder than we have ever rung them before.” The council agreed and they did. They had their service and rang their bells with joy stronger, longer, and louder than they had ever rung them before. When Massena heard those bells of joy ringing, he told his men “There’s only one reason those bells would be ringing like that. The Austrian Army must be on their way to protect this village. So, let’s retreat.” And they did.
In the first story the man chose to focus on the negative while in the second story the elderly gentleman chose to focus on the positive. Having that frame of mind, or attitude, is called a lot of things—like seeing the glass half full instead of half empty, making lemonade out of lemons, looking for the silver lining, blooming where you’re planted, being an optimist instead of a pessimist, or ringing your bells of joy instead of jumping off a bridge.
Also, it’s important to realize our frame of mind, or attitude affects those around us. So, our lesson today is going to focus on how to “ring your bells of joy” to make your life better as well as the lives of those around you.
To ring our bells of joy I believe we should: 1) Look for examples of those who ring their bells of joy even when under severe stress or dire circumstances. 2) Decide to ring your bells of joy 3) Improve your relationship with God and 4) Forgive.
1. Look for Examples - Now if there’s anyone who had a good reason not to be joyful and to be a pessimist or see the glass as half empty, or jump off a bridge, it would be Apostle Paul. From our sermon scripture, let’s review all Paul endured as mentioned in the 11th chapter of 2 Corinthians. Paul . . . Worked hard, frequently in prison, flogged severely, exposed to death again and again, received 39 lashes 5 times, beaten with rods 3 times, pelted with stones, shipwrecked 3 times, spent a night and a day in the open sea, constantly on the move, danger from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from fellow Jews, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the country, danger at sea, danger from false prophets, often gone without sleep, known hunger, known thirst, gone without food, been cold, been naked, daily pressured from his concern about all the churches. Anyone here been through more than Paul went through? I know I haven’t. How did he view his situation? How did he feel about it? In Philippians 4:4-7, he said this, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Wow, Paul was ringing his bells of joy.
Ironically, of all the books of the Bible, among the most joyful are what’s often called the “prison epistles”—which are letters written by Paul while being in prison. They are the books of Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon.
Paul also wrote, that he had learned to ring his bells of joy no matter what his circumstances as recorded in Philippians 4:11-13. “For I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.” Paul didn’t tell us to ring our bells of joy only when the going is pleasant and easy. He said, “Rejoice always” in 1 Thessalonians 5:16.
2. Decide You Want to Ring Your Bells of Joy – Although your genetic makeup has a great impact on how easy it is for you to want to ring your bells of joy, you can work on it if you decide you want to be more joyful. When you feel like jumping off a bridge, here’s an exercise to help you ring your bells of joy--write down 5 negative things that have happened to you in the last year. Think about each negative experience in great detail. Then ask yourself, “did any good, at all, came from those experiences? Then write them all down. Then also ask yourself, “Did the negative experiences lead to any new opportunities?” Then start listing all those opportunities that came your way, and you’ll start ringing your bells of joy.
3. Improve Your Relationship With God - However your present relationship is with God, do something to improve it. Well, how can you do that? There are hundreds of ways, but three ways come immediately into my mind, and they are: Pray more, Read the Bible more, and Love more.
a. Pray more - If you pray once every 5 years, try praying twice every 5 years; if you pray once a year--try for twice a year, if you pray once a month, increase to twice a month. Whatever the number is--increase it. Talking to God about your day and sharing the joys you go through will improve that relationship and that improvement will help you ring your bells of joy.
b. Read the Bible more – Again it doesn’t matter how often you read the Bible, just read a little more to increase your joy. Look for examples of joy and joyful people in the Bible and dwell on those situations to manufacture more joy in your soul.
c. Love more – Jesus, himself, when asked what is the greatest commandment said to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and our neighbors as our selves. So, after experiencing the joy of loving God and having a good relationship with God, let’s be selfish at first and love ourselves, for better or worse, and then love others as we love ourselves. In the book of Philemon, verse 7, Apostle Paul said that loving Philemon brought him great joy and encouragement. (BTW, Philemon is an interesting letter written by Paul. In the Bible it is only one chapter, and in my Bible only takes up 3 pages {1663 – 1665}. And really it could go all on one page, but I have a lot of concordance information included.) Paul was in prison and sent the letter to Philemon by Tychicus. If anyone needed joy, it would be Paul, and showing his love for Philemon is what made him ring his bells of joy.
4. Forgive - The fourth thing we can do to help us ring our bells of joy is to forgive. Going back to Philemon in verse 18, Paul tells Philemon to forgive Onesimus. Now who was Onesimus? Onesimus had been Philemon’s slave but Onesimus had run away and then later been converted as a Christian. So Onesimus was coming to see Philemon along with Tychicus and this letter written by Paul. Boy that would be hard for Philemon, to not only forgive his runaway slave but now accept him as an equal and dear brother in Christ. Is there anyone Paul would want you to forgive? If so, do it, and it will fill your heart with joy. Forgiving is a very selfish action. Yep, that’s right it is not selfless it’s selfish. Forgiving someone helps you a lot more than it helps the one you’re forgiving. When you let go of any revenge or hatred or misery you hold in your heart toward someone, it frees you and allows you to manufacture joy instead. Forgiving also makes you brave. As many, many smart and inspirational individuals have said, it’s not a weak person who forgives, it’s a strong one. And every time you forgive someone, you get stronger and stronger and you make more and more joy for yourself. Hey, also, if you are looking for a little different kind of joy, the author Oscar Wilde once said, “Always forgive your enemies—nothing annoys them so much.” So, it could help you to ring your bells of joy by annoying your enemies . . .
