The Gift of Life (Therefore Joy)
December 14/15, 2002
Intro:
I remember it clearly. Our elder’s board was gathered for a one-day retreat focussed on setting goals for our church. We began by sharing what some of our personal goals were for the next year, and one of our Elders made a statement that sticks with me still. He had some career goals, some personal goals, but the one that sticks out to me most was this: he said, “My goal is to live with joy.” To live with joy – it stands out still to me as an excellent goal.
The Announcement:
On this the third Sunday of Advent, we pause to reflect on the theme of joy. We prepare for the celebration of the birth of our Lord by thinking about the angel’s words to the shepherds: “An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” (Lk 2:9-11).
“Good news of great joy.” That was the announcement the angel made to the shepherds. That was the message they came to bring.
I don’t know exactly how you imagine this scene in your mind, but to me the feeling I get is that all of heaven can no longer contain the joy – they just can’t keep it to themselves – and so it almost explodes out into the place where God has allowed it, into the middle of a field of shepherds.
Do you recall the last time you had good news to share? Maybe it was a raise or a promotion, maybe a good result from an exam, maybe an announcement that you are getting married or that you are going to have a child. Do you remember how you just couldn’t wait to get home, to find that friend or loved one, and blurt out the good news? You burst through the door, a big grin on your face, and you said: “guess what!...” And you made the announcement. That is what I picture the angels doing here – bursting forth onto the shepherds scene with this incredible announcement. “Good news of great joy.”
What’s so “good” about the news?
Through this advent season, we’ve been reflecting on the gifts that God has given us through His Son. First was the gift of Hope – of the Hope of God with us. Last week we talked about the gift of Peace which comes from forgiveness. Today I want to talk about the gift of Joy – joy that comes from Life.
Because really, that is what the angel announced – new life. On one level, new human life in the form of a baby boy born in Bethlehem. But on a much larger level, the announcement is about eternal life – “A Savior has been born – the Messiah is come!”
And that, it occurs to me, is where our joy comes from. It comes from the life of God in us, filling us, flowing through us. It comes from the Holy Spirit indwelling us and bearing fruit in us. The gift of life – new life, eternal life, God-with-us life – is the source of joy.
What exactly does Joy look like:
Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve acknowleged that our lives here are not always easy. We recognize the struggles, the difficulties, the pain. Sometimes we even feel that pain more acutely during the Christmas season. We see that we need the Hope of God with Us because we can’t face life – and we certainly can’t face death – without God. We see that we need to experience God’s forgiveness, and that we need to forgive others, if we are ever going to experience the peace God wants us to know. So in the midst of all that we face in our world that is hard, where does joy fit in? Is it the end result – after we’ve forgiven, after we’ve walked through the difficult times with the Hope of God With Us – is that when/where the joy fits in?? Is it something we just look forward to heaven for???
Absolutely not. In fact, when the Apostle Paul is listing the things that the Holy Spirit produces in us, which he describes as “fruit”, joy is second on the list. Gal. 5:22 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, JOY…” So obviously God’s desire for us is that we live in joy today. How do we reconcile that with a difficult world?
First, let’s be clear about the difference between joy and happiness. Happiness is a feeling – it is an emotional response to an external set of circumstances. Joy, on the other hand, is an attitude. It is a gift from God through His Holy Spirit. We are not happy about a lot of things in life – none of the challenges and pains make us happy. We can, however, face those things with joy.
One of my books defines joy this way: “A delight in life that runs deeper than pain or pleasure… it is not limited by nor tied solely to external circumstances. Joy is a gift from God, and like all of his other inner gifts it can be experienced even in the midst of extremely difficult circumstances.” (C. Davis, in Evangelical Dictionary of Theology).
There’ll be no joy in whoville now…
use seuss to illustrate joy even in the midst of difficult circumstances by showing video clip from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas
What makes the difference?
So how do we get there? How do we come to a point of living lives of joy, even in the difficult times?
To answer that question, I want to walk really briefly through the first part of Philippians 2. To answer it completely, we’d have to study the whole book; but for now let me just read verses 1-5: “If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.”
Did you notice the things that Paul writes, “would make (his) joy complete?” They are all about how we live in relationship with one another. Put another way, they are about life – life together. He talks first about unity as the source of joy: being “likeminded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.” How does that bring joy? I think the key there is that together we are pursuing something higher and better. Together, we agree to put aside the non-essentials and concentrate on what is really important – and then we help one another stick to that. The joy comes as we cooperate together, as we work together, and as we see God do great things through the unity of His people.
The second source of joy comes from being others-centered. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” See, joy is one of the things that we don’t find by seeking it directly – that leads to a pursuit of personal pleasure at any cost, which is self-destructive and harmful. Joy comes from living for something higher than our personal pleasure – it comes from living for God first and others second. If you doubt that, think back to the times when you felt life most fullfilling, most full of joy. I’m going to guess that 90% of those times were when you had done something important for someone else – when you had made a significant impact on the life of another human being. That is where joy comes from!
The third source of joy Paul talks about is being Christlike. This is the culmination of the other two – being united in a great cause and being other’s centered both lead us to be like Jesus, which is where a life of joy even through suffering really begins.
The Joy of Jesus
As we read the gospel, we discover a Jesus of joy. Many of the stories He told about the Kingdom of God were stories of great joy – joy at finding something precious that was lost, the joy of a wedding feast, the joy of finding buried treasure. We read about Jesus being invited to parties, performing miracles to keep the party going, being surrounded by people who just wanted to be with Him. He even talked about joy on the night He was betrayed by Judas – in John 15:11 He explains His reasons for teaching them all the things He taught them around the last supper and as they walked to Gethsemane – “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” Hebrews tells us that joy sustained Jesus even through the experience of the cross: “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (12:2)
A little while ago I had the priviledge of praying with someone in my office. As we prayed, this person poured out their heart to God and sought forgiveness for his sins. As we finished, this person shared with me that he had an image of Jesus on the cross in his mind, and as he looked at Jesus’ face, he saw a smile. A smile on the face of a man being crucified. I believe that to be a true picture of joy – of the joy of Jesus as He forgives and restores, even though the cost was great.
Paul writes that his joy will be complete when we have the same attitude as Jesus.
A Gift From God
So there are some things we can do to experience joy in life – we can walk in unity, be others-centered, have the same attitude as Jesus. But I think the key statement in the definition I read earlier (“A delight in life that runs deeper than pain or pleasure… it is not limited by nor tied solely to external circumstances. Joy is a gift from God, and like all of his other inner gifts it can be experienced even in the midst of extremely difficult circumstances.” (C. Davis, in Evangelical Dictionary of Theology)) The key phrase is, “Joy is a gift from God.” Paul puts it second in the list of fruits of the Spirit, a passage which makes it clear that each of those things come from God – through His Spirit’s controlling presence in our lives.
And I don’t mean a “gift” in the sense that, when we have it, we recognize it as something that has come from God. That is true, of course. I mean “gift” in the sense that it is something God desires to give us. Not in a reactive sense, but in a proactive sense. I contemplated spending my entire time today talking about living life with perspective, about trusting God to be in control, about choosing to nurture an attitude of thankfulness, even about telling a bunch of jokes, all with the aim of moving us closer to a life of joy. But then I came to the realization that joy is a gift from God – inner, true joy of the Spirit, which remains even through the difficulties of life – is something that can only come as a gift from God.
So instead of only focusing on joy from those points of view, I want to close by talking about it from the point of view of a gift that God longs to give us. A gift for which we should simply ask.
To put that in context, think about this: suppose you had a child, whom you loved even though they occasionally did things that upset you. Now suppose that child came and asked you for a gift – a gift of something that would make their lives complete, a gift of which you had plenty. Would you give it to them? Of course! Jesus said, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” (Matt. 7:7-12).
Conclusion
Would you describe your life as full of joy? Full of that internal delight in life that runs deeper than pain or pleasure? Which you find frees you to celebrate exuberantly in the good things, and which gives you the strength to find God even in the hard things? Do you have the same attitude that Jesus did – an attitude of unity, others-centeredness, and self-sacrifice? Do you have the gift of Joy? Have you ever asked God for it?
Our Father in Heaven longs to give good gifts to those who ask. One of those gifts is the gift of joy – “good news of great joy”, do you remember the next line? “Which will be for all the people.” Including you.
