OPEN: In 1937 architect Frank Lloyd Wright built a house for industrialist Hibbard Johnson. One rainy evening Johnson was entertaining distinguished guests for dinner when the roof began to leak.
The water seeped through directly above Johnson himself, dripping steadily onto his bald head. Irate, he called Wright in Phoenix, Arizona.
“Frank,” he said, “you built this beautiful house for me and we enjoy it very much. But … the roof leaks, and right now I am with some friends and distinguished guests and it is leaking right on top of my head.”
There was a pause on the line, and Frank Lloyd Wright reportedly replied: “Well, Hib, why don’t you move your chair?”
APPLY: This morning we’re going to be talking about Joy
Galatians 5 says that one of the fruit of the Spirit is… JOY and I had not realized until I started doing the research for this sermon how central Joy and Rejoicing were to the people of God
I. What I discovered was that the Word of God seems to focus heavily on Joy.
ILLUS: In the Jewish Encyclopedia Kaufmann Kohler stated that no language has as many words for joy and rejoicing as does Hebrew. In the Old Testament there are 27 different words that are used primarily… for some aspect of joy or joyful participation in religious worship.
Hebrew religious ritual (says Kohler) demonstrates that God is the source of joy.
In contrast to the rituals of other faiths of the East Israelite worship was essentially a joyous proclamation and celebration. The good Israelite regarded the act of thanking God as the supreme joy of his life. Pure joy is joy in God as both its source and object.
The psalmist says, “You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” Psalm 16:11
The New Testament stresses this as heavily as the Old did:
1 Thessalonians commands us to “Be joyful always” 1 Thessalonians 5:16
Romans 12:12 says we should “Be joyful in hope...”
And Phil. 4 states “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” Philippians 4:4
(pause…) Now, I’ve always been intrigued by that last quote there from Philippians 4
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” Philippians 4:4
What intrigued me was that Paul felt compelled say it “again”. Why would Paul feel he had to repeat himself?
Then I realized, as a parent I repeat myself quite a lot to my children. And I repeat myself… and I repeat myself… and I repeat myself. Why do I feel have to do that?
Because the kids aren’t listening! They’re not paying any attention to me!
There are many Christians who struggle with this idea of having “joy” in their lives. Their problem is THEY DON’T HAVE ANY JOY!
ILLUS: The evangelist Billy Sunday noticed this absence of joy in the lives of many people he preached to, and he observed:
“If there is no joy in your religion, you’ve got a leak in your faith.”
In other words - if there’s no joy in your life - you have a problem. You’ve got a leak someplace and you need to find a way to deal with it.
II. Now, some will point out that the reason they have no joy in their lives is because they don’t have a reason to be joyful.
Life seems like it’s fallen apart.
They aren’t satisfied with their job… if they even have one.
Their family has problems.
Their health isn’t good
Their car has gone in for repairs for the 10th time this year.
They just can’t see a “reason” for being joyful.
And, I can’t blame people for feeling that way. It’s hard to be joyful when life is going against you. It’s hard to be joyful when you’re
… struggling with troubles,
…or overwhelmed by pain,
…or unsure of your future.
But there’s a problem with THAT approach to life. If we wait till everything to turns out the way we want them to in our lives… if we’re not going to be joyful until all the leaks are patched in our lives… THEN we’re NEVER going to experience JOY. Or, if we do have joy, it will be a rare occurrence.
Jesus Himself warned us that "… In this world you will have trouble..." John 16:33
Now, the good news is this. You don’t have to wait until you’re Happy with your life/ to have joy in your life. The kind of joy God wants you to have in your life WILL bring you happiness. But the pursuit of happiness will not always bring you joy.
ILLUS: That realization caused me to remember a little phrase I learned years ago, back in math class: “All squares are rectangles… but not all rectangles are squares”
I believe the same kind of concept exists in Scripture: “God’s Joy will always bring happiness… but the pursuit of happiness will not always bring joy.”
Why would that be?
The word happiness actually derives from the English word “Happenstance” which means “something that HAPPENs because of a circumSTANCE”
Thus – what we think of as happiness is an emotion that is caused by our circumstances. Worldly happiness is almost always reliant upon some situation or event to make us feel good.
If something good happens… we’ll feel good
But if something bad happens… we won’t.
By contrast… God’s kind of Joy does not depend upon present situation. In fact, God’s joy often can exist despite our circumstances.
ILLUS: A person once asked his friend… “How are you doing?”
His friend was upset about something that had happened in his life and replied “Oh… all right – under the circumstances.”
To which the 1st man replied “what you are doing there? What are you doing UNDER your circumstance.”
God doesn’t want us to be UNDER our circumstances
God wants us to be OVERCOMERS
He wants us to give us the ability to have control of our lives
He wants to set us free from the chains and the shackles that life can impose on us.
Jesus said: “… if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:36
III. That’s why Scripture so often tells us to rejoice…even when it doesn’t make any sense
James 1:2-4: Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Peter tells the Christians of his day: “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” 1 Peter 4:12-13
What are these scriptures saying???
They’re saying – If the roof is leaking and you can’t get someone to fix it right away… MOVE YOUR CHAIR. Change your perspective. Take some control of your life – by rejoicing.
ILLUS: At the first church I served, I was visiting one of the ladies in the nursing home. She had had a stroke some time before and the entire left side of her body and face were immobile.
She was very difficult to visit with because when I would try to share news from the congregation she would cry. If I shared sad news, she cried.
If I shared good news, happy news, exciting news… she cried. Everything I shared with her brought about the same heart rending response. She couldn’t help it.
But one day, when I stepped into her room I found her writing letters with her good hand. She was writing letters of encouragement to the people back at the home church.
Here was a woman who was in a nursing home
A woman crippled by a stroke
A woman who’s only form of verbal communication seemed to be crying
And she refused to let that destroy the Joy of Christ that laid within her
She took control of her situation by doing the only thing her body would allow her to do for her God.
In the Bible there’s the story of Paul and Silas.
They were ministering in the city of Philippi… and they were arrested.
Acts 16 tells us that “… the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.. Acts 16:22-24
They really hadn’t done anything wrong.
All they had done was preach the love of Jesus and heal a demon possessed girl.
BUT NOW… here they were mistreated, abused, beaten and imprisoned.
How would you have responded to that???
It’s not right….
It’s not fair…
THEY HAVE NO RIGHT TO TREAT ME LIKE THIS
You could almost hear them as they shout threats and curses from the inner…
Wait a minute… that’s not what it says
Acts 16:25 tells us “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.”
Paul and Silas had been stripped, beaten, thrown into the very darkest cell in the prison and fastened in stocks… and what do they do??? They pray and sing. They hold a mini-Revival in their cell. They could have allowed their situation to have control of them. But instead, they took control of their situation by REJOICING in God – praying/singing. The end result was that Paul and Silas witnessed to a literal “captive audience. And they ended up baptizing the jailer and his family into Christ.
God’s kind of Joy is NOT AN EMOTION that happens to you. God’s Joy is His tool for you to use to take control of your life. As Nehemiah said “… the Joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10
III. Well, how can I do that? How can I lay hold of the “Joy of the Lord”?
Well… we need to lay hold of THE SOURCE of God’s joy
Galatians 5:22 “The fruit of the SPIRIT is… joy…”
In other words… God’s Spirit is the source of God’s Joy. So, the more I’m filled with the Spirit of God… the more of God’s joy I’ll have in my life.
Ephesians says: “…be filled with the Spirit.” How do I do that?
1st – “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord,” Ephesians 5:18-19
Surround yourself with music that glorifies God… and God will give you His joy.
That’s what Paul and Silas had done in the their prison cell.
2nd – “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:20
Spend a great deal of your time in prayer thanking God for what He’s done… and God will give you His Joy. I suspect that was what Paul and Silas praying about while they were in jail. They were reminding themselves of all the good things God had already done in their lives - the miracles they’d seen and the lives that had been changed.
3rd – “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Ephesians 5:21
Find a way to serve others… and God will give you His joy.
When their prison doors flew open and their chains fell from their wrists, Paul and Silas could have run away and saved themselves. But instead they stayed and preached to their jailer and ultimately baptized the man and his family into Christ. They served the needs of this man and they ended up bringing both he and his family to Christ.
CLOSE: For the Christian, Joy is more than an emotion. Joy is a tool God gives us to overcome our circumstances, to empower us to rise above the pain and the sorrows of this life.
Hebrews 12 says “Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end. He did not give up because of the cross! On the contrary, because of the joy that was waiting for him, he thought nothing of the disgrace of dying on the cross, and he is now seated at the right hand of God’s throne.” (Heb. 12:2 TEV)
Jesus overcame the pain and disgrace of the cross - He rose above the horror of His crucifixion - BECAUSE He didn’t focus on His present situation. INSTEAD He focused on the JOY that was waiting for Him
Fanny Crosby wrote over 8000 hymns. Songs like “Tell me the Story of Jesus, write on my heart every word”, “Blessed Assurance Jesus is mine”, and “To God be the Glory, great things He has done.”
But Fanny Crosby had been blind since she had been a baby. When she was 8 years old she wrote this poem:
“O what a happy soul am I! Although I cannot see,
I am resolved that in this world contented I will be;
How many blessings I enjoy that other people don’t!
To weep and sigh because I’m blind, I cannot and I won’t.”
SERMONS IN THIS SERIES
The Unknown Quality of Love = Galatians 5:22-5:25
Plugging the Leak in your Joy = Galatians 5:22-5:25
The Prescription for Powerful Peace = Philippians 4:1-4:9
The Puzzle of Powerful Patience = Galatians 5:13-5:26
God’s Idea of Kindness = Luke 6:25-6:42
The Tree Of Goodness = Galatians 5:22-5:23
Getting A Booster Shot Of Faith = Galatians 5:22-5:23
