Ring Your Bells Of Joy

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.