Unspeakable Joy

Before we continue with the story I would like to make one further point concerning Jesus’ invitation. Jesus was comfortable with people who were having a good time, even when they were sinning! We know that gratifying the sinful desires of one’s heart can bring one a lot of temporary joy. Hanging around a world that is drunk on sin though can be very uncomfortable. Jesus went to the wedding knowing full well that it would last about a week and many of the guests would be dunk the entire time. Jesus did not condemn them but instead shared their joy, without sinning of course, and in turn got to witness to them by doing a miracle. Let me share with you a story that Boice tells in his commentary:

“A friend of mine, who is now a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, was asked to speak at a banquet that would be attended by the young adult group of a certain church. He had never heard of the church before, or the young adult group, but he went to the banquet and spoke about the call of Christ to the unsaved and about discipleship. After the dinner and his address my friend was ready to go home, but he discovered that this was only the prelude to the evening. The dinner was followed by a wild party at which, as he told me, the noise was so loud that it was almost impossible to talk to anyone. He concluded—and he was right, as it later turned out—that the group was composed mostly of those who were Christian in name only. But what should he do? Should he go home, declaring that Christians do not go to wild parties and that this was a most unfortunate sequel to his talk? Or should he stay, enjoying the good time of the others as much as possible?

My friend decided to stay with the group. During the first few minutes he was there, a girl came up to talk to him. She had been impressed by what he had said at the dinner, but she did not understand it. She asked him to explain again what it means to be a Christian. My friend said that at this point the noise was so loud the two of them had to shout to each other even though their mouths were only inches from each other’s ears. But the shouting was worthwhile, for the girl believed and became a Christian. The sequel to the story is that the girl was apparently the key to the whole group. She became a dynamic witness to her friends. Through her witness most of the group believed. She later died of a brain hemorrhage, suddenly, at the age of 25; but at that time others believed. One young man, who believed, then went on to influence hundreds

Instead of frowning when people are sinning show them how happy you are to be in their presence. Letting your light shine amid sin can be a powerful witness that would not be heard if one merely walked away! After all, how can those who need the Great Physician to heal them hear about the bread of life and living waters when we refuse to hang around or speak to them? This leads me to my first point:

Point 1: Unspeakable joy comes from being a witness to others and seeing their lives transformed by Christ in our presence!