Joy: The Gigantic Secret Of The Christian

When people are asked what they most want in life, the answers are likely to be something like:

1.     Happiness – I want to be happy.

2.     Peace – life is hectic and confusing. People crave security and stability.

3.     Freedom – my life feels controlled. I am pushed and pulled in every direction. I want to control my life.

4.     Excitement – escape from the tedium and boredom. Doing something new or exciting.

5.     Significance – I want to know that my life has counted for something. I want to know that I made some sort of difference.

6.     To be loved – That probably is actually number one but people don’t necessarily say that first.

7.     Money – because people see that as the way to happiness and peace and freedom etc.

If we leave out money (because that is a bit of a fake solution) the things people crave are the very things Jesus promises. Isn’t that interesting? The things people crave most and spend their lives pursuing – and possibly never find – are all found in Jesus.

Regularly, the number one thing that people say is “I want to be happy”. Or someone might say, “As long as you are happy. That is the main thing, isn’t it?” Being happy is the main thing.

If being loved is actually number 1, the list starts with love, happiness, peace. That is how the fruit of the Spirit starts: love, joy, peace… Maybe God actually knows what we need. He offers exactly what we most crave.

Actually, He offers even more than we realise we need. We crave happiness; God offers joy. Joy is better than happiness. Happiness depends on our circumstances. If the weather is miserable then I am miserable. If I think that I have been criticised, I feel rejected and depressed. If I haven’t had enough sleep, other people better watch out! I’m not happy.

Joy is different. Happiness is very fickle. We can be happy one minute and something happens and suddenly we are unhappy. Joy is much deeper. Joy is possible even in difficult circumstances. Joy doesn’t disappear just because something goes wrong. In 2 Corinthians 6, Paul lists ways that his life commends him to others; the things in his life that others admired. He talks about his sufferings and hardships; his willingness to suffer, his purity, understanding, patience, kindness and love (note that many of those are aspects of the fruit of the Spirit) commended him to others. In 2 Corinthians 6:10, he includes being sorrowful yet always rejoicing. Sorrow and joy are not mutually exclusive; you can have both. That rejoicing in the midst of sorrow commended him to others. They admired that.

In Acts 16 Paul and Silas had been imprisoned in Philippi. They had been attacked by a crowd; the magistrate had ordered they be stripped and beaten with rods. They were imprisoned in the inner cell and their had been fastened in stocks. And yet, at midnight the other prisoners heard them praying and singing hymns to God. They had reasons to rejoice despite being in prison. Joy goes deeper. They knew that God was good, that they were His children, that God had not abandoned them, that He would work His purposes out. There were so many reasons for rejoicing.

James 1:2-4

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

It seems like a silly contradiction to talk about pure joy in the same sentence as facing trials. And yet James says there are reasons for joy. Trials test our faith and produce perseverance. Perseverance leads to maturity and completeness. The glorious destination makes the struggle worthwhile. Maturity is a pearl of great price. It is so precious that we can rejoice in the growth even though the pathway is hard.

Joy comes from knowing that God is good, and that you are His child and He will not let you down. In fact, He promises you an infinitely wonderful future. In other words, joy is the result of faith. It is a result of knowing and trusting God – His love and His promises. Joy comes from experiencing God’s presence and His grace even in a difficult situation.

It is surprising how often the Bible talks about joy. Think of the song at the end of Habakkuk.

Habakkuk 3:17-18

Though the fig tree does not bud
    and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
    and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
    and no cattle in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
    I will be joyful in God my Saviour.

19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
    he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
    he enables me to tread on the heights.

He didn’t say he would rejoice in the failure of the crops and herds. He said he would rejoice in the Lord who was his strength. Joy does not mean that we wear an artificial grin and deny the reality of suffering. It is not about pretending everything is OK when it isn’t. Habakkuk wrote about the suffering. James wrote about the trials of many kinds. Paul wrote about his sufferings. But all of them also said, “Despite all of that, I know that God is good; I know that, in God, I have a future and that fills me with joy.

How can we have that joy? Too often our circumstances do dictate our mood. How can we have that deep joy?

I think I sometimes think that God wants more and more from me, but this is God’s gift to me. He says, “I want you to be joyful.“

Jesus emphasised that He wanted His followers to have a wonderful joy.

John 15:11

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

John 16:24

Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

John 17:3

[Jesus prayed to God] I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.

That they may have my joy. Jesus was a person of joy – of rejoicing.

Complete joy, the full measure of Jesus’ joy. Time and time again, Jesus said, “This is what I want for you.” Some people think God wants us to be miserable, or that God is only interested in driving us harder to achieve; these verses say that God wants us to have joy.

Joy is God’s gift. Joy is one result of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The closer we walk with God (and that is the key) – the closer we walk with God, the more we include the Holy Spirit in our lives, the better we will know God, the more we will be aware of His grace and the promises, the more we will be confident about our salvation and the glorious inheritance that God is keeping for us, and the more reason we will have for joy. The better we know God, the more we will say, “Wow!” and have joy.

But it doesn’t seem to work! Some Christians are miserable, grumpy old things! Christians, especially Presbyterians, have a reputation for being joyless. H.L. Mencken defined puritanism as “the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy”. That wasn’t true. The Puritans were wonderful Christians who had a lot of joy but that is the perception. We say “walk with the Holy Spirit and you will have joy” but joy is decidedly lacking sometimes. In fact, you have to wonder if the opposite is true: the longer you are a Christian, the grumpier you will become. Where is this gift that God is supposed to give?

But we are to walk by the Spirit. We are to be led by the Spirit. We have a role in this too.

Galatians says walk in the Spirit and the result will be joy, but in other passages, we are told to actively live it out. We are told to rejoice. For example…

Philippians 4:4-7

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.

Paul wrote Philippians from prison. He talks in Chapter 1 about being “in chains for Christ”. He grapples with the prospect of dying soon. But the Philippians were also suffering. Paul talked about those who were opposing them and that it had been granted to them not only to believe in Christ but also to suffer for Him (1:29). He said that they were going through the same struggles that he had (1:30).

Yet, in that context, Paul tells them to rejoice. God makes it possible, but we have to put it into practice. God says, “I’ll give it; you live it”.

God might be prompting you right now to offer to pay for an overseas trip for me. Yes, it would be a gift but it is only when I make the bookings and get on the plane that I receive the full blessing of that gift. The Holy Spirit will give me joy but I have to choose to live joyously. It is when I choose to live it that I experience it. Our part is to exercise this joy that God miraculously gives.

Notice that Paul said, “Rejoice in the Lord”. It is not rejoice in the circumstances. The circumstances are bad, but God is good. Rejoice in the goodness of God. Remember how good He is and celebrate it.

Let your gentleness be evident to all. Don’t be bitter and angry. Be a different type of person – a joyful person.

The situation might be difficult; the natural response might be anxiety, but if we consciously celebrate the goodness of God and we pray (because we do trust Him to be good) then the promise is a peace that is beyond human understanding – a supernatural, miraculous peace. Emma will talk about peace next week, but rejoicing is essentially about gratitude: remembering the goodness of God and giving thanks and praise. People who practice gratitude are joyful people.

Joy is that deep “happiness” that comes from knowing that God is good and that, to quote 2 Corinthians 4:17, “our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all”. It is the Holy Spirit who opens our eyes to understand those things and who gives us the faith to believe them. Joy is a result of the Holy Spirit showing us the goodness of God. Only Christians can have this joy because only Christians know the goodness of God, including His promises.

G.K. Chesterton called joy “the gigantic secret of the Christian”.

The Holy Spirit opens our eyes and gives us faith. It is not something that we can come up with ourselves. But we are called to then live it out. I’ll give it; you live it. Paul instruction to the Philippians is also a direct instruction to us. Here it is. This is God’s word to us: “Go out from here and rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say it: Rejoice!”

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