Join in the Joy
Through the years, I have frequently preached about joy. It is more than an emotion (although it includes emotion); rather, it is a settled attitude, a stable and sturdy approach to life that focuses us on the things that matter now and forever. Joy is much greater and much more powerful than happiness, which is event or circumstance driven. There is nothing wrong with happiness. It is certainly better than unhappiness. Also, we have different personalities. For example, my wife is happy-go-lucky. Of course, she has every reason to be, being married to me. However, not everyone can be married to me. We need something more substantial than happiness; that something is joy. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
Jesus, God the Son, spoke about and displayed joy. Luke 15 is one example; here, we learn that Jesus finds joy in finding what is lost. His primary audience, the Pharisees and scribes, had many issues; lack of joy was a definite problem that Jesus addresses directly in this chapter. While these religious leaders carped and caviled, Jesus told a series of three stories to illustrate their great need. The contrast with Jesus is striking and absolute: in verse 7 and again in verse 10, we hear of the joy ringing through heaven regarding the repentance of even one person. Jesus spoke forcefully yet lovingly, for these grumbling grandees were in extreme spiritual danger (note verses 25-28). However, their anger could be replaced by joy. In fact, if even one of them had repented, joy would have reverberated through the halls and highways of heaven. We know that we can easily be like the Pharisees and scribes, gloomy… or worse, far worse. As my wife often perkily chirps, “Don’t be a gooey chocolate chip cookie.” Rather than be morose mumblers, we can hear the echoes of heavenly, eternal joy – and join in.