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, said in John 17:13, “These things I speak in the world, that they might have My joy fulfilled in themselves.” To have this “joy fulfilled” requires that we know what “these things” are. As we have seen in previous studies, the immediate context of John 13-17 includes an extraordinary quantity of Trinitarian doctrine, as well as teaching on the certainty of heaven, the comfort of prayer, and the centrality of love. Furthermore, we find that joy is connected to service. We have previously seen the example of Jesus in chapter 13 as He washed His disciples’ feet. This loving act provides a template for our service to each other in God’s name. Further instruction is found in John 15:1-11. Because of our union with Jesus, we can now produce “fruit”; in other words, we can serve effectively in whatever way that God places before us. Note that verse 11 is very similar to John 17:13. If God’s joy is being fulfilled in us, we will want to serve; as we help others, we will not become hardened or bitter. Joy matters. We can slog through the Christian life, but why would we choose to? Jesus was about to sacrifice Himself on the Cross for us, yet He was speaking about joy. Certainly, we should follow His joyful path as we minister to others.