(This sermon was preached at Epworth Chapel, Baltimore on 11/14, and is the third in a 10-part sermon series on Bearing Fruit)
“… the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
As we seek to mature in Christ, and become fruit-bearing Christians, it is important that we develop some sense of perspective on what it is that brings us true joy. This is critical because it is true that all of us will go through seasons of disappointment in life. Things will not always go as planned. Even when we have tried our best – given the very best that we have – things will not always work out for us.
This past week, we experienced a storm that came through our region and affected almost all of us in no small way. What is being referred to as Super-storm Sandy wreaked havoc and changed lives all along the east coast – and was particularly devastating to our sisters and brothers in New Jersey and New York. If the truth is told, super-storms, hurricanes, tornadoes and tsunamis are an inevitable part of life, and not just from a meteorological perspective. Storms appear in our lives and wreak havoc on us in any number of ways.
Dr. Leonard Sweet wrote about the existential storms of life in his book entitled Soul Tsunami. Indeed soul tsunamis enter into all of our lives from time to time wreaking havoc on our health, on our finances, on our relationships, on our peace of mind, and on our very souls.
Indeed, in the midst of all of our good intentions in life, we live in a world that is dark with despair, awash with angst, deluged with disappointment, and gauged with grief. Daily we hear of, and even experience bad news all around us. Death and pain, evil and distress are a part of our reality. The soul tsunamis of life are very real.
With all that is going on and swirling around us, it is also the case that every human heart hungers for joy. Humankind constantly seeks after that which will bring delight to our lives. We yearn for that which will lead to our joy.
But in our quest, it seems that many people tend to look for contentment n all the wrong places. Many people seek happiness through acquiring more money, by buying expensive things, and by seeking fun and pleasure in people, places or positions.
This coming Tuesday, our nation will vote to elect our next president. Depending on which candidate you supported, when the election is over, you will either be cheering and celebrating on Tuesday night, or you will be jeering and mourning, and calling for a recount. About half of the nation will be happy and the other half unhappy.
In the midst of our roller-coaster of emotions, what we all are really in search of is not simply happiness, but real, authentic joy. It is against this backdrop that the apostle Paul in his letter to the Galatian church said that the “fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
Notice that Paul does not speak here about happiness, but he talks about joy. He says that the second fruit of the Spirit is joy. It is important for us as Christians to understand the difference between being happy and having true joy in Jesus. There is a difference. Happiness comes and goes. Happiness may disappear with the next telephone call or text message. Happiness might dissipate when your loved one dies… your x-ray shows bad news… your car needs serious repair… your relationship does not work out. There goes your happiness.
But what we as Christians can experience in life is not only happiness as the world understands it, but we can experience true joy in a spiritual and biblical sense. This is the same joy that Nehemiah – discouraged about the challenges of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem… frustrated by the waywardness of the people of Israel.. fed up with the doubting and complaining and bickering of he people of God – was led to talk about in the Old Testament when he declared that “the joy of the Lord is our strength.” (Neh. 8:10)
What Nehemiah was saying to the people of Israel and to us today is that we should stop looking for joy in anything but the Lord. Stop looking for joy in how well things may or may not be going for you. Stop looking for joy in what you achieve. Stop looking for joy in what people may or may not think or say about you. Let the joy of the Lord be your strength.
Paul reminds us that the fruit of the Spirit is joy. This is the same joy that Jesus talked about with his disciples when he said to them, “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.” The apostle James came along a few years later and talked about this very same joy, when he encouraged the church at Jerusalem, to “Count it all joy.” James says consider it joy, whenever you face trials of many kinds. Consider it joy.
And so as people of faith, it is incumbent on you and me to consider it joy all joy, whatever comes our way. And I’m here to share that I’ve got joy.
If you know like I know, you know that the good news is that when we have true joy, we cannot be deterred or knocked off course by the various vicissitudes of life. When we’ve got true joy, we can’t be turned back or turned around because of disappointment.
When we’ve got joy, we can confront the times of need and want, and know that Jesus might always come when we want him to come, but he’s an on-time God!
When we’ve got joy, we can declare as an act of faith as David declared that, God is well able to turn our mourning, our sadness and our pain – into dancing. And further, that “weeping may endure for a night, but joy come in the morning!”
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