About the Author: Sunday Sermons from Sell Chapel are written by Rev. Preston Van Deursen, Director of Pastoral Care at the Masonic Village at Elizabethtown.
One cold, rainy morning a teenager awakened on a farm and walked out to the back of the barn where she kept her favorite pet ” her animal friend, the mule. The mule was standing outside in the rain, and as the drops of water rolled off the end of the long nose of that ugly animal, the mule seemed discouraged and depressed. She looked at her favorite friend and said, “You know, Betsy, you would make a wonderful Christian because you look like so many Christians I know! You look like you have lost your last friend. You look like the world is coming to an end.”
How many here today can remember that special “joy” song we would often sing in Sunday School and in summer vacation Bible School programs when we were youngsters. I believe it went as follows:
“I have the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart, down in my heart…”
And then the song leader would shout, “Where?” And we would shout, down in my heart to stay!”
Have you had those moments in your life when for whatever reasons you didn’t feel you had an ounce of joy in your heart? Have you had those moments when joy was lacking in your orientation to life?
We all have
Have you ever wondered how the Apostle Paul could have joy down deep in his heart when he was in prison for his faith in Jesus Christ but yet he writes to fellow Christians from the Philippian jail cell that we as Christians were to “rejoice” in the Lord regardless of what state of being or difficult circumstances we would find ourselves. How could John the Baptist once again have joy in his heart when he knew that his importance in the salvation drama that God was unfolding was decreasing rather than increasing? How could he say, “This joy of mine is now full,” when he knew that he would soon die.
I have often heard others remark, “Aren’t Christians supposed to have joy? Aren’t they the unique people of the Earth who claim that we have found the secret and the source of unending joy? At Christmas, Christians sing, “joy to the World, the Lord is Come.” How often do worship services in Christian churches begin with that great hymn, “joyful, joyful, We Adore Thee”? Many hymnals also have responsive readings based on Psalm 118 which declares, “Let us rejoice and be glad.”
In Nehemiah 8:9-12, we find God instructing the leaders to tell Israel that it is okay to be joyous and festive in our celebration and praise of God.
I remember Erma Bombeck once sharing a story about a mother and father who sat with their three-year-old child during a Sunday morning worship service. The small child was quietly walking in the pew, smiling and grinning at the people sitting in the pew behind them. The father very solemnly grabs the boy and tells him to stop smiling and having fun, because this was church and we were to look serious and somber. I remember a quote that I once saw in Reader’s Digest where a person is quoted as saying, “I’m going to be happy and joyful, even if it kills me.”
I would like to share three insights as we look at the source and the secret of joy.
THE FIRST SOURCE OF JOY IS FOR IT TO BE GOD CENTERED RATHER THAN CIRCUMSTANCE CENTERED.
One of the most gifted Christian writers today is Max Lucado of San Antonio, Texas. Max tells about meeting a gentleman called Robert Reed. Robert’s hands are twisted and his feet are useless. He can’t bathe himself. He can’t feed himself. He can’t brush his teeth, comb his hair, or put on his underwear. His shirts are held together by strips of Velcro. His speech drags like a worn-out audio cassette. Robert has cerebral palsy.
Max shares, “I heard Robert Reed declare, ‘I have everything I need for joy!’ Amazing, I thought!
“The disease keeps him from driving a car, riding a bike, and going for a walk. But it didn’t keep him from graduating from high school or attending Abilene Christian University, from which he graduated with a degree in Latin. Having cerebral palsy didn’t keep him from teaching at a St. Louis junior college or from venturing overseas on five mission trips. And Robert’s disease didn’t prevent him from becoming a missionary in Portugal.
“He moved to Lisbon, alone, in 1972. There he rented a hotel room and began studying Portuguese. He found a restaurant owner who would feed him after the rush hour and a tutor who would instruct him in the language.
“I heard Robert speak recently. I watched other men carry him in his wheelchair onto the platform. I watched them lay a Bible in his lap. I watched his stiff fingers force open the pages. And I watched people in the audience wipe away tears of admiration from their faces. Robert could have asked for sympathy or pity, but he did just the opposite. He held his bent hand up in the air and boasted, ‘I have everything I need for joy.’ His shirts are held together by Velcro, but his life is held together by joy.” (2)
This real life story from one of God’s special saints demonstrates that the source of joy depends on your orientation to life. It has nothing to do with the events of your life but with the deeper orientation of your life. joy is a gift that comes when a life is centered on God. People like Robert Reed, teach us that joy is always only one decision away. Choose God.
THE SECOND SECRET OF JOY IS TO BELIEVE DEEPLY IN CHRIST.
The first Christians preached and believed Jesus as the one come from God to lead men and women to the experience of true joy. This is why the angels sang at his birth. This is why Jesus is called the “Good Shepherd.”
We often get confused in life about many things. I heard the other day about an executive who was given a prank gift for his birthday, a penguin. He decided just to accept it in the spirit in which it was given, so he called in one of his employees and said, “Will you please take this penguin to the zoo?” The employee never returned to work that day. That night, however, he appeared at the executive’s house, with the penguin. Exasperated, the business executive said, “I thought I told you to take the animal to the zoo.” “I did,” said the young employee. “He enjoyed it so much, tomorrow I’m planning to take him to the museum!”
There are a lot of things we are confused about in our day by day experience of living. But this one thing we must never become confused about: Jesus came to bring us life and joy that can be found in no other.
Everything in life is a poor substitute for God.
Life without Christ is no life at all. It is a pulse without purpose, heart without happiness, existence without eternity; life without living. With Christ we have a purpose to live for, a power to live by, and a person to live with. Jesus not only saves us from our sins, he also saves us for a new life of purpose and power in the presence of God. He gives us unending joy.
Recently, I attended with five colleagues an Evangelism Congress in Pittsburgh. Included on the program each afternoon were times of personal Christian witness by various persons who had experienced some challenge in life which forced them to assess their faith.
One speaker in that series was Dr. Hugh Crocker. He told the gathering of his life’s journey in the past ten years. First, he told of the terrible automobile accident which nearly claimed his life. And then, in a totally unrelated turn of events, he told of his current battle with Parkinson’s Disease.
Hugh did not wish to dwell on his infirmities. Rather, he wanted to make a Christian witness as a servant of Jesus Christ. I shall never forget these words which he spoke: “I am determined that no human limitation shall ever strip me of my joy.”
We can get bitter or we can get better.
When Christ is a part of our lives he imparts a deep inner strength for us to continue on when the journey in life is difficult. St. Paul, like Hugh Crocker, discovered that the joyful vitality of life is found in a daily appreciation and thankfulness for what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. If we aren’t filled with joy, we soon will be filled with bitterness.
THIRDLY, THE SECRET OF JOY IS WHEN WE OPEN OUR LIVES TO CHRIST JOY WILL FLOW IN.
Do you want joy? You must begin with God. Is God preeminent in your life? The first priority in life is to be the worship of God. The worship of God is directly related to the freedom to be obedient to God. His will becomes the ruling principle of life. God’s will becomes the dominating passion of life. More important than any preference, tastes, ambitions, ego, or the opinions of others is what God wants. This is the delight of a Christian. This is to be the priority of life. God’s will brings life and joy.
In our generation there has been a number of books published under the banner “the one minute” approach to life. First, there was the “One Minute Manager” which was about a one-hundred page book and sold for $15.00. Then that book was followed by one titled, “Applying the One Minute Manager.” Then these books led into the following books: “The One Minute Scolding;” “The One Minute Father;” “The One Minute Mother,” and the series just seems to continue into every aspect of our lives. These books tell you how to do things quickly and efficiently.
However, this modern day approach to life will never work when it comes to developing real joy in our lives. We will never know real joy if we only have a one minute God, one minute devotions, one minute prayers, and only attend one hour worship services on Sunday morning. For joy is the echo of God’s life within us. joy is a form of energy which helps us live above the circumstances of trouble and sorrow. joy is the celebration of life which doesn’t center its focus on what we might lose but on what we have left. joy is that power which makes us strong from the inside out.
We find joy, or maybe I should correctly state that joy finds us, as we journey through life looking at life through God’s eyes. God grants the gift of joy to pilgrims who seek Him rather than those who seek joy.
A recent evening news program told a story of a man and his crew who were on a “Treasure Hunt” to locate a ship in the Atlantic Ocean that had gone down in the 16th Century.
Today the hunts are done with sophisticated sonar equipment that helps save valuable time. The head of the expedition told how they located the boat and various small pieces of valuable coins and metals ” but they couldn’t find the big pot of gold they anticipated finding. The sophisticated equipment was of little help. They went back up for the night to rest and said they would try it one more time in the morning.
About noon the next day, one of the divers located the “buried treasure.” Parts of the outer coating of the treasure box were stripped by the years of pressure on the ocean floor and only then was the real treasure found. How true in life. Our real inner beauty of joy is also discovered when life exerts pressure and attempts to rob us of joy. When the storms of life are raging, joy is far more valuable than a full bank account. joy is only discovered in the richness of faith that Jesus Christ imparts to those who are filled with him.
Perhaps Saint Francis of Assisi said it best, “Let us leave sadness to the devil and his angels. As for us Christians, what can we be but rejoicing and glad.”
Like Paul, we can declare, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
If you do, you will have discovered the secrets of joy that are complete and unending. Be God centered, rejoice more deeply in Christ, commit every aspect of your life to God’s unfailing grace. Do this and you will have “joy, joy, joy, joy Down in Your Heart to Stay!”
