Tag: Joy

I’d love to have a dollar for every time I’ve heard the words, “I just want to be happy.”  And I hear those words more and more as we increasingly become an individualistic, self-focused society.  Sadly, this phrase even comes from the mouths of Christian people as if happiness is somehow God’s perfect will for all of His children.

Now, if the will of God intersects with your happiness then all well and good, but Christians should not live with that expectation.  Consider this, if Jesus had made his choices based on happiness he would never have gone to the cross: “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”[1] Jesus calls his disciples to follow this example, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.  If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?”[2] The answer is NO.

But we’ve been duped, conned by the happiness myth spread by Western culture and bought into by a modern, Western distortion of what is called Christianity but is, in fact, a poor reflection of the genuine article.  It’s “a different gospel, which really is no gospel at all,”[3] because the real gospel works everywhere and for everyone, not just those of us lucky enough to live in a prosperous, developed country, and not just by those whose lives happen to be going well most of the time.  It’s interesting that books inspired by the “Happiness Gospel” don’t seem to sell that well in countries like North Korea, Iraq and Syria.

The true gospel of Jesus has a cross at its centre – a cross to be taken up daily by Jesus’ followers.  The cross is something we die on – die to our selfish desires and motives, die to the need always to be right, and die to the pursuit of happiness when it takes us outside the realms of God’s will and purpose.

For example, I’ve had many conversations in recent years with people who’ve told me they are no longer happy in their marriage. The husband/wife they were once in love with they love no longer, and some of these people have chosen to leave their spouse and children because “I just want to be happy.”  Now, I realise that some marriages get to a point where they are beyond repair, and my intention here is not to condemn those who have gone through (or going through) a marriage breakup or divorce.  However, I do want to challenge the easy “out” I hear from some people all for the sake of personal happiness. [b]

Every marriage, including mine, goes through tough times.  It’s during these times that I go back to my vows and remind myself of what I signed up for: “to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, and forsaking all others till death do us part.” These vows, which are easy to say but hard to live by, recognise that there will be times when happiness is absent from a marriage.  If we’ve bought into the cult of happiness we’ll find reasons to quit when life gets hard, but if we’ll take up our cross and stay faithful to our vows, there’s something on the other side of such obedience that outshines happiness by far, and that is JOY.

Happiness is based on happenings – life happens to be good.  I’m financially secure, things are going well with my husband/wife, my children are behaving themselves, work is satisfying, and my life is conflict free.  But when one or more of these things change my happiness vanishes and I want to get it back.  I just want to be happy!

Joy, on the other hand, is not dependent on circumstances, it is a gift from God.  Author Rick Renner puts it this way, “The Greek word for ‘joy’ is chara, derived from the word charis, which is the Greek word for ‘grace.’ This is important to note, for it tells us categorically that chara is produced by charis of God.  This means ‘joy’ isn’t a human-based happiness that comes and goes … Rather, true ‘joy’ is divine in origin … it is a Spirit-given expression that flourishes best in hard times. For example, in 1 Thessalonians 1:6, the Thessalonians were under great stress due to persecution; yet in the midst of it all, they continued to experience great joy. In fact, the Greek strongly implies that their supernatural joy was due to the Holy Spirit working in them. Paul even called it the “the joy given by the Holy Spirit.”[4]

Nehemiah tells us that, “the joy of the Lord is your strength.”[5]  The writer to the Hebrews encourages us to fix “our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” [6]  It was joy, not happiness, that got Jesus through his suffering and brought him into an excellent place.  What joy God’s people miss out on when they make short-term decisions to get happiness but miss out on long-term joy because of those decisions.  I encourage you to allow God to form you through the tough times and you’ll come out the other side refined, mature and full of joy, to live a life beyond happiness.

It’s important in the tough times to know you are not alone, there is a community to support and walk with you.  Consider talking to someone and sharing what you are going through – friends, family, connect leaders, pastors, your GP and counsellors.

The Careline – ph 03 9583 2273

Beyondblue – ph 1300 22 4636

Lifeline – ph 13 11 14

 

[1] Luke 22:42

[2] Matthew 16:24-26

[3] Galatians 1:7

[b] https://baysidechurch.com.au/divorce-and-remarriage/

[4] Sparkling Gems from the Greek, Rick Renner

[5] Nehemiah 8:10

[6] Hebrews 12:2

 

I realise that a joyful Jesus is not everyone’s experience.  I mean, I’ve met some of his followers and joy wasn’t the first word that sprung to mind.  When I was in Grammar school, my divinity teacher was Reverend Harry – the meanest guy in the school.  I came top in his class with 63%, and it looked like he’d been baptised in lemon juice.  Atheism seemed like a good option to me for some years afterwards.

Since converting to Christianity, I’ve met Christians who, in my opinion, are not necessarily good representatives of a joyful Jesus.  Maybe they are joyful, but it seems the joy was buried quite deeply!  It’s a shame because the Jesus we read of in the Bible is anything but joyless. 

Sorrowful Jesus

Now it’s true that Jesus was “a man of sorrows”.  He was despised, rejected and familiar with suffering[1], but that only applied to him concerning his work on the cross, and even that he endured with joy.[2]

The problem is that some Christians and churches emphasise Jesus as the man of sorrows and forget joyful Jesus.  Someone may object to this by reminding me that “Jesus wept.”  That’s the shortest verse in the Bible and one of my favourites because it’s so easy to memorise!

The Bible records that Jesus wept because it was news that is an unusual event rather than a daily occurrence.  The Bible doesn’t record that Jesus laughed because it wasn’t news; he did it all the time.

Joyful Jesus

The Bible tells us that Jesus was a happy man; in fact, he had the oil of joy poured out on him more than anyone else.[3]  He was filled with the Holy Spirit and thus had the fruit of the Spirit including joy.

Jesus attracted people, especially children, and no one finds a sourpuss attractive.  Jesus told people to be of good cheer.  Surely He practised what He preached!

Humourous Jesus

Jesus gave his joy to others,[4] and you can’t give what you do not have!  Jesus used humour in his teachings.  Although his humour doesn’t come through into English translations, statements like “take out the beam from your eye” or “strain out a gnat and swallow a camel” or “a camel going through the eye of a needle” would have been hilarious to his audience.[5]

The overly serious Pharisees accused Jesus and his disciples of being gluttons and drunkards.  Of course, they were neither, but in the eyes of the stern religious people of the day, they were guilty by association.  The first miracle Jesus did was turning water into the best wine at a seven-day wedding feast.  Unfortunately, some Christians over the centuries have tried to reverse the miracle.

 

Party Jesus

Jesus let Matthew throw him a great feast along with all of his sinful tax-collector buddies (Luke 5:27-39).  The happy party caused the religious leaders to criticise, complain and talk about fastingand prayer (obviously because that is more spiritual than eating with friends).  Jesus responded with humour, sarcasm, a story, and then a sigh that despite his presentation of truth they, like fools, will stick with their old glum ways (see The Humour of Christ). Even the morose and peevish John Calvin (known for burning opponents at the stake) had to admit in his Institutes of the Christian Religion (III: 19:9): “We are nowhere forbidden to laugh, or to be satisfied with food, or to be delighted with music, or to drink wine.”  Thanks, John, we were hanging out for your permission!

Rethink Jesus

I understand that a joyful Jesus may mess with your theology.  If that’s the case, I suggest your theology could do with it.  When I imagine Jesus, it is not merely as a person who healed the sick, raised the dead and preached the good news. It’s also as a man of considerable goodwill and compassion, with a zest for life, someone unafraid of controversy, free to be who He knew Himself to be and brimming with generous good humour and a playful and fun demeanour.  So let’s set aside the idea that Jesus was a humourless, grim-faced, dour, unsmiling killjoy and let’s choose to be just like him – joyful!

 

[1] Isaiah 53:3

[2] Hebrews 12:2; John 16:19-24

[3] Hebrews 1:9

[4] John 15:11

[5] In his book, The humour of Christ, Quaker author Elton Trueblood examines in detail 30 humorous passages in the Gospels.

 

 

 

The humour of Christ is the title of a very old book by Quaker author Elton Trueblood in which he examines in detail 30 humorous passages in the Gospels.  Other books have been written that explore humour in other parts of the Bible.

A great deal of this humour of course doesn’t come through once the Bible is translated.  It’s like when I preach in other countries through an interpreter; some jokes just don’t translate, and other things that I don’t think are funny become absolutely hilarious.  Much of my life is like this.

In English, the humour of the Bible doesn’t always come through, Christianity (and some Christians) has become far too serious.  Some church services I’ve attended over the years have been devoid of humour.  Religious people so often are characterised as glum.  And yet with a book that has hundreds of verses about joy and gladness and delight; and a creation that is full of colour, and flavour and beauty; should not the people who are created in the image of God reflect those same qualities?

Elton Trueblood points out in The Humour of Christ, that because of the need to explain the suffering of Jesus, the sad parts can overwhelm the happy parts.  But Jesus was only the “man of sorrows” in relation to His work on the cross – and even that He endured with joy (Hebrews 12:2).  In fact Jesus taught his followers that their sadness would only be for a short period of time and that his ultimate goal was for their joy to be full (read John 16:19-24).

Some may want to point out that the Bible records that “Jesus wept’ not that “Jesus laughed.”  But this is mentioned because it was news, that is, an unusual event.  Our newspapers don’t tell us the sun rose this morning, they don’t report on all the people who made it to work safely.  The news reports unusual events – otherwise it’s not news. The Bible doesn’t record that Jesus laughed because it wasn’t news, and there’s plenty in the Bible to indicate that Jesus was a happy man.

Hebrews 1:9 teaches us “God has set you [Jesus] above your companions
 by anointing you with the oil of joy.”  He was a joyous man because He was filled with the Spirit and thus had the fruit of the Spirit including joy (Luke 10:21).  Jesus attracted people. Children especially loved Jesus.  They would climb up into his arms and he would bless them.  No one is attracted to sour-faced individuals.  Jesus told people to “Be of good cheer” (Mt 9:2) – surely He practiced what He preached!  Jesus gave His joy to others – you have to have it to give it (John 15:11).  Jesus used humour in His teachings.  Statements like “take out the beam from your eye;” strain out a mosquito and swallow a camel;” and “a camel going through the eye of a needle” would all have been funny to Jesus’ hearers.

The overly serious Pharisees accused Jesus and his disciples of being gluttons and drunkards.  Of course they were neither, but in the eyes of the stern religious people of the day they were guilty because they associated with people who were.  The first miracle Jesus did was turning water into the best wine at a seven-day wedding feast.  Unfortunately some of the Christian faith over the centuries has been about turning the wine back into water!

Jesus lets Matthew throw him a huge banquet with all of his tax-collector buddies invited (Luke 5:27-39).  The happy party causes the religious leaders to criticise, complain and talk of fasting and prayer (obviously because that is more spiritual than eating with friends).  Jesus responds with humour, sarcasm, a parable, and then a sigh that despite his presentation of truth they, like fools, will stick with their old ways.

Even the morose and peevish John Calvin (known for burning opponents at the stake) had to admit in his Institutes of the Christian Religion (III: 19:9): “We are nowhere forbidden to laugh, or to be satisfied with food, … or to be delighted with music, or to drink wine.”  Thanks John, we needed your permission!

Humour celebrates the goodness of God, the world God created, and the life God gives. It is an accepted fact of medicine that humour is good for our physical health (Proverbs 17:22) and is usually the best way of coping with the trials and disasters that come our way.  If we aren’t careful we can let circumstances suck the joy right out of us.  Humour can lighten the load.

Too many religious people are so serious and sour they repel people rather than attract them. Legalists have a great eye for criticism, but a dull ear for wit. Because humour requires a somewhat “playful” disposition and a willingness (at least temporarily) to suspend all seriousness, many people—especially those with strong and well-defined religious beliefs—may be reluctant to give up their trademark seriousness.

The New Jerusalem Bible translates Colossians 4:6: “Talk to them agreeably and with a flavour of wit (“seasoned with salt,” RSV), and try to fit your answers to the needs of each one.”  Greek comic writers used the verb artyo, meaning “to season,” as seasoning with the salt of wit. Of course humour can get too “salty” and like other good things become degenerated.  Funny need not be filthy.

When times are tough, Paul says stand firm and “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! (Phil 4:4). Humor is a key component of joy.  Jesus said to stop dwelling on the evils all around and borrowing potential troubles from tomorrow (the normal daily dose is quite enough, he wryly observed), rather borrow hope and joy from seeking the Kingdom of God (see Mt 6:33-34). The Christian walk should be a joyful one and the Christian message should be communicated joyfully.

There is plenty in life to smile and laugh about.  A forgiven person walks lightly upon the earth and with childlike freshness is quick to smile, quick to see and think the best of others, and easily brought to laughter.  He is hopeful of the future, confident of who he is, and able to lift up and bear the burdens of others.

Our lives are made better by genuine faith and authentic humour.

Steve Buckland says, “A glad Jesus messes up many people’s theology.”  I would add, “Many people could do with their theology being messed up.”  So let us set aside the notion that Jesus was a humourless, grim-faced, dour, unsmiling prude.  We serve a joyful savior.  He was the Man of sorrows. He is now the Man of gladness.  Let’s imitate Him and be the people of joy Jesus made us to be.