Key #2: Joy

When was the last time you experienced victory?

now victory can take many forms. You could have victory over a bad habit or temptation. You could experience victory when you play a board game and defeat your opponent. Right now the big one is NHL playoffs. If you could, you would will your team to victory each game, each round, all the way to the cup.

Though victory takes many shapes and forms, there is no denying the feeling that you get when you experience victory. To varying degrees, depending on the situation, the victor experiences joy. I have loved watching the clips of the arenas, every goal for the home team met with thunderous roar of the crowd. The only way to describe what is happening is joy.

I remember, back in 2009. I had just started here as the youth pastor in August and we were hosting a grey cup party here at the church. The place was packed. I was sitting over in that corner with all the young couples and families. The Riders were playing the Alouettes. It was a close game, and as is typical at those things, no one is really paying attention until the last quarter anyways. I remember, the Riders were up by 2, zeros on the clock, and Montreal missed the field goal. We lifted the roof off this place. There was high fives, hugs all around. The place was electric! The drought was over, the green and white were bringing home the cup. In all the excitement, no one noticed the little orange flag in the end zone. The infamous 13th man. Too many men. Montreal got a second crack at the field goal, five yards closer to the goal posts, and the rest is history. The crowd went from joyous choruses being sung throughout, to such a low of somberness. It was so sad. You could have sworn we were leaving a funeral, there was such a grief as people left.

Doesn’t it seem like that’s how joy works in life? There are moments in life where joy is abundant and contagious. It could lift you out of a tough situation. Often in life we hang on to those moments of joy, the things that bring us joy because we simply have no idea when we might experience it again. The truth is, as you look around, people are hungry for joy. It actually explains why so many spend so much of their life chasing it. The joy might come from a new car, a new relationship, or some new clothes. It might come from a new phone or a new job. People have a tendency to figure out what brings them that momentary joy and pursue it ferociously, almost to the detriment of anything else.

But what if joy wasn’t meant to be fleeting? What if joy is something more, something better? What if you found someone that seemed to be full of joy all the time, no matter what was happening? That kind of person would be attractive. As you think about it, many of you would want to spend time with such a person, trying to figure out what they knew that you didn’t. Why is their joy different from what you experience?

What if you could have that kind of joy? What if you had an endless supply that you could share with others? What would that do to your marriage? What would that do to your friendships? How would your work environment be effected if you had that kind of contagious, bottomless joy?

What does the Bible say about joy?

As you read through the Bible, you would see the joy of the people seemed to hinge on the same things your joy hangs on. In the Old Testament, joy was often tied to military victory. In 1 Samuel 18, it says that David was met with joy and dancing after he killed the Philistine Goliath. This makes sense. You go to war with an enemy and come out on top, joy would be an expected response.

The same connection happens in the New Testament. In Luke 10 it says that the disciples returned to Jesus, joyfully reporting that even the demons obeyed them when they used His name.

That’s fine when you are experiencing victory, but there are times that victory is not so prevalent. There are times you feel more like the victim then the victor. What then?

1 Peter 1:3–5 NLT

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.

Victory is found in Christ

Peter starts this passage by reminding the church of where there hope comes from. Peter is writing to a church that is experiencing fierce opposition. You don’t need a Bible College degree to figure that out, you just need to read this letter. There is constant opposition facing this group of people. Before Peter begins to address the challenges, he invites the church to remember the most important thing in their, and your, life.

God is worthy of all our praise, and you are saved from sin and death because of the victory Jesus has won. The truth of Jesus’ victory, the reality of your salvation is the source of your hope. As a child of God, bought at great price, there is an eternal inheritance awaiting you. As followers of Jesus, your faith needs to rest on the fact that God is a good Father who is going to protect you. You have a salvation that can never be taken away from you, and the victory that Jesus won on the cross and through His resurrection is unchanging.

Because of your salvation, Peter goes on..,

1 Peter 1:6–7 NLT

So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

Joy that defies circumstances

Peter is saying that your salvation should create such a wellspring of joy within you that the trials cannot diminish it. Ps 33:16-22

Psalm 33:16–22 NLT

The best-equipped army cannot save a king, nor is great strength enough to save a warrior. Don’t count on your warhorse to give you victory— for all its strength, it cannot save you. But the Lord watches over those who fear him, those who rely on his unfailing love. He rescues them from death and keeps them alive in times of famine. We put our hope in the Lord. He is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in you alone.

Peter has this Psalm in mind as he writes this. The psalmist is saying that you have an endless supply of joy because your God is bigger then your situation, and if He saved you from sin and death, how much more capable is He to save you from the situation you find yourself in? Armies and strength cannot protect you the way God can, and Peter just said that if you are saved, if Jesus is your Saviour, then God is going to protect you.

Joy is a choice

One of the things you need to understand is that joy is so much more then an emotion or feeling. Like love, you will have moments where you feel joy, and it is a good feeling. However, the way scripture presents joy is that, like love, it is a choice. It is a daily, maybe even hourly, choice that each and every one of us have to consciously make.

When you choose to be joyful, this is what it means. It means you are choosing to walk in victory. It means you are remembering that your God is infinitely bigger then the problem you are facing. It means you are choosing to have faith that Jesus can deliver you from the situation you are facing, just like He saved you from your sin. It means you are choosing to see each trial, each challenge, every frustration as a means of refining your faith, as a way that your salvation is being worked out. It means you are choosing to trust the work of the Holy Spirit within you more then you trust what you see happening around you. You are choosing to see the eternal reward that far surpasses the temporary inconvenience of the moment.

Living in victory does mean putting aside those sinful desires that try to sneak back in, but enduring joy you experience far surpasses the momentary pleasure those things might bring.

OR, you can choose to be a victim of circumstance. You can continue to experience momentary joy when things go your way, only to see it slip through your fingers when the next trial comes. You can choose to chase joy in the things of this world, never being fully satisfied, more often being left frustrated because the things that were meant to bring you joy never do it enduringly. As you become frustrated, your friends and family become less and less inclined to spend time with you because no one likes spending time with a grumpy person. They are more interested in spending time with someone who’s got some joy in their life.

I don’t know about you, but I like the idea of being filled with joy that defies circumstance. Honestly, that’s the kind of person I would want to be around, so I think I’m going to make an effort to be that person for you and for those around me.

Communion

This actually brings us to communion. At a few tables is a communion tray, and if you are at a table without one, ask nicely and they will share.

Communion is the embodiment of the joy we are talking about! The reason you can have joy is because of the victory won by Jesus on the cross. His body broken and His blood shed so that you and I could be saved by grace. No amount of good things you or I could do would have been enough to get us into God’s good books, so praise Jesus He paid the price for us.

Communion also represents the fuel for us to continue to have joy. Communion is a reminder that one day the church will stop doing this because Jesus is going to return. Jesus is going to establish His kingdom here on earth, and you will experience the reward and the inheritance that Peter is talking about. When everything else fades away, is burned up by the fires of judgment, you eternal reward will be waiting. Praise God!

Praise God that all this sin and death are going to be burned up and all that will remain is eternity with the inheritance God has stored up for you. Of course, you store up treasures in heaven by the things you do this side of eternity, but the treasure is incorruptable.

Church, to prepare yourself for communion, you should pray that God will fill you with His joy. Remember the good things He has done for you, and keep your eyes on the good things that await you. May the Spiri of the living God fill you with endless joy. Take a moment to pray, and I will lead you through communion.

Discussion Questions

What stood out from today’s message?

What tends to rob you of your joy?

Who needs more joy in their life? How can you share joy with them?