Joy

Isaiah 35:1-10

Luke 2:8-14

I am certain that God has a sense of humour. The fact that he chose me to speak about Joy proves that, especially as I have an upside down smile!!

I have never been the life and soul of the party, and you may be surprised to know that some people think of me as being rather serious!

Not only that, but I am also an introvert who struggles in parties and social events.

So, why, you may ask, am I talking about Joy?

We often think that joy is being happy or exuberant, but being happy can be a transitary emotion. We may be happy with our Christmas Presents, but as soon as we have to do the washing up after Christmas dinner, the happiness dissipates.

The angel said to the shepherds:

Do not be afraid! Listen carefully, for I proclaim to you good news that brings great joy to all the people: (Luke 2:10)

Later Paul gave us a clue in his letter to the Romans:

For the kingdom of God does not consist of food and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:17)

then in his letter to the Galatians he said:-

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)

Joy is a fruit of the Spirit; a result or natural outworking of the very presence of God within us.

The Jews were experiencing occupation by the Romans and the shepherds were considered a very low class. Paul was persecuted because of his faith, so what on earth had either of them to be joyful about?

On a human level, not a lot. However, the joy the angels and Paul talked about, was, and is more ‘a state of being’ than an emotion.

Human emotions come and go depending on our circumstances, but the joy from the Holy Spirit is more about our security in our relationship with God.

It comes from knowing he loves us, has adopted us into his family and will never leave us as orphans.

“I will not abandon you as orphans, I will come to you.” (John 14:18)

I had a mental picture last Sunday that has been growing on me during the week.

The picture I had was of the broad Olympic Way leading up to the entrance to Wembley Stadium, with thousands of people going to watch a cup final. Just in front of me was a six year old child who was alone, looking frightened and lost, in danger of being swept away by the crowds. At that moment, the father walked up to the child and took their hand. Immediately, the child relaxed even though their situation hadn’t changed. As the father started to walk forward holding the childs hand, the little one looked up at their father with a look of pure joy because they knew that they were now safe and secure.

You see, the child’s joy was not because they were in a crowd of people all bigger than them, pushing and shoving. It was because when they held their fathers hand they knew that whatever happened they would be safe.

Their joy came out of relationship and complete trust.

That is why we too can ‘rejoice’ and be glad, because our Father has accepted us into his family because of his Son, Jesus.

No matter what life throws at us, however difficult things may get, our Father has promised he will never let go of us, as the writer to the Hebrews reminds us:

Your conduct must be free from the love of money and you must be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you and I will never abandon you.” So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, and I will not be afraid. What can people do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5-6)

Surely, that is reason enough to be full of joy!

Joy as fruit of the Spirit is not a selfish thing, but it should be contagious, so that our joy brings others joy. Fundamentally, joy deep within us brings a sense of personal security and it is out of that security that we can share our lives with others. We know who we are and that we are fully accepted, so we no longer need to protect ourselves by erecting walls around ourselves.

This does not mean we give away every bit of time, money or clothing we have!! But it means that as we are secure and content within ourselves, we can share our lives with others openly and freely.

The ‘joy of our salvation’ put simply means that we can be content with who we are, whether we are introvert or extrovert. Whether we are athletic or couch potatoes. We love ourselves because we are accepted and loved for who we are, and out of that we can love others for who they are.

If you don’t know that deep joy within yourself, I invite you today to ask the Holy Spirit to come and fill you, to give you that assurance of God’s love and acceptance and to experience that gift of Joy.