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In this series, we are talking about those various habits or rituals in the life of a Christian that feeds and nurtures our souls; those things that help is grow in faith.
Today we’re looking at a habit that is often overlooked: joy.
What does the practice of joy look like in the life of a Christian?
Joy is not the same thing as pleasure
I think the first thing we need to do is take a moment and talk about what joy is NOT.
And this is why.
You and I live in a culture which has an unspoken ultimate goal.
Pleasure.
Our consumer economy, our entertainment industry; marketing professionals go to great lengths to convince us that all of these things exist for the ultimate purpose of providing pleasure.
Now, before I go too far in portraying pleasure as a bad thing, let’s also remember that there is a good and proper place in God’s creation for us as his people to take pleasure in the blessings of God.
It’s not that pleasure itself is a sin.
But when we take something like pleasure and make that the ultimate objective of everything we do, the result tends to measure everything in this world upon its ability to produce pleasure.
And when something no longer provides the pleasure we seek, then it has lost its value, and we throw it out.
In this kind of world in which we are constantly bombarded by a measurement of pleasure, we become easily confused.
So, today as we consider the Christian practice of joy, we absolutely must remind ourselves that joy is NOT the same thing as pleasure.
So often—without meaning to—we confuse those two things.
Often we think that joy and pleasure are the same thing.
I want you to honestly think about this for a moment.
Consider right now, if I were to ask you to make a list of all the things in life that bring you joy, how many of the things on that list would actually be things that bring you pleasure?
I bet that for every single person here, our lists of things that bring us joy are actually mostly things that bring us pleasure.
This is pretty important.
We’re going to look at some words of scripture in a moment that speak to the place of joy in nurturing our spiritual lives.
And many of us don’t have an accurate understanding of what joy even is.
But let’s allow scripture help us in understanding how joy is something different than pleasure, and how a practice of true joy nurtures our souls and grows our faith.
Philippians 4:4-9
Inward | practice
There’s an old saying that goes, “you are what you eat.”
I eat quite a bit of chicken, so I’m not quite sure what that says about me.
But you all know what that saying really means.
If all I ever eat is unhealthy junk food, then my body would show it.
That kind of diet would be reflected in my personal health.
But beyond that, what this saying means is that whatever it is we are overwhelmingly consuming greatly affects who we are and who we become.
Those who have studied the affects of pornography know this to be true.
For those who have an addiction to pornography and find themselves constantly consuming pornographic material, there is a resulting struggle to have healthy romantic relationships.
If garbage is all that goes into our minds, then at some level this same garbage will also come out.
Joy begins by what we put in our minds
So, look at what Paul does to help us understand true joy in these words.
He says, “Rejoice in the LORD always,” and then launches straight into an explanation of how he expects the church to do this.
And this is where he begins.
Joy begins by what it is we put into our minds.
Whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy—think about it.
Meditate upon it.
What you prioritize to put into your mind is what will shape who you become.
I remember sitting beside the hospital bedside of Frank Velzen in the last days of his life.
He was weak and could not speak much.
So I brought my Bible and would just sit there and read scripture to him.
I would read through several Psalms, and Frank would lay there and mouth the words along with me as I read.
He knew those Psalms by heart.
Frank loved Paul’s New Testament letter of Romans.
If you’ve ever read Romans, you know it’s pretty thick theological stuff.
I sat and read Romans to Frank because I knew that was his favorite part of scripture.
And still he would lay there and mouth the words as I read.
He knew it by heart.
Something like that only happens in someone who has spent years-and-years meditating upon words of scripture.
All of us here who had the privilege of knowing Frank while he was alive would attest to what a godly man he was.
Something like that doesn’t just happen by itself.
Make no mistake; Frank knew what it meant to take joy in the LORD.
And make no mistake; Frank knew what it meant to achieve that joy by taking into his mind the kinds of things that would shape and build joy.
Joy is an intentional pursuit
But here’s the thing.
I think the other thing Frank knew was that this had to be an intentional pursuit.
This kind of joy doesn’t just happen automatically all by itself.
There are many people in this world who find themselves wondering why it is they cannot find joy in the LORD, wondering why it seems they have very little joy in their Christian life.
Paul is telling us today that joy is such an important part of our faith.
But joy takes some work.
There are things we can do to pursue joy.
I’m not a great golfer.
Part of that is because I don’t get out and play that much.
But I think the bigger part is because I don’t practice.
I hardly ever get to a driving range.
I rarely spend time on the putting green.
I’ve never had someone analyze the form of my swing.
I don’t read up on technique or fundamentals.
I just go out and play every now and then.
And I don’t play well because I don’t practice.
I don’t do anything to prepare.
I don’t do anything to improve.
This inward pursuit of joy that Paul is talking about here today is practice.
It’s time on the driving range.
It’s swings in the batting cage.
It’s hitting the weight room.
Taking the time to pour over the words of scripture, to participate in Bible study groups; this is time that intentionally feeds the words of God into our minds and into our hearts.
This is time that intentionally pursues the heart of God.
This is what Paul says we need in order to intentionally pursue joy in our lives.
It takes practice.
I cannot walk onto a golf course and play a great game without first dedicating time to adjust the way I play through practicing.
And we cannot walk out and the door here today and live a life of joy without first dedicating time to adjust the way we think, to adjust what it is we are feeding into our minds.
Outward | Play
But it doesn’t end there.
Because joy, as Paul describes it, is not just an inward experience.
Joy also shows up as an outward expression.
It must have some way of taking action in our lives.
Paul urges his readers in this letter to see what his rejoicing looks like, and then put it into action for themselves.
So, an intentional pursuit of joy is only the beginning.
True joy in the LORD also takes a step of outward expression.
Inward experience must result in outward action
Let’s flip my golfing game around the other way.
Let’s imagine a hypothetical situation—and I mean extremely hypothetical.
What if I were to actually become a decent golfer?
What if I spent hours at the driving range and on the practice putting green?
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