Happiness vs. Joy

Good Morning everyone. This Sunday is always a big event and I’m so glad that you are here. I always look forward to this time and meeting all of you. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Jarren Rogers. I’m the Pastor of Daycare Families and Staff.

I know that you did not come here today to hear me talk, but as our kids are preparing to come out, I just wanted to take a few moments and share just a brief message with you. As you have noticed, the title of our program today is JOY.

So to begin here today, I want you to think about the point in your life in which you felt the most joy. When was it? The birth of a child? An unexpected surprise? A spot-on gift?

For me, the peak of my joy was seeing my wife for the first time on our wedding day. It was the realization that she was going to be the person that I was going to be with for the rest of my life. That I would have a partner through the best things and the worst. Someone who would love for me and care for me unconditionally and someone for which I could do the same. It was then that I can say I experienced overwhelming joy.

Okay enough of that, you get enough of that cheesy sappy love stuff on the Halmark channel this time of year.

So, what’s your most joyful moment? For the wise men in the Christmas story, it’s clear that the peak of their joy, the most joyful moment in their entire lives, was when the star that they had been following, centered over a simple stable. When they saw that the star had stopped,[g] they were overwhelmed with joy.

The weren’t simply joyful. They were overwhelmed with joy! The search for the savior was finally over. The messiah had come. The one who will save us from the burden of live and judgement is here as a baby in a manger. So much joy was packed into that simple moment that the wise men were overwhelmed with joy!

This had to have been the peak of joy in their life. Stumbling upon the messiah in a barn.

When I think about my most joyful moment, and I read about the wisemen. It leads me to the conclusion that joy is more than happiness. It’s more than just simply being happy about something that has occurred.

You see, I’m happy when I have a good day. I’m happy when my wife surprises me with my favorite meal. I’m happy when I put a dollar into the vending machine and two candy bars fall out.

But joy is on a completely different level! When my 18 month niece said my name for the first time, now that was joy! What’s the difference?

I think that this verse from the book of Habakkuk gives us a clue. Everyone look at the person next to you and say Habakkuk. It’s not often you get permission to say this really fun book of the Bible. Everyone say Habakkuk. Now everyone look at your neighbor and say Gesundheit.

Though the fig tree does not bud

and there are no grapes on the vines,

though the olive crop fails

and the fields produce no food,

though there are no sheep in the pen

and no cattle in the stalls,

Oh my goodness. That sounds horrible! No food. No crops. No money. No livestock. Everything is lost! Nothing is going right! But look what Habbakuk says next. Everything is going wrong!

yet I will rejoice in the Lord,

I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Even though everything that could go wrong is going wrong, I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in God my Savior.

You see, to me this gives us a hint as to how joy is different from happiness.

This is it: Happiness is influences by your circumstance and joy is influenced by your love.

Think about it. When I’ve had a bad day. When things don’t go well. I am not happy. When I put the dollar bill in the vending machine and my candy bar gets stuck. That doesn’t make me happy. When I’m stuck in traffic that doesn’t make me happy. Why! Because my happiness is solely influenced by my circumstances.

What happens to me, my environment, what is said to me directed impacts whether I am happy or sad.

But joy is different. What Habbukuk shows us is that no matter if our crops have shriveled, we have no food, or whether our cows have run away, we can continue to find joy. You see, joy is not determined by our circumstances. It doesn’t matter what our life looks like. It doesn’t matter what we are going through. We are still able to find joy. Now, I’m going to say something that may be controversial, and I think I’m on the verge of not making sense, but I’m going to say it. I believe that you can be joyful and yet not be happy. Can I say that?

I think the situation that you find yourself in can make you disappointed, worn, out, stressed out, your crops can be shriveled, and your cows missing, but I think that even though you may not be happy, you can be joyful.

Why? Because Happiness is influences by your circumstance and joy is influenced by your love. On my wedding day, I remembered walking out in the morning, looking up at the sky, and looking at my cousin and saying, “Wow, look at that, not a cloud in the sky. What a beautiful day for a wedding!” It wasn’t but a few hours later that just as we were stepping out to walk down the aisle in this outdoor wedding, it started pouring down rain. Thunder, lightening. Everything! It was disappointing. It was stressful. Even though I may have had a reason to be unhappy, I was overwhelmed with joy to see Annie walk down the aisle for the first time. Why? Because even though my circumstances caused unhappiness, my love for my wife caused me joy!

Even though I might be stressed, having a bad day, nothing seems to be going right, I always will feel joy when my 18 month niece comes to me, sets her hand on my knee and says my name! Why? Because even though my situation might make me unhappy, my love for her causes me joy.

The wise men in the Christmas story, may have been tired. They may have been worn out. Distressed and tired. But when they saw the final resting place of the star they were overcome with joy, not because their circumstances changed, but because they had an encounter with the source of their love. It was that baby in the manger who was and is the path to overwhelming love!

This is why Habbakkuk can say what he said. When we are in a relationship with God, when we know Him on a personal level, when we talk to Him like a friend and confide in him like a parent, when we are filled with the power of our Holy Spirit, that means we are filled with His wonderful and perfect love.

A love that prompts us into loving ourselves in a holy way, and loving others in a selfless way, and loving God in an overwhelming love. It is that love, the love of Christ that is injected into our lives by the Holy Spirit. It is that love that enables us to be joyful, even when we are unhappy, even when we are stressed, even when it makes no sense. We can have joy that is prompted by the love of our savior.

So what I want to ask you is this: Do you want to experience joy? Do you want to know what it means to be always and daily joyful? Then you have to be filled, and overcome by the powerful and never-ending love of God for you. It is by humbling ourselves before Him, reaching out to Him, calling upon His name and allowing Him to fill us, it is then that we can experience the love of Jesus in a big way. A life changing way.

It doesn’t mean that you still won’t have bad days. It doesn’t mean that you still won’t be stressed, or have financial problems, or have a heavy workload. But it means that you no longer have to allow your circumstances to affect your joy. But joy is always within your grasp.

The wisemen found it in the manger, and it is to Christ that we look to today. It is Him who is the source and the object of our love.

As I thought about this, I was reminded of one of the most powerful, heart warming, life changing, tear wrenching Christmas stories of all time.

The Grinch.

What happens in the Grinch? He’s an angry, furry, green creature that lives above Whoville. Everyone in Whovill loves and looks forward to Christmas and yet the Grinch hates it! And nobody really knows why, but our best perhaps the best reason of all is that his heart may have been two sizes too…small.

So what does he do? Just to get at the Who’s, he decides that he is going to steel Christmas! He went down and stole their stockings and trees. Their food and their presents. And at the end of the book, we find the Grinch on his sleigh with this huge bag filled with all of the Who’s Christmas junk!

He takes it to the very tip top of Mt. Crumpit to dump it off the edge and destroy Christmas once and for all.

But then all of the sudden the Grinch hears a sound. It starts small and continues to grow.

Every Who down in Whoville the tall and the small, Was singing! Without any presents at all! He Hadnt stopped Christmas from coming. It came! Somehow or the other, it came just the same. And the Grinch with his grinch feet ice cold in the snow stood puzzling and puzzling how could it be so? It came without ribbons It came without tags It came without packages boxes or bags. And he puzzled three hours till his puzzler was sore Then the Grinch though of something he hadn’t before. Maybe Christmas he thought doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit…more.

You see, the Grinch was so confused because he thought that Christmas joy was a result of the circumstances of the who’s. When they had presents and food and stockings and trees. That’s why they were so joyful.

But even after all of that was gone, they still found a reason to sing.

Why? Because because while happiness may be influenced by your circumstances, joy is influenced by your love. The who’s joy was a result of their love for Christmas. For their love of community and being together. It was their love that prompted them to joy.

And if you continue to the end of the story it is the Joy of the Who’s that pushes even the Grinch to find joy. His heart grows three sizes.

My prayer this Christmas season twofold. My prayer is that no matter what your circumstances may be this Christmas, you will experience unending joy that is a direct result of your love for Christ, for what he’s done for you, for His coming, and a result of His love for you.

And also, that others around you, your family, friends, coworkers, and children. That others around you, after seeing and experiencing the joy that flows out of you will plant the seed of joy in their hearts. That maybe because of the joy of Christ expressed in you. Someone’s heart will grow three sizes.

Let me pray for us.