We are going to end our series this week on a high note and talk about joy. For the past two weeks we have talked about how to overcome anxiety, and how to be angry like Jesus, but today we want to end with how we can experience real and lasting joy. I’m not talking about being happy, although happiness is great. The problem with happiness is that it just doesn’t last.
Maybe you have heard the saying, happiness is a warm puppy, or seen that message with a picture of Charlie Brown hugging Snoopy. Happiness is a warm puppy, but puppies don’t stay warm and cute. Happiness is not a puppy that has rolled through the mud and then jumped on your bed. Happiness is not a puppy that has chased a skunk and gotten sprayed in the face. Happiness is not coming home and finding that your puppy has developed a severe case of separation anxiety and you now have no toilet paper - or wall paper. Happiness doesn’t last, but joy does, so let’s talk about how to experience joy.
To help us understand true joy, let’s look at what brought joy to Jesus. To do this, we are actually going to look at what made Jesus sad, because if we know what made Him sad then we will see what brings Him joy. Luke 19:41 - As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it. As Jesus looked out over Jerusalem, God’s city, something made Him sad, something was breaking Jesus’ heart, and we get a glimpse of what it is from the gospel of Matthew. Matthew 23:37 - Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.
What Jesus longs for is to bring God’s people together and shelter them in God’s love. Jesus longs to give people all the peace and power God has to offer. Jesus said, I have come so that you might have life, and life abundant, and it is that life Jesus longed for people to have, but when He approached Jerusalem, He saw people who are far from God. They resisted God’s love and failed to grab hold of the life God wanted for them. This breaks His heart.
What makes Jesus sad is a world filled with people who are lost, and alone, and far from the life God has for them. What makes Jesus sad is when for any reason we keep God away. Maybe we think we aren’t good enough, or that we are too sinful, and have failed too many times for God to want us close to Him, so we keep God away. This is what makes Jesus sad. Jesus literally weeps because so many people in the world were living without God’s love and grace. So if being far from God is what makes Jesus sad, then drawing near to God is what brings Him joy. And that is exactly what Jesus tells us in the story of the prodigal son.
This is probably the most familiar story Jesus ever told and it is found in Luke 15. The story tells us that there was a man who had two sons. The younger son asked for his share of his inheritance so that he could go off and live his own life. This would have been a slap in the face to the father because by asking for his inheritance now he was wishing that his father was dead. Even today, this would be considered rude and not many fathers would agree to it.
The first real surprise in the story comes when the father agrees. Instead of putting the young son in his place, he gives him the money and watches his son go off into the world - knowing that things probably won’t end well. And just as he thought, they don’t. The young son spent all his money on wild living. He probably had lots of friends who loved him for his money and over the top lifestyle, but when the money was gone, and the parties were over, the friends all left and he ended up alone. Then things got worse.
A famine hit the community and with nowhere else to go to make money, the young man took a job feeding pigs. Now remember, pigs were considered unclean animals, so for a young Jewish man to be feeding pigs would have been as low as you could get. Almost. You see, not only was he feeding the pigs, he was so desperate that he actually considered eating the pigs’ food.
He had hit rock bottom. He hadn’t planned to sink this low, in fact, he probably thought he was going to be wildly successful when he left home. He had money, friends, and ambition. The entire world was in front of him, but then slowly, over time, things began to break down. He sank lower and lower until the garbage he was feeding the pigs started to look good.
You know, most of us don’t intend to walk away from God, we usually just drift away. We get caught up in life. We focus on our jobs and careers, our hobbies and goals. We go through a period when our focus is on our families and our finances, and we slowly just drift away from the things of God. We skip worship for a few weeks thinking that we will get back in the routine someday, but that day never comes. We forget to read the Bible or pray but then stop and ask, has it really made any difference? And we never return to it. We tell ourselves we have done ok without a faith community or small group to support us so we just keep going without it, and with each decision we drift further away from God. We never set out to walk away from God, or reject Him, but in time, like this young son, we find ourselves lost and alone.
At some point, the son realized that the servants in his father's house had it better than he did so he got up, and took one step toward home. Maybe on the way he thought about how he was going to apologize, or how he might be able to plead with his father to allow him to return as a servant, but his return started with one step. And that’s all it took because it says while he was still a long way off, the father saw him and ran out to greet him.
Luke 15: 20b - 24 But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
And here it is… this is a picture of what brings Jesus joy, the lost being found. The Father is God and He celebrates, Jesus celebrates, when people come to Him to find love, forgiveness, and new life. What made Jesus sad was seeing people who had drifted away from God, but what filled Him with joy was seeing people return to God and find in that relationship all the power of love and life.
Not only do we see joy in the father, but think about the joy the son must have felt. The apology he had rehearsed wasn’t needed. He wasn’t coming home as a failure or a servant, but as part of the family. There was no sermon from his father, but a party. What joy he must have been feeling because he knew that no matter where he had been or what he had done - his father loved him. What brought him joy was knowing that no matter where he had been or what he had done - his father loved him!
For us, this is where joy is found. Joy is found in knowing that God loves us. No matter where we have been or what we have done - God loves us and if we will get up and take one step toward Jesus, we will begin to find joy. What is one thing you can do this week to take one step toward Jesus?
Maybe the first step is to consider how far we have drifted away from God this past year. With all that we have gone through, drifting away has been easy. When our normal spiritual routines were upended or changed, it made our connection to God difficult. When in-person worship stopped, and returning to in-person worship is still not comfortable for many people, it’s easy to feel far from God. While we are so thankful for online worship and the opportunity it provides us to worship together, we know it’s hard to feel connected at times. We are working to figure out how to create an intentional online community where relationships can be developed and nurtured no matter where we might be located and if you are worshipping online and want more connection with us, please reach out to us. We want to connect with and help you connect with God and others.
What one step can you take toward Jesus this week to begin to find joy? Whatever it is, get up and take it. Joy comes when we draw near to God, that is what we learn from the younger son but we can also learn something about joy from the older son.
The older son had always been there. He never left. He never disrespected his father or wasted his father’s money, but when his brother came home, instead of being happy, he was angry. He was angry because for all the years his brother had been out living it up, he had been by his father’s side doing everything his father needed. He had done everything his father had asked of him, but he wasn’t being celebrated. As he is sulking in the shadows, the father goes out to him and says, My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. Luke 15:31.
For all those years, the older son had been following the rules and checking off the boxes of what makes for a good son and in the process he had lost sight of the relationship he had with his father. Everything the father had belonged to him. They were together and had been together always. He was deeply loved by his father but he had lost that joy because he was focused on all the rules. There is no joy in just following the rules. Joy isn’t found in checking off the boxes of our faith, it’s found in the relationship we can have with God, and with others in the life of the church.
If we come to worship each week to check off a box, it won’t bring us joy. If we serve only because it is expected of us, or we think it is our duty, it won’t bring us joy. Joy comes when we worship and serve and give because we know it will help us experience more of God. Joy isn’t found in following the rules but in the relationship we can have with God through Jesus.
Here at Faith Church, we encourage people to deepen and develop their faith by investing in three relationships: a relationship with God, the church, and the world. Each relationship has rhythms and activities that help those relationships grow, but we try to be clear that none of these are rules to follow or boxes to check off - we embrace these rhythms to strengthen our relationship because it is in the relationships that faith grows and joy is found. Joy doesn’t come just when we turn to God, it is found each and every time we dive deep into our relationship with God
There is one more thing that can bring us joy, and that is when we invite someone to join us. The father called his entire family to join together in celebrating his son’s return, he even went out to invite his older son to come in and join them. Joy increases for all of us when we bring someone with us.
A few weeks ago we were able to experience some real joy when we gathered for our family and friends day. It was great to not only gather and enjoy some cookies/picnic, it was great to see people and meet new people. Family and friends joined us and it was great to be able to be together in worship, in fellowship, and together have some fun. After being isolated and separated for so long, it was great to be together and invite people to join us. Joy is found when we bring others with us.
But it needs to go deeper than just inviting people to join us for cookies or a picnic, we need to invite people to experience Jesus with us, because that is where real joy is found, in Jesus. As we look to the future, it is our desire to reach out to new people in new communities and invite them to experience new life in Jesus. All around us there are people who are lost and alone. All around us there are people who are hurting and searching for something meaningful and significant. Many of these people are simply waiting for an invitation to come and experience for themselves the joy found in Jesus. Look around you this week to see who might need that invitation. Who might need to experience some joy? Take a bold step and invite them to draw near to Jesus and experience some joy together.
Joy is found when we draw near to Jesus and find out that God’s love and grace and power is for us. Joy is found when we focus on a relationship with God and develop strong ties with the people of God. And joy is found when we invite others to experience the love of God for themselves and join us in a life of faith and trust in Christ. In a world that is sad, and dark, and difficult - let’s reach out and grab hold of some joy and then share that joy with others.
Next Steps
Emotions - Joy
Read Luke 19:41, Matthew 23:37.
Why did Jesus weep over Jerusalem? What made Him sad?
Read Luke 15:11-32.
● What brings the father joy?
● How did the young son feel when he returned home?
● How did the older son lose his joy? What was his focus?
● How did the father increase everyone’s joy?
Three ways we can experience true joy:
1. Take one step toward Jesus.
● How have you drifted away from God this past year?
● What is one step you can take to draw near to God?
● What keeps you from taking that step?
2. Focus on relationships instead of rules
● Why do we often turn our religion into rules?
● How has your faith turned into a list of rules to follow?
● What one thing can you do this week to focus on your relationship with God?
● Take the 3 Relationships survey and read (or reread) the 15 rhythms that can deepen our relationship with God, the church, and the world.
3. Bring someone with you.
● Who do you know that needs the joy of Jesus?
● What activity can you invite them to?
○ Worship? Small Groups? A football dinner? Volunteering with you?
● Pray for the courage and opportunity to offer them an invitation.
