June 15

Transcript

(Transcribed by TurboScribe)

Thank you, Dave, and Catherine. Catherine, you just don't know how close it was for me saying, come back, come sit at the organ and play that last verse of Great is Thy Faithfulness and just blow all the dust out of those pipes for a moment. Thank you for the blessing, Catherine, this morning.

How wonderful, Lord, that we may come into your presence with expectation. Thank you for your words, a word that changes our lives as we live that word. Thank you that it speaks of us, speaks of people who walk but who need you so much.

And as we speak this morning about joy, thank you for your joy in our lives, for who you are. So take away all of the things, Lord, that will take us away from giving what you are going to say. Forgive your sweetheart for his sins are many.

We want to see Jesus, only Jesus. Joy in the key of C. We were singing in the key of D the whole morning, but we'll do the joy in the key of C. Number four in our series on Think About What You Think About. This morning, we're going to talk about joy.

And I wonder, what makes you laugh? What brings you joy? I also wonder, are you in a season of joy right now? Because sometimes life happens, and the world happens, and sometimes it can just suck the joy right out of you, suck the life right out of you. And it feels like I've lost my joy. Max Lucado, and there's a slide for this, Ted, one of the 13.

He wrote me an email this week. He said, only 13 slides with a big smile? Max Lucado wrote this book. It's called Where'd My Giggle Go? It's a little book for little kids with all kinds of poems in there.

And it's about this little boy who lost his laugh, and he's looking for his laugh. And he says, but my hands won't clap. My smile won't show.

Oh my, what to do? Where did my giggle go? Thanks, Ted. Sometimes life can be like that, and we can feel. But where's the joy? Where did my giggle go? In the world, there's many remedies for that, right? Solutions.

Oh, just go grab a pill, or go out for a night, and have a spree, and get some friends over, and have a party, or go on a vacation, or just go on a spending spree. They're all good, or some of them are good, but they don't last. The joy that God talks of is a joy that stays and is there.

And that's what our Father wants to give us. And that's what Jesus invites us into in our Scripture passage this morning. And I kept it shorter because I knew we had the elders' ordination, so I'm not reading the whole passage, but you know it well.

John 15, where Jesus says, I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you remain in me, and I remain in you, you will bear not just fruit, but much fruit. And then he says this beautiful verse in verse 11 of chapter 15.

I tell you all about the vine, and the branches, and what will happen with the fruit. I've told you this so that my joy may be where? In you. And that your joy may be complete.

The Greek word that he uses there is traseo. Traseo means to overflow. But my joy may be in you, and as my joy is in you, that that joy will just overflow in your life.

So here's the thing. How cool is this that Jesus says, I don't just give joy every now and then. My joy is in you, in your mind, and in your heart.

And the amazing thing about God's joy that is in us is that it does not depend on my circumstances. It does not change as my circumstances change. It is the joy that is the fullness of Jesus.

Because just think of Jesus's life for a moment. It wasn't easy. He didn't have much.

Had to work hard. His own family, some of them at some stage, did not even believe in him until, of course, they did. He was betrayed by one of his best friends.

He was falsely accused. He was murdered. And yet, none of this ever took any of Jesus's joy away.

He kept on loving, giving, caring, providing, being there with his fullness of this joy. And that's the joy that Jesus invites us into. A joy that is not anchored in my circumstances.

That can sometimes be hard and tough and difficult. But a joy that is anchored in my relationship with Jesus Christ, my Lord. Because here's the thing.

If I anchor that in Jesus, the world can take everything away and anything away. But the one thing they cannot take away is my joy. Why? Because they cannot take away my Jesus.

So where's your joy? Where have you anchored your joy? You have a choice to make. And there's a slide for this, Ted. Is your joy a contingent joy or is your joy a courageous joy? Contingent upon or courageous in Christ? Contingent joy, he says.

There's slides for all of these. I only live once. Courageous joy, he says.

Jesus has died and he's given me life and life in all of its abundance and life eternal. Like my brother Paul wrote and he said, for me to live is Christ. And if I die, boy that's just it.

Because courageous joy says there is more to this life than living and dying. I find my joy in Jesus. The contingent joy, there's a slide for that, says I failed again.

I made a mistake. Courageous joy says Jesus will never forsake me, will never leave me, he'll be with me, never alone. Contingent joy says my will.

Just go to the next one, Ted. My will alone. Courageous joy says, not my will, but your will be done.

Just think of Jesus for a second because there's the answer to this. In the garden, knowing he's going to die, knowing of the suffering, where does he find his joy? By saying, Father, I'm going to do this because not my will, Father. My will is to run as fast as I can and get out of this, but your will be done.

See, that's what courageous joy does. Death, sin, loneliness, illness, all of these things in the world can come. None of them can take that joy away that I have in Jesus Christ.

Am I saying that your life is going to be perfect? That you're never going to have traffic on the 401? That there's never going to be snow in Canada again? That we're not going to have the heat that just gets too much for you because of the humidity? Are you never going to stumble? Are you never going to go through suffering and pain? No, I'm not saying that because I'm not talking about this outer contingent joy. I'm talking about that joy that I have even when my life falls apart, even when things don't work out the way they do because I have my Jesus and my Jesus is going to walk me through this and get me through this and allow me to show that joy even when I go through my own time of suffer and struggle, when I can't find my dignity. Because he makes a promise about that, too, and that we find in that next chapter to continue.

Go read it, please, this afternoon, 15-16. He tells the vine branches, I'm in you, my joy is in you, and they're happy. And then he says, I got some news for you.

I'm going to be with my father. And they're like, what do you mean? And he says, but don't worry, I won't leave you alone. I'm sending the Holy Spirit and he will turn your grief into joy.

And then he says these beautiful words in chapter 16, verse 33. I've told you all these things so that in me, you may have that peace that comes in the future. Because in this world, you will have trouble.

And must I say it? And there's your but. Take heart. And again, here's the interesting word.

The word take heart in the Greek is the word be courageous. Have courage because I have overcome the world. Yes, in this world, you will have trouble.

Yes, in this world, it will be hard. But yes, take heart, be courageous, have courageous joy because I have overcome all of that and I am in you and I am with you because I will give my joy in you. Where is your joy? Is it a contingent joy or a courageous joy? So there's a lot of joys in the sea, right? Contingent or courageous.

Can I put another C in there? Courageous joy is also a joy that is contagious. And I give you an example, Acts chapter two. Holy Spirit has been poured out this young church.

They read about them. They're excited. They get together.

Now look at their joy. Those who didn't have, they provided for them. Those who needed, they took care of them.

Those who were hungry, they fed them. They were filled with this joy of the Lord Jesus. They got together in their homes.

They ate together and they cared for one another. And because of this joy and praising God, despite the fact that they were being persecuted day by day, stoned, burned, killed, fed to the lions, they praised God with joy. Why? Because their joy was a courageous joy, not contingent.

And that joy was contagious. It caught on because what do we read? And their numbers more and more and more every day. Why? Because a courageous joy is something that catches on and is contagious.

Where do you find your joy? My hands couldn't clap. My smile made me show, oh my, what do you mean? Where did my people go? There is joy in the Lord. So let me end the joy of C with an ABC.

Let me give you the ABCs of joy. First one is A, assess your joy. When people look at you, do they want to catch your joy? Do they want to be close to you? Do they see, boy, look at this person in their brokenness and in their struggles, yet they praise, yet they serve, yet they love, despite all of the stuff around them.

Assess, that's fine. But there's a beautiful slide that comes with this. William Barkley said these words, and boy, when I read them, it's kind of scary.

A gloomy Christian is a contradiction in terms. And nothing in all of religious history has done Christianity more harm than its connection with black clothes and long faces. As we think about what we think about, just think about this for a second.

Nothing has done our faith in living this in this world more harm than black clothes and long faces. Just think about what you have seen about this. People look at what we're doing.

What do they see? Would someone want to be here? Would someone say, man, I kind of find this amazing. I want to be there. Or do they come in and we're like, oh my goodness, what's going on here? I don't even know when to sit or to stand, when to lie or when to jump.

But do they see the joy of the Lord? The A of contagious joy, courageous joy, is to assess, would people want to catch the joy that I live and show in Jesus Christ? The B, believe that joy is possible. And I'm going to give you an example from the word in this. 785, Babylonians come and they destroy Jerusalem.

Take God's people, 586 I mean, they take God's people into Babylonian exile. They just leave a few behind. The walls are destroyed.

Jerusalem is destroyed. There's nothing left of the temple. The Ark of the Covenant is ruined.

Everything has been sucked out. And what do they do? Can I tell you? Can I read to you? The book of Lamentation, and it's interesting, the name in Hebrew is Eicha. Eicha means, so George, I do the Hebrew.

Eicha means how? How? And they sit and that's how the book starts. How the city before us is formed. And then, listen to these words, because you know them.

As they sit in the ruins, as they sit in everything taken away from them, look at the joy, and I'm busy with the B, believe that joy is possible. They write, but this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope because of what I call to mind, sitting in the ruins, the steadfast love of the Lord. His mercies never come to an end.

They are new. Everything great is in place. What is there in this world that can take your joy away, that you cannot see this? If you read the Psalms of Lament, that which Jesus called out on the cross is one of those.

Psalm 22, my God, my God. It always starts out with this going to God and addressing God. Then it will come with its lament.

This is what's going on in my life. Then it will say, but God, I trust you. And then the fourth thing of the Psalms of Lament, it will go in, Lord, will you please deliver me? And all of the Psalms of Lament end like this, with a praise to the God who brings joy even when I sit on the ruins of my life.

Because that's what courageous joy can do. And the C of your ABCs, not just assess, not just believe, but C means in those moments when I feel that I'm alone and my smile is gone, call upon you, Father. Isn't that what Jesus did? When he was in that garden, overwhelmed, what did he do? He called to his Father.

When he was nailed to a cross, he called because Jesus knows. And Father, steadfast love of the Lord, mercy. Mercies never come to anyone.

They live every morning, even in the ruins. So there's the promise. I will give you my joy in your life.

Are you courageous enough to live that joy? Think about it. As you think about it, as you think about it. Let's take a moment of prayer.

Thank you, Lord, that you are there, also in the ruins, in the moments when we look around and all seems gone. And then the light, the fire in us, we can sing of the steadfast love. We can sing, great is thy faithfulness.

We can sing, you are my good, good. We can sing that you are holy forever. But we have found our giggle, Lord.

It's not lost because you, Lord Jesus, you are there in us and with us. Whatever the world takes, Lord, you give your joy in all of its fullness. Thank you.

Thank you that that is what carries us in those moments when it is hard and it is difficult. And we go through this because we have you. Nothing can take our Jesus.

Thank you for that. It is in your precious name, Lord Jesus, that we pray all these things and we say, thank you.