Joy Unbroken By Disagreement

          
Today I want to discuss a blessing that I believe is one of God’s greatest avenues in experiencing His joy…people.  Most of my experiences of intense joy are found in relationships.  My wife Jen and I have friends over often.  In these meetings I relish the deep laughter that comes with sharing life with other people.  Even after everyone leaves and Jen and I retreat to our bed with a stack of dirty dishes in the sink, there is this wave of joy within me.  As I lay in the quiet darkness I have this certainty that I have captured the very best of what God had for me that day.

While our gift of fellowship as children of the King is extraordinarily special, this same gift is often our frustration.  I have heard it said many times that the church would be the greatest place in the world if it weren’t for the fact that it is made up of people.  This quote makes us laugh initially and then think of the relationships in our lives that make this statement true.  It makes us ask the tough question, “God, why do you place people in my life who often steal the joy you promise?”

            The disciples of Jesus had to have asked the same questions.  Have you ever checked out the backgrounds of those chosen 12?  You’ve got Peter the hot head who can’t control his mouth.  There’s James and John whose passions and perhaps tempers lead Jesus to call them “sons of thunder.”  Matthew is a Roman sympathizer who made his living off of Roman rule.  Simon is described as a Zealot who’s greatest ambition is to overthrow the Romans and all who sympathized with them (see Matthew).  And who could forget Judas who would betray them all.  There’s even more dynamics going on here but I think I’ve made my case.  In the midst of Jesus’ chosen disciples and future leaders were extreme tensions and hatred. Little is recorded of this tension but their names say it all.  And yet in this estranged group, Jesus would speak a message that through them has brought unbroken joy to us all.

So what can we gather from this motley crew?  God isn’t just using our preferred brothers and sisters to bring us joy.  He is working his joy through people who are tainted with sin just like us.  He has not surrounded us with “yes men” but with fellow family members whose relationships require the same grace that God so bountifully offers to us. 

The joy of fellowship is not just in the fun banter of acquaintances.  The deepest joy comes from the deepest relationships.  It flows when we let each other down and then embrace in a hug of reconciliation.  It is sweetest when we release our need for justice and live by the family motto of favor unmerited.  It is deepest when we lose sight of our temporary home and catch a glimpse of our eternal family now.

Perhaps the truth that makes that joke so funny is no truth at all.  Perhaps the deepest experiences of unbroken joy are found in the relationships that no other family could allow.

Joy from the Son of God

“And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed.  Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, ‘Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven…Get up, pick up your bed and go home.’” (Matthew 9)

In the pursuit of joy, God grants us His gifts in many ways.  Some gifts are immediate, others last longer.  In this story, the paralyzed man was given immediate joy.  Before that day he had known nothing of the joy of running through a hill side or swimming in a lake.  Jesus’ gift was a radical blessing that changed this man’s life.  Words could not express the overflowing joy that would have flooded through this man’s soul as he placed his legs on the ground for the first time.

Each day, God grants gifts like these to people all over this world.  Some of these blessings are seen for the miracles that they are.  Somewhere today, someone will unexplainably be freed from cancer.  In other cases, God’s gifts of joy are placed within a simple meal, a gentle breeze, or an enthralling sunset.  God gives blessings of joy to all nations and all peoples.  They are the evidence of His love and His presence.

What Jesus gave that day went far beyond a pair of new legs.   Jesus, seeing this man’s faith, looked upon him and said these words, “Take courage, son, your sins are forgiven.”  The first part of His address commands the paralytic to take courage.  These were the same words Jesus used to reassure his disciples that He was with them on the raging see.  He used them to comfort Paul in the midst of a life threatening situation.  And now, Jesus looked upon this man who was surrounded by the condescending waves of his illness and said, “take courage”.

Jesus could not say these words if new legs were his only gift.  As anyone who has walked on this earth knows, anxiety comes even for those who can run the fastest.  Jesus said these fateful words because this man would not just receive new legs but also a new family.  Jesus addresses this man with the same Greek word that a father uses to call his son. This was not a word to elevate Jesus’ status as superior but a word of welcome into a divine family.

Though God gives joy to all people, it is to His children that He promises unbroken joy.  Joy that cannot be broken in the midst of hardships.  Joy that cannot even be broken by the greatest enemy of all, death.  That day Jesus looked upon His child and said, “Your sins are forgiven”.  At that moment death lost its teeth in this man’s life.  He was alive in a new family that lives forever and he had a brand new pair of legs to prove it.

To my knowledge there is no further record of this man’s life.  We know nothing of his future earnings or children.  Though we know nothing for use, I have a suspicion that when those legs wore out for the final time that they were not the focus of his last words.  What he received on that beach in the presence of Christ was the first day of unending days walking as a child of God in unbroken joy.

As we traverse the valleys of this world, the story of the paralytic’s life should walk with us.  We often cry for release from pain.  We perceive our happiness to be dependent on our immediate needs and wants.  While our Father is certainly willing and happy to bless us with “new legs” let us not forget what we inherit as His children.  We are tapped into the very Source of joy of peace.  We are His children, let us happily receive His unbreakable joy as our old legs wear out only make room for our new ones!

The Quest for Unbroken Joy

          After taking inventory of my life one day I was startled by my lack of consistent happiness.  As I surveyed my recent recollection I could honestly say that I was just not that happy of a person.  In these moments two roads diverged into a wood.  First, I could accept the unhappiness I experienced as the true state of the “real world” and surrender.  Second, I could seek avenues of happiness until I either succeeded or joined the first group.

            In my search I found certain things to be true.  Money makes me happy one minute and joylessly anxious another.  Toys make me happy until their shiny packages disappear and my credit card bill doesn’t.  Special events make me happy until I drag through my week from lack of sleep.  Relationships are perhaps the most lasting joy experiences of all and yet even they wane as I am still trying to find a friend who has also reached perfection.

And just as I was about to resign to road number one, I read the words of Christ, “Ask and you shall receive, that your joy may be full.” (John 16:24). From these words came some world changing questions.  Could joy be something that God simply gives me?  Could it be totally separate from toys, jobs, relationships, and even my own mood?  Could joy really be so simple to attain that I only need to ask for it?  If God Himself gave it, how deep could I possibly experience it?  How deep could I laugh?  How wide could I smile?  And if my joy could run that deep, who could take it away from me?

            And so begins my journey into the gift of Joy.  I welcome you to join me each month as I explore these questions and many more concerning the joy gifts of God.  I have no doubts this journey will include both valleys of sorrow and mountains of ecstasy.  The true question will be: can unbroken joy survive them all?