Joy
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Good morning Chapel family! We’re taking this fall to walk through the famous Fruit of the Spirit teaching from Galatians chapter five in the New Testament. And the starting point of this series is that there is a daily struggle. Because we have the capacity to live in a self-centered, destructive way, OR in a self-giving, beautiful way. All of us have both options open to us. Alexander Solzhenitsyn once said the line dividing good and evil runs through the heart of every person. So at any given time, you have in your heart the potential to go either way. It’s a sobering thought. And Galatians presents this radical idea that the thing that determines which way you go is not how hard you try; it’s whether you learn to connect yourself with the power of Christ.
In other words, here’s what I’m saying:
The pull of sin is strong But the living Christ is stronger So open yourself to his Spirit And you will bear his fruit
That’s what this series is all about—learning together how to open ourselves to the Holy Spirit, so that we bear the fruit of Jesus in our lives. We become like him!
So according to Galatians 5, the fruit of the Spirit is first and foremost love, which we talked about last week. Today we come to the second fruit, which is joy.
Do you remember, back in August 2014, when Robin Williams died? I remember it clearly. My mind immediately went back to the first time I had ever seen him—he was a guest on the show Happy Days. Anyone remember that? He was “Mork from Ork.” And he was funnier than anyone I’d ever seen. And in the years since then, I had so appreciated his comic genius. But after his death, we found out that underneath that happy exterior, there was deep sadness.
I was using Twitter at the time, and after I heard the news I Tweeted a verse from Proverbs 14—it says “Even in laughter the heart may ache.” It’s true isn’t it? Not just Robin Williams. We’ve all known people—and we’ve probably all been that person—who can be all smiles and laughter on the outside, but the truth is we’re not doing well at all. Even in laughter the heart may ache. I think we could apply that same principle more broadly: Even in financial success the heart may ache. Isn’t that true? Even in popularity, the heart may ache. Even on a beautiful vacation, the heart may ache. In other words, good things happening on the outside don’t guarantee joy on the inside. And the converse is also true: just because you have hard things and painful things happening on the outside, that doesn’t mean you lack joy on the inside. Right? Some of the most joyful people I know have really hard lives.
So how do you become truly joyful?
C.S. Lewis wrote this: “Good things as well as bad, you know, are caught by a kind of infection. If you want to get warm you must stand near the fire. If you want to be wet you must get into the water. If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get close to, or even into, the thing that has them.”
So the kind of joy the Bible talks about isn’t something we can manufacture on our own; we have to figure out how to get so close to the source of joy—to God himself—that his joy rubs off on us.
David said it like this in Psalm 16:11… In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. So God is the source of joy, and we get it by being in his presence.
So…real joy is deeper than happiness, it’s not dependent on circumstances, and it comes only from nearness to God. So I want to take the rest of this message to answer this question: how do you get so close to God that his joy soaks into your soul?
Look with me at John 15, verses 1 through 11. I invite you now to hear the Word of God…
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. This is the Word of the Lord.
The grapevine metaphor is significant biblically. Because in the Old Testament, the image of a vine is used to describe the nation of Israel. So in several places, God basically says, “I’ve planted this nation—the nation of Israel. That’s my vine.” So back then, if you wanted to have a relationship with God, you had to get connected with Israel. But when Jesus came, something changed. Look what Jesus says in John 15:1: “I am the true vine.” In other words, “The people of God are no longer defined by a nation. I am now the vine! So to be a part of God’s people means that you’re connected to me! No matter what nationality you are! I’m the vine…and my people are like branches that grow off that vine.” Are you with me?
So this teaching is all about how we, as the branches, relate to Christ, who’s the vine. So let’s break it down into three parts. First, let’s talk about…
The Source of Joy. In that last verse, Jesus says, “I’ve told you all of this, so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” So what did he just tell them in verses 1-10, that leads to joy? It’s really three practices.
First: Depend on his power. Look at the last phrase in verse 5: apart from me you can do nothing. I had those words written on a yellow sticky note on the wall next to my desk for years: “apart from me you can do nothing.” It finally fell off my wall, but it’s embedded in my brain now. If my attitude toward life is, “I got this”…if my approach to hard situations and hard people is, “I’m going to dig deep in myself. Because I’m educated; I’m experienced; I’m street smart; I’m a successful person”… Jesus says, “If that’s the way you do life—independent from me and disconnected from me—you can do nothing.” Oh, you can do things. But it won’t have lasting, spiritual value. If you want to bear any real fruit in your life, you will not do it apart from me. So that’s the negative.
Here’s the positive—look at verse 4: Remain in me, as I also remain in you. So the key is for us, the branches, to “remain” in Jesus, the vine. If you’re reading a different translation of the Bible, your version might use the word “abide” instead of “remain.” Same idea. I think maybe the clearest way to say it would be “stay connected.”
This past Thursday morning, I reached out to my friends who lives in Naples, to check on them. Thankfully they were safe; they didn’t get any water in their house. But they lost power, with no signs of getting it back for a while. So to use the language of Jesus, their house was no longer remaining or abiding or in the power grid. Right? They were disconnected. No power flowing in. And because of that, they couldn’t watch TV; they couldn’t use air conditioning; they couldn’t make toast; they could almost say , “Apart from electricity, we can do nothing!” Imperfect illustration, but you get the point. If there’s no power flowing in, there’s no power.
So the source of life—the power we really need—comes from the vine. Because the sap and the fluids and the energy of that living vine flow into the branches to make them produce fruit. So how do we live this out, spiritually? Well, it’s an attitude. It’s a mindset of complete dependence on Jesus, so that his life, and his energy, and his love flow through us.
I was recently in a very challenging conversation. Emotions were high; this other person’s voice was raised; mine might have been raised a few times. And at one point this person stormed away angry. (No, it wasn’t Norma Jean, in case you’re wondering). This person walked away angry. And I didn’t know what to do—I felt powerless. And it was one of those moments that I turned to God in utter desperation. I said, “Lord, I need you. I’ve got nothing here. So I need your character and your life to flow through me.” And I literally opened my hands. And I said, “Lord, give me your love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Within 15 minutes the other person came back; apologized for storming out. And I was able to re-enter that conversation with newfound patience and compassion. And it ended really well. I’m telling you: that was not me; that was the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Pure and simple.
So in order to get so close to Jesus that his character rubs off on you, you have to learn to depend on his power. Apart from him you can do nothing; connected to him you can bear much fruit—and Jesus says, “I’m telling you this so my joy will be in you, and your joy will be complete.”
Secondly, you have to Receive his Word. I never noticed this until recently. It’s not just about getting close to Jesus and depending on his power; there’s something very specific he’s calling us to do. Look at verse 7: If you remain in me and my…what does it say? And my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. The words of Jesus—which is the Word of God—needs to remain in us. So here’s what that means: we need to develop a habit in our life of regularly receiving and retaining the Word of God.
Can I share with you a very practical way to do that? When I spend time in the Bible every morning, I know how easily I can walk away and forget everything I just read. Have you ever had that experience? It’s just gone. So I developed a habit a few years ago—it’s so simple. After I read a short portion of Scripture, I take out my journal and write a short summary of it—maybe 1/3 of a page. Then I write down some thoughts about it—how it connect with other Scripture, how it applies to my life. And then—this is key—I write a one-sentence prayer, asking God to help me apply what I just read. And I take out my cell phone, and I write that one-sentence prayer in the Notes app on my phone. Like here are a few examples from the past few weeks—you can probably tell I was in the book of James:
“Father, help me to powerfully use my words for good.”
“Father, help me to value those the world devalues.”
“Father, help me to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger.”
So all of those were based on the main teaching of that morning’s reading; the prayers are short and easy to remember. So right after my reading and writing that prayer in my phone, I go out for a walk, and I pray that prayer for myself and the people on my prayer list for that day. And throughout that day, I’ll pull out my phone and remind myself of that prayer. So it’s sort of the theme of the day—it shapes my day. And not only do I pray it throughout the day; I look for opportunities to share it with other people. And by doing that, the Word of God is remaining in me. And I’m telling you, it’s a joyful thing—because it brings my thoughts into alignment with the source of joy, God himself.
So…depend on his power; receive his Word. And then one more thing: Obey his commands. Look at verse 10: If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. This is so simple, but it keeps this from being too mystical: if we want to remain in Christ, and experience his joy, we have to respect him enough to do what he says! Does that make sense? So we can’t claim to be remaining in Christ if there are obvious areas of our lives where we’re just not willing to obey him.
Jesus says, “Forgive your enemies!” And I say, I’m not going to do that. So I hold onto the grudge. And I wonder why there’s not much joy in my life. You know why? Because I’m not remaining in the vine!
Jesus says, “Do not store up treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.” And I say, “Well, Jesus didn’t live in North Jersey!” So I always hold back when it’s time to give; I’m protective of my money. And I wonder why I don’t experience joy. You know why? Because I’m not remaining in the vine! Part of what it means to remain in Christ is to do what he says!
So here’s a simple gut check: ask yourself, “Is there some area of my life where Jesus has made God’s will clear, but I’m resisting that?” Maybe it’s a forgiveness issue; maybe it’s a financial issue; maybe it’s a sex issue or a marriage issue or an alcohol issue. And I’m not saying, “Have you reached perfection in that area?” I’m just asking if you have kept that area from God—like, “Hands off this part of my life, God. Don’t mess with this part of me.” Is there, maybe, a place where you’ve got an opportunity to repent and let God’s light shine into that dark place? And you might find that that was the barrier—that was the blockage that was holding back the joy in your life.
So…if you want to get warm, you’ve got to get near the fire, right? You have to get near the source of joy. And Jesus says, “Here’s how you do it: depend on my power, receive my Word, and obey my commands.” That’s how you remain in me, like a branch that’s connected the vine, and Jesus says, “I’m telling you this so you’ll have my joy in you.” But we left out one part.
Point number two: The Surprise of Joy. Look at the second part of verse 2: …every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. I’m not an expert on growing grapes. But I know that if you want healthy grapes you have to prune. You have to cut off some of the growth, and that will maximize the number of grapes and the quality of grapes you wind up with. And in order for our lives to produce quality fruit, there are times when God takes out the pruning shears. And it hurts. But here’s the surprising part: sometimes, it’s actually during those times of pruning and pain that we can experience the deepest joy.
The writer of Hebrews talks about the same thing—Hebrews 12:11… No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. So when the painful thing happens, if you believe God is in control, then
you can be confident that it’s not random; God is using it for good. Even if you can’t imagine how God could use it for good! Trust him. And in that trust, there’s joy.
Or look at James 1, verses 2-4: 2 Consider it pure…what? Pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. You will not develop any kind of maturity—any kind of seasoning or growth in your character—without the painful pruning of God. It’s just the way life works. So when he starts cutting away at stuff, you have a choice: you can be angry about it and resent it and resist it; or consider it joy, because you know this is exactly how it feels when God is growing you.
Malcolm Muggeridge was a famous British Journalist in the 20th Century, and he wrote this:
Contrary to what might be expected, I look back on experiences that at the time seemed especially desolating and painful, with particular satisfaction. Indeed, I can say with complete truthfulness that everything I have learned in my seventy - five years in this world, everything that has truly enhanced and enlightened my existence, has been through affliction and not through happiness.
That’s kind of scary, right? But it’s worth the pain.
John Ortberg wrote this:
Often it is the people closest to suffering who have the most powerful joy. Friends of Mother Teresa say that instead of being overwhelmed by the suffering around her, she fairly glows with joy as she goes about her ministry of mercy. One of the English officers imprisoned at Flossenburg with Dietrich Bonhoeffer said of him , “Bonhoeffer always seemed to me to spread an atmosphere of happiness and joy over the least incident and profound gratitude for the mere fact that he was alive.” True joy, as it turns out, comes only to those who have devoted their lives to something greater than personal happiness.
I said earlier that some of the most joyful people I know have had the hardest lives. And that’s not because they’re in denial, or because they’re so stoic; it’s because they understand God’s pruning. They know it’s going to end well, so they’re able to experience joy in the midst of the pain.
So how about you? Maybe God has recently removed something from your life, and it hurts. Maybe your body’s giving you trouble. Or you just got some really bad news. Those are the times—those are the pivotal times in life that really determine what you believe. Because you have to decide whether you’ll resent that thing …or if you’ll recognize that God is in it, and submit to his pruning. And that’s the mindset that opens the door to joy.
Okay—let’s talk about one more thing: The Start of Joy. If it’s true that deep joy only comes from getting close to the source of joy—to God—that means that if we look for it in any other place, we’re going to be frustrated. I’m part of a great men’s group that meets early in the morning, and this past week we were talking about this topic, joy. And one of the guys said, “You know, I recently got a membership at one of the elite country clubs here in North Jersey.” And he said, “You would think that making it to that level would bring so much joy, but I’m telling you—if you listen to the conversations around that clubhouse, you hear so much complaining—about broken marriages and problem kids and health troubles and depression.” He said, “I’m surprised how many unhappy people are walking around that place.”
And this was totally unplanned—another guy in the group said, “This past week, I was leading a Bible study at Bergen County Jail.” And he’s actually using the Common Ground materials—teaching them about the fruit of the Spirit. So they had gone through this Bible study, and he said the inmates were really talkative—great interaction around the Word. And one of the guys in the group is under consideration for early release. So at the end of the group, this guy was so moved by the teaching of the fruit of the Spirit, and he was so inspired by the fellowship, and he said, “Pray that they don’t let me out early—I don’t want to leave and miss any of this joy.”
So my friend shared that story with our group this past Tuesday morning. And I just stopped and said, “Think about that contrast: misery in the country club, and joy in prison.” God works in weird ways, doesn’t he? But it makes sense: if joy only comes from nearness to God—not from circumstances—then you can find that in jail just as much as on the golf course.
So if joy has been eluding you, how do you start? How do you get close to the warmth of the fire? Well, in the New Testament there’s this pattern:
In Acts chapter eight, a Christian leader named Philip goes to Samaria and preaches the gospel; a large number of people receive the Word of God, lots of them are delivered from evil spirits and healed, and it says, “there was great joy in that city.”
Later in the same chapter, Philip shares the gospel with a guy from Ethiopia who’s traveling through on his chariot; the guy believes in Jesus and gets baptized, and it says, “he went on his way rejoicing.” (which is the verb form of “joy”).
In Acts 16, Paul and Silas are freed from prison by an earthquake, and the jailer who was guarding them is so distraught that his prisoners are escaping that he’s about to commit suicide. But Paul says, “We’re here—don’t hurt yourself!” The guy says, “What do I have to do to be saved?” So they explain the gospel to him, and he puts his faith in Christ and gets baptized. And it says, “he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.”
Do you see the pattern? Over and over again, the starting point for joy in a person’s life is beginning a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. That’s the starting point, and everything else I’ve said today—remaining in Christ, allowing him to prune you so you’re more fruitful—all of that stuff only happens after you’ve opened up your heart and received salvation.
So as we close today, if you’ve never made that first step, or if you’re not sure, I want to give you an opportunity to take that first step toward joy.