Joy

We return to Jesus' conversation with His eleven friends. He is still explaining what is going to happen over the next few days. The emphasis here is on the ultimate good that comes after what will be so sad. Listen to what Jesus said.

When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.  So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.  In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. (John 16.21-24)

Jesus tells His friends that the next couple of days will be hard. They will feel sorrow. They will grieve. And the reason is clear. Their friend and mentor will be betrayed, tortured and painfully executed. They will grieve because of Jesus' death. Their hopes will die, and their lives will be in almost complete chaos. But Jesus promises that their sorrow will turn into joy and that their joy will last. No one will take it from them. But why will they rejoice? The reason is clear. They will rejoice because of Jesus' death. The Savior has come. He has finished His part of the Father's plan to rescue the world. He has conquered sin and Satan and death itself. That results in joy inexpressible and full of glory, a joy that no one will take away from them. When that happens they will understand Jesus' words about prayer.

Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

Now that Jesus has finished His Cross work, they are to pray to the Father so that their joy might grow and become full to overflowing. They are to ask the Father for whatever they need when confronted by sin and Satan and all the different aspects of death. And they can do that because Jesus has removed all obstacles between them and the Father. They did pray. Read some of their prayers in Acts. And the result? Their joy grew.

Now, Jesus' words were directed to those eleven. They had to go through the sorrow of seeing Jesus die before they could enter into this joy. You don't have to go through all of that. But you can experience the same kind of joy that they did. And you can do that for the same reason that they did. Jesus, the Savior, has come for you also. He has conquered sin and Satan and death for you also. So, in my last sermon I talked about how the power of Satan has been broken and is being overcome by the power of the Spirit. Jesus did that, and He did that for you. In other sermons I have talked about death and how it's about more than a heart that stops beating. It's about all that is wrong with this life: broken relationships, confusion about life, health problems, fear, distress and all the rest. But Jesus has come. Death's grip has been broken. Your sins have been dealt with. You are fully accepted by the Father. You have been given the life of God and are growing in your experience of it. You are able to enter into the same joy that Jesus was telling the apostles about. That's the Gospel. Believe it.

Now again, let me remind you that joy is not the same as happiness. There are many times when joy and happiness overlap. And that is so good. But there are those times when we rejoice even though life hurts and we are not happy. And we can do that because joy is an optimistic attitude. We can be optimistic because of what Jesus has done and what He is continuing to do through His Spirit. He ascended to become Lord over everything. And as Lord, He is bringing all of life to what will be a very happy conclusion. And to accomplish that He even uses the times when life hurts. So, you can rejoice in the happy times, and you can rejoice in the unhappy times. You can rejoice because Jesus is busy changing your life as He changes the world.

Just as He told the eleven, Jesus tells you to ask of the Father so that your joy will be full. Understand what that means. You experience joy truly but not yet fully. That is, your joy is not as great as it can be. Why is that? Part of the problem is that you believe Satan's lies. The Gospel is all about the power of the Spirit, the love of the Father and the loyalty of Jesus. But Satan tempts you to doubt the Gospel. He is very artful in this, using the same tricks he has been using since the beginning. He hides the big lie behind a little truth. And sadly, he is very successful. When you believe him and his lies instead of the Gospel your life is harder and your joy is dimmed. But according to Jesus, your experience of joy can grow. You can become optimistic, assured of the future, even in the worst situations. And that will happen as you pray to the Father because of what Jesus has done as the Savior. Your joy can become full.

Now, what might that look like? I have an example, one from my own life. It was Monday afternoon - two Mondays ago. I was at Jim's house. We were going to go golfing. As I lifted out my clubs from the back of my car I also lifted the mat to shake it out. That's when I discovered that I had no spare tire. There was a place for it, but there was no tire. As I later learned, this is a new feature in cars these days. New cars just might come with no spare. Now, bear in mind that I was to leave Erie early Wednesday morning to go 600 miles to Peoria. Without a spare? On my last trip to Peoria I had destroyed a tire in the middle of Indiana somewhere. But that car had a spare. I just knew that I couldn't go without a spare. So, what am I going to do!?! At that moment I could feel the seeds of anxiety being sown in my heart. Fear. I have had lots of experience worrying, particularly about car problems. I felt all of that starting up. So, I did what I have learned to do in situations like that. I prayed. I explained the situation to the Father - not so much about the spare but rather about my tendency to give in to my fears, to worry. I prayed that I wouldn't fall into that. The battle was about what I would believe: Satan's lies or Jesus' promises? Jim and I went played nine holes, and the Father came through again. I was not afraid. I didn't even think about the problem as we golfed. I figured that somehow the Father would take care of it. My fears didn't win.

So, Tuesday morning I started making phone calls trying to find a spare. You'd think that it would be a simple matter. It wasn't. The place I buy tires doesn't sell rims. I was told to call some junk yards looking for a used rim. Now a new fear raised its head. I had to talk to people about things that I didn't know much about. To me a rim is a round metal thing with holes that you put a tire on. I'm sure that there is much more to it than that if you want everything to work right. So, the question rumbling around in my soul was, 'Am I going to say something stupid and look like a jerk?' That's another fear that I have. So, as I felt that familiar agitation of soul beginning again, I prayed to the Father. Now, I knew that there was no reason for me to be fearful. But that's being rational. Our fears are not about what's rational. Knowing the facts isn't enough. Telling myself, 'Don't be afraid!’ wasn't going to cut it. I needed the Spirit to give me the calm that I needed and the resolve to make those phone calls. I needed Him to overcome the fears that used to control and upend me. I was not happy, but I was optimistic. I knew that somehow Jesus was going to come through. And He did. That's the joy that He was telling His friends about.

Now, let me put that into a larger context. I have been working on these fears of mine for years, decades. I was able to respond as I did because of the little successes that went before during all those years. And my successful response to this trial will result in being better able to meet the next trial. The Father blesses us when we work at believing Him. Growing in the joy that Jesus has promised is a process. It's a life-long process. Lots of little steps.

And in all of this the issue is always the same. Whenever Jesus sends a trial our way He also asks this question. 'Do you trust Me now?' The perfect answer is, 'Of course I trust You. Absolutely! No problem.' That's a great answer, but it wasn't the answer I was giving. I responded more like the father of the demon-possessed boy. 'Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.' And you'll remember that that was enough for Jesus to work a miracle. So, remember the question that comes with the trials. 'Do you trust Me now?' That's where the battle for your joy will be.

Last thought. Developing joy is a process that we pursue together. I told you my little story about my new car without a spare. I did that to encourage you in your battle for joy. I wanted to talk not just about theory but also about something that actually happened. I hope that all of you will also tell your stories. That way you can encourage the rest of us with how Jesus has been caring for you and developing His blessings in you, things like joy. Maturing as disciples is something we do together. It's lots of little steps - together.