Fruitage of the Spirit - Part 3 "Joy"

Following Love the next virtue that we consider is “joy”. The original Greek word is xara, which carries the thought of joy, gladness, happiness, delight. It was the word that was used by the Greek’s to express satisfaction.

The desire for joy and satisfaction in our lives in quite universal and inherent. Solomon writes that finding enjoyment in our work is a gift of God. (Ecc 5:19) This is recognized by Thomas Jefferson who listed, “the pursuit of Happiness” as one of the God given, unalienable rights, of all men in the “Declaration of Independence.”

However, the “pursuit of happiness” has lead many astray if they do not seek after the right kind of joy. The Scriptures thus condemn those that would seek pleasure, happiness, and joy in sin. Those that “live for pleasure” are considered as “dead”. (1 Timothy 5:6) Hebrews refers to this as the “fleeting pleasure of sin” (Hebrews 11:25)

In life we are often met with the momentary nature of sinful pleasure. The joy of a night spent “partying” and binge drinking is quickly overshadowed by the next day’s hangover. But even more awful than physical sickness is the emotional sickness that accompanies such living. A hollow morning-after and a “dead” feeling can follow a night spent “hooking-up” for a chance sexual encounter.

The joy that the Holy Spirit brings is different in that it not only brings happiness it brings satisfaction and contentment that is everlasting. This is because our joy is rooted in our Heavenly Father and his son Jesus who are both everlasting.

The prophet Nehemiah writes, “The joy of Jehovah is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10) The pure joy that God supplies give us power; especially when we need it the most such as when we experience sorrow. In ancient times people expressed their mourning by wearing a garment, called sackcloth. According to Psalm 30:11, God can remove our sackcloth, or sign of sadness, and clothe us with his resplendent joy. What a joy is found in God! The Psalmist again writes “You lead me in the path of life; I experience absolute joy in your presence; you always give me sheer delight.” (Psalm 16:11) And again we read, “I will be happy and rejoice in you! I will sing praises to you, O sovereign One!” (Psalm 9:2)

Through Jesus, God’s joy was made manifest to humankind. When he came into the world the angels heralded the joy that his birth brought. The messenger declares: I proclaim to you good news that brings great joy to all the people: Today your Savior is born in the city of David. He is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:10,11)

Those who receive Jesus as God’s Word are recipients of his joy. The prophet Jeremiah writes, “As your words came to me I drank them in, and they filled my heart with you and happiness because I belong to you.” (Jeremiah 15:16) The Psalms prefiguring Christ put into song the joy we experience in God’s Holy Word, Jesus. The writer of Psalm 119 repeatedly uses the word “delight” to express his feelings toward God’s commands, laws, statutes, and instructions. It is Jesus that we experience true satisfaction!

In the scriptures, satisfaction is generally in the context of eating and drinking. But when Jesus is our food and our drink it brings a superlative satisfaction beyond anything that mere food can bring about. Food and drink may satisfy our body but it cannot nourish our soul.

Let us reflect on this by thinking about a time when we were really hungry and we ate. The food brought joy and satisfaction but it was only temporary and after a short while we are hungry again. That meal only sustains for a few hours but that which Jesus provides is eternal. To a Samaritan woman Jesus contrasted ordinary water with the eternal water he supplied when he said, “But whoever drinks some of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again, but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.” (John 4:14) Jesus is the “true bread” and whoever eats of him will receive “everlasting life”. He says, “The one who comes to me will never go hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:32,35)

Sin is like that meal in that it only temporarily satisfies us and we are left again in want. Jesus though satisfies and us and provides joy for the soul that is complete and permanent. So it is question of what we are hungry for. Jesus says, “blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.” (Matthew 5:6) Those that hunger after the flesh are never satisfied. The apostle Paul understood this principle as he writes, “For the kingdom of God does not consist of food and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 14:17) Our satisfaction is not in food and drink but righteousness and joy!

As we live in the spirit though we receive joy and it is in surprising places that we find it. James writes, “My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials.” (James 1:2) As we read this we can’t help but to notice how contrary to common thought it runs. Is it true that we can find joy in trials and suffering? Yes, but, not in our own. It is only through the power beyond what is normal that God gives. (2 Cor 4:7) This power is linked with our joy and is gifted through the Spirit. Paul thus prays, “May the God of hope fill you will all joy and peace as you believe in him, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)

Notice what the author of Hebrews says about “Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” He says “For the joy set out for him he endured the cross.” (Hebrews 12:22) When we reflect upon the brutal nature of Christ’s crucifixion it may be hard to see a reason for joy. In order to find his joy we have to put ourselves in his head and see what he saw when looked out from the cross. What did he see that filled him with joy? I invite you to look in the mirror. He saw you. You are his joy. “There is greater happiness and giving than in receiving.” (Acts 20:35) Certainly the greatest happiness that was experienced was experienced on cross as our Lord gave us all life.

It is in serving others in the pattern of Jesus that we receive his joy into us and this makes us “complete” (John 16:11) Now when we experience hardship and trials for the sake of others and for the sake of the Lord we may find ourselves filled with that same joy as we embody Christ. This was true of the saints that experienced joy in persecution for the sake of Jesus. After being beaten by the Jewish high court Peter and the other apostles, “left the council rejoicing.” (Acts 5:41) Later in the Acts of the Apostles we read how after Paul and Barnabus stood in the face of persecution, “they were filled with joy and holy spirit” (Acts 13:52) The author of the letter to the Hebrews comments how the Jewish Christians had “shared the sufferings of those in prison” and they "accepted the confiscation of [their] belonging[s] with joy" (Hebrews 10:34)

Today we can stand with the same confidence that even in the worst of times we can have joy in our service to God. As Paul writes, “May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father.” (Col 1:11,12) Peter invites the congregation to, “rejoice in the degree that you have shared in the sufferings of Christ, so that when his glory is revealed you may also rejoice and be glad” (1 Peter 4:13)

As Christians we also draw strength from one another. The faith of the Corinthian congregation caused Paul and his missionary companions to be “overflowing with joy in the midst of all [their] suffering.” (2 Cor 7:13) As members of the common body of Christ, our brothers and sisters are essential to our maintaining our own joy. It is in this body that we, “rejoice in hope, endure in suffering, and persist in prayer.” (Romans 12:12) On two occasions Paul refers to the congregations he help to plant as his crown of glory and his joy. (1 Th 2:20; Phil 4:1) We can picture the apostle beaming with delight as he writes to the Phillipians, “I always pray with joy in my every prayer for all of you.” (Phil 1:4) We cannot help but to feel the his earnestness when he writes to his traveling companion Timothy, “I long to see, so that I may be filled with joy.” (2 Timothy 1:4) Regarding those that John brought to a knowledge of Jesus he wrote, “I have no greater joy than this: to hear that my children are living according to the truth.” (3 John 1:4) Just as these older men derived great joy from those that they brought to the Truth there was a confidence that this joy would be reciprocated. (2 Cor 2:3) It is in this way that we share the common joy; that we “rejoice with those who rejoice” (Romans 12:15)

In this world we are faced with promises of joy each and everyday. In many ways we are like Eve looking at the forbidden fruit, which was “attractive to the eye” and “desirable”. (Genesis 3:6) In order to lay hold of the real joy of Christ we have to refocus our eyes and have our gaze fixed ever upward to the unseen spiritual. Paul writes, “what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.” (2 Cor 4:18)

The unseen Kingdom of Heaven and Jesus our King is our pleasure and our delight. Laying hold of it worth losing everything else. Jesus describes it as a hidden treasure that one would be sell everything else to gain. (Matthew 13:44) Peter tells us about Jesus, “You do not see him now but you believe in him, and so you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy.” (1 Peter 2:8)

To us Jesus gives the invitation that we can experience his joy and have it be made complete in us. (John 17:13) You can look forward to the time when you will see our Lord again and your “hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away.” (John 16:20) The Psalmist writes, “one may experience sorrow during the night but joy arrives in the morning.” (Psalm 30:5) Even at the worst times in our lives we await that “morning”, that new day. We press forward to our hope of the time where our Lord Jesus will say, “enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:21,23)