What do you look like whenever you’re happy? You’ll have a big smile on your face, to show that you’re happy. And what sorts of things make you happy?
There are lots of things that might make you happy:
Not having to go to school tomorrow
ice cream
time with friends
having your favourite dinner
going on holiday
and lots and lots of other things.
So then, what do you look like when you’re unhappy (or sad)? You’ll have a big frown on your face. The smile has turned upside down into a frown. And everyone who looks at you knows that you’re not happy. So what sort of things make you unhappy?
There are lots of things that might make you unhappy:
having to go to school tomorrow
not getting ice cream
having to get a filling in your tooth at the dentist’s
being on your own
and lots and lots of things.
This morning we’re continuing to think about the fruit of the Spirit - the character and qualities that the Holy Spirit is wanting to grow in us. Can you remember which one we looked at last month? It was love.
Today, we’re focusing on joy - not someone you know who’s called Joy - but the character of joy that the Holy Spirit grows in us. Now, when we start to think about joy, we might just think that it’s the same as happiness. Sometimes we use the words in the same way so that you wouldn’t know the difference. But there’s a big difference in the way the Bible thinks about joy.
Have you ever been on a roller coaster? I don’t really like roller coasters, so whenever we went to Alton Towers with BB camp, I used to watch everyone’s cameras and bags and phones and wallets! What happens when you’re on a roller coaster? You go up and down and up and down. And our happiness, our feelings and emotions can go up and down, based on what is going on. You see, happiness depends on what is happening.
So if something good happens, then we’re happy. And if something bad happens, then we’re unhappy. Every day can be like being on a roller coaster. Up and down, happy or unhappy, depending on what happens - what the weather is like, and so on. Have you ever seen people being like that? Changing mood depending on what happens?
The Bible says that joy is different to happiness. Happiness comes and goes, but joy is something that we can have, even when things aren’t going well. So even if bad things happen, and we couldn’t possibly be happy, we can still be joyful.
That’s what we see in our Bible reading this morning. Peter is writing his letter to Christians who are described as strangers in the world - they don’t really fit in, they’re different to everyone else. And that’s what we are like as well.
Yet the mark of being a Christian is to have joy. Why are we joyful? Because of all that God has done for us:
We have been born again into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus. Because Jesus died for us and rose again to new life, we have the hope of heaven and living for ever with God and Jesus in the new heavens and the new earth. So no matter what might happen in life, we have this hope of eternal life!
We have been given an inheritance - does anyone know what an inheritance is? It’s something that you’re given, that you inherit from a family member. And the inheritance we’ve been given can never perish, spoil or fade. It’s always going to be as good as new! It will never rust away or fade away.
We have been given protection - God shields us by his power in all that we do.
Hope, inheritance, protection - it’s no wonder that Peter says that ‘in this you greatly rejoice.’ (6) We are filled with joy, when we realise everything that God has done for us and given to us.
But Peter says that we can still rejoice, ‘though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.’ (6). Suffering grief, undergoing trials - those sound like the things that would make us unhappy, and you’d be right! But through them, we can still know and experience God’s joy - because even when we go through bad things, God is still with us, and God is still for us.
We are looking forward to the day when we will see Jesus face to face. One day, Jesus will return, and we’ll see him, meet him, and worship him. But we have never seen Jesus. Peter had seen Jesus, and knew him, and spent lots of time with Jesus. But the people who first got this letter, they were in the same boat as us. They hadn’t seen Jesus either.
Yet Peter says something amazing: ‘Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.’ (8-9)
None of us have ever seen Jesus face to face. Yet when we love him, and believe in him, we will be filled with this joy: inexpressible - you can’t really explain it, but it’s real, and really inside you, bubbling up out of you, no matter what is going on; and glorious - filled with God’s glory.
You might be the sort of person who feels as if they’re living on a roller coaster; you’re up and down depending on what happens. But God offers us his joy - a constant character of contentment in God, because of all that he has done for us, is doing in us, and will do for us.
You can be happy, and be joyful, but you can still be joyful even if you’re unhappy. Because joy is different to happiness. And joy is what God is wanting to grow in us by his Spirit - as we receive his blessings and promises, and grow in trusting him whatever happens.
This sermon was preached at the Church Family Service in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday morning 21st October 2018.
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