On this Thanksgiving Day, I hope you enjoy this chapter from my book Ten Minute Transformation. It reminds us of the importance of that simple quality of joy. My wish for you today and this week is that you find many reasons for joy.
Delight Disparity
In moments of honesty, when I compare myself with Jesus I observe a “delight disparity.” On the one hand there’s Jesus. He’s delighted. Smiling. Laughing. Taking pleasure in people and places. On the other hand there’s me. I’m detached. Unimpressed. Dispassionate. Sometimes finding flaws in people and places. The gaiety which Jesus is so quick to express I am often quick to repress.
Perhaps I’m not the only one guilty of this offense. Richard Foster proposes that multitudes share the blame:[i] “Jesus rejoiced so fully in life that he was accused of being a winebibber and a glutton. Many of us lead such sour lives that we cannot possibly be accused of such things.” There’s a glaring gap between the vibrant revelry of Jesus and the monotony or misery of his followers. The sour frowns on our faces stand in such stark contrast to the satisfied grin on his.
What’s the root of this disparity? For a few, it stems from our view of God. We’re not sure God wants us happy. John Acuff tells of the time when his latest book—Quitter—was released for publication. He was in high spirits. But Acuff began to have doubts about whether God wanted him to experience pleasure through this publishing triumph:[ii]
“And in my quiet time, as I prayed that morning, this is what went through my head, ‘Maybe Quitter will fail so that God can teach you an important lesson.’ In the space before I had the chance to have another thought, I felt like God rushed in. It wasn’t audible, it wasn’t written on the wall. A bush did not catch ablaze, but in my heart this is what I felt: Why can’t I teach you in the midst of joy? In what better way could I reveal the heart of who I am, goodness, then in the midst of something good? You believe I can only teach you in the midst of great hardship and hurt. But failure is not my only laboratory. Does not a father learn something profound about my miraculous goodness when he holds his newborn baby for the first time after delivery? Does not a bride not see my glory when she walks down the aisle toward her groom? Life and lessons cannot be limited to heartache. This is what I am wrestling with right now, the continued realization that I’ve made God into an emo god. I know how to cry with him, but not laugh. I know how to mourn with him but not dance.”
How about you? Are you skilled in mourning with God but sloppy in dancing with God? Do you sometimes wonder if hilarity is contrary to spirituality?
Celebration Celebrity
If so, consider the drama of Jesus produced by Dr. Luke. In his carefully constructed screenplay about Jesus, Luke does not cast joy as an extra who appears in the background of a couple of shots. He presents joy as a star who steals scene after scene.
Joy stands at the center of the first act. In chapter one, the angel who is speaking to Zechariah about his child says, “And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth (Lk. 1:14).” Joy is also center-stage in the final act. In chapter twenty-four, Luke describes the impact of the risen and ascending Jesus: “And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. (Luke 24:52)” Luke’s chronicle of Jesus’ life begins and ends with great joy.
In between these bookends joy continues to make numerous appearances:
- [Elizabeth says to Mary] “For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.” (Luke 1:44)
- [Mary sings] “…and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior…” (Luke 1:47)
- [Regarding Elizabeth] “And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.” (Luke 1:58)
- [Regarding Jesus] “In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said…” (Luke 10:21)
- [In the parable of the lost sheep, coin, and son] “And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’” (Luke 15:6)
- “Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” (Luke 15:7)
- “And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’” (Luke 15:9)
- [Regarding Jesus] “As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives— the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen.” (Luke 19:37)
If Jesus is the star of Luke’s composition, joy is the co-star. When Jesus makes an entrance, joy is often by his side.
What was true then is true now. If Jesus has entered our life, joy wants to be by his side. Author Dennis Prager once asked a deeply religious man if he considered himself a truly pious person.[iii] The man said he did not. He said that he didn’t think he was joyful enough to be considered truly pious. A truly pious person, the man remarked, will be full of joy. He went on to suggest that his lack of joy and the lack of joy of many Christians is a threat to the Christian faith. In response, Prager wrote these words:
He was right; in fact, unhappy religious people pose a real challenge to faith. If their faith is so impressive, why aren’t these devoted adherents happy? There are only two possible reasons: either they are not practicing their faith correctly, or they are practicing their faith correctly and the religion itself is not conducive to happiness. Most outsiders assume the latter reason. Unhappy religious people should therefore think about how important being happy is—if not for themselves, then for the sake of their religion. Unhappy, let alone angry, religious people provide more persuasive arguments for atheism and secularism than do all the arguments of atheists.
Joy is the ultimate apologetic—convincing proof to a watching world that life with Jesus is immeasurably better than life without him.
———————————————————————–
[i] Richard Foster Celebration of Discipline Revised and Expanded (Harper & Row, 1978), 196.
[ii] http://www.jonacuff.com/stuffchristianslike/2011/05/the-miserable-god/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+stuffchristianslikeblog+%28Stuff+Christians+Like+-+Jon+Acuff%29
[iii] Dennis Prager, Happiness Is a Serious Problem (Regan Books, 1998), 4.
