Preaching on Preach magazine, Issue 31: What is joy?
/THEME: What is Joy?
Do we think we understand joy? The exuberant celebrations of the supporters of a winning football team are certainly joyful. The purest expression of joy is probably a dog greeting its owner after they’ve been away for a day!
But this issue of Preach shows us that joy is a far richer and more exciting theme than we might have imagined. It doesn’t relate to success. It’s surprisingly present even in very dark times. It’s more than a feeling.
CONTEXT: Word of God
John Goldingay (page 16) unpacks the meaning of joy in the Bible. ‘Rejoice in the Lord always’, says Paul in Philippians 4:4 – but how does that work? The disciples were joyful when God did great things, and there’s plenty about celebration in scripture – but what about joy when life is grim, or things go wrong? In his column, Ian Paul (page 58) relates joy to God’s acts in creation and his continuing acts in the world. Paradoxically, the world contains much suffering – but Revelation provides a vision of a glorious and joy-filled future.
APPLICATION
For lots of us, life is never going to be perfect. We live in circumstances we can’t change. But as Rachael Newham writes, ‘We have a God who demonstrates his blessing of Jacob, not through greatness or grandeur, but through a limp.’ Of her own depression, she says, ‘I have found joy in the midst of the sorrow.’ Tobi Olujinmi (page 9) writes of the need to travel with others, like Paul – and to be honest about our suffering and pain.
SUB-THEMES
Drawing on C.S. Lewis’s account of joy, Alister McGrath (page 11) writes that ‘dissatisfaction and restlessness are works of the Holy Spirit.’ He speaks of the effectiveness of stories – ‘narratives of dissatisfaction’, which highlight our need of God, and ‘narratives of fulfilment’, stories of personal transformation.
Paul Harcourt (page 30) writes of the sense of joyful hope and confidence he and other church leaders felt coming out of the pandemic; ‘the power of God is not seen in the charismatic individual nor in the mass movement, but in the presence of God’s Spirit.’
For Dave Bookless (page 44), joy is ‘a state of being, an awareness of a bigger picture, rather than an emotion, so it is possible to lament and also be joyful.’
CASE STUDIES
Richard Littledale (page 50) writes about the joy-restoring power of gardening. Since the death of his wife Fiona, he says, it has become ‘a major source of solace to me, as well as a rich seam of theological understanding and sermon illustration.’
PREACHING POINTS
· Joy is a good gift of God, and we should cherish it and express it – he makes our lives richer and better.
· Joy is a foretaste of what’s to come, a signpost to a fulfilled creation.
· Joy is not happiness or cheerfulness, and it can be there amid profound sorrow. It’s a way of describing our connection to the deeper and wider purposes of God.
READING: by Krish Kandiah (page 37)
· Surprised by Joy, C.S. Lewis (Collins)
· The Call to Joy and Pain, Ajith Fernando (IVP, 2008)
· The Message of Philippians: Jesus our Joy, Alec Motyer (BST series, IVP, 2020)
· Tales from an Under-gardener, Richard Littledale (Authentic Media, 2021)
WATCH
The Chosen, Episode 3: Jesus loves the little children https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvOpb1sxx8Q
© Preach magazine, Issue 31, What is Joy? preaching crib sheet produced by Mark Woods for LWPT.
Please email editor@lwpt.org.uk if you would like a pdf version of the sermon tips.
