by Mr. Titus Menezes
The theme revealed for this year by our good Lord comes from 2 Corinthians 13:11 – Be happy… We wish one another, Happy Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Birthday etc. We hear stories ending with “were married and lived happily ever after…” Most married persons would vouch for this statement.
If you recall, I read out the passage from Hab 3:17 and would like to place it once again before you. Habakkuk 3:17-18 - Though the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit is on the vines; though the produce of the olive fails, and the fields yield no food; though the flock is cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the God of my salvation.(NRSV). A few hours later, our city was under terrorist attack. The Lord was already preparing us for this theme.
Today, the Lord is asking us to brace ourselves to face the challenges – we are to hold our nerve and not give in. The Lord does not want us to be down-in-the-dump Christian, He wants us to be the joyful Christian. We do not know what the future holds for us but we definitely know the One who holds the future.
2 Corinthians 13:13 says- The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you (NRSV). While we have the simplified version from the Community Bible displayed here, I will refer to the NRSV and ASV version which reads: 2 Corinthians 13:11 - Farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you (NRSV). OR Farewell. Be perfected; be comforted; be of the same mind; live in peace: and the God of love and peace shall be with you (ASV). If we read the footnote for farewell it says rejoice. So we have two words for reflection – be happy and rejoice. For many of us both mean the same thing but there is a difference which we will see. Before we do that how does farewell translate to rejoice? The Greek word for farewell is ‘chairo’. Paul is signing off this letter and so we have the word Farewell. But ‘chairo’ also means rejoice, rejoice exceedingly, be glad, full of joy, cheerful, continually happy, calm delight. Rejoicing does not mean jumping on the roof tops, high and low, blowing whistles but it is a calm delight, joy. This word is also related to charis which means grace and we have the word charismatic. As charismatics not only are we to be grace filled but a rejoicing people as well.
What is the difference between happiness and joy? Happiness comes from the root word hap which means chance. Also happens comes from the same word. Its life is going the way you want it to go and the feeling you experience when that happens. Happiness is temporary and circumstantial. We want an LCD TV or the latest gadget and when it arrives we are happy but it’s a matter of day and the happiness has receded. But life does not go the way we want. There may be times we may not succeed in exams, the dish may go horribly wrong, the LCD TV may not be upto your expectations. In happiness the focus is on self – things should go my way. On the other hand, joy though related to happiness is far beyond and far deeper. It is being continually happy. In joy we move away from our self-centredness and orient towards others and towards God. Whether things go my way or not, joy will always prevail.
There is the joy of holding one’s spouse’s hand. The woman giving birth to a child – she forgets all her pains once her child is brought before her. John 16:21. When a woman is in labor, she has pain, because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world.(NRSV). Her joy is not temporary. Joy when hugging your children; There is something that happens inside at a deeper level, it cannot be described. Joy is confidence in God, in His grace no matter what happens! Joy is the conviction that God is in control of every detail of our lives even those details that appear out of control. We have seen God work in so many situations – good, bad, sorrowful, confusing, challenging situations there is something on the inside that gives us the confidence that God will see us through this phase as well. Joy brings a smile upon one's face and completeness in one's soul and spirit. One of the best examples is of Mother Mary.
To put it in simple words – inner joy and outer happiness; continual joy and fluctuating happiness; Eternal joy and temporal happiness. Joy is the meaning and purpose of life. The fruit of the Holy Spirit in Galatians 5:22 -23. By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.(NRSV). Look at each one closely and you will see each of this fruit is oriented towards others. Fruit is always for giving, never for self-consumption.
Nobody throws stones to a tree that does not produce fruit. But one that has fruit is always stoned and plucked. Yet the tree continues in giving. This is what has to happen of our life. Joy or rejoicing has to be a continual way of life. Even under adverse circumstances we are to rejoice. I am reminded of the marriage vows – in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, all the days of my life, until death do us part.
Joy is the calm delight in the midst of any circumstances. This is the calling for us this year. As I said at the start this theme is a forewarning of the possibly difficult times ahead. I do not want to be a prophet of doom but if we prepare ourselves from now on, we will be having the calm delight in facing situations that arise. Again, I am not saying that we should live miserable lives in anticipation of such situations but that we have confidence in God that He will guide us through the situation. Let us ask ourselves a few simple questions so that we understand or refresh our minds regarding joy
Where and how do I get this joy? John 15:9-11 - As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.(NRSV). Friends to receive this joy, we are to abide in the love of the Lord. Jn 15:5 the theme of our prayer group – if you abide in me you will bear much fruit. And that which bears fruit will be pruned to bear more fruit. When we do the Father’s will, we will abide in the Father’s love. And Jesus ends it up by saying – I have said these things so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. Hebrews 12:2 - Looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame.(NRSV). That very joy He wants to give us when we abide in Him.
In whom are we to rejoice? Philippians 4:4-5 - Rejoice in the Lord…..; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.(NRSV). The question we have to ask is, is Jesus the Lord of our lives, the Lord over every circumstance and situation in our lives? Are we yielding control of our lives to Him? Is He sitting on the throne of our lives or are we still maintaining full/ partial control of that throne? This is the prime reason why many Christians are not joyful. Jesus is simply not the Lord over every area of life. The day we make Jesus the Lord, rejoicing will follow. This calmness will be seen in us and people around will know that Jesus is in us.
When are we to rejoice? Coming back to Philippians 4:4. Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.(NRSV). 1 Thessalonians 5:16 - Rejoice always, (NRSV). One version reads as rejoice evermore. Rejoice forever and with increasing measure. We are to rejoice in the Lord always, at all times. No matter what the circumstance or situation, we will rejoice in the Lord always, continually, without a break or a holiday. It is like no longer happy New Year or Happy Birthday which we greet once a year– instead we will at the start of a new day say Happy New Day and of every hour – Happy Hour. When we rejoice, we are in the presence of the Lord and the Lord is in control.
Why are we to rejoice? This is the important question among all the questions I put forth. Nehemiah 8:10 - For the joy of the Lord is your strength." (NRSV). What a power-packed statement this is – the joy of the Lord is my strength. We are all looking for strength, power and the Bible tells us in plain simple words.
We see buildings under constructions and before the concrete is poured there is a grid of thin long iron rods which will hold the concrete together. Concrete on its own cannot hold on for long and will crack and fall apart. But because of the iron rods it can take on a lot of weight and stand firm under all conditions. This is exactly what joy does. It is the inner lining for our troubled lives. Taking a parallel: if we have no joy then we have no strength, we are weak. We just reflected on Jn 15:9 – I have said these things so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. Replace joy with strength. I have said these things so that my strength may be in you and that your strength may be complete. Under all circumstances are we to rejoice. The circumstance may not make us happy but on the inside we have to have that calmness, that stillness, that strength that God is in control of everything and he will work out everything for our good.
My grace is sufficient for you – my grace is your strength to overcome anything in the world. This grace is joy in the Lord. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me – how – when I am rejoicing in the Lord my mind is thrown open to Him to guide me and I can do anything in Christ.
Habakkuk 3:17-18 - Though the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit is on the vines; though the produce of the olive fails, and the fields yield no food; though the flock is cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the God of my salvation.(NRSV)
Though my efforts do not produce the fruit, the expected promotion fails and everything else also fails and my reserves are getting low, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. What a marvellous God we have!!! Friends yes it is easier said than done but we have to rise to this new level God is calling us this year. He is waiting to bless us.
I would like to give some examples from the Bible:
The first example I would like to take is of the Israelites – they were a suffering people in the land of Egypt and God wanted to set them free. God used Moses to set them free and brought them out of the land of Egypt through a desert before reaching the promised land. The Israelites instead of thanking and rejoicing for the freedom they had obtained, complained and grumbled and murmured against God for the lack of food and water and everything else. In their freedom they began to worship idols and complained why at all they were brought out of Egypt . Because of their rumblings, God sent out His Word they would never enter the Promised Land which was only a few days of journey. Instead the Israelites circled the desert for forty years. This is an absolute shocker of a passage: Deuteronomy 28:47-48 - Because you did not serve the Lord your God joyfully and with gladness of heart for the abundance of everything, therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and lack of everything. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.(NRSV). The lack of joy and gladness inspite of having everything was the source of Israel ’s sin and divine judgment.
How do we fare – inspite of being blessed by the Lord in so many areas and thanking Him for it, we choose the one thing that He has not given and grumble and murmur and make life difficult for ourselves. David: David danced and sang and rejoiced before the Lord. Circumstances were difficult for him but yet he danced and sang before the Lord. His wife Michal despised his actions and the Bible says she was barren to the day of her death on account of her rebuking David’s joy. Do not look at the physical barrenness. If we are not part of the joy God calls us to then God cannot bring any good out of us. 2 Sam 6:21-22.
Other examples are of Job, Daniel and in the NT, Mary is the perfect example of rejoicing. After the Annunciation, Mary said – Luke 1:46-47 - "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,(NRSV) She rejoiced at the spirit level – deep, deep, deep. What was there to rejoice for her? She was taking a big risk. If she was found to be with child before marriage, as per the law she would be stoned to death but she displayed that calm delight – she did not go jumping high and low – she pondered over these things in her heart. Neither did she panic when Simeon told her a sword would pierce her heart – she pondered over this message. Mary was joyful and joy came out of her womb!
We know how Paul and Silas were in jail and inspite of all the bruises on their bodies they were praying and singing hymns. And when they did that there was an earthquake and the doors were thrown open and chains unfastened. This is what rejoicing does – God makes a way where there seems to be no way, the chains are unfastened, you can think clearly in that situation, you are renewed in strength and you can overcome the situation.
Of my own, I was a very negative person. I never trusted God and did not yield full control of my life. Slowly and surely I have adopted rejoicing in daily situations – I lift it up in prayer and just surrender and begin praising and thanking – everything just shapes up.
To conclude, we are to rejoice continually. The verse appears at 2 Corinthians 13:11, 13+11=24 i.e. 24 hours we are to rejoice. We sing give me oil in my lamp keep me burning till the break of day. Heb 1:9 says this is the anointing oil of gladness, of rejoicing and it is this rejoicing that will see us through the darkness.
Your present circumstance may be making you feel miserable, but from let joy of the Lord be our strength. I leave you with the chorus of a song I like very much
When the oceans rise and thunders roar
I will soar with You, above the storm
Father, You are King over the flood
I will be still, know You are God
Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice! Amen.