Joy is Fundamental

The 18th century German composer George Frederick Handel is best known in the Western world for The Messiah which includes the majestic Hallelujah Chorus.

However, what is not widely known is that Handel composed this amazing musical in approximately three weeks. Plus he was experiencing several personal challenges. The Messiah was written at a time when Handel’s eyesight was failing. Not only that he was facing the possibility of imprisonment due to outstanding debts. Yet, he persisted.

Later Handel would credit the completion to one overriding factor: Joy. He was quoted as saying that he felt as if his heart would burst with joy at what he was hearing in his mind.

Indeed, Joy, is one of the fundamentals of the Christian faith.

Joy is identified as a part of the spiritual bouquet called the “fruit of the spirit” as it’s contrasted with the works of the flesh (Gal. 5:16-26). For the next several weeks we want to explore each of these positive qualities.

The Greek word for joy (Chara) is closely related to the word for grace (charis). Joy is defined as “delight, gladness, or calm.” Grace “is that which occasions pleasure; delight, or caused favorable regard.” It might be proper to say that grace produces joy.

Chara is found 60 times in the New Testament. It’s verb form, rejoice (Chairo) is found 74 times. The apostle Paul often invoked the command to “rejoice in the Lord,” or spoke of his “joy in the Lord.” Interestingly, like Handel, Paul encountered many obstacles in his ministry–imprisonment, beating, stoning, misrepresentation, ship wreck, and very possibly his “thorn in the flesh” was failing eyesight.

“A joyless life is not a Christian life, for joy is the one constant in the recipe of Christian living,” opined commentator William Barclay. Indeed, consider these bullet points about the importance of joy in our lives.

• Joy is the product of faith (Phil. 1:25-26).
• Joy is the result of obedience (Ax. 8:5-8).
• Joy is found in forgiveness (Ps.32:1-5).
• Joy is experienced in Christian fellowship (Phile. 7, 20; Phil. 4:10).
• Joy springs from selfless service (Ax. 11:23).
• Joy is fortified by affliction (Jas. 1:2-3).
• Joy is consummated in finishing the course (Ax. 20:24; Heb. 12:1-2).

God’s people should be a joyful people. Christianity is not meant to suck the joy out of life and leave us listless, disconsolate, and dispirited. In fact, the spirit of joy is one of the great qualities that defines the personality of a follower of Christ.

While we often use the words interchangeably, happiness is not the same as joy. Happy comes from “hap” which means luck, or chance. We get the word “happenstance.” As Oswald Chamber once quipped, “Happiness depends of what happens; joy does not.” Happiness often comes by chance; joy is a choice. Happiness is external, based on circumstances. But joy is internal and based on a spiritual relationship with Christ. Happiness is temporary; joy is timeless. It is eternal.

This is why the apostle Paul could write the book of Philippians from the confines of Roman prison as an aged man whose life hung in the balance and speak of his “joy of faith,” and exhort the brethren to “rejoice in the Lord always.”

There are numerous reasons why there are too many joyless Christians today. But one is certain. There can be no joy when our heart is not right with God. Thomas à Kempis was right, “No man can safely rejoice unless he possesses the testimony of a good conscience.” When religion becomes mundane and superficial, joy is non-existent. When ministry becomes a burden instead of blessing, is sucks the joy out of our work. When Bible reading is a boring chore and prayer is mindless ritual, our joy has died.

If you have lost the “joy of faith”, read Psalm 51 and pray the prayer of David who said, “Make me hear joy and gladness, That the bones You have broken may rejoice.”

–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman