Step Up: To Fuller Joy

October 7, 2007 message by Pastor Rich Doebler

We all face difficult situations or set-backs from time to time. Sometimes we get discouraged because of the things that happen in our lives. We may have to deal with major disappointment. On occasion we may feel unhappy and sad because of something that happens.

Nick Vujicic video [www.youtube.com]

But God gives us a promise to deal with such situations. God's promise is bigger and stronger than any disappointment. His promise isn't affected by our problems. Life's challenges and difficulties do not determine whether God's promise is real. His promise is a supernatural resource that does not depend upon natural situations.

JOY

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, (Rom 14:17)

The kingdom of God is not what a lot of people think it is. Many think religion—good religion—is a bunch of rules and regulations with perhaps some boring, meaningless rituals thrown in. They think if you have a lot of religious hoops to jump through or a long list of do's and don'ts that then you've "got religion": Don't eat this (meat); don't drink that (alcohol); don't go to that place (strip club); don't play the slot machines.

For many people, religion is not at all about a relationship with God. It's all about policing the behavior of others—making sure we don't overstep certain boundaries or violate some artificial standard: Don't do this...don't do that...don't eat...don't drink...

They view God—not as a loving, forgiving Father—but more like a police officer at a speed trap: He's waiting to catch you going over the limit. He's lurking just around the corner, ready to flag you down for doing something wrong.

But that's not how the Bible describes the kingdom of God. The Bible says that the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking. The kingdom of God is not about rules and regulations and hoops to jump through. If you think religion or church is just a list of do's and don'ts, then you've missed the whole point. Because it's not about eating and drinking.

This doesn't mean, however, that there is no place for rules. There are good reasons why we need rules. Laws and boundaries are necessary to keep us safe and to establish order in society. Reasonable rules are designed for our protection and well-being.

It was a night three roommates from outside Tampa, Fla., would no doubt like to have back. Christopher Cole, Thomas Miller, and Nissa Baillie had a few beers and then drove around stealing street signs to decorate their home. Hours later, a Mack truck smashed into a car at an intersection missing its stop sign, killing three people. The vandals said they didn't take that sign down. A jury thought otherwise—and a Florida judge sentenced them to a stiff 15 years in prison. Later, a witness changed his story and the case against them was dismissed, but the lesson remains clear: rules, like stop signs at an intersection, are necessary and important—they're for our own protection.

Traffic signs are "rules" put in place to keep us safe. If every intersection was an uncontrolled intersection—without any signs—there would be chaos and mayhem on our streets and highways.

God didn't give us the Ten Suggestions. He gave us the Ten Commandments. God gave us commandments—rules—not to make our lives miserable, but to make them safe. God is not a "kill-joy"—he wants to fulfill our joy! God is a "fulfill-joy."

Why, then, if rules have a purpose, why does the Bible say that the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking? It's because certain people take the simple instructions intended for our own good and twist them into something else. In the name of religion, they stretch and distort them into something oppressive and grotesque. In the name of religion, they make rules to control and manipulate people. They're no longer about what's best for us; instead they oppress, demoralize, and destroy us.

Jesus said the experts in the law "load people down with burdens they can hardly carry" (Luke 11:46); he said "They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them." (Matt 23:4)

In other words, the religious rulers of Jesus' day turned religion into an oppressive, stifling, joyless task. They created an artificial measuring stick out of regulations that God never intended. When God said simply "remember the Sabbath to keep it holy," they expanded it to list countless ways to break the Sabbath: You could walk only so many steps on the Sabbath—but one step too many and you defiled the Sabbath. When God gave basic instructions on cleanliness, they expanded the law into thousands of rituals about how to wash your hands and how to clean your pots, kettles, and pitchers.

Jesus said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!" (Mark 7:9) Isaiah, the prophet described them: "Their worship is a farce, for they replace God's commands with their own man-made teachings." (Mark 7:7, NLT)

But the kingdom of God is not about man-made rules; it's not about eating and drinking! Rather, the kingdom of God is about righteous, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Joy! Joy is different from happiness. Happiness is in direct correlation to our "happenstances"—what happens to us. Joy is not dependent on our circumstances—good or bad, doesn't matter.

¹¹ I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (Phil 4:11-13)

"I'm Trading My Sorrows...for the joy of the Lord."

Fruit of the Spirit.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control... (Gal 5:22-23)

Joy does not come from our feelings. Joy does not rise or fall according to our circumstances. Joy is not the same thing as happiness, which by definition is connected to what happens. Happy and happenstance come from the same root word.

You can have an unhappy happenstance—and still have the supernatural joy of the Lord.

How many of you know someone who is depressed? Down in the dumps all the time? Unable to see the bright side to anything? Always complaining? Always negative?

Maybe you've been like that at times yourself. Maybe at times you've felt depressed about your life... discouraged about things that weren't working out. Maybe you've felt defeated...disturbed...disappointed with life.

Depression—or one of its cousins—is all the rage, you know. It's become one of the most popular health problems in the U.S.

According to the World Health Organization, clinical depression is currently the leading cause of disability in North America. [Murray, C.J.L.; Lopez, A.D. (1997). "Alternative projections of mortality and disability by cause 1990-2020: Global Burden of Disease Study." Lancet 349: 1498-1504.]

Mental disorders account for about a third of all sick days in the U.S. Adult Americans with depression, anxiety or other psychological disorders annually miss 1.3 billion days of work, school or other daily activity, according to the report this past week in the Archives of General Psychiatry in a study sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health. Among mental disorders, depression accounted for the most sick days, 387 million. [From L.A. Times, http://www.latimes.com/features/ health/la-sci-sickdays2oct02,1,3566841.story?coll=la-headlines-health&track=crosspromo]

Maybe you've felt the symptoms: "feeling sad for no reason...having no motivation to do anything...feeling tired, sad, irritable, lazy, unmotivated, apathetic..." Some find themselves getting caught up in a cycle of constant negative thinking or substance abuse. [Wikipedia]

Some people receive medications to help ease their depression. This is often a legitimate answer, but some are beginning to think that we're prescribing medications too easily when something else is needed even more. Last July, CNN, reporting on antidepressants, quoted Dr. Ronald Dworkin, an anesthesiologist who wrote a book called, "Artificial Unhappiness: The Dark Side of the New Happy Class."

Dworkin tells the story of a woman who didn't like the way her husband was handling the family finances. She wanted to start keeping the books herself but didn't want to insult her husband.

The doctor suggested she try an antidepressant to make herself feel better. She got the antidepressant, and she did feel better, but in the meantime, the woman's husband led the family into financial ruin.

Dworkin said: "Doctors are now medicating unhappiness. Too many people take drugs when they really need to be making changes in their lives."

You wouldn't use a band-aid for every kind of injury or physical pain! I've got a head-ache—better slap a band-aid on my forehead. Did you break your arm? Sprain your ankle? A band-aid will take care of that. In the same way, pills should not become band-aids for every sad feeling.

According to a government study, antidepressants have become the most commonly prescribed drugs in the United States. They're prescribed more than drugs to treat high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma, or headaches. [U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;
http://www.cnn. com/2007/HEALTH/07/09/antidepressants/index.html?eref=rss_topstories]

America is swimming in a sea of Prozac, Zoloft, and Paxil! In 2006 alone, over 190 million prescriptions were given for antidepressants—at an average cost of $2-3 per pill. ["Health & Science," The Week (6-15-07), p. 20; http://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/weekly/07-09-17/2091707.html]

The National Institute of Mental Health reports rising numbers for mental illnesses, partly because we're relabeling symptoms. What used to be called simply "shyness," for example, is now labeled "Social Anxiety Disorder" and so you need an antidepressant to help you get over your shyness.

I don't want to minimize a legitimate physical or chemical problem. Some people need medications. They really do benefit from medications. And if you're on medications, don't stop or change your dosage without talking to your doctor.

But I'd like us to stop for a moment and ask ourselves a question: Where is God in all this? What does God have to say about the desire to cover up emotional pain with some kind of drug?

I don't think God wants us to be emotionally or spiritually crippled by difficult circumstances or negative thinking. I don't believe God needs Prosac or Paxil to make us feel better.

There are many examples in the Bible of people who were depressed, who lost hope, who were ready to give up, who struggled with feelings of despair: Moses, Elijah, Jeremiah, David—even Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.

It's probably a good thing David didn't have Prosac available to him. If he had, he would have felt too good to wrestle with his problems. And many of the Psalms he wrote, which are of great encouragement to us, would have never been written.

But because he struggled, the Psalms were written—and so we know there is help available from God when we feel like David felt: low...down in the dumps...in the pit of miry clay...soul downcast and disturbed... (Ps 30:9; 35:7; 38:6; 40:2; 42:5; 44:25; 57:6; 69:2; 88:4; 143:7; 145:14; 146:8)

The truth is, God has promised to give us joy! If you're a follower of Jesus, you have access to a supernatural joy that does not depend on circumstances. When things go well, we tend to feel happy—but that's not the same thing as joy.

When the Green Bay Packers beat the Vikings, Jeff is happy and I'm sad—but I still have joy. I can be unhappy and yet have joy.

The truth is, we can have supernatural joy even circumstances make us unhappy. In fact, the Bible often speaks of joy in the midst of suffering, pain, and great problems.

Joy is not what a lot of people think it is. Joy is not the same thing as happiness. Joy is not equivalent with "feeling" good.

How to fill your life with joy.

1. Invite Jesus to be Lord.

...rejoice that your names are written in heaven. (Luke 10:20)

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him... (Romans 15:13)

2. Obey Jesus' teachings.

¹⁰ If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. (John 15:10-11)

3. Surrender to the Spirit (allow the fruit of the Spirit).

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy... (Gal 5:22)

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, (Romans 14:17)

4. Develop a long-range view. (Or, another perspective)

² And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (Romans 5:2-5)

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. (James 1:2-3)

Life is like a parade—and we're looking at it like who can't see through the crowd...so he strains to catch a glimpse between the fat man and the woman standing in front of him. He just sees about three feet of the parade at a time. But God has a perspective from up above—as though you were watching the parade from the Goodyear Blimp. From that viewpoint, he sees the beginning from the end. He sees the first float and the last. He sees it all at one time. We must remember: In life, we see only one thing at a time. We cannot see what's coming up behind. We cannot see the big picture—but that doesn't mean there isn't a big picture!

When I was a boy, I loved to visit my grandparents' farm in Kansas. They had fields and pastures to roam in. They had all kinds of farm animals—pigs, chickens, dairy cows. And I loved to ride around the farm on the tractor with my grandpa. He'd sit in the seat driving, and I would stand on the hitch behind him, hanging on to the back of his seat.

One day, for no particular reason, as my grandpa drove the tractor back into the barnyard, I decided I'd jump off the tractor to run into the barn. I didn't wait for him to stop. I just leaped backwards off the tractor hitch, but I didn't anticipate how slippery the barnyard would be. It was covered in a slimy mixture of mud and manure. So when I landed on the ground, my feet slipped out from under me, and I ended up flat on my back, spread eagle, feeling the ooze of that mud and manure seeping into my clothing and through my hair.

I wasn't very happy. In fact, I was downright miserable. But then my grandpa stopped the tractor and turned around to see what had happened to me. He saw me lying there in that barnyard full of manure, and he laughed! He laughed out loud. Why? Because he had a different perspective than I did. I was stuck in the mud and the manure, but he was looking at the situation from a higher view. When life dumps us in the manure, we need to remember that God can give us another perspective!

But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. (1 Peter 4:13)

¹¹ Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:11-12)

5. Choose joy over despair.

The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. (Acts 5:41)

Be joyful always; [i.e. not just when things are going well] (1Thessalonians 5:16)