Joy

Have you ever been unhappy in a church service? Perhaps you've fought with your family on the way there, or you're anxious about money issues. Then the praise band starts singing about joy, and it can be jarring to see a congregation rejoicing while your own heart is full of sadness.

It's hard to write about joy honestly because for me—and perhaps for you—there's been far too much pressure to be a happy Christian.

Yet is there anyone who doesn't want to be happy? It seems that we long for a greater joy than can be found in any of our human endeavors.

After Matt Damon won an Oscar for Good Will Hunting, he told Graham Norton what he thought later that night:

*"It can't fill you up... If that's a hole that you have, that won't fill it... I felt so, like, blessed to have that awareness at 27."*

C.S. Lewis famously wrote, "If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world."

The theme passage for our study is Luke 15. What is the dominant emotion? It's joy. Over and over again, Jesus tells stories that start in despondency but all three have a happy ending. "Rejoice with me... rejoice with me... so they began to celebrate."

I experienced joy when I met God. I was in fifth grade, singing soprano in a boy's choir. Then across the choir loft, I saw a man whose face was radiant with joy. I prayed, "God, I want what that man has," and instantly, my heart exploded with joy in God's presence.

In Luke 15, the father represents God. We see that his heart is merry and happy to celebrate when a lost son comes home. One of the fruits of the Spirit is joy.

**There is an answer to human misery. Our happy God is joyfully renewing us and our world, that we might celebrate with him.**