Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Nuancing Joy: Discerning the Paradox of Christian Joy in a Sorrowful World

I've often said that when I'm asked how I'm doing, the answer depends on what aspect of life and ministry one wants me to talk about. This is because there is always much to rejoice in and always much to weep over. In fact, I do not think it's an exaggeration to say that if you were to engage me in deep conversation in either direction, I would probably be weeping within five minutes; weeping for sorrow or weeping for joy; quite possibly for both in the same situations.

As we consider the matter of Christian joy we need to nuance the conversation a bit by pausing to think about the call to Christian sorrow. A call to Christian sorrow?! Surely I'm overstating it. No; not at all. Part of godliness is weeping.

Jesus wept (as the Bible's shortest verse, John 11:35--as well as other texts--tells us). Jesus told us that mourning is blessed (Matthew 5:4). Jesus makes the call to weeping vs. laughing even more stark in Luke 6:21-25. God grieves over our sins (Ephesians 4:30). We are commanded to "weep with those who weep" (Romans 12:15). Paul experienced "great sorrow and unceasing anguish" over the lost condition of his fellow man (Romans 9:2). In fact Paul, while always rejoicing, was sorrowful (2 Corinthians 6:10). James turns the call to mourning into a stark Old Testament-prophet-like thundering plea (James 4:8-10).

What are we to make of this? We are to make of it that as Christians we must never forget that while we are drinking deeply of the joys of God and the blessings of the age to come, we are still here in a fallen world with remaining sin within and without. We are to weep over our own sins, and we are to grieve the sins of others. We are to mourn over human loss and grief, and we are to grieve the state of a fallen world in which "evil men go from bad to worse" (2 Timothy 3:13). We may rightly grieve bad illness and the terrible enemy called death (Philippians 2:27; Acts 8:2).

There is the now which is a perpetual mix of sorrow and joy, and there is the not yet, the reality that the fulness of our joy is reserved for a time to come when all tears will be wiped away. If a Christian can live in this world without ever crying, indeed, without crying often over the sins and sorrows of a broken world, he is simply either a hard-hearted man, or Pollyanna, a naive child who imagines that everything is happy when it's not.

Christians are called to weep. No believer can be truly a God- and people- and holiness-loving man or woman whose heart never breaks with sorrow. Weeping frequently for sorrow does not make us a melancholic; it may simply mean we are holy.

But this in no way negates my previous calls to joy. It only makes them more mysterious and might I say it, more profound. Ours is not a grief without hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13), therefore it is a grief with joy! Paul was perplexed, confused, sorrowful, and cast down--but never in despair, and always rejoicing! We are to rejoice in the Lord always and again--I will say it with Paul--rejoice (2 Corinthians 6:10; 4:7-11; Philippians 4:4). We know in experience what the song-writer calls "pleasing grief and mournful joy"; a mystery and a profound paradox to be sure, but true nonetheless.

The joys of having tasted of God and grace and the powers and joys of the age to come need to be so strong in us that every tear of sorrow is mixed with tears of hope, and joy and sheer exhilaration in the glories of our God. This is clearly the experience of the apostle, and of the Savior who went before him.

Will it be ours?

I will write tomorrow of how we may gain more of such joy, even through the tears.

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2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Tim, thanks for the balance. It rings true in my heart. Your words were worth waiting for. Now may I weep when I ought to weep and rejoice when I ought to rejoice. As I mentioned to you Sunday morning, I see through this blog, the remaining corruption in my actions, reactions, emotions, and responding to the events of a fallen society of which I am a member.
Thankfully,
JR

August 25, 2009 at 7:58 AM  
Blogger Petros said...

Tim, very well done brother. You put it so well... I agree with JR, good balance! Good perspective.

Now, let me read today's post.

August 26, 2009 at 9:04 AM  

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