What if joy isn't just a fleeting feeling, but a profound emotion deeply rooted in the soul? In this episode, we explore how Christian joy is not self-generated but is born out of witnessing the beauty of Christ in the Word and the world.
What made a young Mary, a simple teenager from the provinces, react with sheer joy when an angel told her she was to bear the son of the Most High God? Let's peel back the layers of this familiar narrative in Luke 1:26-33, and discover how Mary's joy surpassed her circumstances. As we dissect this biblical account, we discuss three compelling characteristics that fueled Mary’s joy and how emulating these traits can ignite joy in our own lives. Our discussion starts with obedience to God, a central theme to Christian joy and an essential factor in understanding Mary's story. So, are you ready to unlock the secrets of lasting joy? Tune in for an episode which is sure to leave you introspecting about your path to experiencing true joy.
Hello and welcome to episode 16 of the Real Friends podcast, Colin, the Advent series. I got feedback today that the punctuation really works, which makes me feel happy. Is that the same as joy? We will be finding out. In fact, last episode, when you were flying solo pastor, you defined joy for everybody. Why don't you do that again?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, and to give credit where credit is due, this comes from John Piper. He says that Christian joy is a good feeling in the soul, produced by the Holy Spirit. In other words, this isn't something that we just conjure up ourselves, so it's produced by the Spirit, as he causes us to see the beauty of Christ in the Word and in the world. Meaning we have to be in the Word if we want to be people of joy.
Speaker 1:
Absolutely Now in the Bible, the New Testament, of course, gives us a superb example of how to be joyful, and in the time when it might not even necessarily have been that easy right out of the gate. Tyler, why don't you go ahead and give us our scripture reading for today?
Speaker 3:
So it's from Luke 1, 26 through 33. In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to the city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said greetings, o favored one. The Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at the saying and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her do not be afraid, mary, for you have found favor with God.
Speaker 3:
And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will call the son of the Most High God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, and he will be great and will be called the son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father, david, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end.
Speaker 1:
What a tremendous example Mary provides us of somebody who is joyful. In fact, in one of the Gospels at least, it says that she breaks out in song for being chosen for this. That's right.
Speaker 2:
The book of Luke, just a few verses down. I believe it begins in verse 46. It's called Mary's Magnificat, or the Song of Mary. She is joyful. Joyful people sing. You know, I shared this morning that growing up I used to get in trouble because I would hum at the dinner table, but it was because I couldn't stop it because my mama's cooking was so good that man, I just had to sing. And so we know Mary's joyful, you know, and she breaks in the song and the argument may be well, sure, she's joyful, she's going to have a baby. Well, on one hand, that's really really good news. You know, children are a blessing from the Lord, but Mary is a teenager.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, and a little Jewish girl from the provinces who is betrothed and not had relations yet, presumably, and I have not had relations with that woman.
Speaker 1:
Thank you, president. Bill, I'm glad he's not part of the gospel. I'll be honest. I apologize, but seriously, it can be very, very difficult to be joyful in every single circumstance, including around the Christmas season, where we all might not be seeing angels for the first time in our life, or second or third, but you can feel flummoxed and stunned and a whole host of other things that can work against that joy.
Speaker 2:
That's right. And so there are at least three characteristics in Mary's life that surely contribute to her joy, and these are traits, I believe, that if we emulate, we will walk in joy as well. And the first is what we're going to focus on today, and that is obedience to God, and I love verse 38 in Luke, chapter one. You know again, mary had no idea how this was all going to work out. The angel didn't give her too much information.
Speaker 1:
Now just just enough to move forward, but no more than that.
Speaker 2:
That's right. But here's, I love verse 38. And this is Mary said behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word. And the angel departed from her Now, not knowing how the situation would work out. She trust and obeys, and there is such joy when we obey the Lord, even when we don't know how things might work out. This is made crystal clear in John 15, verse nine, jesus talking to his disciples and he says as the father has loved me, so have I loved you. And Jesus tells them abide in my love. And then he goes on if you keep my commandments, in other words, if you obey, you will abide in my love, just as I've kept my father's commandments and abide in his love. And then verse 11, these things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full. So Jesus gives us a really clear picture of how to walk in Christian joy.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, emulating Jesus in obedience is emulating his obedience.
Speaker 2:
That's right. And when we disobey God, you know if you're living contrary to his word, you will not have joy.
Speaker 1:
Nope, you might have a season of happiness from time to time, here and there, but habitual sin will will not last, and not nothing in this world can lead to, you know, everlasting joy, not in the Christian sense, that's right.
Speaker 3:
Well, you know, like also when you think about it, especially with kids, just like when you was talking about peace and you had Connor with Santa, you said there was not an ounce of peace. Looking, you know, yeah he was.
Speaker 2:
He was wondering if he'd be on the naughty or nice list. Yeah, he was sweating bullets.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, you know kids know what not having joy is like, especially when they get in trouble and you have to discipline them. There's no joy in them, and there's no joy in you either, because you obviously don't want to have to do that and you want them to obey you and do what they're told.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, when my kids were, you know, when they were young and they would disobey. They were still my kids, but there was a great tension around the dinner table, and so, in that same way, disobedience impacts our fellowship with God, and this is one thing we've got to understand. His commandments don't always make sense to us, they're very contrary to the culture of the world, but God created us and you know, when we disobey him, when we refuse to obey his commands. Here's really what we're saying. Ultimately, god, I know how to run my life better than you, I know what will bring me joy, and it's like don't be so sure. God created us. His ways are higher than our ways, his thoughts above our thoughts.
Speaker 1:
So this Christmas season, everyone, as you're going about your shopping, whether it's online or offline, you're cleaning, if you're having gas over, you're packing, if you're traveling, you can run into just a myriad of circumstances where it could be easy to be angry, frustrated, sad if you've lost somebody this holiday season. There's a lot of different things that can impact that joy if you let it. But if we are obedient to God, then we can win and we can experience that joy. So….
Speaker 2:
Yeah, let's close with the great words of the familiar hymn Trust. And Obey, Do you know that one?
Speaker 1:
Come on, lutheran, that must be a Baptist hymn and not a Lutheran hymn. You've beaten all the Lutheran anatomy at this point, yeah you're a full blown Pentecostal now.
Speaker 2:
It goes like this Trust and Obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to Trust and Obey. Thanks for listening.