Fruit series part two
JOY
Small group devotion
Each week we’ll be digesting one of the fruits of the Spirit. This week: JOY. What is joy? Is it different from happiness and if so, how?
Opening activity: Get each member of the group to share a dream of something that would make them happy. OR ask them to share times in their life when they feel most happy (e.g. hanging with friends, reading a book etc.)
OR… Watch the following music video with your group. Talk about the lyrics together… what do you like about the song? What don’t you like? (Leaders might be a bit provocative to get conversation flowing e.g. the line “clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth” is a big statement!
Introduce the story of Zacchaeus. What do your group know about the story? If they were at the Living Room, get them to share things they remember.
Read Luke 19:1-10 and as you read, get the group to imagine who they are in the story. Are they part of the crowd? Are they Zacchaeus? If so, which part of Zacchaeus’ story do they relate to?
In verse 6, Zacchaeus receives Jesus into his home “joyfully” (some translations have gladly). Using this story as a reference point with the previous discussion about happiness, start a discussion about the differences between joy and happiness.
Have you ever felt deep joy? How is it different to happiness?
Zacchaeus’ joy leads to a particular reaction (cf. vv.7-9). What might this tell us about joy in the context of community? Share practical ideas of what joy might look like day-to-day.
Jordan finished the sermon with this image accompanied by a song by Malcolm Gordon:
(Refer to Leader’s notes for sermon script)
How can we be at home,
how can we be at peace,when each empty place
and each empty seat
cries out to us at this homecoming feast?How can we be at home
when some of our family are lost?
Who is there in your life who is “lost”? How can you help to speak grace into their life? How can you pursue them with joy? Try and get practical.
Leader’s notes:
- “Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth”…this epitomises the popular philosophy today that the meaning of life is to be happy. But this is a relatively modern ideal borne out of affluence. It is certainly not a Christian pursuit (though the Christian journey contains happiness). The pursuit of happiness places personal happiness as the goal, rather than joy which is a fruit and outworking of grace in our lives. Joy is not so much a goal as a way of being.
- My personal definition is that “we pursue happiness, but we are pursued by joy”. If you look at the Zacchaeus story, Jesus calls Zacchaeus down and invites himself into his home. Zacchaeus’ response to undeserved grace is one of joy. But this joy continues to pour out with grace. Zacchaeus goes on to give of his possessions in abundance. Joy continues to pursue others through Zacchaeus.
- The closing song by Malcolm Gordon and the accompanied image is intended to suggest the following: that joy is relational. It’s something we discover together and is not complete until all God’s family are seated around the table. Therefore, even as we rejoice, we are called to continue searching for the lost ones. There are plenty of people in our lives who are “lost”. Perhaps people that are angry at God or the church, people that have never heard about God, people who are sick or sad or swamped by work… get the group to think practically about who they could help in their life.
Sermon script:
The elusive Pikachu
Ok, first thing is first.
I’d like to address the pest problem
we have here at Hope Hornby.
And if some of you are thinking,
what pest problem?
Exactly.
You’re in the real world.
I’m talking of course about Pokemon Go.
Even if you are of a pre-Pokemon era,
you can’t have missed the coverage
on the news this week.
Anyway, Hope Hornby is riddled with pokemon.
Last week we were inundated with birds.
So during the service can I place a moratorium on all bird catching
…unless it’s the Holy Dove.
That I will allow.
But seriously, Pokemon Go.
It’s taking the world by storm…
and you know it’s become uncool
when the 6 o’clock news covers it…
or when a Sunday sermon
uses it as an illustration!
It does have its positives though.
Just under the cross sculpture in the carpark is a Pokestop.
We’ve been getting unsuspecting gamers wandering
onto the property all week.
Opportunity for evangelism anyone?
#gottaevangelise’emall
So why is it so addictive?
Well, at the risk of psychologising
all enjoyment out of the game —
there’s a deep sense of satisfaction and accomplishment
as you level up, as you add more Pokemon to the list,
as you overcome harder obstacles
until one day maybe you can catch that elusive Pikachu.
This is the premise behind most games, right?
We can see our progress on the game
and we feel a sense of accomplishment.
It’s a kind of mini version of real life,
that in real life we desire to be successful,
to be contented, to be fulfilled,
to be happy.
Our lives can be one big pursuit of the elusive Pikachu
also known as happiness.
I think Zacchaeus was certainly searching for fulfillment
on that day he climbed the sycamore tree to see Jesus.
To get an idea of who Zacchaeus was —
we’re told he was a tax collector
but this is quite different to someone working for the IRD today.
He was more similar to a successful businessperson,
but not a good businessperson —
one who would sell out the New Zealand economy
to big overseas investors for the sake of personal profit.
The Jews were part of the Roman Empire,
and tax collectors hired out their services
to ensure that a certain level of income was coming in
from each region of the Empire.
The job offered opportunities to fudge the books
and make some tidy profit on the side.
The downside was that you were seen
essentially as a traitor to your own people.
Zacchaeus was hated, looked down upon —
quite literally, cos’ he was short.
Even his stature was an indication
that he wasn’t favoured by God.
Back then being tall was a sign of divine favour.
And so you can imagine,
he has a bit of small-man-syndrome
and is trying to win at the game of life.
He’s become successful, wealthy,
powerful to a degree…
and yet, it seems, none of these bring fulfillment.
It’s similar with us I think.
We seek fulfillment and happiness in all sorts of things.
Some are perhaps more fulfilling than others,
like catching the elusive Pikachu,
but do we ever find true happiness?
Are we ever protected from pain and suffering,
and the looming fear of death?
And some of us use religion as that pursuit to happiness.
There are probably some of us at Hope
who see Christianity as just that —
a way to be happy and content.
Some people turn to money, others to religion, still others to Pokemon.
Where is happiness found?
Whatever Christianity is though,
I don’t believe it is a pursuit for happiness.
There may be many happy moments —
but that’s not what Christianity is about.
Look at the Israelites in the Hebrew Scriptures.
They had a rough time of it:
captivity in Egypt, exodus in the desert,
years of war and corrupt kings,
then many more years of exile.
Look at Jesus himself!
Yes, he proclaimed hope,
he proclaimed life,
he proclaimed good news —
but never happiness.
In fact, his path was the path of the cross,
the path of suffering and death.
Not even the early Church got a break!
Persecuted, hunted, killed —
I don’t mean to smash the rose-tinted glasses,
but the pursuit of happiness is not a Christian pursuit,
in fact it’s a very modern idea.
Pursuing happiness vs. being pursued by joy
Joy though.
Scripture speaks a lot about joy.
Though joy and happiness are often used fairly synonymously,
they’re not the same.
If I were to give my definition, it would be:
we pursue happiness,
but we are pursued by joy.
It seems a bit nonsensical, but let me explain.
If we look at the story of Zacchaeus, joy finds him.
We’re not told that he feels joy when he sees Jesus.
Instead, the most bizarre thing happens.
Jesus not only acknowledges Zacchaeus
but he walks right up to the foot of the tree
as if he intended to meet someone there the whole time.
He looks up and says:
“Zacchaeus, come down immediately.
I must stay at your house today.”
Jesus calls Zacchaeus down from the lofty branches,
from his futile search for fulfillment and happiness —
he calls him down to ground level,
and Jesus invites himself in
and then we’re told
Zacchaeus welcomed him gladly.
A more literal translation would be,
Zacchaeus welcomed him joyfully.
When Jesus invited himself in, joy found Zacchaeus.
This isn’t a scientific or official definition
but I like to think of happiness and joy in the following way:
Happiness is an emotion.
It’s something we feel,
and something we can actively seek
by going for coffee with friends,
scoring that promotion,
getting excellence in a maths test etc.
Happiness is a pursuit in itself
— hence the pursuit of happiness —
it’s the goal.
But joy…
In Greek, joy and grace share the same root.
There are only two letters different:
chara and charis (joy and grace).
Grace is a free gift
and joy is what happens when we receive grace.
It’s a state of thankfulness.
And because it’s a result, a fruit, of grace,
it means it’s not an end in itself.
The pursuit of joy isn’t a thing.
Rather joy is a way of being,
a fruit and outworking of grace in our lives.
Therefore, and this is really important.
While happiness is quite an individual thing
(catching that Pikachu makes me happy),
joy is relational.
Grace is given from one to another.
And joy is the fruit of that relationship.
Eucharisteō
Tonight we’re sharing Communion with each other.
Communion has many names:
The Lord’s Supper, Mass, The Last Supper…
one we don’t often use at Hope
is Eucharist.
Communion is eucharist.
Eucharist literally means thanksgiving.
Remember how I talked about grace and joy
having the same root?
Well, that same root is in the word eucharist.
Joy: chara
Grace: charis
Thanksgiving: eucharist
The reason Communion is called eucharist
is because we’re giving thanks
for the gifts of bread and juice
which become our sharing in the life of God.
When we receive these gifts,
we receive grace.
We receive Jesus joyfully by the Spirit of God.
Are you starting to see how these all link together?
Grace, joy, thanksgiving, community —
they’re all different sides of a multi-faceted coin.
And that multi-faceted coin is life in relationship.
While happiness is something individual,
something I can experience myself,
joy is something that we discover together.
Just look at Zacchaeus,
he receives Jesus joyfully and what is the result?
“Look, Lord! Here and now
I give half of my possessions to the poor,
and if I have cheated anybody out of anything,
I will pay back four times the amount.”
He receives God’s grace joyfully,
and out of that joyfulness
he begins to pour out grace to others.
This is the nature of joy.
It’s never an end in itself,
it’s never content —
it always seeks to continue to give,
to pour out and bless others.
…
The story of Zacchaeus is in Luke chapter 19.
In chapter 15, we have the “lost” parables.
There are three, can you name them?
Lost sheep, lost coin, lost son (prodigal)
When the lost are found,
we hear the perspective of God:
God rejoices. God is so joyful when the lost are found.
In Luke 19, we get the perspective of the one who is found
— Zacchaeus — and again joy is the result.
Joy is what happens when the lost are found.
This is where I want to finish up.
And it’s a challenge.
Take a look around at empty seats.
(In the case of the front row,
it’s because they’ve received the front row curse)
The empty seats represent people that are still lost,
who live in denial of God’s love
and God’s invitation to relationship.
And so even as we give thanks in joy
for everything God has given and continues to give,
part of the nature of joy is the challenge
to join with God in searching for the lost ones
and bringing them home.
Who is there in your life who is lost?
A family member, a friend, a neighbour or work colleague,
someone who is sick, or swamped, or sad?
And how can you give grace to them?
How can you pursue them with joy this week?