What is True Joy Worth to You?

What would joy be worth to you?

What would you be willing to endure for the sake of true joy?

A deep-seated, genuine, heartfelt, overflowing, overwhelming, never-ending, never-fading, all-consuming joy.

Would the confident expectation of a joy like that help you to endure the hardships of this life?

Would the promise of that kind of joy comfort you as you grieve the death of your loved ones?

Would it give you hope to go on in the daily grind of life?

Would it give you peace in the face of stresses at work, stresses at home, stresses about your health or your lack of health?

Would it give you strength when you feel like the people around you hate you without cause?

Would it sustain you if you felt like your whole life of following Jesus was just getting too hard or too long or too different,

making you feel too different from the people around you?

Our gospel passage this morning is taken from a long section in John's gospel.

It stretches from the end of chapter 13 to the end of chapter 17.

And the setting is the upper room.

It is the night of Jesus' betrayal, the night before his crucifixion.

And he spends much of this final evening caring for his closest disciples, preparing them for what is about to happen.

And towards the end of the whole conversation, he tells them clearly the reason, tells them his purpose in this conversation.

If you have your pew Bibles at hand, you can open them to page 936 once again, or in your own Bibles, John chapter 16.

John 16 · chapter mention

So he tells them what he's up to in this final evening.

He says in chapter 16, verse 1,

These things I've spoken to you that you should not be made to stumble.

And at the end of chapter 16, verse 33, he says,

These things I've spoken to you that in me you may have peace.

So he doesn't want them to stumble.

And he wants to provide them with peace.

And one of the main things that he wants them to understand in order that these things would happen is that he is about to leave them.

He is leaving them.

Right at the beginning, he says so.

In chapter 13, in verse 33, he says,

It's a recurring theme throughout the conversation.

He's repeatedly telling them,

I'm about to leave you.

I'm about to leave you.

And then in our passage that George read for us,

He repeats the point again.

But he says it almost in the form of a riddle,

a cryptic way of speaking,

perhaps to see if they really understood what he's been telling them.

And actually, from their response,

it becomes painfully obvious that they haven't at all understood what he's been telling them.

He says in 16 and verse 16,

A little while, and you will not see me.

And again a little while, and you will see me.

Because I go to the Father.

Then some of his disciples said among themselves,

What is this that he says to us,

A little while, and you will not see me.

And again a little while, and you will see me.

And because I go to the Father.

They said, therefore, what is this that he says,

A little while?

We do not know what he's saying.

Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask him,

and he said to them,

Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said?

A little while, and you will not see me.

And again a little while, and you will see me.

The repetition over and over again,

A little while, a little while.

It allows us to enter in to the disciples' bewilderment

as they spin in a circle, as it were.

A little while.

What's he saying?

A little while.

We go around with them.

And it sets us up for Jesus' bold and strong

and clear declaration in verse 20.

But just before we look at that,

he begins that by saying,

Most assuredly, I say to you.

And many of you know,

when he says at the beginning of something in your Bible,

in your Bible, most assuredly, I say to you,

or truly, truly, I say to you,

he's saying, peel back your ears.

Peel back your eyes.

Dig out your ears.

Heads up.

Everything he says is important.

He says himself in chapter 5,

Thanks, brother.

That his words are the very words of God.

But when he says that, he's underlining it

and putting it in bold and highlighting it.

Caps.

Heads up.

So what does he say?

Most assuredly, I say to you,

you will weep and lament,

but the world will rejoice.

And you will be sorrowful,

but your sorrow will be turned into joy.

So the heart of what he's saying

is there's a strong contrast

between what the disciples

are about to experience,

the followers of Jesus,

and the world.

On the one hand,

it's not going to go very well for them.

You will weep.

They will rejoice.

You will mourn.

They will rejoice.

You will grieve.

You will be sorrowful.

You will lament.

They will rejoice.

The hour of darkness was coming.

Jesus was about to be betrayed,

arrested, crucified,

dead, and buried.

It was to be the darkest time

that the disciples had ever known.

And the enemies of Jesus,

who had hated him for years

and plotted against him,

seemed to finally have triumphed.

And as it were,

they are celebrating their victory,

toasting one another with champagne.

And the disciples were shattered

and scattered

and running for their lives.

They were weeping,

crying, mourning, lamenting.

But, Jesus says,

but,

your grief will turn to joy.

A little while,

he says to them,

a little while,

a little while.

And after a little while,

your grief

will turn

to joy.

And he goes on to compare

their experience

to the experience

of a woman in labor.

The woman in labor

has intense

pain

and grief

when the hour of delivery

comes.

For many women,

it is physically,

at least,

the most difficult

and painful experience

of their life.

And yet,

astonishingly,

if all goes well,

and we're not speaking here

of those

exceptionally difficult times

when all does not go well,

but if all goes well,

amazingly,

the pain of labor

is instantly

overcome,

overwhelmed

and drowned out

by the joy

of the new baby

that has been born

into the world.

Actually,

just as an aside,

some of you may question

whether Jesus

has overstated

the point here

when he says,

she no longer

remembers

the anguish.

Probably,

many of you

who have had

babies

would have no trouble

remembering

the anguish

if you wanted to,

if you called it to mind.

But this doesn't need

to cause us to stumble

because the word

that many English

translations

put as remember

could just as well

be

to think of,

to set your mind on,

to call to mind.

And that is

a better representation,

I would put to you,

of what Jesus is saying.

When the baby

has been born,

the mother

is no longer

thinking about

the pain of labor.

She no longer

is setting her mind

on those things

and keeping them in mind,

but she's entirely

focused

on the baby,

on the joy

and the delight

in the new little boy

or the new little girl

that's been born.

And so like

the laboring mother,

Jesus says,

you will have grief

now.

I am being taken

away from you.

But also like her,

the grief will only be

for a short time

and then

it will be

swallowed up

with joy.

He returns

to the disciples

in verse 22

and in this verse

he draws together

all that he's been

saying so far.

So look with me

at it.

Therefore,

you now have sorrow,

but I will see you again

and your heart

will rejoice

and your joy

no one will take

from you.

We see,

we see here

the source

of the joy

that he's been

talking to them about.

It's in coming

face to face

with the risen

Lord.

The joy

that he's been

telling them about

is found

in meeting

Jesus,

the resurrected

Jesus,

face to face.

Earlier he said,

in a little while

you will see me

again.

now he changes

it ever so slightly

and he says,

in a little while

I will see you again.

And by doing this

what he does

is he

he completes

the picture

of

of an

intimate

face to face

reunion.

It's not as though

it's true

when he says

you will see me again.

But it's not

it's not as though

when you go

to a concert

and you're

in your place

in row

ZZ

seat 19

and you see

the singer

as small

as an ant

on the stage.

It's not

and it's not

like

when

Bill Clinton

was here

a few weeks

or a couple

of months ago

and you might have

seen him

being hustled

through a crowd

and surrounded

by burly

bodyguards

and you caught

a glimpse

of his elbow

or something.

It's not like

that at all.

You will see him.

He says

you will see me

yes

but

I will see you.

It will be

an experience

of face to face

reunion

of true fellowship.

You will see me again.

I will see you

again.

This is the source

of the disciples joy.

And we also see

the depth

of their joy.

He says

I will see you again

and your heart

will rejoice.

Your heart

will rejoice.

You will have joy

at the very center

of your being.

It will be joy

like the mother

of the newborn

baby.

A joy

that is so strong

and so powerful

and so overwhelming

that

in her case

the agony

of labor

is all but forgotten.

Completely

drowned out

by the joy

of something

far greater.

This is the kind

of joy

that Jesus promises

to those who will see him

face to face.

I will see you again

and your heart

will rejoice

and your joy

no one

will take

from you.

The joy

that he promises

is secure.

No one

will take

it from you.

When

Jesus was

crucified

the world

rejoiced.

But when he

rose from the dead

again

that world

that was opposed

to him

and hostile

to him

didn't cease

to exist.

It still

is hostile.

It still

threatens.

It still

is opposed

to him

and those

who name

his name.

And Jesus

warns his disciples

that there will be

those who try

to take

their joy

away.

But they're doomed

to failure.

They cannot succeed.

The joy

that comes

with seeing

the risen Lord

is a joy

that is

secure.

The overwhelming

joy that drives

out weeping

and mourning

and lamenting.

No one

can take

away from you.

And so

what about

us?

What about

those of us

here this morning?

How does

this relate

to us?

Brothers

and sisters,

the experience

of the disciples

that first

Easter weekend

is in

a capsule

form.

The same

experience

of all true

followers of Jesus

in every age.

We do not

see our Lord

face to face.

It is true

that he has

been taken away.

He has

left us.

Now,

it is also

true that

when he left

he did not

leave us

orphans.

When he ascended

to the Father

he poured out

the Holy Spirit

upon us

to come

and to live

within us

and to fill us

and to give us

power and strength

in this life.

And in fact,

Jesus even said

it is to your

advantage

that I go away

so that I can

send the Holy Spirit

to you.

And so,

it is true

that for us

today

we are even

in a greater

situation

than the disciples

that lived with him

and walked with him

and talked with him

during his earthly

ministry.

All these things

are true

and I don't want

to say anything

to minimize

or diminish

the wonder

of the gift

of the Holy Spirit

and his power

and the joy.

And in fact,

he is the foretaste,

the deposit,

the down payment

of the joy

that will one day

be ours

in fullness.

But nevertheless,

the hope

of the Christian

remains

future-oriented.

One day,

we will come

face-to-face

with the risen

Lord Jesus.

That is the Christian's

hope.

We will stand

before the Lord

face-to-face

in glory.

And this is not

only our hope

and our joy

and our longing

and expectation,

but it's even

the desire

of the Lord himself.

As Jesus prayed,

Father,

I desire

that they also,

whom you have

given me,

may be with me

where I am

to see my glory.

Amen.

And so in the

meantime,

the world does

seem to be on top

at times,

doesn't it?

Those who are

hostile to Jesus

continue to threaten.

And now that he

has departed,

that unwanted

attention that was

focused on him

has now been

redirected

to his followers,

to his people.

It began

right away

in the days

of the disciples.

And Jesus

told them

in this

upper room

preparation,

he warned them,

he said,

if the world

hates you,

you know

that it hated

me before

it hated you.

And they will

put you out

of the synagogue.

Yes,

the time is

coming that

whoever kills

you will

think that

he offers

God service.

In the world,

you will

have tribulation,

but be of

good cheer.

I have

overcome the

world.

And so

for the

early

disciples,

and also

for us,

these sufferings

are just

for a little

while.

For a little

while.

Like the

pains of the

laboring woman,

they are soon

to be replaced

with joy.

And this is

the constant

biblical pattern.

pattern.

We sometimes

long for

the glory

now without

going through

the suffering,

but all

through the

scriptures,

that's the

pattern.

It was true

for Joseph.

He had to

be a slave,

and he had

to suffer in

prison before

he was exalted

in Egypt.

And David

had to be

hunted like

an animal,

running for

his life from

Saul before

he took the

crown and

the throne.

And Jesus

wandered

homeless and

had to endure

the cross

before he

came to

glory.

And that is

the experience

of all of

his people.

Suffering

comes before

glory.

So we do

not lose

heart, as

Paul says,

because this

slight,

momentary

affliction is

preparing for

us an eternal

weight of

glory beyond

all comparison,

as we look

not to the

things that

are seen,

but to the

things that

are unseen.

For the

things that

are seen

are transient,

but the

things that

are unseen

are eternal.

So,

Christian,

do not be

surprised by

trials.

Do not be

discouraged by

hardship,

or heart

ache,

or suffering.

Don't be

surprised when

the world

hates you.

It hated

him before

it hated

you.

But instead,

set your

minds on

the hope

that he

gives us,

on the hope

that we've

been given

of seeing

the Lord

face to

face.

Let your

minds often

return to

this thought.

Keep them

before you,

especially,

especially when

the way becomes

difficult.

world.

Set your

minds on

the hope

of glory,

and let

this promise

be a source

of strength

to you.

You have

sorrow now,

but I

will see

you again,

and your

hearts will

rejoice,

and no

one will

take your

joy from

you.

God.

Finally,

I close

with a

word to

those who

do not

yet name

Jesus as

Lord and

Savior.

These are

very great

and precious

promises that

we've been

hearing this

morning.

Jesus offers

true joy,

joy,

a deep

inner joy,

a joy of

the heart,

a joy that

will one

day overcome

all sorrow

and all

heartache,

and all

that this

world can

throw at

you.

Like the

sorrow of

the woman

in labor,

it will be

forgotten

when the

baby is

born.

The joy

that Jesus

offers is

permanent,

and it's

personal,

and it's

secure.

No one

can ever

take it

from you.

And what

can the

world offer

to compete

with this?

What

superficial

pleasures

can the

world entice

you with?

What

fleeting

pleasures

can it

produce?

Where do

you seek

joy?

joy?

Come to

Christ,

turn to

him,

and become

an heir

of this

great joy.

You need

to know for

certain that

the way will

at times

be hard.

This joy

comes at a

cost.

The world

was hostile

to him,

and it still

is,

and it will

hate you

too.

you will

have sorrow,

but your

sorrow will

turn into

joy.

Amen.