“It Don’t Mean a Thing, If It Ain’t Got that Swing”
Philippians 4:4-13
20091213
3rd Sunday of Advent



One of the greatest modern foes of Christianity offered a stinging critique of Christianity. Friedrich Nietzsche, himself, a son of a Protestant minister, has expressed his judgment about Jesus in the words, “His disciples should look more redeemed.” Perhaps we should subject ourselves to the piercing force of these words and ask ourselves. “Is our lack of joy due to the fact that we are Christians, or to the fact that we are not Christian enough?”

Paul Tillich in speaking about the meaning of JOY has this to say, “As Christians we know our inner conflicts about accepting or rejecting joy. We are suspicious of the gifts of nature which contribute to joy, because we are suspicious of nature itself, even though we confess that it is Divine creation, knowing what God has spoken about creation: ‘Behold, it was very good!’ We accept all gifts of nature or culture with a great deal of skepticism and uneasiness. We know that we SHOULD be free for joy, for Paul says, ‘all is ours,’ but our COURAGE is inferior to our knowledge.

We do not dare to affirm our world or ourselves; and if we dare to, in a moment of courage, we try to atone for it by self-reproaches and self-punishments, and we draw upon ourselves malicious criticism by those who have never dared. Therefore, many Christians try to compromise. They try to hide their feelings of joy, or they try to avoid joys which are too intense, in order to avoid self-accusations which are too harsh. Such an experience of the suppression of joy, and guilt about joy in Christian groups, almost drove me to a break in Christianity. What passes for joy in these groups is an emaciated, intentionally childish, unexciting, un-ecstatic thing, without color and danger, without heights and depths.”

Tillich is right, you know! He must have been thinking about Paul’s letter to the Philippians and so many other passages of scripture that speaks to God’s call for God’s people to be filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit: love, Joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control!

Too many times I, too, have felt that Christ’s people should look more redeemed! Paul’s words ring out to us this Advent Season…Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say Rejoice!
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But what does this word Joy really mean and how do we live life with it?

The word in Greek, chara, is the root word for another great word in the New Testament that the apostle Paul uses as one of his love vocabulary words, charis, or as translated into English, grace. The word probably means surprise gift. And then if you add the Greek prefix eu we then have the word eucharist - meaning thanksgiving. So we have a very special word from the New Testament – Joy, Grace, Thanksgiving…. They all have their root from the word JOY –A Surprise Gift!!!!! (Pause)

Perhaps C.S. Lewis can help us get at the meaning of this word. In one of his marvelous works known as the Screwtape Letters he has a senior devil named Screwtape writing to a junior devil named Wormwood. In this remarkable little book Screwtape has something to say about JOY to Wormword……………..

“I divide the causes of human laughter into joy, fun, the joke proper and flippancy. You will see the first among friends and lovers reuniting on the eve of a holiday. Among adults some pretext in the way of jokes is usually provided, but the facility with which the smallest witticism produces laughter at such a time, shows that that’s not the real cause. What the real cause is we do not know. Something like it is expressed in that detestable art which the humans call music, and something like it occurs in heaven.”

And here Screwtape gives his definition of JOY. He says,
“Joy is a meaningless acceleration in the rhythm of celestial experience, quite opaque to us.”

Then he goes on to explain:

“Laughter of this kind does us no good and should always be discouraged. Besides the phenomena is of itself disgusting and a direct insult to the realism, dignity and austerity of hell.”

Sadly the church has all too often turned church into a place of HELL!!! So Screwtape’s definition of JOY, given the source, must be reversed: Joy is the meaningful acceleration in the rhythm of celestial experience. Joy is an advanced look at what heaven will be like…so we pray that the Kingdom will come on earth as it is in heaven. Joy is opaque to the devil but should be clear and real for us.

So much for the definition of Joy….. But of greater importance is the question, How does it come about in our lives? Allow me to offer three suggestions and see if they ring true in your life.

First, JOY, I believe, happens in fellowship….in community! It happens in fellowship where sisters and brothers experience joy from a Christian viewpoint. I love the way Paul puts it in Philippians, “Therefore my beloved, my brothers and sisters whom I love, who I long for, my joy and my crown.” The word Paul uses for crown here is an athletic references. In other words you are my GOLD MEDALS! Joy is an experience and true joy can be found in the experience of fellowship with sisters and brothers

Paul says to that fellowship in Philippi, “Let all people know your gentleness, your forbearance.” The most unhappy and joyless people I know in any fellowship are the ones who simple are not able to demonstrate a loving gentleness toward others. They are ones who are unable to forebear another and always want to change another person rather than take a deeper look at themselves.

So first of all I believe JOY is designed by God to be found in fellowship.

And the second thing I would want to say about JOY in the New Testament is that it happens at odd and awkward times. James could talk about “counting it all joy when you meet various trials because the trials of your life provide the durability and the faithfulness of God’s goodness.” We must remember that James was one of the first martyrs. It was at a very awkward time that he experienced joy. You see joy comes to us as a surprised gift from the Spirit in our times of trial because it is exactly then that we release our lives to God and trust in God’s goodness. I wonder if you have had such an experience where it was in the midst of stress and distress that you were able to feel a “meaningful acceleration in the rhythm of God in your life?”

Karl Barth put it this way, the joy that Paul describes is a defiant “NEVERTHELESS,” joy which draws strength from the gospel story and from laying one’s deepest concerns before God….with thanksgiving. This JOY seems to take root even in darkness. It is encouraged by the spread of the Gospel, the growth of the church, but most of all by the deep joy of God’s presence and the hope this gives for whatever the future might hold!

And the third reflection on how joy comes about in our lives is when we each discover for ourselves the fullness of Jesus Christ and Christ’s unique fellowship with each of us. We remember in the Gospel of John on that fateful Thursday before our Lord’s crucifixion Jesus says to his disciples, “Now you have sorrow, but you will experience JOY and the JOY comes with my fellowship with you. You are with me and no one can take that JOY from you.

And Paul echoes forward…So, “have no anxiety about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God and the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Pause)

The world we live in today needs more than ever people that look more redeemed. The world we live in is crying out for a people who can joyfully offer the love, hope, mercy and forgiveness of Jesus Christ.

So as we journey on to Bethlehem may all others see in us the Christ Child...Savior of the world? May the world once again know we are Christian by our love and that we can live a full and joy-filled life?

Perhaps that old song title does apply to us and our relationship with Christ:

“It Don’t Mean a Thing, If It Ain’t Got that Swing.”