Joy in Heaven

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on the fourth Sunday in Advent, the 19th of December, 2021, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Our YouTube streaming channel is: 

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Family, those little moments of joy we experience are blessings from our Father God.  In this life, they are too often short-lived, quickly replaced by the next hardship or disappointment the world hands us.  Joy is usually accompanied by smiles and laughter, by shouts of joy, even tears of joy.  We celebrate joy with the sounds and spirit of rejoicing, one of our many words which has its root in the word “joy”.  We feel joy when something exceptionally good or satisfying happens, either to us or to someone we care deeply about.  Sometimes that feeling lasts only a second, or the warm glow can remain for days.  Yet even if it passes in the blink of an eye, that joyful, joy-filled, moment can make our daily tribulations just a little more bearable.

We certainly know and recognize joy when we feel it.  But have you ever wondered if joy – this wonderful gift from God - is reserved solely for us mortals?  How about the angels and saints in heaven?  Can they experience joy like we do?

Please listen and follow along as I read two parables Jesus used to rebuke the Pharisees and scribes and to tell us about the joy in heaven when a sinner repents.  This comes from the Gospel account of the Apostle Luke, chapter 15, verses 1 through 10, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

1 Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Jesus to hear Him. 2 And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 3 So He spoke this parable to them, saying:

4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ 7 I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.

8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’ 10 Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

--Luke 15:1-10 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for blessing us with feelings of joy and joyful events in this life.  This is yet another example of You giving us so much more than just what we need, so that we may not only survive but also take pleasure in this life.  Thank You, Father, for Your many blessings.  Please help us turn from our disobedient ways, to repent so that all of Your heaven can rejoice.  Help us carry out the mission our Lord Jesus assigned us.  And help us to do as You will and not just what we might feel like doing at any given time.  Please keep us strong in our faith and of one mind and one purpose in our service to Christ Jesus.  Please keep us healthy and safe through these trying times.  And Father, please shield us from all the tricks and schemes the devil plays.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us this morning.  May we hear the joyful sounds of Your heavenly host rejoicing.  This we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.   Amen.

I may have used this piece before, but I love it and it certainly bears repeating.  George Bernard Shaw was once quoted as saying, "This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one: the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap, and being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy."

I fear many people in our current age fit that last description all too well.  They’re selfish little clods of ailments and grievances, complaining all the time that the rest of the world is not giving them the happiness they deserve.  For them, nothing matters but the drama they can stir up, for if there is no drama in their life, they must not be living.  They are miserable, leading miserable little lives, and making everyone around them miserable, too.

If they would just devote themselves to serving a higher purpose, they would have no need of drama.  And if they would give of themselves wholeheartedly, leaving everything on the field (as the sports saying goes), they would have no time for drama, nor the energy to complain.  And then they could take greater enjoyment from those moments of pure happiness and pleasure our Father blesses us with from time to time.

Family, there is true joy to be gained in serving a mighty purpose, and only pain and sorrow in being a selfish clump of grievance and complaint.

I think Jesus might have described most of the Pharisees and scribes as “feverish selfish little clods of ailments and grievances”.  Seems like all they did was complain.  In our scripture reading, they’re complaining because some tax collectors and other sinners joined Jesus for a meal so they could hear Him speak, could learn more of the truth from Him.

Now we know, from some of the words our Lord spoke, that Jesus came to this earth to offer redemption to sinners such as these, such as you and I.  He even said as much, noting that the righteous have no need of a Savior, for they are already saved.  Only sinners need a way to salvation, just as only the sick have need of medical care.

So Jesus tries to answer the Pharisees in simple language that they should be able to grasp.  When we’ve lost something, something precious to us, don’t we take great delight when it is found?  These sinners were lost, they had strayed from God’s path of righteousness.  By their repentance and acceptance of Jesus as the Christ, sent from God, they are found.  And when they are found, all heaven rejoices with great joy.

Jesus says there is joy in the presence of the angels over one sinner who repents.  Of course, this isn’t the first time He talked about joy, nor about that joy being only celebrated in heaven.  Earlier in His ministry, during what the Apostle Luke called His Sermon on the Plane, Jesus told us to be joyful even when something happens to us that we would not normally associate with feeling joy over.  In chapter 6 of Luke’s Gospel account, verses 22 and 23, in what we call the Beatitudes, Jesus tells us…

22 "Blessed are you when men hate you,

And when they exclude you,

And revile you, and cast out your name as evil,

For the Son of Man’s sake.

23 "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy!

For indeed your reward is great in heaven,

For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets."

--Luke 6:22-23 (NKJV)

So we’re supposed to be joyful when other people hate us, when they won’t include us in their social groups, when they verbally abuse us and call us all kinds of nasty names in public?

Well…  yes.  Yes, be joyful, if they are treating us like this because we are doing something for Jesus, for His name’s sake.  Be joyful because we are being treated just like the prophets were treated, those who spoke for God.  Rejoice and leap for joy, for great will be our reward in heaven.  And rejoice along with all heaven if our action helps even one lost sinner be found and returned to Jesus.

There’s one other time… well, there’s many, but I’d like to read of just one more time when Jesus mentioned joy.  I shared this with you a couple weeks ago, but it bears repeating today as we dwell on joy, and especially on the joy that God gives.  This comes from the Gospel account of the Apostle John, chapter 15, verses 9 through 11, where Jesus says…

9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”

--John 15:9-11 (NKJV)

To live in Jesus’ love, we must obey His commandments.  We must turn from our sinful, disobedient ways.  We must love others in the same way that Jesus loves us: sacrificially, unconditionally.  We must go out and tell other people all about Jesus and the great things He has done, so that they too might come to believe and be saved.  And then Jesus’ love and His joy will remain in us, and our joy will be full.

I opened our service this morning by reading from the beautiful words of Isaiah who said, “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God, for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation”.  We who have accepted Jesus as our Lord have received redemption, the cleansing of our sins, and are saved.  Rejoice and be joyful!  Repent and be obedient!  And help others come to Jesus.  For there is joy throughout all heaven when one lost sheep is returned to the fold.

In the blessed name of Christ Jesus, our Lord.  Joy to you.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You most of all for sending Your own Son into this world to offer us salvation and eternal life.  The mere thought of this wonderful, undeserved gift brings us great joy.  Thank You, Father, for blessing us so often and in so many ways.  And thank You, too, for allowing us to share in the joy that is heaven, the glory of rejoicing along with the heavenly host.  Sometimes though, Father, we just get too overwhelmed with all the drama and tragedy in the world around us and our joy escapes us.  Sometimes we fail to rejoice in just knowing what awaits us when this life is over, instead letting sadness and misery pull us down.  Please forgive us those times, dear Father.  Please help us feel the joy You have blessed us with.  Remind us that a great reward awaits us when we remain in the love and joy of Your Son Jesus.  Encourage us and strengthen us as we strive to carry out the work He assigned us.  Please keep us strong in our spirit, in our faith, and in our service to You and Jesus.  And please help us stay true to You during these times of turmoil and pain.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You from our hearts through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more faithful and true, putting all our trust in You and Jesus, and seeking Your help as we do so…

Lord Jesus, You want us to know and feel joy, if not from the moments of pleasure we receive in this life, then in the knowledge and the promise of our eternal life with You.  For through You and You alone may we be granted everlasting life in paradise.  Thank You, Jesus, for loving us so much You were willing to give up Your own mortal life for us that we might be washed clean of our sins by Your blood.  Thank you for taking our sin upon Yourself.  Lord, we ask You to help us find a moment of joy in each day.  Help us remain in Your love that our joy may be full.  Help us stay true to You and faithful no matter what trial we may face.  Strengthen our will to do what our Father God wills us to do.  Help us to be more loving, more understanding, kinder to all we encounter each day.  And please help us as we try to show Your love to all we encounter in our daily walk.  All this we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.