Pure Joy

 

Read James 1

 

So, thus far, you have gotten a good dose of “My grace is sufficient for you.” Whatever our circumstances—to include our worst days ever—we celebrate victory.

It is victory in Jesus, and it is ours. We can’t mess that up, even if we are a total mess from now until our heart stops or Jesus comes in the clouds. That victory is ours.

You most recently heard me speak about considering ourselves blessed when we are persecuted for following Christ.  We are blessed when the world won’t claim us because Jesus did.

And what could be next? Your grace is enough, persecuted for the name of Jesus is a blessing, and let’s just throw in consider it pure joy when you endure suffering of all kinds.

Now, we’re pushing the envelope. I can see counting it as a blessing when I am persecuted because I follow Jesus. I actually think that one is cool. I would much rather be rejected by the world and claimed by Jesus than to hear, Depart from me. I never knew you.

I can see the blessing in being disowned by the world and claimed by Christ. I get it, but this pericope says suffering of all kinds. That includes having the flu or Covid or even a man-cold—far more painful than giving birth.

This sort of suffering includes…

It includes having a real nowhere man for my boss.

It includes having to change a flat when it’s icy and the wind chill is brutal.

It includes turning the sofa upside down to get enough change for a loaf of bread. I remember my parents doing this to get a pack of cigarettes. You can still search the sofa for change, but you had better find some serious folding money if you hope to buy cigarettes. Those suckers are crazy high.

It includes all the things that fall under the category of life; some are not much fun, some are unpleasant, and some hurt.

But we are told to be joyful. Consider the suffering experience as a labor of love.

And I come to a place I have come many times before—wind sprints.

Back in the day, wind sprints marked the dreaded end of football practice. You ran until you puked your guts out. Almost everyone hated them, and the coach knew it.

I enjoyed football practice, but I always had this thought in my mind: Wind sprints are coming.

One day in his pontifications about the things of life that may or may not relate to football, the coach noted that a horse will run itself to death. It will run until it drops dead.

Then he added, “A man will pass out first, so why are you holding back?”

Then it was back to wind sprints, but Tom’s mind was hard at work. I would show the coach. I would run with everything I had, and maybe I would pass out, or maybe I would die, but in either case, the coach was going to be sorry.

So, when it was time for the linemen and linebackers to run, I gave it all I had. That was the day that I died, or not.

What actually happened was that I finished my sprint five yards ahead of everyone else.

The next time, it was the same thing. It hadn’t killed me yet.

The third time, I jumped the line and ran with the backs and receivers. I beat them all but one, and I got him the next time.

I never dreaded wind sprints again. In fact, I loved them. It was now something to look forward to—wind sprints, I know. I was getting stronger, and I wanted more. I was all in for whatever the coach threw at us.

James tells us to look forward to, embrace, and consider it pure joy when we face trials of all sorts—anything and everything.

Being patient, waiting on the Lord, sticking it out, pressing on towards the goal, and running the good race are what we do when we face a trial.

We know that we will have trouble in the world. It is not something to be totally avoided. Making wise decisions can reduce the amount of trouble that comes our way somewhat, but we will still face trials.

Do you remember why Jesus told his disciples that they would have trouble in the world, but to take heart, Jesus has overcome the world? Why did he say this?

So, in the midst of the world’s madness, we can still have peace. Trials are just a part of life, but because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, we have already won the ultimate prize.

It’s that God’s way and everything else mindset. We can eliminate the unnecessary pain and suffering that comes from our bad decisions, but we will still suffer and have trials. That’s the way it is.

But if we stay the course, we will be closer to completeness than when we started. Remember that God is the Potter, and we are the clay.

Everything we do is rolled into the masterpiece God is making with our lives. If we remain faithful, trust in the Lord over our own understanding, and simply wait upon the Lord, we will emerge refined at the end of our trial.

Our struggle will not diminish us. Like in resistance training, we grow stronger with each repetition. We have survived 100% of our worst days ever and are stronger for it.

So, consider it pure joy when we face trials of many kinds. Remember the three things I reminded you of when you are persecuted for the name of Jesus.

So, when you suffer for any reason, also remember:

·       God’s grace is enough. You have already won the ultimate victory.

·       You can handle whatever it is at the moment. It’s momentary. It could take 5 minutes or 20 years and 5 minutes, but it is momentary.

·       Great is your reward in heaven and in the here and now. Great is your reward in heaven when you are persecuted because you follow Jesus. Great is your reward now because if you hold on and trust God through the trial—whatever it is and however it came about—you will grow. And we get to grow in God’s grace, knowing that our salvation is the gift of God and not dependent upon our performance.

We just have to trust and remain faithful.

What does that trust look like? We are joyful in our trials and suffering. It’s just part of the deal, and we come out the better for it.

Amen.

What is seen is temporary. What is unseen is eternal.

 

Read 2 Corinthians 4

I will touch on a little at the end of the chapter.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

How many can identify with outwardly, we are wasting away, and I don’t mean my waistline. That sucker doesn’t give an inch.

Our aches and pains,  our signs of age, our weather predicting parts of our body tell us we ain’t what we used to be.

It’s not just the old people's pains. This world takes plenty of shots at us. We have jobs, and then we don’t. Our money goes a long way, and then it doesn’t. Family relationships are good, and then they are not.I got my body in top shape, and then I pulled a muscle.

I read a fair amount about self-improvement and discipline. There is a quote about what you want now (immediate gratification) and what you want most (goals and objectives). It’s about how our daily decisions impact our comfort and achievement.

We reward our comfort zone demands, or we feed our goals. It’s a trade-off, sometimes a significant one.

That’s sort of what Paul is saying. We are suffering now because we won’t back off from the truth, but this course of action that we are set upon will pay eternal dividends.

Speaking the truth can cause you to suffer. We are to speak the truth in a spirit of love, which is a sign of Christian maturity, but the truth may alienate us from being comfortable in the moment.

But how will my friends react if I’m always talking about God’s goodness and glory and redemption, and…

We have been told that we are in good company—the company of the prophets—when we are persecuted for following Jesus. Maybe we should be more concerned about how God will feel if we opt for comfort instead of sharing the truth.

We have heard this from Paul before. I consider this present suffering…

Eye has not seen and ear has not heard what the Lord, God has in store for those who love him.

We sing, when we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing it will be.

The prophet Isaiah tells us that even the young get worn out, but those who wait upon, hope in the Lord will be renewed.

We are repeatedly told that God’s got this. Trust him in your present suffering and see if what is to come isn’t better, even if you have to wait for what is to come after life in these bodies.

So how do we endure our daily trials, aches and pains, hurt over loss, broken relationships, and stuff that just stinks?

Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. Keep your focus—your thought life—set on things unseen

Think on, meditate on, and be fixed on what is eternal as you go through what seems unbearable. It might seem like a cop-out if anyone still uses that term. But do we believe what we say we believe? Is our life in our circumstances or in the Lord? Is our joy in the world or in the Lord?

We can be stoic and persevere as if the things of this life don’t affect us. You can for a while, but eventually, you must have some release.  You can’t press on relying on your own fortitude to get you through forever. We all have that point where we finally realize that we can’t do it all.

We all need something more. That something more are often the promises of God. We must look beyond what we can see, be they blessings or burdens, to what is promised.

Jesus said that we would have trouble in the world, but to take heart—take courage—for he had overcome the world. We will have trouble, but much of the time, the answers are not in what we see, touch, or feel but in what is promised.

Sometimes we tough out the tough times not because we are tough, but because we trust.

Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your path straight.

It may look like we are wasting away, and in many ways, we are, but we are not diminished. We grow in our trials when we trust in the Lord.

·       Share the truth.

·       Speak the truth in love.

·       Put his words into practice.

·       Share the gospel.

If that brings us trouble, then so be it. God tells us that it is all worth the trouble and that in comparison to what’s coming, that trouble is not as big as you think it is.

Amen.