Joy

I heard of a man who went to a psychologist and said, “Yes, I’m depressed, but I don’t see that as a problem.” Climate change, politics, social media, murder, suicide, disease, child abuse. Depression was a normal response to the state of the world, he said. Other people feel okay because they somehow ignore the evils of the world, he believed.

The book Positive Illusions says he might be right. “Normal human thought and perception is marked not by accuracy but by positive self-enhancing illusions about the self, the world, and the future…The mildly depressed appear to have more accurate views of themselves, the world, and the future than normal people.” Some of the “positive illusions” people live with include the idea that they are above average, naturally lucky, and all their plans will succeed. They gamble. They launch things without thinking them through. They are unrealistically optimistic. I am not a fan of living an illusion. Is there not another way to be happy? Do we have to choose between illusion and depression?

The shepherds show us how. You know, the shepherds who heard the angel’s announcement, “I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” These shepherds were low-status laborers working the night shift. Their land was occupied and controlled by a foreign power, the Roman empire. Their local Jewish king, Herod, was a tyrant. (He killed one wife and two sons). What did these shepherds have to be happy about?

The angel explained the content of the good news: “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11). The Savior-Messiah-Lord was born. Here. Now. To you. What did that mean to these shepherds? Ezekiel prophesied against the shepherds of Israel. They drank the milk, clothed themselves with the wool, and ate the fattest lambs. But they did not heal the sick, treat the injured, or seek the lost. The shepherds of Israel were the leaders – the princes and priests. They were like Herod, exploiting the poor and powerless for their own gain. Therefore God said, “I myself will search for my sheep and look after them…I will shepherd the flock with justice.” But just after this God says, “I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David.” (Read Ezekiel 34 for all of this). Would the coming Messiah be God or human?

When the shepherds heard the angel’s announcement, they realized the shepherd-king they were waiting for had been born. The king of mercy and justice had come. Good news of great joy for the poor and powerless! This great joy was not a happiness based on illusions, but true Christian joy based on realities outside oneself.

The birth of the king was not good news for Herod. Matthew tells us that he sent to murder all the baby boys in Bethlehem in an attempt to eliminate this threat to the throne. Mary said in her famous praise, “He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but lifted up the humble.” That is not good news of great joy for the powerful.

Those with religious power were not particularly happy about the Messiah. Where Herod tried and failed to kill him, they succeeded. Again quoting Mary, “His mercy extends to those who fear him.” Mercy is not a popular attitude for those who are convinced of their own righteousness. This was one reason many of the religious leaders opposed Jesus.

What about those with financial power? Here it was mixed. One man who was invited to give to the poor and follow Jesus went away sad because he was rich. Didn’t rich people follow Jesus? Yes, many were transformed by him. Matthew left his lucrative tax collecting business to follow Jesus. Wealthy women traveled with Jesus and supported his ministry. But in general the rich would be okay with a king as long as he left their business practices and bank accounts alone. Mary touched on this as well,  “He has filled the hungry, but has sent the rich away empty” (Luke 1:46-55).

Who is left to celebrate this good news of great joy? The shepherds. A young unmarried woman. An old man named Simeon. An old widow named Anna. The sick. The demon-possessed. The dying. The hungry. Those who hungered and thirsted for the kingdom of God. The poor, the powerless, the humble. The sinful. Millions around the globe.

Do you shout for joy when Messi scores a goal? When a war is won do you celebrate? When a new boss announces he is going to clean things up, are you glad. It depends which side you are on. Jesus the shepherd-king, the Savior-Messiah-Lord is for mercy, justice, generosity. He is for the kingdom of God. If this is what you care about, then you have great joy without living in illusions, without ignoring suffering. In fact, there is a connection between suffering and joy.

To enjoy the joy of the birth of the king, we must care about the kingdom, which means we must also care about the poor and powerless. We must also recognize that we ourselves are poor and powerless. In Revelation, Jesus spoke to the church in Laodicea: “You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich” (Revelation 3:17-18). Beneath the outer wealth and health was a wretched misery. If they recognized their spiritual poverty they could come to Jesus and receive true riches.

David the original shepherd-king often referred to himself as “poor and needy.” How could a wealthy and powerful king be poor and powerless? He knew how he stood before the God who gave it all to him. When we know our poverty, then the birth of the Savior is good news of great joy.

There is a deep pattern I have noticed in the Bible and in experience – a connection between suffering and glory, sorrow and joy, death and resurrection. God holds the power of life and death. But it is death first, and then life, not the other way around. Psalm 104:29-30 says about the animals of the earth, “When you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. When you send your Spirit, they are created.” And God says in Deuteronomy 32:39, “I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal.”

As death leads to resurrection, so sorrow leads to joy. “Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). When an injury is finally healed, we appreciate our health greater than before. So does sadness heighten the joy that follows. But the connection between suffering and joy goes even deeper.

The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 5:3-4, “We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;  perseverance, character; and character, hope.” There is a present joy in sufferings, which is connected to the eternal future joy that is ours in Christ. Joy in the midst of suffering is like receiving a package from a foreign land, a land that will eventually be your home. Or joy is like an aqueduct that delivers the water of life from a far-off location. Joy is your eternal inheritance. Suffering increases your capacity for joy.

The birth of Christ the king is therefore good news with the capacity to bring joy without ignoring the suffering of the world.

It’s an attractive idea, that we can live with joy even in suffering, but is it real? Most people who read this will know that our son Peter died of cancer in 2017. He would be 18 years old today. His death was more devastating than I can describe. And yet, I can say that there was always a trickle of joy from the future glory that Peter now enjoys, and that eventually I will too.