A Church without holy joy is unthinkable
Satan tries to steal our holy joy and make
religion an unpleasant chore. Jesus
warned against the “leaven of the Pharisees.”
Matt. 16:6
1. Yes, Jesus was a man of sorrows,
acquainted with grief. (There is a
time for sorrows. Isaiah 53.) But that is not the full gospel. Jesus came for the joy of redeeming the world. “...who for the joy that was set before
Him endured the cross.” Heb 12:2
(NKJV)
“In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, "I
thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things
from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father,
for so it seemed good in Your sight.” Luke 10:21
(NKJV)
“These things are the mysteries of
the Kingdom manifested through the words and works of Jesus. They are received by babes, people of
simple and open hearts, rather than by the scribes and Pharisees, the wise
and prudent.” Wallerstedt
We always think of Jesus when He
preaches, when He heals, when He travels, walks along the street, even during
the Last Supper. . . But we aren’t used to thinking about Jesus smiling,
joyful. Jesus was full of joy, full of holy joy. In that intimacy with His
Father: ‘In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and praised the Father.’ It is precisely the internal mystery of Jesus,
that relationship with the Father in the Holy Spirit. It is His internal joy,
the interior joy that He gives to us.”
2. The
Church must always be joyful like Christ.
The Church is called to transmit the joy of
the Lord to her children—a holy joy that gives true peace.
“And He was
handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He
found the place where it was written: 18 "The
Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He
has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the
captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty
those who are oppressed; 19 To
proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."
Luke 4:17-19;
Isaiah 61:1-2
a) Peace and joy. In this reading
from the book of Isaiah, we see the desire for peace that we all have. It is
the peace, says Isaiah, that the Messiah/Christ brings to us. In the Gospels,
on the other hand, “we are able to see a little into the soul of Jesus, the heart
of Jesus: a joyful heart.”
And this joy is true peace: not a static peace, quiet, tranquil - no, Christian peace is a joyful peace, because our Lord is joyful. And, too, He is joyful when He speaks about the Father: He loves the Father so much that He can’t talk about Him without joy. Our God, is joyful. And Jesus has willed that His bride, the Church, should also be joyful.
And this joy is true peace: not a static peace, quiet, tranquil - no, Christian peace is a joyful peace, because our Lord is joyful. And, too, He is joyful when He speaks about the Father: He loves the Father so much that He can’t talk about Him without joy. Our God, is joyful. And Jesus has willed that His bride, the Church, should also be joyful.
b) Reaching out with the Joy of Christ.
You can’t imagine a Church without joy; and the joy of the Church lies precisely in this: to proclaim the name of Jesus. To say: ‘He is the Lord. He is God. He saves us, He walks with us.’ And that is the joy of the Church, that in this joy of being a bride becomes a mother. The joy of the Church is precisely to evangelize, to go forth and to speak about her Lord. And also to transmit that joy to the children that she bears, that she raises.
Let us consider that the peace of which Isaiah speaks “is a peace that is so moving, it is a peace of joy, a peace of praise,” it is a peace that we could say is “noisy, in praise, a peace that bears fruit in begetting new children.” It is a peace that comes in the joy of praise for the Trinity, and of evangelization, of going to the people to tell them who Jesus is. Peace and joy. “You decided to reveal Yourself not to the wise, but to the little ones.”
c) Peace that passes understanding.
Even in so many serious things, Jesus is joyful. The Church is joyful. She must be joyful. The Church is like the wife who waits for her spouse to come back—the Church is joyful in hope. The Lord gives this joy to all of us, this joy of Jesus, praising the Father in the Spirit.
“He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s holy people.” Rev 22:20-21 (NLT)
“This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be
glad in it. Save now, I pray, O Lord;
O Lord, I pray, send now
prosperity.” Psalms 118:24-25
No comments:
Post a Comment