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TURN OFF THAT HAPPY MUSIC!

There was a cartoon in a Christian magazine not too long ago, where a devout woman is introducing her wayward spouse to the church pastor on Sunday morning. "Reverend, I'd like for you to meet my husband," she announced. But he's not the most willing worshiper in town, because the cartoon shows her dragging her husband by the ankles to the front door of the church, and he's left long skid marks across the lawn where he dug in with both hands, trying to prevent this stained-glass encounter.
Apparently this reluctant warrior wasn't being invited to the same church King David attended, because the Psalmist was once heard to say with enthusiasm:

"I was glad when they said unto me, ‘Let us go into the house of the Lord.'"

This has been an interesting week of study for us here on the Voice of Prophecy, because our title is this: MADE FOR JOY. Are we really creatures designed for delight and hard-wired for happiness? Is the promise of Jesus really true, where He tells His followers:

"Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete"?

We have a collection here in our office of spiritual soundbites; it's entitled Quotes For the Journey; Wisdom For the Way, compiled by Gordon S. Jackson and published by NavPress. And friend, if you're a Christian today as you hear these words, it's striking how you and I truly do have a moral obligation, really, to live up to the concept that God's people were MADE to be joy-filled. Notice this, from Leon Bly:

"Joy is the most infallible sign of the presence of God."

Or this from G. K. Chesterton:
"Joy is the gigantic secret of the Christian."

Here's a "joy quote" that is almost staggering:
"Joy is the surest sign of the presence of God."

What do you think of that? I have to look into my own life and realize that if I am not living as a joyous Christian, then I'm not fully understanding the message of the faith. I'm not experiencing grace as completely as Jesus wants me to. Because if the presence of God is in my life, if I have accepted that Calvary is real, and that eternal life is mine, and that Jesus has forgiven my sins . . . I'm going to be full of joy. And my life will be a witness to that reality.

C. S. Lewis, who was capable of writing some extremely serious stuff for the mature believer, also included this observation in his classic book, Mere Christianity:

"[A Christian society] is to be a cheerful society: full of singing and rejoicing, and regarding worry or anxiety as wrong. Courtesy is one of the Christian virtues; and the New Testament hates what it calls ‘busybodies.'"

Let me ask you today — those of you who are currently practicing Christians: do you bring cheerfulness and joy into the church with you every Sabbath or Sunday morning? Do you deliberately decide, as you seek the Lord's help in this, that you will participate happily in the music, the Bible lesson study, the giving, the sermon time, even the ticky-tack details that fill up the worship hour? And then, during the week to come, are you actively involved in making your congregation a "cheerful society," as C. S. Lewis puts it?
And let's take the same question into the marketplace. I work right here in a Christian ministry, which is its own religious society, actually. Do I bring joy into the office each day? Do I foster a spirit of harmony and happy good humor? Do I mingle actively, spreading what Lewis describes as "good infection" with all of my co-workers? How is it for you on this "joy thermometer"? How's your score?

One reality that you and I have to acknowledge — and again, let me speak to all of you who are Christian believers at this moment — is that our joy has got to be the hallmark of the Church . . . or we're going to have very limited success in inviting others to join this unique society. Why should onlookers want to sign up for a membership plan which doesn't bring happiness and fulfillment? Pastor Bill Hybels, who leads a very large congregation in Willow Creek, Illinois, wrote a book not too long ago entitled Becoming a Contagious Christian. Of course, joy is one of the main ingredients in your life which is going to make your faith contagious to others. And he uses this "germ/infection" metaphor when he writes:

"Before we can become highly contagious Christians, we must first live in a way that convinces the people around us that we actually have the disease ourselves!"

When you pause and think about it, the successful practicing of daily Christianity should always do two things: bring joy to the practitioner, and radiate joy to all those who are around. We see this demonstrated in the lives of the 72 followers Jesus commissioned to go out, two by two, to spread the Gospel, the good news. And you know, it worked! Their journeys were successful! They did what Jesus commanded, and it was a positive experience. These first missionaries came back to Him, smiles bathing their faces, and notice how they checked in with their reports:

"The seventy-two returned WITH JOY and said, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in Your name.'"

I mentioned King David, who writes about his love of worship. The heavenly principle of forgiveness, of a clean slate, was also a source of joy for him; remember how he wrote in his great confession prayer found in Psalm 51?

"Restore to me the JOY of Your salvation"?

In the book of Acts we can read how the early Christian church spent some serious time in prayer, entreating heaven for the promised gift of the Holy Spirit. Again, here are two vital ingredients for the faithful: prayer and seeking the Holy Spirit. And what was the result? You can read it in Acts 13:52:

"And the disciples were filled with joy AND with the Holy Spirit."

And of course, all believers today should have engraved in their minds the beautiful "List of Nine" — the beloved "Fruits of the Spirit." Notice one that ranks high on the list:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, JOY, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."

So we find woven through all the pages of the Bible, and throughout the history of the Christian Church, that joy is to be the foundation of our lives. Let me say again, friend: we were MADE to be joyful. We were designed, not with a gas tank, but with a joy tank. The only thing that can keep that tank full and the engine running smoothly . . . is God. And it's our challenge to find that joy, to live that joy, and to make that joy evident on our faces and in our lifestyles. To show, as the disciples did, that, hey, this stuff works!

The story's told that the great composer, Franz Joseph Haydn, the "Father of the Symphony," often came under attack for the compositions he created. Ironically, it was usually people of the church who criticized his work. And do you know why? It just had too much joy in it. That's a true story. Even in the mid-1700s, long-faced Christians in their powder-white wigs complained and picketed and sent poison-pen e-mails around — or would have if the Internet had been available to them there in Austria 250 years ago. The frivolity of his music, the good cheer it exuded, just didn't fit their stone-cathedral mentality.

The interesting thing is that Haydn was a joyful individual despite some challenges in his own life. He wasn't a particularly nice-looking man, having a face marked by smallpox. He entered into a disastrous marriage to one Maria Anna Keller, whose surliness and selfish ways were a plague to Haydn. They split up after a few years and he got stuck paying alimony to her the rest of his life.

And yet, being in the service of God, as he considered himself to be, he couldn't help but be happy. He started and ended every composition with the religious expression, In nomine Domini. When composing probably his best-known work, The Creation, he was on his knees daily, asking God to bless the effort. Interestingly, he was a man who sensed his own talent, and yet never fell prey to the "prima donna syndrome."

"I know," he once said, "that God has bestowed a talent upon me, and I thank Him for it. I think I have done my duty and have been of use in my generation and by my works. Let others do the same."

So when the criticisms came in from all quarters, the response Haydn gave is most interesting. Because here was a talented composer who had experienced a personal encounter with heaven. He had met with God. He had discovered that human beings made in God's image were made for joy. And this is the answer he gave to his critics:

"When I think of God, my heart is so filled with joy that the notes fly off as from a spindle."

A young man named Amadeus — better known, perhaps, as Mozart — was also touched by the joy of this older composer's music. He once paid this tribute, which would be well-said of any Christian believer:

"He alone has the secret of making me smile, and touching me to the bottom of my soul."