1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
Third Sunday in Adventย -ย 17 December 2017
Rev. John Derme
Are you happy today? I imagine that some of you are. After all, you get to be in church this morning! But I imagine that not all of you are. Perhaps you didn't sleep well last night. Or it was difficult getting the family out of the house this morning. Or you are still upset about something that happened this past week. Are you happy all the time? Even if you are happy today, you would admit that you are not happy every day. Even if you are one of those people that everybody else thinks is always happy, you know that it is impossible to be happy all the time.
Are you joyful today? Are you joyful all the time? You may think that I already asked you those questions, but there is a difference between being happy and being joyful. Although it is impossible to be happy all the time, it is certainly possible to be joyful always. But when you see all of the anger and hatred and sadness and pain in this world, it seems impossible. How can you always be joyful?
The reason that it seems so hard to be joyful in this world is that this world is filled with sin. God created this world to be a completely happy place. But human beings have brought in the sadness. That some people's lives are filled with anger is sin. That some people hate other people is sin. That people get hurt and get sick and die is a result of human sin. How can you and I be joyful in a world like this?
We witness the sin around us. And we feel the effects of sin in our lives. But it is not as though we're just bystanders watching the sins as other people commit them. You and I were born sinful. We inherited it from our parents, who inherited it from their parents, all the way back to our first parents who committed the first sins. So it's no wonder that we get sad. The sin that lives within us brings sadness! And then we cause sadness for ourselves and others when we sin in our actions. You won't have to think too hard to remember a time, several times, when you said something hateful or did something hurtful that made somebody else sad. That memory makes you sad.
The sin in our nature and in our actions doesn't only make us sad in this life. Sin causes eternal sadness. That is what hell is. Hell is a separation from everything that would make us joyful, so that we would never be happy again. The sadness in hell never ends. It is a deep despair that goes on and on, and there is never any relief from it. Because we are sinful, we would be without joy forever.
But the same God who created this world to be a happy place wants you to be happy forever. And so Jesus comes to take away your sadness and bring you joy! We're preparing to celebrate that first coming at Christmas one week from tonight, when Jesus came in human flesh to live joyfully for us. Jesus' life demonstrates the difference between being happy and being joyful. Jesus' life was filled with great sadness, because of all the sinful things that people did to him. He wasn't always happy, but he was always joyful. In spite of all of the pain, he trusted in God the Father's plan for him and knew that he was suffering to save us. Jesus came in flesh also to die, so that he could suffer our sadness in hell and earn for us the eternal joy of heaven.
But he is not done. Now Jesus comes to give you the joy that he won for you at his first coming. He comes to you today as you hear the good news of his life and death in his Word. He comes to you today as you receive his true body and blood for forgiveness and strength in Communion. Because Jesus comes to you now, you can be joyful every day, no matter how many sad things happen to you, because you trust that he has saved you from eternal sadness and will bring you to eternal joy.
But he is not done. One day soon, Jesus will come again to take you to experience the full measure of the joy that he has given to you. He will come again at the last day. Because he is coming again, you can be confident that you will be happy forever. In heaven there is no sadness at all, because there is no sin at all. There won't be any sin living within you any more, and there won't be any sinful thing that anybody can do to you. There will be holiness and happiness within and around you, and nothing will ever be able to take your joy away.
This is why St. Paul can tell the Thessalonian Christians, and this is why he can tell you and me, "Be joyful always!" It may be impossible to be happy all the time, but we can be joyful always, because Jesus comes to bring us joy!
Of course, there is more to a joyful life than putting a smile on our faces and being happy. Paul tells us what it looks like to live a joyful life. He says, "Pray continually." This is another thing that may seem impossible. After all, what are we supposed to do, spend our entire lives with our hands folded and our heads bowed? Can we never speak to anybody else because we are only allowed to speak to God? Of course not! Rather, because Jesus comes for us, we pray continually by entrusting all things to his care, knowing that he will protect us from evil and use every sad thing that happens to us in this life for our eternal good.
Further, Paul says, "Give thanks in all circumstances." Because Jesus comes for us, everything we do in our actions and everything we say in our words ought to be an expression of thanks to the God who has brought us such joy.
He tells us, "Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt." The Holy Spirit lit a fire in you when he brought you to trust in Jesus through his Word and in Baptism. Continue to feed the fire by hearing the Word and receiving Communion. The "prophecies" of which he speaks is the gospel by which Jesus comes to you. Keep on trusting what he says to you in the Bible!
Paul tells us, "Test everything. Holy on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil." Since Jesus comes to us in his Word, God wants us to test everything we hear to make sure that it agrees with what he says to us in his Word. When you hear the truth, hold on to it! Keep on listening to it! Grow in faith through it! And when you encounter false teaching, stay away from it, so that it cannot lead you away from Jesus and the joy that he brings to you.
It is God's will for us that Jesus comes to us and brings us joy. And it is God's will for us that we live a joyful life. The joy in our lives is a gift from him that he works in us through his Word.ย As Paul concludes, "May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it."
Grow in your joy by hearing his Word, and express your joy to him in your prayers and thanksgiving. Get ready to celebrate the joy of Christmas next week. Receive the joy that Jesus gives in his Word every day. Look forward to the joy that will be yours when he takes you to heaven. Jesus comes to bring you joy!