“And I’m Not Going to Take it Any More”
Isaiah 35, John 15:11, Hebrews 12:1 & 2
It seems that Bill Gates died, and showed up at the gates of heaven. God was somewhat at a loss of what to do with Bill. God said, “Well, Bill, I’m really confused on this call. I’m not sure whether to send you to heaven or to hell. After all, you enormously helped society by putting a computer in almost every home in the world, and yet you created that ghastly Windows ’95. I’m going to do something I’ve never done before. In your case, I’m going to let you decide where you want to go!”
Bill replied, ”Well, thanks, God. What’s the difference between the two?”
God said, “I’m willing to let you visit both places briefly if it will help you to make a decision.”
“OK,” Bill said, “let’s take a look at hell first.” So Bill went to hell. It was a beautiful, clean, sandy beach with clear waters. There were thousands of beautiful women running around, playing in the water, laughing and frolicking about. The sun was shining and the temperature was perfect. Bill was pleased. “This is great!” he told God, “if this is hell, I really want to see heaven!”
“Fine,” God said, and off they went.
Heaven was a high place in the clouds, with angels drifting about playing harps and singing. It was nice, but you know, kind of boring, not enticing like hell was. Bill thought for just a minute and said, “I think I prefer hell.”
“Fine,” God said, “it is as you desire.” So Bill Gates went to hell.
A couple of weeks later, God went to check up on the late billionaire to see how he was doing in hell. When God got there, Bill was shackled to a wall, screaming in the midst of hot flames in a dark cave. Demons were torturing him. “How’s everything going, Bill?” God asked.
“This is awful,” Bill said in anguish. “It’s not what I expected. I can’t believe this has happened. What happened to that other place with the beaches and the beautiful women playing in the water?”
God said, “That was the screen saver.” (internet)
So many things that are pleasurable or that promise happiness, are really fronts for something else. The pleasure that they provide is fleeting at best, and at worst the pleasure takes us hostage and holds us in a place we never wanted to be.
On the other hand, the joy that God calls us to may not look all that enticing to begin with, but it will go deep and God’s joy will take us where we really do want to be in the end.
So often the Christian life is viewed (even by Christians) as sort of, you know, dull. It’s more exciting to be out playing soccer than being in church. It’s more fulfilling to pursue one’s own advancement than to be in ministry. You can have more fun playing with your dogs or going to the movies than being with church people. Why is that? I think it’s because the church has largely lost the sense of what joy really is. It’s like the man who went to his doctor for his annual physical. The doctor looked at all the test results and said, “There’s no reason why you can’t live a completely normal life as long as you don’t try to enjoy it.” (Ill unlmtd, 277) That’s the way a lot of people look at Christian faith. It’s something to be endured. But that is a great misunderstanding of what the Christian life is all about. C.S. Lewis once said, “I doubt whether anyone who has tasted joy would ever . . . exchange it for all the pleasure in the world.” (Illustrations unlimited, 279)
Our life with Christ is meant to be enjoyed. In the “Shorter Catechism” which is an old standard teaching tool in the Presbyterian Church, it says that the chief end of humankind is to glorify God and enjoy God forever. In fact, our relationship with God will bring us joy. If you’ve been with us through this Advent series, you have heard me say that both hope and peace are the fruit of an intimate relationship with Jesus. The same is true of joy.
This joy that we get as the result of being in relationship with Jesus is a feeling, I think, but it’s not a feeling that comes and goes like happiness, sadness, relief or anger. It is a feeling that is deep in the genetic coding of our soul, something that is there upholding us, no matter what is going on around us. Like an underground spring it is not always noticeable on the outside, but that life-giving water is always there.
People of faith are always at risk, I think, for having outbursts of this kind of joy. The Bible shows us some snapshots of what this is like. It’s Abraham and Sarahof the Old Testament, at 100 years old and 90 years old, laughing with glee at the birth of their son Isaac. It’s the exiles in Babylon, returning home after 70 years in captivity. It’s the grief-stricken disciples meeting the resurrected Jesus. It’s those same disciples in jail for their faith, singing hymns of praise. Eruptions of joy seem like surprises, but they are just manifestations of the relationship with Christ that we have all the time.
The joy that God gives is not a feeling that you can take sitting down. It’s too potent, too alive, too moving. And that joy will do some important things for us. It will set us free. It will give us purpose. It will see us through to the end.
As Christians we are called to joy. “I have said these things to you,” Jesus said, “so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.”
In the Isaiah passage we read that God is going to come and rescue the people who have been in bondage for a very long time. God is going to set them free. It’s clear that God is going to do the lion’s share of the work here. God will unlock the prison door. But the people who have been in exile for 70 years, will have to do something too. They will have to leave Babylon and go home. They must say yes to the call to freedom. For the Israelite people who lived in 537 BC, this means packing up their suitcases, turning their backs on Babylon, and driving a U-Haul truck back to Israel. Well, OK, maybe a donkey.
For you and me, it also means a journey. For God has saved us as well. In Jesus Christ, God has announced that we are free to go: free from the wrong we have done; free from abusive and controlling relationships; free from addiction; free from sorrow. So many people today are living in a reality where they don’t want to be. Yet they feel powerless to change it. So many people are living as captives. Controlled by their desires, controlled by their families, controlled by an abusive spouse, controlled by their own past mistakes, or by someone who hurt them in the past. To these modern exiles, Jesus says, the past is over and gone; you are free to go. Free to have a new kind of life. Free to live in joy. But you do have to make a choice. You have to turn your back on your bondage and walk toward freedom. That takes some risk, because freedom is an unknown.
You’ve heard people say, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it any more?” Here’s a new way to look at that reality. I saw a sign in a counselor’s office one time that said “Living well is the best revenge.” If you don’t want to take it any more, then don’t. Grasp the freedom that Jesus offers you. Make new choices for your life.
Dr. Bernie Siegel says that doctors see three different types of patients. 15-20% come with a death wish, and they welcome their illness as a way to die. They resist their doctors’ efforts to heal them. There also are about 60-70% or patients who rely completely on their doctors’ efforts to heal them. They rely on the doctors to do all the work and just tell them what to do (hopefully nothing difficult) or better yet, just to operate on what ails them. Then there are the remaining 15-20 % who are terrible patients. They do not meekly submit but ask for second opinions, demand their rights, and question procedures. But this demanding group of terrible patients are the ones who get well and who get well quicker. (story file, 16.10.5)
God’s joy will set you free, if you let it. It will also give you purpose.
There is a Chinese proverb that says “If you wish to be happy for one hour, get intoxicated. If you wish to be happy for three days, get married. If you wish to be happy for eight days, kill your pig and eat it. If you wish to be happy forever, learn to fish.” (Illustrations unlimited, 277)
Of course, the proverb is about actually fishing for fish. But it holds true for fishing for people as well. Jesus called us to be fishers of people. And when we are doing our ministry, that will bring us joy.
After Jesus preached his famous “vine and branches” sermon which is a call to ministry, he said, “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” We are called to bear fruit for the kingdom of God. To do ministry. And we cannot do that unless we stay vitally connected with Jesus. But if we do stay connected, we will not only be successful in our ministry, we will also be happy. Really happy.
Usually when we speak of joy, it’s more like a byproduct than it is a goal. It’s something that happens to us somewhat fortuitously along the journey. But in the Christian life, joy is also the goal at the end, that keeps us going in the right direction. If you read the gospels carefully, you will notice that the closer Jesus came to the time when he would die on the cross, the more he talked about joy. Now, I don’t know about you, but the worse things get for me, the less likely I am to feel joyful. But Jesus knew that on the other side of the cross was great victory and great joy, and that made it worth doing. As the writer of Hebrews said it, “for the sake of the joy that was set before him, [Jesus] endured the cross.” So it can be for us, as well, that the joy of heaven can lead us through whatever this life dishes out.
Joy is potent stuff. It sets us free. It gives us purpose. It keeps us going to the end. And this joy will spread like wildfire when the people of God embrace it and live in it.
Talk show host Dick Cavett, took a jab one time at the debate about whether television violence was a cause for the violence in our society. Here’s what he said, “There’s so much comedy on television. Does that cause comedy in the streets?” (parables, etc. 20.10.7) What I’d like to see is so much joy in Christian people, in church, in ministry, that it will cause joy in the streets.
Words of encouragement from the internet:
Work like you don’t need the money.
Love like you’ve never been hurt.
Dance like nobody’s watching.