The John 15:1-17 passage expands my thoughts from last week regarding the “vine, branch, fruit” explanation of a Christian’s relationship with God and the good fruit (virtues) that flow from that LOVE relationship. One of these fruits is JOY, which seems in scarce supply for many in our neighborhoods and nation.
In this teaching passage, Jesus tells his listeners, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain is his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that you joy may be complete.” (John 15:9-11).
To find a genuine joy-filled person is about as rare as sighting a bald eagle these days. Because of the very confusing, divisive, and destructive pandemic events of coronavirus, racism, and political wrangling in our nation and world today, there is a scarcity of JOY. Instead, there is a growing spread of anxiety, dissatisfaction, and fear among us, and I sense that much of what is being passed off as joy is nothing more than fake expressions of happiness.
Over fifty years ago, Joseph Folliet wrote a critique that sounds very contemporary even yet today: “I listen to you talk, my brothers of today; I lend an ear to your conversations, which are nothing but alternating soliloquies. Your pour forth torrents of black bile in the form of criticism, complaints, and accusations, forever deploring your bad luck and blaming some mysterious people called ‘they’ who never tire of playing dirty tricks on you.
As it happens, ‘they’ is everything outside of you – tax collectors, neighbors, the government, perfect strangers. Nothing and nobody, from the weather to the people closest to you, can escape your censure. Why this perpetual fault-finding, which is sadistic toward others and masochistic toward yourselves?
Isn’t it possible that you see the dark side of everything because there’s so much darkness in your souls? Don’t you find the world sad and ugly because you view it with a joyless eye? The cold and gloom are in you first of all. Always unsatisfied, always discontented, you make more and more demands.
Now, demands point to a lack. When the destitute clamor, we can see exactly what they need. But when the rich and the surfeited multiply their demands, what can they possibly be looking for? Perhaps one thing that wealth and prestige can’t give; joy.” (Invitation to Joy, Newman Press, 1968, pp. 1-3).
Of all the things we may lack, I believe the lack of joy is the most devastating. And nothing makes the Gospel of Jesus Christ more appealing than his promise of joy. All through the New Testament we read and hear a symphony of joy emanating from the lips and person of Jesus. When Jesus was born, an angel announced, “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” (Lk. 2:10).
And throughout Jesus’ teaching ministry, he repeatedly promises joy to those who choose to be his disciples. Even when Jesus is telling his disciples of his impending death, he reassures them, “Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.” (Jn. 16:22).
Throughout the scriptures we are told that genuine joy reflects God’s very own Being. God is not some grim and emotionless ruler of the earth and its people. The Old Testament says, “He (God) will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zeph. 3:17). Most certainly he is the source of all unadulterated joy.
The joy that Jesus gives is different from fleshly pleasure and happiness because his joy is an abiding, deep-down exuberance which comes from God through his in-dwelling Spirit in us. Love and joy go together as supernatural fruit of God’s Spirit in us.
You may be asking how do we cooperate to make this fruit happen in our life? I suggest we begin by taking seriously the condition that Jesus lays down before promising this joy to his disciples, “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” (Jn. 15:10-11).
We need to also cultivate the fruit producing habits of spiritual discipline, i.e., studying the scriptures, prayer, and Christian fellowship. We can adjust our schedules to spend more time with God, growing in a deepening relationship with him, and remembering what David said about God, “…you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” (Ps. 16:11)?
Yes, there is much to criticize and complain about, but our heavenly Father is greater than any circumstance and remains sovereign over all situations. And so, with thanksgiving and praise let us be joy-filled in all our relationships and conversations. There is no better way to enhance the quality of life in me, my family, neighborhood, and world.
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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – August 12, 2020
Ray M. Geigley
Healing Rays of Righteousness 
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