On a holy day long ago, Ezra the scribe addressed God’s people and said: “This day is holy to the LORD your God; do not mourn nor weep. Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength” (Neh. 8:9-10). I often refer to this passage as a reminder of why churches ought to have donuts after worship and not dill pickles. But there is another part to it, the part that more often gets cross-stitched on pillows and doilies. The joy of Yahweh is your strength. What does that mean? There is a sermon there, or ten, but think about it briefly.
This is a passage I have failed to live up to for most of my life. The longer I read G. K. Chesterton, the more convicted I become over how much I have lacked the joviality of one who knows Jesus. Not that I or anyone else have anything at all to learn from a filthy papist like Chesterton. His cheerfulness is simply self deception and a demonic spirit, as I’ve been assured. If he really knew Christ, he would be sour, depressed, and slightly self righteous like every self-respecting Christian ought to be. But I digress.
I wonder if we realize just how powerful this transcendent, spiritual joy really is and can be? I’m not referring to the sappy and superficial masquerade we sometimes play on Sundays. “How are you doing today?” “I’m blessed,” by which, too often, we may mean, “I’m anxious, angry, and in a foul mood, but I don’t want to talk about it, and I need to sound spiritual so you’ll simply go away.” Other times we are all too free to tell anyone and everyone exactly how we feel, at length, and in great detail, because among our many admirable traits none stands out so greatly as our honesty and transparency.
How is joy a strength? An exegesis of the passage can tell us this and more. Suffice it to say here that the joy of the Lord encompasses joy from God, God’s joy in us, our joy concerning him. This is more than the “joy, joy, joy, joy” I have buried “down in my heart.” Where? Down in my heart, of course, even deeper than my affection for the Book of Church Order and Robert’s Rules. This is the joy that grace and truth bring to us, a joy that transcends sorrow and adversity, a joy that triumphs, the joy that enables us to smile in the face of danger, laugh in the face of opposition, and sing in the hour of death.
When they bury you, what will your friends and family remember about you? I hope all three of the people that attend my funeral remember something more than that he dipped Oreos in coffee and dressed weird. None of them will remember the answers I gave in my theology exam on the floor of Presbytery. They will not recall whether I was an infralapsarian or supralapsarian. Will my children remember the joy I had in Jesus, or will they say that Dad sincerely loved Jesus in spite of how moody, depressed, and melancholy he sometimes was?
If the joy of Yahweh is our strength, is it possible that some of us are 98-lb. weaklings and that the Devil is kicking sand in our faces most days?
What does Christianity look like? I do not mean what doctrinal convictions does orthodox Christianity affirm. I mean what does the Christian faith look like in a Christian. Does it only look like moral uprightness, daily prayer, consistent church-going, temperamental restraint? It does not look like less than any of these, but if that is what Christianity looks like, then it looks a lot like orthodox Judaism, devout Mohammedanism, and Mormonism. But we have a risen Savior.
It is astonishing how many of us seem to disconnect our Christian faith from our emotional countenance. “But the joy of the Lord is not strictly emotional!” some will object. Indeed, that is true. But is it true, therefore, that the joy of Yahweh will have no affect on our emotions and countenance? It seems counter-intuitive that we would be able to identify those whose sins are forgiven, who are filled with the Holy Spirit, and who are bound for everlasting glory by watching for those who look as if they were weaned on a dill pickle.
In this new year, whether you make formal resolutions or not, let us resolve to let the joy of Yahweh more visibly and tangibly strengthen us. Let our children and grandchildren see the earthy yet otherworldly happiness we have in our Savior. Let our brethren see the cheerfulness of knowing the serpent’s servants are being crushed under our feet and that the Dragon’s mortal wound will finally overcome him on the last day. Let us sing as those who believe Christ is our greatest treasure. Every Lord’s Day, eat the fat and drink the sweet (or bitter, if you like your coffee black). Sunday is holy to the Lord. This world has plenty of evil over which we must sorrow, but the joy of the Lord is our strength.
