Grace and Joy

Grace and Joy
Philippians 4: 21 – 23.

Introduction

Today is our last Sunday in the Book of Philippians. I didn’t approach this series of sermons like a traditional “sermon series.”  I didn’t start out with a theme or idea and develop that theme sermon by sermon.  Instead, I approached it as a journey of discovery.  I felt like we were discovering the Book of Philippians together week after week…Listening to Paul’s words and allowing the Bible to speak to us…whatever the Bible might say week after week.

For many Christians, the Book of Philippians is one of our favorites.   At least, it is one of our favorite New Testament books written by the Apostle Paul.  Paul wrote the Book of Romans, but Philippians is not quite as complicated or as long as Romans.  Paul wrote the Book of Galatians, but Paul does not sound as angry in the Book of Philippians.  In fact, Philippians is a very encouraging and uplifting book…One of the recurring themes is the joy that comes from being a Christian.  Joy in the midst of difficulties.  Joy that cannot be taken away by your circumstances.

One of the remarkable things about Philippians is the fact that Paul wrote this book about joy during one of the most difficult times of his life.  The traditional view is that Paul wrote this book from prison.  However, it was not exactly what we think of as prison.  More than likely, Paul was under house arrest in Rome.  He didn’t live in a prison cell.  He lived in a house, where he was free to write letters to churches and people were free to visit him most any time.  But, Paul was not free to leave.  He was constantly under Roman supervision and probably was chained to a Roman soldier around the clock.  (Soldiers would change shifts every four hours.)  During this house arrest, Paul was waiting for a final decision about his life.  There were only two choices.  Either he would be released by the Roman government, or he would be executed.  (Imprisonment was generally not considered a long term punishment.)

Yet, Paul was able to write this encouraging and uplifting book about Christian joy in the face of these difficult circumstances.  He found joy that was bigger than his circumstances…a joy that allowed him to rise above what was happening around him.

But, Joy is not the only theme we find in the Book of Philippians.  Listen to the way Paul brings the Book of Philippians to its conclusion…

Philippians 4: 21 – 23… 21 Greet all the saints in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send greetings. 22 All the saints send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar's household. 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

Paul’s last words to Philippians sound a lot like his first words. 

Philippians 1: 1 – 2… 1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: 2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace

Paul began the Book of Philippians with a prayer for Grace and ended with a prayer for Grace. Of course, this should come as no surprise to people who know a little bit about the Apostle Paul. 

Paul was the Apostle to the Gentiles.  He took the Good News about Jesus and the Christian faith beyond the geographical and religious boundaries of Israel and shared a message of Grace and salvation all over the known world.

Paul preached one consistent message wherever he went.  He preached against religion as the way to salvation.  The Jewish Law could not bring about salvation.  The pagan worship practices could not bring salvation.  The only way to be saved was through the crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus.

In Paul’s theology, salvation is necessary because all human beings are sinful.  Our sin nature and the individual sins we commit stand between us and God.  God is holy, Righteous and without sin.  Human beings are unholy, unrighteous and sinful.  Therefore, it is impossible for sinful humanity to be in relationship with the holy God. 

If the holy God has a relationship with sinful humanity, then one of two things must be true.  Either, human sin is not as evil as the Bible makes it out to be.  Or, God is not as holy as the Bible says he is.

In order for the holy God to have relationship with sinful humanity, our sin problem must be addressed / fixed.  And that is why the crucifixion and Resurrection were necessary.  God provided the only pure and perfect sacrifice to address / fix the human sin problem.  We could not provide this sacrifice.  Only God could provide the sacrifice.

Another way to state this is to say that we cannot earn, achieve or even gain our own salvation.  The only way to be saved is to receive it as a gift from God.  And, that is the basic meaning of Grace.  Grace is a gift we receive through no effort or achievement of our own.  We do not deserve God’s gift.  We merely receive it as a free gift.

Joy

Paul began the Book of Philippians with a prayer for Grace and ended the Book of Philippians with a prayer for Grace.  In between these two prayers for Grace, Paul had a lot to say about Joy.

Paul was not having the best day of his life when he wrote the Book of Philippians.  It wasn’t even the best year of his life.  Yet, Paul found reasons to rejoice in the midst of his difficult circumstances.

This is one of the remarkable things about the Christian faith.  As Christians, we have a difficult time explaining the presence of evil and the reality of suffering.  We cannot explain why bad things happen to good people.  However, we do believe that suffering always has a purpose.  There is no such thing as meaningless suffering.

Of course, we need to be careful here.  We do not believe that God is the source of evil.  We do not believe God causes us to suffer (or causes bad things to happen to good people).  Instead, we believe that God brings something good out of every difficult situation.

Paul’s words to the Philippians show us that Paul was able to see what God was doing.  Even though Paul was under house arrest, God continued to work through Paul and through other preachers.  When Paul could no longer travel to preach the Gospel, other preachers picked up where Paul left off and continued to preach and spread the Gospel.  AND, since Paul was chained to Roman soldiers around the clock, Paul got to preach the Gospel to a “captive audience.”  (More than likely, Paul’s preaching to these Roman soldiers was successful.  He tells us as much in Philippians 4: 22 when he tells us that the Gospel had spread to “Caesar’s household.”  High ranking officials in the Roman government and quite possibly members of Caesar’s own family had received salvation as a result of Paul’s preaching and imprisonment!)

There are some times when we are like Paul and get to see what God is doing through our suffering and difficulties.  But, that is not always the case.  Oftentimes we have to accept by faith that God will bring something good out of our suffering.

There is an important point to notice about Paul’s Joy.  Paul was able to experience and express Joy, because Paul was not focused on himself.  Instead of concentrating on how difficult it was to be falsely accused, arrested, in chains and facing execution, Paul focused on how the Gospel could not be stopped.

In other words, Paul had a bigger purpose in life than being happy and comfortable. 

Do you have a bigger purpose in life?  If the only purpose of your life is to be happy and comfortable, then you will not experience Joy in all circumstances.  Your Joy will fluctuate with your checking account balance or will come and go as your stress level increases.

Paul lived for a bigger purpose.  He gave his life away for other people.  He wanted to be a blessing and encouragement to other people.  He took great risks to start new churches throughout the Roman Empire.  He was willing to go to jail so that other people could experience the Grace of God through Jesus Christ.

Paul’s Joy was not the result of pursuing his own happiness and comfort.  Paul’s Joy was the result of pursuing obedience and following God’s will.

Connection between Grace and Joy

It is not obvious to us in our English translations of the Bible, but there seems to be a connection between the Greek words for “Grace” and “Joy.”

Notice the similarities between these two Greek words.  Chara is the source for the English name “Karen.”  (Anyone named Karen is a joyful person.)  Charis is the source of our English word “charismatic.”  (A charismatic person is a person who is gifted.)

No one is really sure how Grace and Joy are connected.  But there are two very interesting possibilities.

It is possible that the Greek word for Grace developed from the Greek word for Joy.  If so, then we can say that Grace is a gift that brings about great Joy to the person who receives it.  And that is certainly a true statement.  When we stop and think about the great sacrifice that God made by sending his Only Begotten Son to die on the cross as the perfect sacrifice for our sins, we can’t help but express Joy.  When we reflect on the fact that Jesus rose from the grave as the first person to experience Resurrection and eternal life, promising that we too can experience Resurrection and eternal life, we can’t help but express Joy.  Then, if we realize that we don’t deserve salvation and eternal life…Wow…There is no greater Joy.

Of course, it is also possible that the Greek word for Joy developed from the Greek word for Grace.  If this is the case, then we recognize that true Joy is not something we can ever achieve on our own.  True Joy is a Grace—a gift from God.  If the world does not give us Joy, then the world cannot take Joy away from us.  If God himself is the source of our Joy, then nothing (and no one) can separate us from our Joy.

Conclusion

This view of Joy as a Grace-Gift from God fits well with Paul’s teaching about the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5.

Galatians 5: 22 – 23…  22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 

Technically, Paul says Joy is a fruit of the Spirit.  But, there’s not much difference between fruit and gift.  To say that Joy is a “fruit” of the Spirit is to say that Joy is something the Holy Spirit produces in us. 

Joy is not something we conjure up within ourselves.  Joy is a product / produce / result / fruit of the Holy Spirit in us.  Therefore, Joy is a gift from God.

Joy is not something we pursue and acquire.  Joy is a product / produce / result / fruit / a gift we receive when we pursue God and his purposes for our lives.

Paul found Joy in the midst of very difficult circumstances, because he was not actually pursuing Joy.  Paul was pursuing obedience / God’s will.  Paul gave his life away to serve other people.  Paul lived for a purpose greater than himself.  And, Paul found Joy…Because Joy was the result.  Joy was a Grace-Gift from God.

Perhaps this is why we have such a difficult time finding Joy.  We will never find Joy outside of the Grace of God.