Introduction

We are entering Advent, the time of year in which we celebrate the coming of the Messiah. The four themes of advent are hope, peace, joy, and love. This year we will be focusing on the theme of joy with a series of messages from the book of Philippians, which could aptly be described as the New Testament epistle of joy.

Question to consider: How would you define joy?

God provides us with two narratives pertaining to the birth of Jesus in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew, both of which are brimming with joy at the center of the story.

1.) Luke2:8-20.TheveryfirstannouncementofthebirthofJesustoanyonecamebywayofthe angel of the Lord, who declared “Good news of great joy, which shall be to all people.”

2.) Matthew 2:1-11. The magi were pagan astrologers who saw a star by which God communicated to them the birth of His Son as King of the Jews. When we see a bright star on a clear cool night, how would we describe it? We would say the star sparkles. It is as if the eye of God was sparkling over humanity, recognized first by a handful of wandering wise men, seeking a King to worship, who when they found Him responded to this joy by falling on their faces in worship before the young Child Jesus.

Definition of Joy

Joy is being the sparkle in someone’s eye. It is when someone is happy to be with us. There is no greater joy than to be the sparkle in the eye of God.

Psalm 16:11 says, “In Your Presence is fullness of joy.” In the Hebrew, it literally says, “In Your Face is fullness of joy.” The literal translation of Psalm 21:6 says, “You have gladdened him with joy with Your Face.” Hebrew is a very corporeal language in its expression, it incorporates language that describes what we see with our eyes and feel with our bodies.

Joy is being the sparkle in the eye of God. It is inherently relational–joy cannot exist outside of relational connection.

Letter to the Philippians–Paul’s Source of Joy

Joy enabled Paul to say, “For me to live is Christ, to die is gain.” How did Paul face the specter of death with a sense of joy, even considering it gain? He knew that in the Face of Jesus his joy was complete, and in the faces of the people of God, the joy of Christ was reflected through authentic relationships that could stand any trial or suffering.

Philippians is a beautiful book to demonstrate the transformation that transpired in Paul’s life. When Saul of Tarsus met the Risen Christ in the midst of his rage against the church, his anger and his fear was turned to joy. The things that once threatened Paul have become causes to rejoice. He has learned how to return to joy no matter the emotion he is experiencing. He had learned how to move from what he was deeply experiencing at the core of his being to the Face of Christ and find joy there.

Climbing the Joy Ladder

Big Emotions
Our brains are hardwired to experience 6 big emotions. Big Emotions Defined:
1.) Anger:Highintensity emotion we feel when our status has been lowered
2.) Disgust:What we feel when something is not life giving
3.) HopelessDespair:When something is too big for me
4.) Sadness:The feeling we get when some thing has been lost
5.) Fear:A high energy emotion that is our sponse to a threat
6.) Shame:This is what we feel when someone is not happy to be withus

We can liken these emotions to a pit into which we may fall. Joy is the ladder we climb to get out of these emotions. Joy is meant to be the default state of our lives. The Lord has made us to move between joy and peace regularly. Joy is peace dancing, and peace is joy at rest.

We cannot simply choose joy. Michael Hendricks says in The Other Half of Church, “We do not choose to be joyful any more than we can choose to have lower blood pressure. The joy and blood pressure systems in the brain are not subject to direct choice. Joy levels are regulated indirectly through relationships” (p.63-64).

Gratitude is the Key

There is a way to build our joy capacity, or to use my analogy, to add new rungs to the ladder. “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you” (v. 3). We practice intentional gratitude. Mary demonstrates this for us when it says in Luke 2:19 and 51 that she treasured and pondered in her heart the things concerning Jesus’ early days.

In order to make these connections between the big emotions and joy, we have to practice non-verbal gratitude. This practice will actually build new neural pathways between the big emotions and joy.
Golden Memories must include:
1.) I have to be aware of the sensations in my body as I relive the memory.
2.) I must feel some sort of connection with God in the memory.

What is God communicating to us through our emotions? What do we feel in our bodies with each of these emotions? Where do you feel anger? What area of your body do you feel shame? Is it a pit in your stomach? Is it blood rushing to your face, making you flush? Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit and He has a great deal to speak to us through His temple.

Redemptive Aspects of the Big 6 Emotions:
1.) Anger can move us to intervene to protect another
2.) Disgust teaches us and others social intelligence, to identify what is life giving to those around us
3.) Hopeless Despair can teach us to depend on God’s strength and provision, even asPaul says to
the church at Philippi, “I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the
supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ” (v.19).
4.) Sadness helps us become more compassionate.
5.) Fear can saveour lives or thelives of others.
6.) Shame can change our character to become more like Christ as He enables us torecognize how
much our Father desires to be with us even at our worst moments.