F R O M PA S TO R J O H N Joy. Joy is one of the distinctive marks of the Christian. It’s one of the fruits of the Spirit. Joy is mentioned sixteen times in Philippians, the “Book of Joy.” Technically, the shortest verse in the Bible isn’t “Jesus wept” but rather 1 Thessalonians 5:16, where Paul gives us this charge: rejoice always! (in Greek this verse is only one word).
We know the feeling, but joy is hard to express with words. Our dog Gatsby (pictured here) has been teaching our family about pure joy. As you can see, Gatsby gets quite a spring in his step come mealtime. He’s a cavapoo (King Charles Cavalier and poodle mix), but at mealtime Gatsby is culture. They found one of the more kangaroo than cavapoo! most joyful times for an Eskimo family are when the sled dogs Some missionaries experienced come home at night and are fed. this challenge of describing joy The dogs are yelping, jumping, when they were translating the and wagging their tails. The Bible into an Inuit dialect among children get a little hyper too. native Alaskans. There was no Even neighbors sometimes join real word in Eskimo for joy. So the in the festivities. translators had to find a different concept to communicate its So when the Scriptures say meaning. So they studied the that the disciples were filled
with joy when they saw Jesus, the Eskimo Bible literally says, “upon seeing Jesus the disciples wagged their tails!” I like that image of joy. Wagging our tails. And the good news is that our God is a joyful God. In fact God Himself is our joy. St. Augustine centuries ago prayed to God, “Happiness is to rejoice in You and for You and because of You.” Joy can be experienced across the gamut of life situations we face. The Spirit supplies our joy--even when we’re going through difficult times. St. Andrew’s, let’s keep looking for joy and leaping for joy as we celebrate the abundant life we have in Christ Jesus our Lord. We have no reason to put our tail between our legs. Let’s learn from Gatsby and wag our tails and jump for joy to God’s glory. Joyfully, Pastor John