Given at Free Church of Scotland 2008 Inservice Training
One of the first things I did on receiving the title of my paper was to key into the Internet the following phrase: ‘joy in the life of a minister.’ I was taken aback to be directed to the following site: ‘Non Surgical Face Lift.’ Nevertheless my surprise was tempered when I realised that many ministers, including myself, walk around with our chins down. It is obviously the case that even computer search engines have picked up the way ministers often look and these engines have their own suggestions to help us.
How to we glorify God?
There are a couple of questions that come to my mind from the title. The first is, What is the meaning of ‘glorify’? Sometimes the word is used with the sense of ‘boasting in’ God or ‘worshipping’ God, where the meaning concerns verbal appreciation and adulation of God. At other times, the term is descriptive of how a believer should live.
The psalmist in Psalm 19 reminds us that even the inanimate creation reveals to us the connection between glorifying God and joy. He says in verse 1 that ‘The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows his handiwork.’ The central feature of the firmament (the sun) is depicted as full of joy in verse 5: ‘the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoices like a strong man to run its race.’ The implication for us from that psalm is that God’s Word, which is described in the second section of the psalm, should enable us to both glorify God and enjoy him. This is the case even although we are sinners as detailed in the third section of the psalm: ‘Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer’ (Ps. 19:12-14).
Glorifying God covers both our inward attitudes and our outward actions. In 1 Corinthians 6:20, Paul reminds his fellow believers: ‘For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.’ Or as he mentions later in the same letter: ‘Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God’ (1 Cor. 10:31). As the Puritan Thomas Watson put it, ‘The glory of God is a silver thread which must run through all our actions.’ Watson, in his Body of Divinity, usefully summarises what is involved in glorifying God. It consists in four things: appreciation of God (admiring his attributes and promises), adoration of God (worship of him), affection to God (exuberant love), and subjection to God (dedication to God).
Glorifying God does not mean that we can increase his inherent glory. Instead it means constantly recognising his great glory with our minds, continually rejoicing in his glory in our hearts, comprehensively reflecting his glory in our lives, and clearly repeating his glory with our tongues. To these aspects of glorifying God we can add a fifth: we should be constantly anticipating the unfolding of God’s glory in the new heavens and new earth.
The second question is, Are there two distinct responses to God in the title, or are glorifying God and enjoying God the same thing? Some writers suggest that they are. Yet I don’t think they are the same, nor do I think that they are two sides of the same coin, and I base this assessment on four reasons.
Firstly, glorifying God is the highest aim of any godly activity on our part whereas enjoying God is a sensation that we experience within us. They can occur simultaneously, but they can be distinguished.
Secondly, ‘glorifying God’ is an umbrella term that covers every aspect of the Christian life, but I don’t think we can say that joy is always present in a powerful way in every situation. For example, a Christian can suffer from depression; he attempts to deal with his illness in a God-glorifying manner, but there will be many occasions when he will not sense joy. Further, sin will cause a loss of joy, even during the initial stages of repentance. David, when he was a returning backslider confessing his sins, was doing so to the glory of God; yet he had also to pray that the experience of joy would be restored to him by God (Ps. 51:12). Again, the psalmists many times express their longings for God, and such a desire is a demonstration of living for God’s glory, yet without a sense of joy. In Psalms 42 and 43, the cause of the absence of a sense of the presence of God is not connected to sin on the part of the psalmist but to providence on the part of God. I am not suggesting, however, that joy is normally absent. Yet we have to be careful that we don’t create guilt feelings in people because they are not experiencing joy at a given moment, although they are living for God’s glory. I have more to say about lack of joy later on, and if there is a remedy for such a situation.
Thirdly, joy is usually a consequence of other activities. Joy comes because we have done something that has produced it. I don’t mean that we performed the activity in order to have joy; nevertheless we experience joy because, for example, we have thought about a verse from the Bible or have obeyed a command from the Bible.
Fourthly, joy is one aspect of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). The aim of the Spirit is to produce all the aspects of the fruit in a believer’s life, and usually to produce them simultaneously. I think it is striking to note that the first three aspects of the fruit of the Spirit are emotions: love, joy, and peace – which means that the common pastoral advice that people should ignore their feelings is a disastrous one. When a person has the fruit of the Spirit, he will be living for the glory of God. Joy is only one effect of living for God’s glory – such a person will also have love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
In summary, a pastor in a healthy spiritual state will aim to do everything for the glory of God. Regarding ‘glorifying’ and ‘enjoying’ God, they may not co-exist in a pastor’s particular experience at every stage in his life, although usually they will. Nevertheless they can be distinguished and they are not two sides of the same coin. In this lecture I will consider areas of pastoral joy that will contribute to the overarching purpose of serving God for his glory, and I will do so under three headings.
1. Glorifying and enjoying God – its rarity
It is clear that the themes mentioned in this title point to the reality that pastoral ministry is a relationship. Of course, there are several relationships in pastoral ministry: there is the relationship that a pastor has with his people as their shepherd; there is also the relationship that he will have with his fellow pastors [in our case, in a presbytery, and I also regard elders in a kirk session as having a pastoral role]; and above all there is the relationship that he has with God. We could add to these three relationships the ones that he has with his wife and family and also some that he will have with non-Christians.
The first comment that I would make is that this connection of joy and glorifying God is a very rare one as far as I am concerned. I freely admit that my assessment is not infallible and my evaluation is probably skewed, yet I have to say that the impression I receive from most Christians, including pastors, is not that of great joy in the Lord. Hopefully, I am wrong. In any case, let me put forward some possible reasons for this lack of great joy.
First, I would suggest that, sometimes, we so focus on God being glorified that we fail to enjoy him. When we face a difficult situation, we may ask, ‘How can I bring God and his requirements into this situation?’ So we devise plans and projects, nothing seems to change, and we do not have the joy of the Lord. I suspect that a good deal of the problem has to do with the perspective of the question. Although it seemed to focus on God, it actually focussed on me: How can I bring God and his requirements into this situation?
Secondly, in our desire to get something done, we take on board the spoken and unspoken outlooks of others. When I was a young Christian, the question that came to my mind was, ‘What will the elders think?’ Now that I am an elder, the question is, ‘What will the young people think?’ Seldom do I ask, ‘What does God really think of what I am doing?’ And since I am not concerned too much about his opinion, but rather dangerously assume that my decisions are somehow always in line with what he wants, I lose the joy of the Lord.
Thirdly, I suspect also that some of us fail to have joy because we have picked up from someone or somewhere that it is inappropriate for a pastor to have joy. After all, we are living in a sinful society, are ministering in a declining denomination, are discouraged by lack of discernible results, and are aware of our own sinful traits. In a sense we could describe our work as ‘glorifying God with a stiff upper lip’. Our watchword is perseverance, whether we are enjoying keep going or not. Yet we know that Paul wrote that he was sorrowful but always rejoicing (2 Cor. 6:10). His personal circumstances and his concerns for the churches did not prevent him having continuous and great joy.
2. Glorifying and enjoying God – a role model
Obviously we could select from several role models, some from the Bible and some from church history. The role model on whom I wish to focus in this section of the paper is Paul. His life and years of ministry give many occasions for reflection on this theme, but I have chosen to limit my remarks to his letter to the Philippians. I can give three reasons for focusing on this letter: (a) it is commonly called ‘the Epistle of Joy’ – although I am not convinced that joy is the main theme of the letter, but it is obviously an important one; (b) when he wrote the letter Paul was a mature believer with many and varied life experiences behind him – also he was facing several difficulties, such as being imprisoned, facing a possible death sentence; (c) I am preaching through the book and it has challenged me as to the intensity of joy in my heart.
In Philippians, Paul twice tells his readers to rejoice in the Lord. The first time is 3:1, and in that context Paul highlights a real danger to true joy – the danger of legalism. In his day, it was Jewish legalism. Legalism has not disappeared and I don’t suppose it will before the Saviour comes. As we know, there are many kinds of legalism. Perhaps the kinds we face as pastors are traditionalism on the one hand and innovativeness on the other hand, and the fact is that both contain the seeds of legalism. Just as a layperson can become bound to a particular method of Bible reading, so a leader can become a slave to what he perhaps thinks is the path to liberation or success. But if it is not a path of joy, it is a path of bondage.
The other reference is Philippians 4:4, and here Paul doubly stresses the necessity of joy: ‘Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice.’ In this section of his letter Paul instructs his readers in the church in Philippi concerning several important areas of their spiritual lives in light of the fact that King Jesus is coming. He had reminded them at the close of chapter 3 of this great future reality, that Jesus would return and change their humiliated bodies and make them like his glorious body. In a way similar to how a citizen of Philippi would prepare for the coming of the Emperor, so the believers should prepare for the arrival of Jesus.
Perhaps preparation in the city would involve tidying up the streets and removing unsightly objects. The believers should also remove unsightly features and develop beautiful replacements. Paul has already mentioned one unsightly element (the disharmony between Eudora and Syntyche) which they had had to remove, both individually as far as the two ladies were concerned and corporately as far as the ones who were to help them. Unity was essential as preparation for the coming of the King.
No doubt, the prospect of the coming of the Emperor would have created a sense of anticipation in the minds of the people. It would be a privilege for them, and a cause of joy and happiness. Paul challenges his readers to rejoice as a means of preparing for the coming of the King. A person alone on a desert island surrounded by sharks would rejoice if he knew that rescue was on the way, if a communication had been delivered to him that a rescue ship would soon be there. Believers have received communication from heaven about the coming of Jesus, therefore whatever their situations they should rejoice.
1. Rejoice always – an unrealistic expectation?
Perhaps an expected response would be, ‘Is Paul not being unrealistic here, expecting people to be joyful in such a difficult life situation in which they were facing various troubles?’ Of course, if Paul was writing this letter from comfortable, trouble-free circumstances, the criticism would have some validity. But we know that Paul at the time of writing was imprisoned, waiting for the verdict from his court case. Yet in such conditions, Paul was full of joy. His demand that his readers have joy was an authentic one because he himself knew that this joy in the Lord could be experienced in all situations.
I suppose the word in Paul’s instruction that causes most difficulty is the word ‘always’. This is not the only occasion where Paul states this opinion. He writes in Ephesians 5:20: ‘giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ And in 1 Thessalonians 5:16, he exhorts, ‘Rejoice always.’ We all can imagine situations where great joy can be experienced. In our personal lives: there is joy at marriages, childbirths, friendships, success in careers; in our churches there is joy at conversions, at growth, at restorations of backsliders, in times of fellowship. Yet we know that there are situations that can seem so dark that joy is impossible: marriage break-ups, deaths, bankruptcy, church divisions, backsliding. If the answer to the problem was in situations, then we would have difficulty understanding how it could be possible to have continual joy.
In fact, the solution to the word ‘always’ is also found in Paul’s statement, in his phrase ‘in the Lord’. When we reflect on what is included in this phrase, we realise that there are no situations in life that can prevent us from having comfort, rest and, eventually, joy from the Lord. If there was even one such situation that could prevent joy coming from God, it would indicate that there was a condition in which God’s grace could not be known, where the fruit of the Spirit could not be displayed and developed. The examples we mentioned earlier that cause lack of joy – depression, sin, adverse circumstances – can become paths to joy if used correctly.
In stressing this focus on the Lord, Paul gives insight into his path of joy. He had joy because he was aware of the love of God towards him; because he was aware of God’s appointment of him as a servant and of choosing beforehand his various places of service (note Acts 9:15-16: But the Lord said to [Ananias], ‘Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name’); because he had experienced many occasions of the Lord’s aid in overwhelming situations; and because he knew that his God would work all things together for his good.
It is hard, as we focus on Paul’s demand here, not to recall the wonderful declaration of Habakkuk. When he saw the effect of the presence of the Lord, he says that his body trembled and his lips quivered. The prophet knew that there were tough times ahead because the Lord was going to punish Israel. Yet he states his attitude in 3:17-18: ‘Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labour of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls – yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.’ Whatever comes his way, Habakkuk is confident that ‘the LORD God is my strength; he will make my feet like deer’s feet, and he will make me walk on my high hills.’
2. Joy commanded by God
Another point that we should note is that Paul is not merely stating his personal opinion; instead he is giving a command to the church as an apostle. The command to rejoice in the Lord always is as much a requirement as any of the Ten Commandments. This means that failure to rejoice is a sin, a point that has been made several times by John Piper in his writings. I recall being very startled after reading Deuteronomy 28:47-48 in one of his books: ‘Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and lacking everything. And he will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you.’
Jerry Bridges has a chapter on joy in his book, The Practice of Godliness. He bases his comments in that chapter on Paul’s words in Romans 14:17: ‘For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.’ Bridges confesses:
‘For a number of years the virtue of joy was not very evident in my life nor very high in my value system. As far as Romans 14:17 was concerned, I considered myself a man of peace, and I felt I was seeking after the ethical righteousness that is referred to in that passage. But I really hadn’t given much thought to the importance that God places on the fruit of joy in our lives.
‘Then one day I was reading through Romans 14, I realised that God was not satisfied with only righteousness and peace in our lives. Paul tells us very plainly that the kingdom of God is a matter of not only righteousness and peace, but also joy. Furthermore I learned from verse 18, that without joy, my life was really not very pleasing to God.’ Romans 14:18 reads: ‘Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.’
3. What Paul is not demanding
Before we look at some of Paul’s reasons for permanent, personal joy, it is important that we realise what he is not expecting.
First, Paul is not insisting that a Christian leader should always have a silly grin on his face. There will be many situations in life in which an inane grin would be completely inappropriate and no doubt Paul did not have a grin on his face when, for example, he had to discipline a fellow-believer because of sin. Yet he could have joy in such a situation because he was aware that chastisement would restore the sinning believer.
Second, Paul is not saying that it is easy for a pastor to snap out of a time of spiritual depression. Many believers, including leaders, suffer from this problem in various degrees. Yet often they are helped when their thoughts can be turned away from their preoccupations and focus on the Lord. We can see this change in outlook in many of the psalms. Sometimes, the psalmists (whom we often forget were pastoral leaders in Israel) are oppressed by their sins, at other times by their providences. In these psalms, the authors face up to their situations and assess them in light of God’s promises. Having done so, they usually experience joy instead of sadness although their circumstances had not changed. Often, the path to joy is a process.
Third, Paul is not saying that the presence of joy in a pastor means the absence of sorrow in his heart. Even in this letter, Paul expressed his great sadness when he thought of those who were enemies of the cross of Christ (3:18). Whether his sadness was caused by the havoc they produced in the churches or was caused by the awful fate that awaited them in hell, the fact is that he was very burdened about them. In a Christian, sorrow and joy co-exist, as Jesus made clear in one of the Beatitudes when he said, ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.’
J.I. Packer mentions in his book Laid-back Religion, that Christians, and I would add Christian pastors, often have four black Ds (disappointment, desolation, depression and desperation) and four black Fs (frustration, failure, fear and fury). Instead of leaving them there, Packer gives two pieces of advice. First, Christians, including leaders, are not prisoners of the past or the present. ‘The powers of forgiveness and new creation are at work in their lives. Before them lies a sure and certain hope of deliverance, transformation, and glory.’ Second, he says that Christians, leaders included, have larger souls than non-Christians. They are, therefore, able to experience contradictory emotions simultaneously; sorrow and hurt co-exist alongside joy.
Fourth, Paul does not mean that the pursuit of joy should prevent us facing up to problems. Some leaders imagine that happiness in a church is only found in toleration, by turning a blind eye to wrong things that are taking place. Such a situation may make them happy, but they do not have the joy of the Lord. Even in this chapter, in which Paul lays such a great stress on joy, he has told Euodia and Syntyche to face up to their wrong attitudes. Earlier he had told the church to give no place to false teachers (3:1-3). The joy of the Lord is not found by pastoral leaders who refuse to face up to what is wrong in their congregations.
4. Some reasons for Paul’s joy as he wrote Philippians
The first source of joy for Paul was found in the power of prayer. In 1:3-4, he writes: ‘I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy.’ There is no doubt that one important aspect of Paul’s joyful intercession was the healthy spiritual state of his friends in Philippi. In addition, Paul rejoiced that he could pray to God with the desire that they would receive further spiritual blessings. He knew that the Lord could answer his many prayers in ways far above Paul’s understanding. Yet the fact remains that joy comes to leaders who pray to the Lord.
This may seem an unnecessary statement because clearly, of all Christians, pastors will pray the most often. Surely, all prayer by pastors is done for the glory of God and it is often accompanied by great joy. Sadly, it is not so. I wonder if we pray as often for our listeners as a teacher prays for his or her rowdy class? As we engage in battle with spiritual enemies, do we pray as earnestly as a Christian soldier about to go into battle in Afghanistan?
As I was preparing this paper, I asked myself if I had ever asked the Father to give joy to my fellow pastors. With shame, I realised I had not. I have prayed for them many times: I requested that their preaching be blessed, that their reputations be protected, that their programmes be successful. I had prayed that they would have loving relationships with their congregations and with one another. Of course, God can answer our prayers far above what we can ask or imagine, so he can add joy to these other petitions. Nevertheless, it was a rebuke to me that I had not made this request. I did not have Paul’s longing that he expresses in Romans 15:13: ‘May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.’
A second source of spiritual joy for Paul was the ongoing success of the gospel. He writes: ‘I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defence of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice’ (1:12-18).
His joy at the success of the gospel brings a covering over two potential difficulties or barriers to Paul’s joy. One of these barriers was the particular providence of imprisonment he faced at the time. This trial had been overcome by the amazing effect of Paul’s witness to the soldiers who were guarding him – the gospel had reached the elite troops of the Emperor’s army. The other barrier was the division in the church in Rome, a division that was expressed through the preaching of the gospel. His opponents were orthodox preachers and believers. Yet because they preached the gospel, Paul rejoiced.
We can relate to both these potential barriers to joy. Regarding the worldwide spread of the gospel, we may think that we are a bit sidelined because of our locations in small towns and rural parishes. Yet we cannot assess the effects of our witness over time (each act of witnessing is like a stone thrown into a pond: the ripples get larger and larger). But we can rejoice at the great things that God is doing throughout the world. The success of the gospel in other places should give us great joy. In fact, we should take steps to find out what God is doing elsewhere (an obvious method is to read Christian magazines that will give this information).
Sometimes, churches have disputes with other churches. Yet both churches preach the gospel. While we cannot rejoice at what we may perceive as wrong, we should rejoice that the gospel is being preached. It would not be right for us to allow ourselves to be deprived of our spiritual joy through the wrong actions of other believers. So we should rejoice that the gospel is still being preached.
It was not only in Rome that the church was facing problems. There were difficulties in the congregation in Philippi: internal disputes and attempted penetration from outside by false teachers. Yet Paul could look at what had been achieved in Philippi in the previous decade by the Lord and he found grounds for rejoicing. The little congregation that he had founded had developed and matured, and he rejoiced. Surely we can do the same with the places where we serve or have served the Lord. Even in a congregation facing problems, there will always be reasons for rejoicing.
One cannot but recall James’ words for his readers: ‘Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing’ (Jas. 1:2-4).
Connected to Paul’s imprisonment is the issue of suffering, whether it be suffering for the faith or suffering in the faith. Paul was experiencing both aspects of suffering as he was confined. One of the obvious deductions from his experience is that Christian leaders and pastors have no need to deny pain when it happens or to be embarrassed about it when they have it. In a letter written around the same time as he wrote Philippians, Paul writes an astonishing statement: ‘Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church’ (Col. 1:24). Instead of being a deterrent for fellowship with Christ, suffering was a door that enabled him to enter a place where he enjoyed fellowship with Jesus, which leads me to my next point.
A third source of joy for Paul and his friends was found in the potential of knowing Jesus in an increasing manner. Paul alludes to this in Philippians 3:10ff. The fact of the matter is that every thing that Paul discovered about Jesus brought great joy into his heart. When he first met him and discovered that he was a suitable Saviour of sinners, Paul discovered a well of joy. Since then, he had known the power and ministry of Jesus in a wide variety of ways. He had experienced the shepherd care of Christ personally, he had climbed the heights to the third heaven, he had observed the hand of Jesus in bringing people into his kingdom, in the planting of churches, and in the sanctification of sinners. Even circumstances that appeared to deny the possibility of joy, such as when he received the thorn in the flesh, became doorways into experiencing the grace of Christ. Through the kindness of Jesus, Paul had been led into the joyous riches of the status of adoption, of belonging to the family of God. Paul had found that wherever Jesus was, there was great joy, and therefore he resolved to know as much about him as possible. Sad must be the pastor whose experiential knowledge of Jesus has not increased during the years of service.
A fourth source of joy for Paul was the prospect of the glory to come (3:20-21). He knew that it was far better to die and go to be with Jesus. But he knew it would be better still when the resurrection day arrived, bringing with it the perfect world. As he looked at his worn and weary body, covered with the marks of his years of suffering for the faith, Paul rejoiced because he knew that his body would yet experience glorification. Connected to this joy in future transformation was his ongoing awareness that Jesus was in charge of human history, that he was Lord of all, and that the great resurrection day would be the occasion when the dignity of Jesus would be recognised by all. Surely, this prospect should be a stimulus for enjoying serving such a great Lord and Master.
A fifth source of joy for Paul was found in service in the church, both by himself and by others. He knew it from personal experience as he relates in 1:25-26. What joy it gave to Paul to observe the humble service of Timothy and Epaphroditus! How he looked forward to rejoicing over the effects of his friend (the yokefellow of 4:3) helping Euodia and Syntyche to be restored. Paul had discovered that service of Christ, no matter how apparently insignificant, brought great joy.
A sixth source of joy for Paul was forgetting the past: ‘Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus’ (3:13-14). Included in the things that are behind are our successes as well as our failures. This does not mean that pastors should not recollect the past. As we know, Paul is using the illustration of an athlete running a long-distance race with hurdles and obstacles. If we saw an athlete continually looking back and pointing to an obstacle or hurdle where he made a mess of things, we would not be surprised that he was not enjoying the race. But what would we say to the athlete who kept looking back to the hurdles that he jumped well? He too is making as much of a mess of the race as the one who looks back and dwells on his failures. Similarly, if we as pastors stop running in the present and look back to either our past failures or successes (or both), we become hindrances to others who are running the race. Therefore, if we want joy in the present, we have to look forward. This is what Paul did: he pressed forward in order to get the prize from God. In this attitude, he was following a better Runner, the Athlete who ran the perfect race: ‘…let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God’ (Heb. 12:1-2). Paul says to us as fellow pastors: don’t let the past rob you of present foretaste of future joy.
There are many other sources of Paul’s joy, and if you take a concordance you can look up the references. But I suppose the question comes to us, ‘Why don’t I have this joy?’ I would suggest that we will probably find the answer in these areas that we have focused on: our prayer life, our response to troubles, our pursuit of Jesus, our focus on the future glory, the depth of our involvement in the life of the church, and how we regard the past. If we are deficient in these areas, we will not have the joy of the Lord. The remedy is straightforward: repent and begin appropriating those spiritual disciplines which, through the Lord’s grace and mercy, will give us abundant joy.
3. Glorifying and enjoying God – Retaining joy
Firstly, we should as pastors meditate on who God is. Clearly there are many ways of doing so. The thought of God as happy was a liberating one for me. The insight came from Paul’s comment to Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:11: ‘in accordance with the glorious gospel of the blessed [happy] God with which I have been entrusted.’ In a similar manner, we have been entrusted to proclaim the gospel of the glory of the happy God. Another verse that points to the joy of God is Nehemiah 8:10: ‘Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.’ For a long time, I had assumed that Nehemiah meant that this joy came from God. Now I think it refers to experiencing the joy that the Lord himself feels. I suppose we meditate on God’s eternity, sovereignty, power, wisdom, and mercy. Sometimes we may insert the adjective ‘loving’ and see his attributes through the lens of love. We should also insert the adjective ‘joyful’: God has had a joyful eternity, he rejoices to display his power, to exhibit his wisdom and to exercise his mercy.
Secondly, we should follow the example of Jesus and think of the joy that is ahead of us: ‘looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame’ (Heb. 12:2). I don’t think we focus on heaven enough. Seldom do I have a discussion on heaven with my fellow ministers, although I do have such a discussion frequently with older members in my congregation.
Thirdly, in order to experience spiritual joy as pastors, we should know our doctrines. John Owen, in his marvellous book, Discourse on the Glory of Christ, stated that our experience of the enjoyment of God is connected to our adoption into God’s family. He writes: ‘We were by nature the sons of God. We stood in relation of sons unto him by virtue of our creation — the communication of his image and likeness — with the preparation of an inheritance for us. On the same accounts the angels are frequently called the sons of God. This title, this relation unto God, we utterly lost by sin, becoming aliens from him, and enemies unto him. Without a recovery into this estate we cannot be restored, nor brought unto the enjoyment of God. And this cannot be done but by adoption. Now, it seems convenient unto divine wisdom that he should recover our sonship by adoption, who was himself the essential and eternal Son of God.’
Of course, adoption is the highest privilege that God could give us. It is higher than justification, itself a marvellous position and status. Obviously there is joy connected to being justified. Nevertheless I wonder if one of the reasons why joy has not been stressed in our preaching is our emphasis on justification, with all its legal terminology, and in which we relate to God as a forgiving Judge. Adoption, with its emphasis on the restoring grace of the Father, leads us into the joys of the Father’s house, as is illustrated in the story of the prodigal son. A similar effect may be seen in the common failure to address God as Father in prayer.
Preaching should be a joyful experience, and I suspect it is the case that pastors experience joy when they unfold the deeper and more intimate aspects of a sinner’s relationship with the happy God. I have joy in my heart when I preach the doctrines of justification and sanctification, but I have greater joy when I mention the doctrines of adoption and glorification. Of course, I am describing my subjective experience, but it is not difficult to insert when preaching on an aspect of sanctification that it is an experience of those who are the adopted sons of God.
Fourthly, Samuel Storms highlights another possible character trait for which we must watch out. In his book God’s Passion for You, he mentions a lady who was described by a friend as a person ‘who does not receive well’. This lady was a giver at great cost to herself both physically and financially. Yet she was very uncomfortable when others tried to do for her what she had done for them. Storms then elevates the character trait to our relationship with God and points out that some people who are very willing to do things for God are strangely reluctant to receive from God. I suspect the group of Christians who are most guilty in this regard are pastors. We are accustomed to doing things for God and we can fill our diaries and our time with such activities. Yet we fail to insert a slot into our daily schedule in which there is space to receive from God. Is the remedy not described by David in Psalm 27:4-6: ‘One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock. And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the LORD.’ Beholding the Lord led to rejoicing in the Lord.
Fifthly, we should resolve to be conveyors of joy to other Christians. One of the beautiful characters in Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress is Mr. Greatheart. He is a picture of the pastor who leads the people of Christ throughout their Christian lives from the time of their new birth, through the various ups and downs of life, until they safely cross the river and enter glory. Mr. Greatheart took them from the House of the Interpreter, through the valleys of humiliation and the shadow of death where he taught them to have a true perspective on what was happening to them as the powers of hell attacked them, through the land of Beulah and the Delectable Mountains, and helped them enter into and cross the river. Jesus has had many Mr. Greathearts, and he has called us to be of them. It is our joy to provide food for his people, to protect them from spiritual enemies, and to prepare them for the world of glory. What greater task can there be? Sometimes, according to Bunyan, Mr Greatheart felt the power of Paul’s words in Philippians 1:23 (‘My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better’). Yet he also sensed where his Master wanted him to be: ‘But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith’ (vv. 24-25). Therefore, once he had taken some of the pilgrims safely to the river, he turned away from the sight of the Celestial City in order to escort others there who needed his help. Part of our joy in pastoral ministry is found in conveying joy to the people of God as they make their dangerous journey through this world to the Celestial City.
Conclusion
Perhaps the day when we are likely to face an assault on our joy is on Mondays, the day after the one in which we have done most for the glory of God. The devil, who is devoid of joy, regularly attempts to get us down. Mondays should be a day for reflecting on our calling: yesterday (each Sunday)
we declared our Master’s beauty and glory,
helped a few aged pilgrims on their way to the river,
encouraged some who are being assaulted by temptation or who are finding the way hard,
informed some children of one truth about Jesus and his Word to add to the other items that they have already learned one by one,
hopefully functioned as a link in the chain by which others either came yesterday or will come to Christ in the future,
and laid it all into our Master’s hands for his ongoing blessing.
No doubt, we did not think much of it. Nevertheless he did, and one day he will say to us, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.’
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