Leaping for Joy

It is easy to be joyful when things go the way we want them to… when “life is good”… when we have everything we could wish for and more… when friends are loyal… when family members get along… when the birds are singing and a cool breeze is blowing…

But whether I read the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, Luke or Mark, those Beatitudes cause me to ponder where real joy comes from. Luke takes the cake! After saying, “Blessed are you who are poor… hungry… weeping… when men hate you… exclude you… insult you… he ends by saying, “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy…” Luke 6:20-23

What on earth would cause us to leap for joy in those circumstances?

As I ponder this, I see a young child learning to walk… Blessed is the child who gets some bumps and bruises when he falls down because he learns to walk… Blessed is the child who is discouraged because she learns where to go for encouragement and to hang in there… Blessed is the child who deals with some adversity because he becomes strong… Blessed is the teen who makes a poor decision because she learns forgiveness, grace and consequences in life and learns to make good decisions…

It is in the difficult things in life that we grow in character, wisdom, and strength. But more importantly, when we suffer the difficulties in this world, we have opportunity to grow spiritually – to grow closer to God. Part of this is because our focus changes. When we are hungry or poor, we understand that God is our Provider. When we are weeping, we understand that God is our Comforter. When we are looked down on or even excluded or rejected by others, we understand that God is Love. When things are humming along without those adversities, we might get to thinking that we don’t need God… that we are pretty okay on our own… that we are even our own little god and our happy little kingdom is just fine. Our full focus is on the here and now. Life is good!

But when things are difficult, how do we get from enduring, making it through, or just hanging in there and surviving to “leaping for joy”? The rest of the verse is, “… because great is your reward in heaven.” Luke 6:23b I’ve been reading the book, “Just Like Jesus,” by Max Lucado. In it, he talks of Jesus preparing for the crucifixion. He says that Jesus was able to go forward in spite of God not answering his prayer (to remove this cup), in spite of his friends deserting him (they all ran away), and in spite of the pain and suffering because he knew what heaven was like. He came from there and was going back there. And while we have limited information regarding heaven, one thing is sure: Jesus was willing to take on the sin and shame of the entire world so we could join him there. He must really love us! And, it must be a fantastic place – an awesome reward – something to really look forward to! Max Lucado pictures it as, “… we’ll take our place at the table. In an hour that has no end, we will rest. Surrounded by saints and engulfed by Jesus himself, the work will, indeed, be finished. The final harvest will have been gathered, we will be seated, and Christ will christen the meal with these words: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant’ Matthew 25:23.”(p. 149) The reward is not so much in ‘things’, but in a Presence – the Presence of Christ – an overwhelming ‘feel good’ forever.

I wonder then, do I have to wait for eternity to experience some of this forever ‘feel good’? Maybe the reason I can leap for joy now is because heaven and earth are not so far apart. Even as we have troubles in this world, we can experience the Presence of Christ and walk and talk with him. We can accept his assurances, his comfort, his love, his mercy, and his grace; and we can respond with love and worship of him even now. As we anticipate the great banquet, the blessings of all blessings, we can do way better than survive. We can leap for joy because we know we are going ‘home’ and it won’t be long.