Rev. Caz Minter: Well, good morning. I am so excited to be with you. I have been around this whole week, and it's just been incredible to see the church in action, and walking these halls even during the week and watching what kind of life is going on. And we got to go see the high school mission trip and meet students and incredible volunteers, and we've just seen all kinds of life going on and the ways that God is at work in your church. And so I am grateful and excited to be here.
I've loved all the question and answer times. I think we have one more this afternoon. It's just wonderful to get to know people, and so this is a moment which, obviously, we've all been praying a lot about, and so I'm humbled and grateful. And then this morning, I'd like to just study the word together. Is that all right?
Can we just do that? So I'm going to pray for us, and then we're going to open the scripture. I know we were in Psalms. We're going take a break from that just for this morning. I want to talk to you about a biblical perspective on joy.
So pray with me, and we'll open the scripture together. God, we give you thanks that you would you would give us your word, that your scripture is your word to us, and we long to hear your voice. We we long to be a people that not only hear your voice, but understand it and put it into practice. So would you help us do that? Grab hold of our hearts this morning, god, and send us to live your word.
We pray this in your name, amen. Well, a couple of years ago I'm going to move this thing over just a little bit, all right? That feels more comfortable. A couple of years ago, my family was starting in a kind of new phase of life. I know many of you have probably been doing summer travel this summer, and you've said to your children, hey, we're going to go on this trip, and we're going to have fun.
Right? And you've to just sort of declare that sometimes with your family. And so with my family, though, it was all of sudden a new phase, because I had one off in college, and he kind of had his own schedule. And I had another one that was working a job and was preparing for college, and she had her own schedule. I was like, we're all getting together.
We're doing vacation. This is the week. And they were like, dad, I can't do that. You know, my oldest daughter, she does a really good dah, dah, I can't possibly. You know, and she was like, they were like, it just won't fit.
It just won't work. And I was like, we are going on vacation together, and you're going to enjoy it. And somebody had let us use their place, and it was on the beach. We're in Memphis, and this was straight down on the Gulf, and so we had to drive down through Mississippi to get there. And they had given us this place, and I was like, this is the week.
You're going. Clear your calendar. I don't care what. And Neely, my oldest daughter, came to me, and she was like, dad, it's ACTs, and I just have to take these, and I can't miss, and that's the weekend. And so, I was like, okay, we got this.
And I looked, and on the map, and Tupelo is about halfway between Memphis and the beach. And you know what they were doing in Tupelo on that Saturday morning? They were doing the ACTs right there. So, I thought, well, we'll do ACTs on the way, because we're going to the beach, and we're going to have fun. And so, it was time.
And so, we signed her up for the ACTs in Tupelo, Mississippi. And then the morning of Now I got two little guys, and they were ready for the beach. They were on time for the first time in their life. They had Dramamine and puke bags, because that's what we travel with on our trips. So they were ready.
But my oldest, he was off in college. Had come back. He was ready to go on the trip, and he wakes up that morning and he's like, I've got the worst toothache. His face is all swollen. He's like, I'm in total pain.
I can't do this. And I was like, oh yes, you can. You get yourself in that car. Toothache or not. You know what else they have in Tupelo, Mississippi?
They have dentists there. And so, I kid you not, man. We got on the car. We got on the road. We started calling dentists.
We rode into Tupelo. We dropped him off at the dentist. We dropped her off at the ACT. We went to Sam's Club and loaded up the cooler to get ready to go on. We were going on vacation.
We were going to love it. And we got there. We made it. And it was a great week, it was fun. But my older guys, they had, you know, the phone, and my oldest was just, he was scrolling on that phone.
Well, here we are on the beach enjoying each other, and he's on that phone. And I was like, dude, come on. You gotta get, like, get off that phone. And he's just scrolling. And I'm like, I mean, I'm right here.
And he's like, I know. That's why I'm on the you know? And after a while, though, he did say to me, he said, dad, you know, dentist help, but my mouth still really hurts. And this just gives me a little bit of distraction. That guy caught me off guard, mostly because I heard myself in it.
Like, I recognized myself there. That I set out. I longed to have joy. You know, that's the big picture thing that I want. I want for me and for my family, and so I set out for that.
But I often end up just distracting myself a little bit. Like, often end up in a place where I'm just kind of entertaining myself. And those distractions look different ways in different places in life, but I'll distract myself all day watching college football, or it was recently the World Cup. I never watch soccer. I watch so much soccer, you know?
I was full in, because it just kind of distracted me from all the busyness and all the pressures and all the things going on in life. Sometimes I catch myself just scrolling. I have a bunch of comedians on my feed, and so, you know, that's I know I'm not supposed to do that, but I just catch myself doing it, and I watch those comedians. It's just a little laugh, and it seems like even though I'm searching for joy, I'll just settle right there. You know, the church actually has spoken into this for a long time.
In fact, back in the sixteen hundred's, Ward is in the Presbyterian wing of the church, and as Presbyterians back in the sixteen hundred's, there were a group of old curmudgeony theologians. Right? And these were the guys, big beards, very serious faces. And they were called the Westminster Divines. And they wrote the Westminster Confession, which you may be familiar with, but they also wrote this catechism.
It was the way that they set up to teach kids the faith. And so, it was a question and answer, and the kids would sort of memorize these answers, and it passed down the faith. And so, that catechism, the first question on that actually has become a very famous question, and you may have heard this before. This is the first question of the Westminster Catechism, says this. What is the chief end of man?
And the answer is man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. You may have heard that before. A really, really interesting answer to me. Not because they said your number one goal is to glorify God, right? Basically, they're saying, what's your mission statement as a human, for people?
What should you be about? What should your life be about? And the first one is to glorify God. That makes sense. You're created in the image of God.
And because God is a creative God, and because God is a God of healing and restoration, because God is a God of love and pours Himself out, then any time you're doing those things, you're being creative, you're part of healing and restoration of relationships and communities, and any time you're pouring yourself out and loving each other, you're reflecting back to God. You're glorifying Him. That makes sense, right? What I was surprised by is the second part. They said, Your job, this is your chief end, this is your number one goal, this is what you should be about in your life, glorify God.
And the second part, enjoy Him forever. I just imagine those dudes with serious faces and long beards sitting there chuckling as they're like, they're going to like this, you know. The number one job is joy. That's what you're supposed to be about. That's surprising to me, actually.
I don't always do that. I don't always pursue joy with that kind of passion. Joy is often like, well, I'll get to joy when I can. When it's able, if I do try to set out and make it, it feels so forced, right? You're like, What are you doing?
There's a great author named C. S. Lewis, and many of you probably read C. S. Lewis, heard about C.
S. Lewis, but he has great perspective. He wrote a sermon called The Weight of Glory. It's a wonderful sermon. You should go read it.
Powerful, powerful, but he speaks to this a little bit. And this is what he says in this sermon. He says this: If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the gospel Now I'm going pause for a second so you get what he's talking about. The first thing, you're kind of jumping in mid sentence here, but here's what he's talking about. We often think, hey, I should just serve God out of duty, and we should.
I should just be a disciple. That's what I'm called to do. And that's true. You should. But Lewis wants to remind us that also in Scripture, it says if you do these things, if you live in the way of Jesus, you will find fulfillment.
He says you should actually consider the promises that are given because they're there in Scripture. And so Lewis is gonna dive in on that, and here's where he goes. He goes, if consider these unblushing promises, these rewards promised in the gospel, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us. Like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.
We are far too easily pleased. And that's me. I'm far too easily pleased. And the beach is great, by the way. Lewis tells you, and I've told my kids, and you should go.
You're gonna have fun. I am far too easily pleased. I spend so much time fooling around with things that do not ultimately fulfill me. My problem isn't that I pursue joy. My problem is that I don't pursue it in the right places, in the right ways.
I don't pursue it enough. So here's what I want to do for the next few minutes. We're going to take a look at a Biblical picture of joy. Now normally, I like to just open one passage and just stay there, but today, to give us a well rounded perspective on joy, we're gonna look at three different times when the Scripture teaches on joy, and just catch the glimpses that are coming from the Scripture. This first one is in John 15.
John 15. Yet, you need to know some context, right? Because when I think about joy, I think joy comes when all the circumstances are good. Joy comes when things feel alright. Joy comes when all the tough stuff is taken care of, and I'm ready to experience joy.
That's when joy comes. But in John chapter 15, we're on Thursday night before Jesus goes to the cross on Friday and into the grave, and He is speaking to His disciples, and He's preparing them for what comes next. And as He talks to the disciples, He knows that the next few days are going to be some of the most difficult of their life. They're going to wonder if the mission is over. They're going to wonder if everything is lost.
I mean, He's going to die, and they're going to see it. They're going to be under such extreme pressure, but not only then. Jesus is also going to go back to the Father. He's going to give them the Holy Spirit. He's going to send them off to be the church, and they're going to face extreme persecution.
And so that's the setting of the night. And in that setting, Jesus is talking to His disciples, and He's preparing them. He's like, you've got to be ready for a moment like this. And I want you to see what He says to them as he prepares them. This is John chapter 15.
If you have your Bibles, you can open that with me. It'll also be on the screen. Now I have to admit to you, I'm discombobulated this morning. I left I had my Bible. You have, like, your Bible that you liked.
I had my Bible, and I just left it in the room. So I'm here with one, and y'all pray for me that I can read this font, which is Don, help me out and get one that was a little bit bigger, but I'm struggling. I'm struggling. Alright, John chapter 15 verse 10. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commands and remain in his love.
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this, love each other as I have loved you. Jesus is preparing his disciples for difficult times. And what does He talk to them about? He talks to them about joy.
He goes, I'm going to prepare you so that you'll have joy. He goes, Live in my way. Follow my commandments. As you do that, as you live in my way, there you find joy. And then he encourages them, love each other.
Lean in in your relationships with each other. It's there that you find joy. Jesus talks about joy, not when things are perfect, but when the mess is getting ready to happen. Jesus is at this moment when there could have been all kinds of things that He would have reminded them about and kind of, I would have been filling in. Don't forget this, and don't forget that.
Jesus stops and says, no, we need to talk about joy right now, because you're to pursue it. Now, this conversation goes on for a long time. It goes on for more than a chapter, and so I want to flip closer to the end. That's in chapter 16. So, we'll flip over.
Chapter 16, verse 20, and this is still part of the same conversation with the disciples, but this is what he says. Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. Think about that promise. He knows what they're walking into.
He's not saying you're going to escape grief. He's saying you're going to go through grief. But on the other side of grief, you see, there's going be joy. Why? Because Jesus knows that God hasn't given up.
He knows that God is still in control and holding the world in His hands. He knows that even though He's going to face death, even death will not keep Him down. Jesus knows that there is resurrection. That God's still got them. That God's at work.
And so he tells them, Joy's going to show up. It's going to be a turn. Your grief will turn to joy. The word in the New Testament that's used for joy is this word kara, and it's related to the word we translate for grace, keras, right? And so they're kind of related words.
Now this is why that's important. Because the idea of grace is something that's given to you unexpected. It's undeserved, unearned. It's a gift given. Sort of a surprise.
And so, when the New Testament talks about joy, it's always in this context of surprise. Like I said, it's a gift that you didn't expect. Joy is going to show up as a surprise. There's going to be a turn when suddenly you have a new perspective, and you realize, like with these disciples who are watching Jesus go to the cross, but suddenly at some moment they realize, no, the grave will not hold you. God's still in control.
Alright, let's look at two more, two more places where joy is talked about. James one. James chapter one is, this is the Bishop of Jerusalem, James, and he's writing to the church. Now by the time we get to James, the church has been under extreme pressure. There have just been so much pressure and persecution that many of them have left Jerusalem and they've spread out.
And that's how the gospel actually is spreading across the world at the time. But the Bishop of Jerusalem, who's under pressure himself, is writing now to the church that's in diaspora. And he's talking to them about the pressure that they find themselves in. It's anxious world for them. And this is how Bishop James speaks to them.
This is chapter one, verses two through four. James one. Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance, let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Bishop James talks to the church in persecution, and he gives them like a command.
He tells them how to think. He says, You need to consider this joy. He's like, you need to change the way you see things. You need to train your eyes to be looking for joy. Why?
Why? Because God's at work. It's not just that God's in control, but God is at work. He hasn't given up on you. He's actually at work.
You can't always see it, but He is at work. And He uses this word. It's a hang in there, is the kind of word. A word called hupo mino, and I just like saying it. It just sounds cool.
So, hoopomeno, you know. But it means hang in there, and that's what James says to them. Hang in there. Why? Because God is hanging in there with you.
God is actually at work when it seems like it's all falling apart. God is still at work. And so James says, you actually train your eyes to look for joy. This is a way that we're called as Christians, as followers of Christ, to look at the world around us, to look at the situations that we see ourselves in. So often, I think that joy comes because my circumstances are good.
I think that joy comes after I've got things under control. Like when my family's in good order, and my work is in good order, when our country is in good order, finally then, if all those things are in good order, my life won't feel so turbulent, and then I'll find joy. But that's not the picture in Scripture. Jesus says, no, it's gonna surprise. You'll have grief.
You'll be in the middle of grief, and grief will turn to joy. He says, no, no, no. You've got to train your eyes to start looking for joy, because God is actually at work. He hasn't given up on you. Not only is He in control, but He is working, even when you can't see it.
Even in these difficult days, even in these tough moments, He's at work. And you can begin to look for joy. And as you do, you'll find it, because it's this gift that God gives us. Now, there's one more. One more I want to look at, and this is Philippians.
Philippians chapter four. In Philippians, Paul is writing to this church in Philippi, And as he's writing to them, they're a church. It's under some pressure. And he's gonna remind them of what they're to be about. Remember, this is this is one of our major goals.
Chief end of man involves this. And so he says, You need to be thinking this way. So this is Philippians chapter four, verse four through seven. Rejoice in the Lord always. And then he goes, I'm going to say it again.
Rejoice. I don't know if you ever have to do that, but like when I tell my kids clean the room, I know I'm going have to say that twice. Right? That's not going to happen once. I go, clean your room.
Listen to me say this again. Clean your room. Right? And Paul's doing that right here when he's talking to this church, cause he knows they need to hear it, and they need to hear it again. Once is not enough.
So he's like, Rejoice. Be full of joy. And he goes, I'm going say it again. Rejoice. Verse five.
Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Now that's a verse that I just hold onto.
There's this peace of God that passes all understanding. Paul says you need to rejoice. It's a command. Have joy. Be full of joy.
He says don't be anxious. Last thing Paul's looking at this anxious world that this church in Philippi is living in the middle of, an anxious culture and an anxious world. And he goes, the last thing that the world needs are anxious Christians. So, he reminds them, this is your duty. Rejoice.
It's not the kind of rejoicing that ignores the pain and difficulty. He says, no, fully recognize the pain and difficulty. That there might be a peace that comes that doesn't it doesn't make sense. It's a past understanding. But right in the middle, right in the heart of what is so tough, he says, rejoice that you would have this peace that pasts all understanding.
And why? It's right there in the text. Right? Why? Because the Lord is with you.
Because we serve this God that doesn't stand far back and far away and just look down and say, figure it out. You've got to make that work. No. We serve this God who's entered into our world, who's come close, who knows you and knows you intimately, who walks with you in the difficult and tough days, who's with you in the pain and in the grief. This God who has come close is holding you fast.
He's still in control. He's still at work, and He is holding on to you. So Paul commands, rejoice. Several years ago when I was planting a church in Austin, Texas, we got to Christmas Eve, and we had just great Christmas Eve services. It was one of those wonderful nights.
Multiple services. Kids were everywhere. It was kind of a mess, because kids were everywhere, but a good kind of mess, you know? Just a ton of fun, and it was just great services. And then I went home to do what pastors do after late Christmas Eve services.
I put together toys, because that's what you do. Grouchy, angry, trying to put the thing, and we don't have the right battery. You know the deal. And I'm doing all this. And finally, I crash into bed just exhausted.
And at 04:00 in the morning, my phone rings, and it's one of our families from the church that had been there at the service that night. And a young father, he had five kids, one was just a baby, had taken his own life that night. What do you do? I'm going give you a clue. Even pastors who've had all kinds of training don't know what to do in a moment like that.
And I did just, you know, I just instinctively, I try to do what we see in Scripture, so I just went. I just drove over there. I didn't know what else to do. I had nothing great to say. I could just go and be with, and so I went and sat with this family.
It was traumatic, and I had no good words for them. I had no real plan. I just kept holding on to this, the peace that passes all understanding, Right? That God would give us this peace that passes all understanding. Just praying that over and over and just being with this family.
Was an unbelievably just devastating night. Within a few hours, we started to be able to mobilize the church, and other families came alongside them and made sure they were taken care of and had a place to stay. And, you know, there were families walking alongside them in this incredible tragedy. And so about nine in the morning, I got to go home. And so I got in my car, and I drove home.
And guys, I mean, I pulled up to the driveway, but I couldn't go in. I just sat there in the driveway thinking about just what I had gone through. You know, sometimes as a pastor in the ministries that so many of you do, there are ministries. You're invited into these places that are just so difficult in people's lives. It's just overwhelming.
And I sat on this driveway, and I knew that on the other side of that front door, my kids were up, and they were ready for Christmas morning, and they were excited and playing, and I'm just in shambles. But somehow, sitting there on that driveway, all of a sudden, like this idea just God somehow got ahold of my mindset, my perspective, and things started to shift. And I started to recognize that joy doesn't come when everything's great. Joy comes right in the middle of the mess. In fact, what I was getting ready to walk into was a celebration of the God who created us coming into our world to be with us.
That joy would show up in a surprising way, and suddenly it just caught me. It just caught my heart that joy comes even right here. Joy isn't removed. It's not only for great times, it's for those times, those difficult times when joy suddenly shows up. God is still in control.
God is at work in us, and God is near. Looking back at that family, I could see now with years of perspective, even for that family, what they went through was terrible and difficult, and yet I can see how God was at work in their family. God hadn't given up on them and how He had grown them, and I could see how God was at work in me. This is what's offered to us as we lean into a relationship with God. To step into a relationship with God and to lean into that is to step into a place where great joy is offered.
We've been invited. Would you pray with me? God, when we think about it, the promises that you have in scripture, that you're still at work, that you're still in control, that your joy is is for us, it just blew me away. That you would have joy for me. You would have joy for each person here.
You'd have joy for us as a church. Father, fill us with your joy and draw close. We pray this in your name. Amen. One of the things I've learned to love about Ward is the great joy that I see in all the ministries that I see going on, in the relationships that are happening, in the stories that I hear.
God has made you a church that's full of great joy. We're going to take communion together, and in communion, we're reminded that God showed up, and He invited us to the table. Now, we have these beautiful chalices here, so if you have yours, get it out. If you didn't get one, raise your hand. There's a team back there, deacons and such, that will make sure that you get one of these, because we're gonna prepare and take communion together.
Scripture tells us that on the night that Jesus was betrayed, he took the bread and he broke it. And he said, this is my body, which is broken for you. Those words are really significant. We've been invited into this meal with Jesus. He tells us on the first night that they did it, when He's sitting there with the disciples, it was a mess even on that night.
Says even on that night, somebody was getting ready to betray Him. Things were messy and difficult, and in the midst of that, Jesus drew close, and He's invited us to be close. Scripture tells us then, In the same way, He took the cup and He poured it out. He says, This is the cup of the new covenant, My blood poured out for the forgiveness of sins. As often as you eat this bread and you drink from this cup, you do so remembering me.
We're gonna take communion together in a moment, and it's a holy place. It's a holy moment. It's a reminder of the joy that's offered in the relationship with Jesus Christ. Now, this table, these elements, they're not it's not a Presbyterian table. It's not Ward Church's table.
This is God's table. And if you have faith in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, we invite you to take part in communion with us. If that's not where you're at today, we want you to take that step, but it's okay to sit this one out. That's alright too. We're just glad that you're here.
I'm going to pray over these elements, and then we'll take them together. Let me pray for this. God, would you take these common elements as just bread, as just juice, but set them aside for your holy purpose. Would you meet us today in a special way and remind us of your closeness? God, we're broken people.
Take us broken as we are and change us. We pray this in your name. Amen. All right. We're going to take the bread and open that up.
I was so nervous about getting the order wrong and really getting in trouble up here, so we got are we okay? Take the bread and open that up. This is the body of Christ broken for you. Take and eat. Now you want to open the juice.
This is the blood of Christ. It's poured out for the forgiveness of sins. It was poured out for you. Take and drink. Father, we thank you for these elements.
They're just tangible reminders that you're with us and that you offer us joy. Father, grab hold of our hearts today. We pray this in your name. Amen.