“Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet each other with a sacred kiss. All of God’s people here send you their greetings. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
2 Corinthians 13:11-14 NLT
So Paul finally reaches the end of his second letter to the Corinthians, as he signs off with “I close my letter with these last words”. And his “last words” were an encouragement to any Christian community, detailing as they did wonderful spiritual words like “love”, “peace”, and “joy”, Holy Spirit gifts available to all believers.
“Be joyful” was an instruction that was definitely counter-cultural in the dark days of the first Christian church plants, because believing the Gospel message took place against a backdrop of idolatry and immorality, where being different, following the one true God, directly challenged the idolatrous societies in which they lived. As a consequence, they suffered much for believing in Jesus. But one thing that the world could not remove from them, or us today, is the joy we have within, joy that originates in God Himself through the Holy Spirit.
In the 5th century BC, the Jewish exiles were rebuilding Jerusalem, and at some point, the wall was finished, the gates were installed, and all the people met together to hear the Book of the Law of Moses read to them. But when the truth of God’s Word penetrated their hard hearts, there was much weeping and sadness. The enormity of their sin and rebellion which had lead to their exile in the first place, was finally understood. Nehemiah 8:9, “Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were interpreting for the people said to them, “Don’t mourn or weep on such a day as this! For today is a sacred day before the Lord your God.” For the people had all been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law”. In the following verse we read, “And Nehemiah continued, “Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!”” Why were the Israelites weeping? Because they were going through a season of repentance for their sin. Their relationship with God was in the process of being restored.
The joy of the Lord is the gladness of heart that comes from knowing God. Such a joy has nothing to do with happiness, which is based on superficial things like owning something or having a day out. Joy for a believer is a feeling deep inside that no matter what they are facing, it will always be there. Because of its supernatural origin, the joy of the Lord—our gladness of heart—is present even through the trials of life. We know we are children of God, and no one can snatch us away from Him, and we are heirs to “an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade,” and no one can steal it from us. 1 Peter 1:4, “and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay”. This was the treasure Jesus spoke about in Matthew 6:19-21, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”.
We pilgrims have been set free, delivered from the clutches of the enemy. We are no longer bound to him by our sin. The joy of this deliverance is life-changing and eternal because we know what we have been set free from. No fear of hell ever again. In the hymn “In Christ alone” there is the line “No power of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from His hand” and we can live our lives singing that out because it is truth for pilgrims like us everywhere.
What about the joy of our salvation? Peter wrote, “You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8-9). King David found that after his sin with Bathsheba, he had lost his joy. A brief foray into happiness had a price, and we read his prayer in Psalm 51. Verse 8, “Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me— now let me rejoice”. And he followed on in verse 12 with, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you”. In Luke 15:7 Jesus said, “In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!”
On our Christian journey through this life, we grow in maturity and experience more and more joy. Jesus said, “When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!” (John 15:10-11). Are we pilgrims experiencing overflowing joy this morning? If not, what has stolen it away from us? Worries, anxieties or troubles of any kind? If we can put our hand up to such spiritually debilitating conditions, then we must pause for a moment and adjust our priorities. We must look up to God and not to the issues we experience in this world. “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). There is a short poem which reads, “Two prisoners looked out from behind the bars. One saw the mud, the other saw the stars“. Are we mud or star people? I suspect that there wasn’t much joy found with the mud looker.
Dear Heavenly Father, from whom all joy originates. We are in this world for just a short time, so please help us to look up to You, our Source of joy, rather than to this sad world that lacks any sort of joy. Thank You. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 