Lent Midweek March 20, 2019 Surprised by Joy
Lent Midweek 2
Romans 12:3-16
March 20, 2019
“Surprised by the Joy of Sharing in Others’ Joy”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The key words we’re looking at tonight are these in Romans 12:15, “Rejoice with those who rejoice.” Or let me put it this way—it should give you joy when others have joy. Or another way—when you see other people rejoicing it should cause you to rejoice.
When I first joined up on Facebook about ten years ago or so, I started to discover something really ugly about myself. It was always there but Facebook made it more apparent. I noticed it more. When other people would put up on Facebook their happy news (because that’s often what you do on Facebook), I very often wasn’t happy for them. Instead, I was often jealous. And I would hide my sin with some statement like this, “Oh, they think they’re so great. They think the world revolves around them.” When, of course, in reality I thought the world revolved around me. Which is why it was hard to be happy for anybody else.
I’m not on Facebook anymore but we don’t need to be to still see this problem everywhere. All around the world right now this is going on. It always goes on in this sinful world. Instead of being happy for each other, many times we’re angry or jealous. Instead of being with and for one another, we’re too often against one another.
One of the clearest places you might be able to identify this in your own heart is if you have siblings. Ever heard of the term ‘sibling rivalry’? That term was coined because it’s such a problem between siblings. Who’s better? Who makes the family prouder? Who’s done the most with the family name? Who’s smarter? Who has the better job? Maybe right now you and one of your siblings aren’t on good terms for exactly this reason—rivalry. Why can’t you rejoice with your brother or sister?
In Philippians 2:3 Paul commands, “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” That’s the problem. In our sin we don’t count others more significant. Exactly the opposite. In our sin we count ourselves more significant. Which makes it really hard for us to rejoice with anyone except our own selves.
Of course, who was the first major example of this in the Scriptures? Cain and Abel. Cain should have rejoiced with his brother Abel that God was pleased with his sacrifice. Instead of rejoicing with him, he killed him. Sin makes everything a competition and a comparison. It’s almost as if we think there’s a limited supply of joy. And we’re afraid that if others get too much of that joy, then maybe there won’t be enough around for us. I remember the story going around when I was a kid that John Denver was hoarding gas in big tanks on his farm. Turned out to be false. But that’s the idea with joy. Like we have to hoard it for ourselves because we’re afraid there won’t be enough.
But does joy work that way? Is it a limited supply? Do we have to compete for it? If a friend of yours has something very joyful, should you be worried that there won’t be as much joy left for you now? Like sibling rivalry. Is there only a limited amount of love from Mom and Dad? You have to compete for it?
Well, there’s a great surprise in being a Christian. The great surprise is that there’s plenty of joy to go around for everybody. Joy is in endless supply with Jesus. And you don’t have to compete with one another for it. You don’t have to do anything from rivalry or conceit. You can truly rejoice with those who rejoice.
So let me ask you right now, have you been unhappy when your neighbor’s been happy? Have you rejoiced when your neighbor’s been brought down by something? Then right here and now—repent. Christ died to forgive you and to forgive your jealousy and rivalry. And in the cross of Jesus is where rivalry and jealousy and competition and comparison meet their doom. Because the joy of Jesus Christ is for each and every one of us.
You are forgiven. The angels of God are rejoicing over you because you’re a sinner who’s repented and returned to God. Heaven is rejoicing over you right now. So then, if we don’t have to compete or compare with anyone else because we already have all we need in Jesus Christ—then we just might find that rejoicing with others is the much better way to go.
And it is. So then, this is what Paul commands us to do. He commands us to see our place in the world, rejoice in it, and to see other people’s place in the world, and rejoice with them. He says, “Don’t put yourself way up here in some high pedestal position. But think with sober judgment. Be happy in the place where God has put you in the world. And be happy for others in the place God has put them.”
We’re not all the same. Each of us is a part of the whole body and we all have our place and our purpose and our gifts and our duties. And we don’t have to be jealous of someone’s else place, because we have our own. We all do. We’re not competing against each other. We’re all working beside each other. Part of the one body.
And this is maybe the greatest part of his words. He says if you want to outdo one another in something, if you want to compete and compare, then he says outdo one another in showing honor. In other words, let’s have a competition. Who can be the happiest and most joyful for other people? That’s our competition. I want you, the members of Trinity, to outdo one another in showing honor to each other. Wouldn’t that be awesome? It is awesome. Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Sharing in others’ joy and being happy for their place in the world truly does bring joy to ourselves as well.
Two quick examples from the Scriptures. Think about Moses. Poor guy only gets to look out over the Promised Land from a mountain but he doesn’t get to go in. Nope. It was time for Joshua to take over. Joshua would lead them in. But Moses, in good character, rejoices with Joshua. He knew that wasn’t his place anymore. It was Joshua’s place. And Moses rejoiced with his rejoicing.
And think about the apostles when Paul came around. It was a bit hard for them. Paul was stealing the thunder. Here was this outsider who wasn’t one of the 12 original disciples—now he’s claiming to be an apostle himself and he’s preaching the Gospel and making more converts than anyone else. Do they bring him to Jerusalem and ring him up? Are they jealous? A little apostle rivalry?
No, they rejoice with him. They rejoice that he also has believed the Gospel and is preaching the Gospel. So Christians, be surprised by the joy of sharing in others’ joys. It takes some work. We’ll have to repent some times when our rivalry and jealousy flares up. But in Christ we learn that joy is in great supply for all us. So we can rejoice with those who rejoice. In Jesus’ name. Amen.