I remember having a conversation with my pastor where she was offering feedback on a draft sermon and pointed out that I used the words “joy” and “happiness” interchangeably. Shame on me. She noted a distinct difference in that conversation; later, I asked my Sunday school class---which I was teaching at the time---what they thought the difference was. Their definitions were better than I’ve heard elsewhere, and now every time I hear those words I think about how people are using them, often in error, often interchangeably.
As I journey as a supervised candidate for ministry in the Reformed Church in America (RCA), I continue to garner wonderfully-sweet morsels of spiritual truth----lessons for a future flock, or wherever the Lord leads.
In our lives, no matter how ‘old’ we are, we go through difficult times, those valleys of darkness of Psalm 23. Whether we’ve confessed faith in Jesus or are heading in that direction, those moments in our lives when we know “something is just missing”---are voids impossible to fill if seeking out a “happiness” remedy.
For people who seek “happiness,” they often find disappointment quickly follows. Those items or places that bring them happiness don’t sustain them when they are left alone again, still seeking that “something,” yet not realizing what that “something” is.
There is a reason Jesus is described as the “bread of life,” a spiritual bread that sustains us when we approach those valleys of darkness, because only Jesus can fill us with a joy that overcomes absolutely everything else.
The definition my then-Sunday school students used was that “happiness” was external and “joy” was internal, something “inside you.” Simple, but effective.
This lesson is particularly pungent, I believe, for my generation, what the modern church sometimes refers to as the “emerging” generation. Unlike our parents and grandparents, we don’t typically create a string of generations in the pews who come in on Sunday morning, because that’s what our families have always done. Instead, the emerging generation, whether they be millennials or younger, are often “unchurched.” And, the church which awaits them often falls short in speaking to those spiritual struggles of needing to find joy, of needing to find Jesus to fill that emptiness that they’re experiencing. It’s almost as if we’ve forgotten a core truth of our own faith walks.
Yes, joy is internal. It’s intangible. It doesn’t discriminate. It’s filled with peace. It’s filled with love. It’s filled with assurance. Joy’s source is Jesus Christ.
If you’re reading this and there is a particular salience to this narrative, I would encourage you to pray for Jesus to come into your life, then find a community which will support you as you begin an amazing journey leading to an eternity greater than human understanding. Rest assured, there’s great joy in it.