Pure Joy

By Rev. Heidi L. Barham |  December 15, 2024

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Read  James 1:2 – 5
 
Today is already the third Sunday in the season of Advent.  It hardly seems possible that Christmas will be here in just 10 days.  And while some people will tell us that time flies when you’re having fun... I am willing to go out on a limb and suggest that not all of us have actually been having fun.
 
And that brings us to our New Testament lesson from the book of James... a man who was a leader in the Jerusalem church and a brother of Jesus.  He originally wrote this letter to Jewish Christians who were living in Gentile communities to provide them with guidance for how they should be living a Christian life... even in the face of persecution, hardships, and trials.  His advice is still relevant today and some would say that for believers in this current time, James is a how-to book on Christian living in difficult times.
 
And so, on this third Sunday in Advent as we look at just these first few verses from James... I want to invite us to think on the subject: PURE JOY... with particular emphasis on verse 2, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds” or as it reads in the Message, “Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides.”
 
If I could put my own spin on it, I would suggest that we can find PURE JOY even when tests and trials come our way.
 
James would tell us that tests are inevitable... and they are necessary so that our faith will produce perseverance... leading to maturity and wholeness so we will seek wisdom from God. 
 
To be clear, the tests James referred to are not like the kinds of tests we took when we were in school.  Passing those tests requires a different skill set than what it takes to pass the tests that we face as Christians.  By worldly standards, if you do extremely well on a test you get an A.  If you do poorly you get an F.
 
This is not necessarily the case with the tests we go through as Christians... as disciples... as followers of Christ.  If we Christians go through a test and come out with an A, it could mean one of several things:
 
That A could stand for ARROGANCE because we thought we were able to make it through the test or trial all by ourselves... believing we possessed what it took to get through the test or trial unscathed under our own power... that we pulled ourselves up by our own bootstraps so to speak. 
 
But A could also stand for ANGER that God did not bring us through the test or trial the way we wanted, how we wanted and when we wanted.  We may have even gotten angry because God’s will was done and not ours.
 
And last but not least that A could stand for ANIMOSITY towards that friend that came through his or her test better than we came through ours... or perhaps because we think they haven’t had any tests to go through at all.
 
On the other hand, if we Christians go through a test and get an F... it does not signify failure as it would on an earthly test. 
 
On the contrary, when a Christian comes through a trial or passes a test and comes out with an F, it means that we have gained FEARLESS FORTITUDE to press on in the face of adversity. 
 
It means we have obtained FREEDOM FOREVER from the bondage that we were previously stuck in. 
 
And most importantly it means that we have a FIRE-TESTED FAITH that has been strengthened to the point that we believe that the same way God brought us through the last test... He will be faithful to bring us through the test we are going through right now or the one that may yet be on the way… and that ought to fill us with PURE JOY.
 
 
By show of hands, who can remember what as on all or most of the tests that you took when you were in school? 
 
Some of you might remember Einstein’s theory of relativity or maybe Newton’s theory of gravity.  But if pressed, how many of you can recall the actual questions on those tests?
 
I would venture a guess and say not too many... even for those who may have only been out of school for a short time.
 
Now by the same show of hands... who can remember the tests that God has brought you through?  It is not all that easy to forget that painful divorce, that debilitating illness, or the loss of a spouse, a parent or a child, is it?
 
Let me suggest that the tests God brings us through are deliberately not erased from our memory.  God allows us to remember those tests so we can remember His loving kindness and tender mercy that enabled us to get through them. 
 
God lets that memory stay there... sometimes just below the surface... so that when we face the next test... we have the confidence that we can make it through this time because God will bring us through this test... just like He did all those times before. 
 
There’s a saying that if God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.  And our memories of the tests and trials that we have endured allow us to have PURE JOY at the thought that what God has done before... God can surely do again. 
 
Now reflecting back on our school days, think about those textbooks we spent countless days and endless nights reading... taking copious amounts of notes so we could answer the questions on the test with some hope of passing the class.  Can anyone here quote me your favorite passage of biology or world history or chemistry?  No? 
 
That’s because the things of this world like geometry, algebra, or physics are designed to pass away.  You read the book, take the test, spill out everything you have crammed into your head... and then if you are like me... you forgot most of it as soon the test was done.
 
Now who can quote me their favorite passage of Scripture? 
 
Although some people find it difficult to memorize chapter and verse when it comes to the Scriptures, I am sure most of you could finish the sentence –
 
“For God so loved the world that He…”
 
Or “In the beginning, God created the…”
 
Or “Yea, though I walk through the valley…”
 
God’s Word is meant to sustain us through the various situations we encounter... giving us the blessed assurance that we will make it through whatever tests come our way... all we have to do is hold on. 
 
No matter how massive the tests we go through may seem to us at the time... in the grand scheme of things they really are small stuff... but here’s the good news... the PURE JOY of it all... is that God is in the small stuff. 
 
Have you ever been on your way out of the door but couldn’t find your keys... and you cried out to the Lord for help and suddenly found your keys in the exact spot you could have sworn you had already looked three times?  Small stuff... maybe... but PURE JOY when you’re able to get out of the house and make it to your appointment on time.
 
Or how about when you thought you didn’t have enough money to buy even a cup of coffee, but you looked in the bottom of your purse or the cup holder in the car and found enough loose change to buy not only a cup of coffee but a bagel with cream cheese, as well.  Small stuff... yeah... but PURE JOY when consider how your morning had already gotten off to a rather rough start. 
 
Or what about the time you were in line at the grocery store and running late and only needed one thing for your meeting... but the shortest line was behind a woman with a cart overflowing with stuff.  In that anxious moment you thought to yourself, “Lord, I am already late, and I really need to get out of here.” 
 
Then all of a sudden, the woman turned around, saw you and your one item and said, “You just have that one thing?  Come on and go ahead of me.”  That may seem like small stuff... but it also brought you PURE JOY! 
 
But the beauty of the small stuff is that God is there to bring us through it just like the big stuff!!  And we will find PURE JOY when we have faith and believe that God will bring us through it all... no matter how big or how small.
 
But perhaps someone is still wondering why we should have PURE JOY when we are going through a test... what’s the point?
 
Well, according to verses 2 and 3 of the text in the NKJV we are to, “...count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.”
 
Has anybody here ever prayed for patience?  Do you know how you get it?  [Pause] Wait for it… wait for it…
 
Take it from me, when you pray for patience, you will most likely achieve it by waiting.  Simply put, you cannot be in a hurry to get patience.  But when we place our faith in God, patience does come to us. 
 
Oswald Chambers once said, “Be patient and so utterly confident in God that you never question His ways or your waiting time.”  Let’s face it, faith is about patience and believing that God will do what He said He will do... in His own time.
 
Is there any rock that God can create that He cannot move?  The question of faith forces us to ask ourselves, “If I don’t have faith that God will do it, why am I praying about it?”  When we trust in God, we can count it already done... whatever “it” may be... and that ought to fill us with PURE JOY.
 
When I was at Bethany, the pastor told a story once about three little girls who decided to have a contest to see who had the most money.  The first little girl counted her money and said she had 13 pennies.  The second little girl counted her money and said she had 14 pennies. 
 
The third little girl counted her money and got to 14 pennies but said that she had 15 pennies.  The other little girls questioned her and told her to count it again and she did.  She counted 14 pennies but again said that she had 15. 
 
The other little girls started to get mad and asked why she kept saying she had 15 pennies when she clearly only had 14. 
 
She explained that her father had promised to give her a penny when he came home, so she really had 15 pennies.  She counted the promise at the time it was made, not when it was delivered because she had FAITH that her father who had promised the penny would deliver it. 
 
In the same way, we are called to have faith in our heavenly Father who has promised us so much.  In Matthew 6, when Jesus was teaching the disciples how to pray... He told them that the Father knows what we need BEFORE we even ask.  And that is why we can count God’s promises as already done at the time the promises are made. 
 
Remember – when God makes a promise, He is faithful to deliver.
 
That means we can count the healing done before the doctors even tell us what the diagnosis is.  We can count our bills paid before we have any idea where the money is coming from. 
 
And we can find PURE JOY in the test before we come through it because we know that God has already promised to take care of us and what God has promised He will surely deliver.
 
So, as we think about the tests we are going through or that may yet be on the way... we will find PURE JOY if we face the test with the 3 things I mentioned earlier.  The first one is FEARLESS FORTITUDE. 
 
The dictionary describes fortitude as courage in the face of adversity.  And in
Deuteronomy 31:6 we read, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” 
 
God tells us not to fear... to be courageous in the face of adversity.  In other words, to have FEARLESS FORTITUDE. 
 
In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians in Chapter 12: 9 – 10 we read:

But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.’  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong. 

What Paul is telling us is that in the tests and trials... simply put in our weaknesses... we are made strong in the Lord.  We can find PURE JOY in the fact that when we are tested... when we are weak... then we are made strong through Christ Jesus.  We have no need to fear because our strength, our courage, and our fortitude comes from the Lord.
 
But not only do our tests give us fearless fortitude; they lead us to the promise of FREEDOM FOREVER.  In Galatians 5: 1, the apostle Paul tells us, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” 
 
The Word says that we are to stand firm in the freedom that comes from Christ.  “Do not let yourselves be burdened again,” means we are done with it.  It’s over.  We are freed forever from that yoke of bondage. 
 
When we allow our tests and trials to hold us down, they become yokes around our necks that keep us captive.  We begin to walk around with the weight of the world on our shoulders... like Eeyore, “Oh, woe is me.”  But Jesus freed us from those heavy burdens. 
 
He told us in Matthew 11:29-30 to take His yoke and learn from Him, for His yoke is easy and His burden is light.  That is why through Christ we have FREEDOM FOREVER, because “if the Son sets [us] free, [we] will be free indeed” (John 8:36).
 
Now, we can have PURE JOY because our tests leave us with fearless fortitude and the promise of freedom forever... but also because we have the promise that we will come out with a FIRE-TESTED FAITH. 
 
1 Peter 1:6-9 says:

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.  Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

The Word tells us that even when our faith has been tested by fire, in other words, tested by unemployment, bankruptcy, illness, death, etc. we are still to give God the praise, the honor and the glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 
 
And let me say this, there is no way we can give God all the praise, all the glory and all the honor that He so richly deserves without feeling PURE JOY in our hearts... even in the midst of the test. 
 
So, when you go through that next test, or even as you are going through the one you’re in right now, remember the words of James who tells us to consider it PURE JOY. 
 
Meditate on the words of Paul who took pleasure in his weakness because he knew in his weakness, he was made strong in the Lord. 
 
And celebrate in the words of Peter who said we are to rejoice with a joy inexpressible and full of glory as we are receiving the end result of our faith – the salvation of our souls. 
 
And that is what it all boils down to... the salvation of our souls.  We have been saved through Jesus’ sacrifice for us at Calvary which gives us the assurance that eternal life is ours when we put our faith in Him... and that truly ought to fill our hearts with PURE JOY.  Amen.
 
And it is with that thought in mind, I want to invite us to stand now and join in singing our Hymn of Discipleship: We Have Heard a Joyful Sound #479.
 

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