Nostalgia?⤒🔗

Whenever I think about how I grew up in our churches, I recall a lustre of joy that came over life every Sunday anew. The sermon was more engaging at one time than another — but didn’t it strike the high tone of God’s love in the covenant! The singing was not equally good every Sunday, and we grinned about the man who sang so loudly, but you knew: the heart speaks here. It was never perfect — but wasn’t there a lot of joy in it?

Apparently, this is nostalgia. For that time seems to have passed. In general, the complaint is that all of it is so cold, impersonal, and distant. Few worship services still appear to reach the heart. Many end up with a critical attitude that closes the heart. Others keep longing with an open heart for — I think — the joy in the Lord.

I think that one of the reasons many have difficulty feeling real joy is that we have too little awareness that the joy within the church has its own style. It is a different way of being joyful. Along with you, I would like to try to discover a few things about this joy that we may practice living in the joy of God.

Joy in Christ←⤒🔗

When you have fun together, you can laugh about good or amusing things, but not about bad or wicked things. The fun soon disappears when difficult or sad things are brought up or experienced. Sorrow enters. Then there are tears. The happiness is gone.

One of the most noteworthy things about Christian joy is that that joy can be there in good times, but also in bad times. How is that possible? Why does that joy not lose its lustre in sorrow? That is because the reason for this joy does not lie in our circumstances of life. It lies elsewhere. The joyful(!) message of the Bible is that God gives reason for joy. He gave the reason with his Son Jesus Christ. The reason for joy lies in him. Because of him, your heart can always be joyful again — in good, but also in bad times.

When we see that it is about Christ, we will also see that the joy goes together with sorrow over sin. Many experience that as a contradiction, but it does not have to be that way. Whoever has sorrow over sin is on their way to Christ. Whoever is on their way to Christ, is on their way to joy. That is the framework of the sorrow over sin, which is essential to the experience of Reformed faith. That means that the sadness has a time and a measure, if it is grounded in Christ. With him, the sorrow becomes joy. That is not mutually exclusive, but rather inclusive.

The sorrow of faith knows a time and a measure. Should that be lacking, then the sadness becomes depression. Then it does not come to joy (anymore). Then depression threatens (and I am not referring to depression as a sickness). That is more dangerous than healthy. That is not Reformed, although people did say so. Ultimately the issue is not about the sorrow, but about Christ.

Joy through Faith←⤒🔗

So far you may agree that the joy has its source in Christ, but the problem is that you cannot find this joy in your life. The lustre of joy does not lie over your life—at least, not always.

The Bible teaches us that it is important to begin with faith here, not with feelings. Feelings are important for our life of faith—faith cannot exist without feeling—but faith is more than emotion. The joy from the Bible rises above our emotions. That is something to consider. There are times when God does not grant us the feeling of that joy in this way. The cause can be a sorrowful experience. Some run the risk of turning away from God when their emotions are not fed.

Let us not turn away from God. Let us see how the Spirit also wants to instruct us in those things. He wants to teach us not to seek our security in a happy feeling, but in Christ. For this reason, he sometimes takes away those feelings for some time. Then it comes down to faith. That faith must then speak against the feelings: “I do not feel any joy; I do not experience any happiness, but I still know that Christ did come, for me too; on that promise I lay claim; I accept it; in him is my joy.”

It is sometimes necessary to separate faith and feelings, in order to avoid seeking reassurance through feelings, and to depend on what lies outside of yourself in Christ our Saviour.

Yes, our faith longs for emotional experience, but it is important to be submissive to the lessons of God. In his time, he will again give us grace. There will be a time of more abundant grace (Canons of Dort Chapter I, Article 16). A Reformed joy does not mean joy as a feeling, yet it does mean joy — in Christ. Ultimately it lies outside of ourselves. That comforts our hearts.

Joy out of the Word←⤒🔗

As we learn to see how the joy in Christ lies outside of ourselves, we also see that you can never carry that joy around in your pocket. You repeatedly have to claim that joy of salvation as your own. God gives people the opportunity for that.

It is Reformed to see that opportunity in the Word. That Word is the umbilical cord through which God feeds us with the joy because of Christ.

In the Reformed Churches, you recognize that principle in the order of the worship service. The expression of all that we carry with joy in our hearts is not central, for our hearts are often empty on Sunday morning. God’s Word is central. Time is needed in order to experience joy, time for the Word, a lot of time for the sermon. It is precisely in order to give the joy a good foundation that the Word is central.

You encounter the same truth in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. There is a long form. Many experience that as a threat to the celebration. However, you can also see it as a pathway to the celebration. That form causes us to realize that we have no hope in ourselves so that we may “seek our life [and also our joy] outside of ourselves in Jesus Christ.” Patience is required to experience all that, but the praise is also real then. Joy grows with the ending doxology: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy.” (Psalm 103:1-4)

How precious are those words in that moment! Those are the moments of celebration in the church service — fed by the Word.

Nowadays, in the Christian Netherlands, there are lots of “shortcuts” to joy. The Evangelical Broadcasting Association tours the country with praise and worship evenings. This brings people instant joy; as soon as they hear the sound of the drum, there is joy. What should we say about that? What do we tell our children about that? It is very important to speak about the meaning of joy, according to the Bible, with our children, because the suggestion that flows forth from this modern form of Christian joy is that only this is real joy: “It is not found in the church; there is no spontaneous joy there.” That can confuse our children and feed them with an unhealthy critique of the church. We can teach them that it is, at most, a specific expression of joy. Nothing more, nothing less. There are many different ways of experiencing the joy in Christ. They often penetrate much deeper. That is obvious. But does that condemn the praise and worship evening?

The danger, I believe, comes when people begin to see music as the foundation for their joy. However, that river soon runs dry. We have seen how people have tried it in some churches. Music must feed the joy instead of the Word. For a while it gave joy a kick-start. But then everything died. The blossoms of joy only grow in the ground of the Word. That is Reformed joy — listening Sunday after Sunday, reading day after day.

The Joy of the Church←⤒🔗

Whoever wants to think in a Reformed way does not only think out of the Word, but also always ends up at the church of Christ in that way. That is also good when you meditate on being joyful in the Lord. It is not only about my joy; it is the path of the church together with all the saints.

That also indicates how limited praise and worship evenings are. People would have to admit this. But we do have to say it to each other if we think that that is “it.” Such an evening is typically organized by a group who feel like it — and who can find pleasure in it. But that exuberant joy of a group cannot be the joy of a congregation for if that became the style of the joy in the church, you would exclude a portion of the congregation.

A widow dreamed about her husband again this past night, and this morning she feels exceptionally alone in the church. A brother heard bad news in the hospital on Friday. Another person passed an exam. When we think about all those different feelings of people, sitting in the worship service on Sunday morning, we understand the Reformed way of singing: the singing of the psalms. Those are the songs of the whole of life. In the psalms, all of God’s children can join in singing — in tough times, and in good times.

I realized, when I was in a group of evangelical Christians, how well-balanced those psalms are. We sang evangelical songs. They are very joyful. You can really sing those stimulating songs well in times of joy, but how do they measure up in other times? Someone in the group once told of a good acquaintance, who died in a horrific accident. That brought tears. Then it was time to sing. Someone began with, “Rejoice, for Jesus is Lord.” In itself, it is a fine song, but not at that moment. Why not? Because that song is only a song for good times and for happy people. The psalms, on the other hand, are the songs for all God’s children who are gathered together in the congregation. The joyful as well as the heart that has been beaten down can recognize and find expression in the psalms. No one is left out. Reformed joy is joy together with everyone.

One Way←⤒🔗

Christ, faith, Word, church. These are words that indicate what it is to be joyfully Reformed and to have Reformed joy. Joy is not always a fact in our lives, but there is a way to follow. That is the way to Christ and the way with him.

There Is Work to Be Done←⤒🔗

Reformed joy is to be joyful to be Reformed. Is there then no criticism to be brought forth against the church? There is enough. That criticism also happens in overflowing measure, so much that the joy among us almost suffocates. Therefore I decided to stay away from that this time.

At the same time, it seems important to me in this context to say that we can be positive about everything that happens, to think about how things can be done differently, that is, better, to shape that joy.

There remains work to be done. But it only turns into good work once you are joyful for what you have received.

“For the Joy of the Lord Is Your Strength”←⤒🔗

The above heading is a quote from Nehemiah 8:10. Those are words we must meditate on and let them penetrate. Other Bible texts that can say a lot to us about this are Psalm 4:8, Psalm 86:4, Isaiah 64:5, Matthew 13:20, and Philippians 4:4. Take the time to meditate on them, to pray from them, or to write an introduction for a meeting about it. Being busy with joy brings us to the experience of it: “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart” (Jeremiah 15:16).