One of the most meaningful sermons that I have ever read is Jonathan Edwards sermon titled The Pleasantness of Religion . I love that sermon! I wrote a blog on you can read from March 6, 2007 called JONATHAN EDWARDS AND THE PLEASANTNESS OF RELIGION where I discuss in detail the lessons from his sermon. There was something particularly Edwards stated that has had a profound effect upon my understanding of joy and sorrow in the Christian life. He said that there were three necessary sorrows in the Christian life:
1. The sorrow of repentance over sin
2. The sorrow of self denial from sin
3. The sorrow of bearing reproach for the name of Christ because of righteousness
I need to hear this because there has been much sorrow in my life these past few years and I know many of you have had sorrow in your life as well. Edwards reminds us that there are actually sorrows in our life that are both a necessary part of being a Christian and the doorway to true lasting joy.
The bible speaks of godly sorrow. Paul writes to the Corinthians:
"For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death." (2 Corinthians 7:8-10).
The apostle Paul says that there two kinds of grief, worldly grief, and godly grief. What makes for a kind of grief that is pleasing and good to God.? At least two things govern what makes sorrow good in our experience. One is the cause, the other is the outcome. There is godly sorrow that arises out of sin. The cause of godly sorrow for our own sin is the spiritual perception of its moral ugliness, of its rebellion against God and all that is good, not just its negative consequences. Oh how often have I been sorry for the consequences of my action rather than sorry over my actions, or even deeper, sorry over the motives of my actions. But Godly sorrow sees sin as morally repulsive. This disgust is owing to our spiritual preference for the things of God and our hunger for the truth and beauty of God. Therefore our sorrow for sin is rooted in our utter love of God. So sorrow over sin this is a signal, a sign that we delight in God, love Him, and cherish Him. That is what makes the sorrow good.
Paul says that the default response and outcome of good godly sorrow for sin is repentance. Repentance is simply a change of mind about sin and God and a change of direction away from sin and back to Him, and by returning back to Him "in his presence is the fullness of joy!" (Psalm 16:11). True repentance includes sorrow for sin and extends it to a deeper experience of salvation which invariably leads to inexpressible joy (1 Peter 1:8). This causes us to pursue a life that delights in God above all sin. Therefore enjoying God is the outcome of what makes the sorrow and repentance good.
But what about sorrow that is not for our own sin, but for the way we are sinned against or the way we are hurt by calamity and loss? that kind of sorrow is also a part of life. Jesus sorrowed like this. For example, when he saw the Pharisees murmuring about his healing on the Sabbath, “He looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart” (Mark 3:5). And in the garden of Gethsemane, he said, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch” (Mark 14:34).
Jesus’ sorrow was not owing to his own sin, but to the sins of others. This is the way it is with the Holy Spirit as well. Paul calls us to put sin out of our lives so that we do not grieve the Spirit: “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:29-30).
In the same way, believers embrace godly grief not only for our own sins but for the sins of others and for the pain that loss brings us. For example, Jesus says in regard to those in the kingdom who grieve over the sins of others, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted" (Matthew 5:7).Peter speaks of our grieving over trials: “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, as was necessary, you have been grieved by various trials” (1 Peter 1:6). Paul speaks of our grieving over lost loved ones: “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). And Paul refers to his own grief over the lostness of his kinsmen: “My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit—that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart" (Romans 9:1).
Nevertheless Paul makes the astonishing statement in 2 Corinthians 6:10 that what marks his life and should mark ours as “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.” Perhaps there are those of you reading this right now who resonate in your own experience what the apostle Paul was speaking of. Only a Christian can actually be happy and sad at the same time. I call it happy sadness or sad happiness. It seems so paradoxical, but oh what a precious experience for the believer!
This is what makes our sorrow godly. I do not glibly claim that this experience is simple or that we can even put it into adequate words, what it means to be joyful in sorrow; but in our experience we know it can ring true. Much like the Macedonian Christians, who in loss of property, persecution, extreme hardship and poverty, "their abundance of joy...overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part"(2 Corinthians 8:9-10).
I think we all who are believers understand and have experienced this. When I lost all that mattered to me and weeping with sobs of inconsolable grief with all the loss I can certainly tell you that did not look like joy. Indeed was not joy in its complete fullness, as we will know it when “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).
But, the joy that has manifest and endured through my sorrow is the foretaste of a future joy in God which I hope. Jesus Himself, who suffered incomparable grief and loss, was sustained by “the joy that was set before him” (Hebrews 12:2). This does not mean that he felt in the garden or on the cross all that he would feel in the resurrection. But it does mean that He hoped in it and that this hope was an experienced foretaste of that joy.
I have learned that true joy does not come in the experience of sorrow in itself . Is it no wonder why so many of us have a huge disconnect when some preacher or Christian glibly tells us to rejoice when we are so sad, hurt, broken, lonely, grief stricken, and depressed. They expect us to put on a happy face and find joy somehow in the sorrow itself. At least for me, it always has been unrealistic, shallow, it has never worked, nor is it helpful. But I have learned a secret; joy in sorrow can only come in the anticipation of future joy.
When I am suffering I have many times looked to Jesus and my future hope in Him and His promises and His grace to lift me with joy out of and above my present sorrows and it constantly has for brought joy to me.
The best example I can give is when my father went to war twice in Vietnam when I was a little boy. He was gone for over a year each time. Whenever I would get sad, scared about him getting killed, or lonely about his absence, I would think about his future return, and the thought of his return would bring me present joy in my sorrow. So I was able to be sorrowful but rejoicing at the same time.
The fact is that we groan here in this life and in this world, waiting for the redemption of our bodies and for the removal of all our sins (Romans 8:23). This groaning and grieving is godly if it is molded by our joy in hope of future glory (Romans 5:2-3). The delight is subdued by all the pain, but it is there in seed form. It will one day grow into a great vine that yields wine of undiluted delight.
So let us learn to embrace whatever sorrow God appoints for us with joy.
Let us not be ashamed of tears. After all, God says that He keeps our tears in a bottle "You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle.Are they not in your book? " (Psalm 56:8).
Let us sow our seeds in tears and do our work in tears.
"Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! He who goes out weeping,bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy,bringing his sheaves with him."(Psalm 16:6-8).
Let the promise encourage you in your present sorrows that joy will come with the morning "Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning" (Psalm 30:5).
Let us learn to be looking not only at our sorrows, but looking to Jesus and remembering his kind, merciful, and loving nature and promises in order to be,
“sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.” (2 Corinthians 6:10)
Let us through our tears, the comfort, and joy God brings us, serve others in their sorrow by giving them comfort and joyful hope. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."(2 Corinthians 1:3-4)
May God help you to sustain and shape your grief with His joy, His power, and His goodness this day and every day in your present sorrows.
Sorrowful but always rejoicing,
Pastor Bill
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