Joy

Nathan Brown

A remarkable scene in David James Duncan's The Brothers K takes place in a Friday-afternoon softball game at an Adventist camp-meeting. One of the story's narrators-
Kincaid-is pitching to his Sabbath school teacher, Brother Beal. In a moment of competitiveness, Kincaid launches a fast pitch at his teacher. Beal responds in kind, sending the ball into a distant lily pond for an unofficial home run.

But it's what happens next that changes Kincaid's perception of Beal-and fills a page-and-half of description: "About the time he reached second base, a few of us began to notice something odd about the Brother's baserunning. It wasn't hard to put a finger on, either. He wasn't running bases at all. He was dancing them."

The crowd of players and onlookers react in various ways but must are won over by Beal's sheer exuberance. Rounding third base, Beal frolics off the softball diamond, circling his fiance, "at which point the sky got so red and the light so golden that I couldn't even look at her, she was so pretty, and all over the ballfield kids were collapsing from over-laughing."

Beal eventually arrives at home plate and continues "waltzing on it throughout the waves of wild cheering and applause." But not everyone is celebrating. The umpiring pastor judges Beal "out" for leaving the field, telling him "he ought to be ashamed for acting like he was acting in front of all us innocent children."

"But I'm not acting, Elder," Beal responds. "This is exactly how I feel!"

There are times when life and its goodness should be celebrated with exuberance and energy. It isn't a misprint when the Bible reminds us that there is "a time to dance" (Ecclesiastes 3:4*). The stories, instructions and literature of the Old Testament are punctuated with shouts of joy, songs and celebrations-both planned and spontaneous. It seems rejoicing is part of what it means to live life with God.

In the New Testament, much is made of Paul's repeated instructions to rejoice in the Book of Philippians, written as it was from his Roman jail cell. But the way this is often presented, we could be tempted to think Paul rejoiced only when in prison. Rather, joy and rejoicing are recurring themes of his letters, mentioned at least once in every one of his books.

It's obvious rejoicing was a way of life for Paul and something he wanted to share with others. "May you be filled with joy," he urged the Colossians (Colossians 1:11). And the Thessalonians were instructed to "Always be joyful" (1 Thessalonians 5:16).

Some believers-and some critics of Christianity-suggest such rejoicing either ignores or avoids the obvious sorrows, disappointments, pain and challenges of life-or even, in some twisted way, urges rejoicing about tragedy. But any belief or practice that ignores or avoids the enormity of suffering and evil diminishes the credibility of Christianity, reducing us to mere grinning idiots.

True joy makes space for true grief. We should never feel bad about feeling bad about things that are bad. But, as members of the kingdom of God, joy is the native land to which we return and the reality that constantly surprises us in goodness, beauty and hope.

And when we sing, dance, create, feel, taste, jump and shout for joy-when we act exactly how we feel without self-consciousness or contrivance, even if only for a moment-we are stepping into the flow of life Jesus described when He said we should "become as little children" as members of His kingdom (Matthew 18:3).

Of course, joy is not just a feeling. It is a practice or habit of life lived with God. But, from time to time, it should bubble out of us as a feeling and expression that might be contagious and even sometimes annoying-in a good kind of way-to those around us.

Joy is always something to be shared. And, as such, joy is a profound life practice the church community can share with the wider world. Rob Bell puts it like this: "The church has nothing to say to the world until it throws better parties. . . . God has given us life, and God's desire is that we live it. It is the job of the church to lead the world in affirming and, more important, enjoying the goodness of Creation" (Velvet Elvis).

*Bible quotations are from the New Living Translation.

This has been an editorial from Record, July 18, 2009

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