Joy In A Sad World

I remember watching Zach Snyder’s Man of Steel a couple of years ago. The movie wasn’t a box-office hit, but there were a handful of moments that I appreciated. One of my favorite scenes was towards the beginning of the movie with an elementary Clark Kent, his powers begin to come alive, beginning with his superhuman hearing and x-ray vision. He then freaks out due to the anxiety from his newfound senses and makes a run for it out of the classroom to the janitor’s closet in the hallway. When his adopted mother shows up to the scene, she asks him to let her into the closet for comfort. Overwhelmed, he says, “The world’s too big, mom.”

While the movie is fiction, that line resounds with truth about our interaction with the world. It’s a big place filled with sadness, just turn to any news outlet and it will be filled with evidence. For Christians, there’s a tension between believing in a big God and living the reality of our hot-mess environment. Especially with the shift of America’s leadership to one of two historically controversial candidates, it’s easy to lose heart and not engage the world

To add weight to what we carry, this problem is only the tip of the iceberg. I have friends signing divorce papers, loved ones are having miscarriages who are walking through despair. Whether it’s racial tensions boiling domestically or our general apathy towards places in desperate need like Haiti, there is no sympathy. Nearly 3,000 abortions happen per day; image bearers not having a chance to bear the image of our Father by way of our selfish choices.

If the world outside terrifies us, introspection could paralyze us. The personal burdens we carry have the potential to lead us into quicksand–our grief can sink us. How can we bear the pain and sadness of the world, and in ourselves, without going insane or letting it get the best of us? I can look to no one’s example more than that of our suffering-Savior.

A Joyful Man At The Most Unpleasant Time

Jesus not only lived a sinless life, but He did it walking through the same sin-filled environment we live in today, all while doing life with twelve sin-sick men and healing spiritually dead people. Jesus was the best of us, and His blamelessness deserved more than our mess. Even so, He walked in our pain, made the blind see, raised the dead, and carried the burdens of the world to the point of His death.

Contrary to how we view Jesus at times, we forget that He was a man of sorrows.[1] We forget that He was not only God but also simply a man. Tim Keller investigates this characteristic of Jesus in his book, Walking With God Through Pain and Suffering:

“Look at Jesus. He was perfect, right? And yet he goes around crying all the time. He is always weeping, a man of sorrows. Do you know why? Because he is perfect. Because when you are not all absorbed in yourself, you can feel the sadness of the world. And therefore, what you actually have is that the joy of the Lord happens inside the sorrow. It doesn’t come after the sorrow. It doesn’t come after the uncontrollable weeping. The weeping drives you into the joy, it enhances the joy, and then the joy enables you to actually feel your grief without its sinking you.”

“… for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”[2] Through the sorrow and our burdens on His shoulders, we see a joy compelling Him to press on–even through torture and death of the cross. To pursue this joy despite the yoke He bore for us must mean that there is a purpose to our pain, and thankfully, a glorious end.

This end is God Himself. “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”[3] Between Jesus’ perfection and empathy, the backstabbing he endured from people He loved, and His death for the sins of the world–He has all of the reason to sink and yet, He didn’t.

There was something about the joy set before Him that kept Him going. His joy triumphed over His sorrow. This is Good News! It means that, empowered by the Spirit of God, we are enabled to endure every blow without sinking–and we can also invite others along to consider Jesus. Here are some practical applications that help me live as a light in a world gone bad:

1. Pray: In the midst of being overwhelmed, Jesus prayed to the father. He knew he was living and active and available. He understood the Father was for His good. (Matthew 26:36-59)
2. Repent: Jesus depended perfectly on the unsinkable father. Unlike Him, we are sinful–yet even in our deepest despair, He gives us enough grace to enables us to choose joy in unfavorable circumstances.[4] When the pressure is on, we must fix our eyes on our greatest hope. Don’t panic; hope again.
3. Take action: Despite how big and noisy our environments are, and how complex living among sinners is, the Christian is perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are struck down, but not destroyed. [5]“One thing have I asked of the Lord, that I will seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.” [6] Friends, we are able to dwell with God in the midst of craziness and have peace in our souls. Imagine not having a hope like this at a time like this–engage the sadness as Jesus did and share the gospel with someone today. Give someone a reason to wake up in the morning.

 

[1] Isaiah 53:3-5

[2] Hebrews 12:2 (emphasis added)

[3] Psalm 73:25-26 (emphasis added)

[4] James 1:2

[5] 2 Corinthians 4:8, 9b

[6] Psalm 27:4