Shouldn’t our happiness come from what Christ has done for us, the gospel? If this is so, our grid through which we see all things should be fashioned by Scripture, by His grace and goodness planned for us as one of His own beloved. This should make a difference whether we land the perfect job, or lose our job one month from retirement, marry a Proverbs 31 woman (like myself) or be on the edge of divorce.
Now, having said that, life is full of both the mountains and the valleys, small and large in size, and our joy, even founded in Christ, is often influenced by what happens around us. This shows us how important our Covenant Community of brothers and sisters is. We often need, in our success, a word of admonition against pride. But, just as easily, in our valley, we often need a word of encouragement. What I’m saying is that “joy” is not an individually arrived at position. Yes, we are given the ultimate reason for joy in Christ, but living it out is a different story. We are people still with sinful natures along with new hearts (just ask the Psalmists) and we need the community (yes, the “Christian Village”) to walk victoriously with Him. Sometimes, this is not an over night process but takes some time. Let us with one another be patient and encouraging, truthful and honest. This is the Church’s most sacred service after worshiping the King, to love one another and bear each other’s burdens.

If I were the pastor of a church lacking in Joy, I think I’d preach a series on Nehemiah 8 where the post exilic Israelites experienced new-found joy as they (re)discovered the Word of God.

I was amazed when I mentioned Nehemiah 8 to my wife and she responded with “The Joy of the Lord is my strength.” I’ll bet there aren’t a lot of people (in that hypothetical joyless church) that could make the connection between that well known verse and Neh 8.

Anyway my hypothetical sermon to my hypothetical church would have three points; 1. Read the Word 2. Receive the Word 3. Rejoice in the Word. I would work in the quote from that chorus that goes,
“Joy is a flag flown high from the castle of my heart, For the King is in residence there.”

Understanding my conscience, I would also probably have to credit Scottish pastor and seminary professor, Dr. David P. Murray for preaching it better than I, hypothetically, would have.