Grammatical Failures

and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible  1 Peter 1:8

Inexpressible – “I just don’t have the words to tell you.”  But we try, don’t we?  In fact, if you believe the lyrics of popular love ballads, there are more than enough vocals that proclaim what they say that they cannot say.  Peter is not so ridiculous.

“Joy inexpressible” uses the word aneklaleto.  Literally, it means, “unable to call out.”  Here is a joy that is not able to be uttered aloud.  It comes from something so deep that grammar fails.  When you have joy that cannot be spoken, you alter the definition of your existence.  You are no longer the cogitating, speaking animal.  You have stepped across the barrier that defines Man in this realm.  Now you are starting to look like a transfigured being. 

But it doesn’t happen with just any kind of joy.  That’s why we struggle so much with those love ballads.  We are not content with wordless ecstasy – unless we encounter the presence of God.  There is an inexpressible joy that still belongs on this side of the human-divine ledger.  It’s the joy that belongs in the realm of loving another.  We might not have the words, but we still make the attempt.  Then there is a joy that originates in another world.  It is not the creation of human affection.  It is a gift, showered upon us by the Spirit of the living God.  And because it’s source is beyond all that we might conceive or imagine, words simply fail.  As much as we are defined by language, in this realm grammar goes out the window.  We are unable to even utter anything that captures what we experience.  Jesus was quite right when He said that it is a peace that passes understanding.  This joy breaks us down.  It removes all our preconditions, expectations, structured arrangements and patterned existence.  It sweeps us someplace else; some unfamiliar, unimaginable place where God greets us.

 “What’s it like?,” you ask.  Ah, but I can’t tell you.  All I know is that once you have been there, life is different – in ways that you can’t quite express.  All I know is that you can’t forget it – ever.  It leaves an emptiness in the heart of existence that can never be filled here.  It’s the joy of knowing there really is more.

“How do I know when I get there?”  When you arrive, you won’t need to ask the question.