For Everything Else, There’s Mastercard
that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality 2 Corinthians 8:2
Joy – Talk-show host Michael Savage once commented, “There are no rules for happiness.” He’s right, but not for the reasons he suggested. Happiness has no rules because happiness is entirely circumstantial. It’s like enjoying sushi. Some like it: others can’t even imagine eating raw fish. Happiness is a by-product of my personal tastes and my environment. With the right combination, happiness arrives, but when any critical factor changes, happiness is quick to flee.
That’s why the Bible is not a guide to happiness. Looking for such a guide is basically a waste of time. All happiness is the temporary confluence of taste and circumstance. God is interested in something far more permanent – joy!
The truth about the difference between happiness and joy is startlingly revealed in this verse. Most of us could never imagine associating joy with affliction and deep poverty. But there it is, in black and white. These people were in the midst of incredible trouble and had no assets at all, yet they are characterized by abundant joy. That’s what you and I need. Life never guarantees happiness. The pursuit of happiness is a demonic myth. I don’t want happiness because that would mean I would have to maintain the fragile combination of taste and circumstance at all costs. I want joy – the stuff that fills my heart and soul in the midst of trials and losses. I want the stuff that is immune to the world’s wiles.
Charas, Greek for “joy”, comes from the same root as words translated rejoice, be glad, grace, favor, thanks and gratitude. Jesus even uses this word as the greeting of the new dawn after the resurrection (see Matthew 28:9 where it is usually translated with the insipid “Hail”). It is a powerful part of the Christian’s vocabulary.
So, how do I make joy that basis of my life? Maybe these Corinthians give us a clue. Did you notice that their perspective on life had nothing to do with their trials or their poverty? Maybe joy is not so much a product of what I pursue as it is a by-product of what I leave behind. Maybe joy accompanies eyesight that does not look for an easy life and sufficient assets. Maybe I need less clutter to have more joy. I suspect that one reason we find joy so difficult to obtain in this world is that we truly believe it accompanies all the things MasterCard can buy. Once we confuse happiness with joy, we are bound to chase an evaporating dream. Maybe this year we need to practice the art of giving away all those things that MasterCard can buy. Joy is the priceless gift of God’s bounty and God seems to send it when we are most dependent on Him.
Why not let go of the MasterCard life? You might discover a new word in your vocabulary – charas!
