Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Folly brings joy to one who has no sense,
    but whoever has understanding keeps a straight course.

• Proverbs 15:21

You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.

• 1 Thessalonians 1:6

Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.

• Philemon 1:7

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

• James 1:2-3

“In a sense the central story of my life is about nothing else. … it is that of an unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction. I call it Joy, which is here a technical term and must be sharply distinguished both from Happiness and from Pleasure. Joy (in my sense) has indeed one characteristic, and one only, in common with them; the fact that anyone who has experienced it will want it again. Apart from that and considered only in its quality, it might almost equally well be called a particular kind of unhappiness or grief. But then it is a kind we want. I doubt whether anyone who has tasted it would ever, if both were in his power, exchange it for all the pleasures in the world. But then Joy is never in our power and pleasure often is.”

• C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy

Sehnsucht is German for an intense yearning, longing, or craving.  It is more specific in craving than fernweh, which is basically the opposite of homesickness (far away sickness?).  In other words, a longing to be out there, but not specifically out “where.”  When I wrote about Sehnsucht before, I said there is a lot in the writings of C.S. Lewis where he long for Joy.

My testimony mirrors that of C.S. Lewis in that we both desired Joy.  This series on Sehnsucht is not firmly at one time slot, but this is the third installment.

Before we go much further, I am reminded of the Campus Crusade for Christ tracts that I had by the hundreds back in college days.  I often supplied street and church evangelists with tracts.  In the back of most of the tracts, it talks about a train going down the track.  The pamphlet warns that once you have experienced Joy, you will want to bask in it, similar to what C.S. Lewis says above.  But the train that is shown has three cars.  The locomotive is the engine that makes the train go.  The locomotive is the facts.  Jesus, who is fully human and fully God, came to earth.  He died.  He rose again.  And He sits at the right hand of God interceding for us.  We need the locomotive.  We also need the coal car, or the source of fuel, Faith.  But the only other car on the track is the caboose, the Feelings.  The caboose is not necessary to get the train down the tracks but the other two are.

But what C.S. Lewis speaks of is the Joy of initially becoming a Christian.  You can also get a powerful amount of Joy when you work in evangelism, and the Holy Spirit rocks the venue where you are helping.  You relive that initial Joy.  But we do not need the feelings to be saved.

Yet, most of us, me included, have a Sehnsucht, a deep longing for that Joy, which is more like pleasure, in that our feelings tingle.  This is not necessary for salvation, and as C.S. Lewis states, it is not up to us to obtain it again.

And the C.S. Lewis warning is there also.  Earthly pleasures are available.  They are tempting.  They are enticing, and we can get wrapped up in the wrong things.

And when we get to Paradise and we are with Jesus, that initial feeling will come back and will overflow far beyond the feelings we had in the beginning.  Until then, the best way to feel that intense Joy is to stay in God’s Word and share your faith with others.  When two or three are gathered together, God is there, and there may just be a tangible outpouring of the Holy Spirit, a pulse in the room that can be felt.

We go in God’s service, and on one occasion or another, we tangibly feel God’s presence.  It is not necessary to drive the train, but God still gives us an occasional blessing of repeated Joy, to go beyond the Joy that remains in our hearts always, regardless of circumstances.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.