Sorrow Into Joy

Trinity Church Tamworth

SORROW TURNED INTO JOY Trinity John 16:16-24 10.03.24 Some people say that Christians are escapists and do not live in the real world. They say that we:  pretend that what we can’t see is more real than what we can see  hide from the evil around us by talking about heaven to come  are blind to people’s real needs, and care only about their souls No one who knows much about history can seriously say that. • In Britain, it was predominantly Christians who started schools, worked hard for the abolition of slavery, helped abused women and children, ran orphanages, built hospitals for the poor, began trades unions and even the RSPCA, among much else. • In Australia it was predominantly Christians who first cared in aboriginal and remote communities … no doubt one of the reasons there are more Christians as a percentage in indigenous groups than in the population at large. • More than half the medical, educational, and relief work in Africa in 2024 is done by Christian groups. Escapist? Hiding? Blind to real-world issues? History says ‘no’. More importantly, Jesus’ words say ‘no’. His words recorded in John 16:16-24 bring us face to face with realities from which we cannot escape, and do not want to escape. He shows us reality in a way that nothing in this world does. His words are designed to enable us to deal with what is real in a way that nothing else comes even close to doing. Let’s start with the first reality: 1. WE’RE IN A WAR It is just not realistic to say that what you see is all there is. There are plenty of things in this world, that are real, but not visible … lovely things like empathy, heroism, love, a sense of justice. All works of God’s common grace in all kinds of people. All of them his gifts. And there are ugly things. Pride, distrust, greed, lust, addiction, fear, wanting to be comfortable more than being useful. We see the manifestations of those things, but we don’t see them. And we don’t know enough to explain them if what you see is all there is. Where do these come from? They are mixed up with the one Jesus called “the ruler of this world” (16:11). The devil, Satan. He is not absolute ruler, of course, but he is mixed up with what is evil and ugly, and he is at war with Jesus who IS absolute ruler. And because he has real power in this world, you can say “this world” is against Jesus … and against those who are with him. That is what the disciples who first hear these words are going to find. Back in 15:18 Jesus had told them “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.” And in hatred of those who belong to Jesus, when they suffer and are killed for following Jesus, “You will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice.” (verse 20) Does he mean that everyone everywhere will celebrate when Christians suffer because of their testimony to Jesus? No more than everyone everywhere hates Jesus. But IN GENERAL, there is hostility against Jesus and his kingdom in this world.  Does “the ruler of this world” impact me? Sure. Every time I believe what he says or do what he wants, I am being exposed to the heart of the war of the world against Jesus.  Does he impact others? Sure. Every time there is any attack on Jesus or his children, yes, sin in the hearts of people is part of it, but Satan also is involved. He is part of “this world”. When we talk about “the world”, we might mean planet earth, or the beautiful things in it. But most of the nearly 100 times John uses the term, he is talking about what is against God. When Jesus said, “the world hates me” (7:7), he wasn’t talking about the rocks and the stars. And when we read “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” (3:16), it doesn’t mean every person on planet earth. He intruded in love into a world that was against him. Sometimes the war is hot, and sometimes it is cool. At the beach the ocean can come in, in gentle ripples or crashing breakers. Sometimes unbelief listens to Jesus politely. Sometimes it tries to shut him down, by any every means. Whether it is a ripple or a breaker, it is still war. It is still two worlds in crashing conflict. That is why John urges us to “not love the world, or the things of the world” (1 Jn 2:15). It IS a war. It is pretence to say it isn’t. It is realistic to see it for what it is. 2. BECAUSE OF THE WAR THERE ARE ALWAYS TEARS Let’s go back to the start of our verses for today. Jesus says in verse 16 “A little while, and you will see me no longer: and again a little while, and you will see me.” The disciples don’t get it. Is anyone surprised that they don’t? What does he mean? Did they get it once he was taken away from them and crucified … and then they saw him again after he was raised from the dead a few days later. Now that makes sense. Or was it 6 weeks after that when he came to them at Pentecost in the person of the Holy Spirit, just as he had promised, and they him again, as it were? Sure. That also makes sense. He promises them: “You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.” (v20b) Did that joy come after the resurrection? Or after the Holy Spirit came? There was great joy after both. And growing boldness for the honour of Jesus. But that wasn’t the end of their tears. • Paul said that for 3 years he had admonished the believers in Ephesus with tears (Acts 20:31) and they weren’t all happy tears. • He says that he wrote to the church “out of much affliction and anguish of heart and many tears” (2 Cor 2:2). Not many of the original disciples died in their sleep. Most were tortured and killed. Do you think without tears? Joy now? Of course, now. Who here is a Christian and doesn’t rejoice at being adopted as a child of God against whom there is no condemnation, and whose future is 100% safe? But let’s be honest. • Is raising kids only a dream – all joy? • Who scores 100% in every exam? • What have you ever done with your hands that is perfect? • What delight has ever fully satisfied your heart? • Do the people you love live forever? • Real pressure from the enemies of the gospel? • Has everyone to whom you’ve spoken about Jesus believed? In an address this week, John Piper said “This world is one conveyor belt of disappointment”. It’s not the whole story. But in this world, there are more tears than you can poke a stick at. What is now the common practice at funerals? Bright colours. Funny stories. Flowers and distracting music. Remembering only the good things, not the bad. Apologising for tears. Who is pretending now? Can you really explain suffering and pain out of this world? Or think that life doesn’t hurt, and sometimes very, very deeply? But even when we have answers from that other world, are there still tears? Yes, because the war continues, and there is damage because of what Satan is doing in this world. And tears are a response to what is real. Jesus, later, gave John a vision of a day that was coming. Jesus showed him the day when all the children of God everywhere will see him again, physically. He says “God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Rev 21:3b,4) Did they have joy when they saw Jesus resurrected? Yes. And after the Holy Spirit came to them? Yes. But it was still mixed with tears. It was the start, but not the end. “You have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.” (v22) ON THAT WONDEREFUL DAY, ABSOLUTELY AND FULLY! 3. THE TEARS ARE FOR ANOTHER WORLD Tears and lament are not simply inevitable in this world because of the war. Under the hand of Jesus, the real Ruler of this world, they are much more than that. It is not just that there are tears now, and that one day the sadness will be replaced by joy. The real story is better than that! Did you notice that Jesus does not say that tears now will be replaced by joy, thought that of course is true. He says here “your sorrow will turn into joy” (v20c), as though sadness itself is turned into joy. Men here who have been present at the birth of their children know all about tears. It is painfully hard work. It is not all that easy for their wives either. Labour pains are real and can be long, unrelenting and unrelieved. Once the baby is born, it is not just that the pain is replaced by joy. The pain was part of the path to the joy “that a human being has been born into the world” (v21b). The pain is transformed into the joy. More than one woman in labour has said, “Never again” … but 2 days later, holding the baby, is thinking about the next one. I look around and I can see people who have been through things that have been so hard, so sad, so grievous, that it is a wonder they can ever smile again. How does that sadness turn into joy? In many ways:  Sadness turns to joy because of the death of Jesus, supremely. The misery of the cross-means life for a huge multitude!  Some of us learn to trust Jesus when the lights are off in ways we would never have done apart from that. And deeper faith brings deeper joy.  Maybe perseverance grows in trial, as muscles are strengthened when they meet resistance, and being stronger brings joy.  Maybe the joy is for others as we speak to them out of what we have been through … as Paul says, “If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation”. (2 Cor 1:6).  Maybe we leave this life deep in tears … the sight of seeing Jesus’ face to face is going to be all the sweeter because of that. Am I speaking too lightly about trials and tears? I am trying very hard not to. And I am certainly not saying that tears and lament now are not real. Or that we should pretend they don’t hurt. But I am saying that because there is a world other than the one, we see, there is more to the story than the tears. If this world is all there is:  You won’t see enough to be able to explain the ugliness in it – or the ugliness in others – or in you.  If you must pretend our broken world is not as painful as it is, you will be shallow and callous and living in Wonderland.  You can’t expect anything good and lasting to come out of your tears apart from just feeling better because you let it all out. Let’s not pretend. Jesus has brought us face to face with what is real … about the war in this world, the tears that come because there is a war, and the way in which he transforms the tears. What about tomorrow? Or next week? When are our best hopes crushed? When people we love are taken away? When we fall and fail yet one more time? When the world cheers, and we weep? What then? Brothers and sisters, let’s take to ourselves the sure, certain, and real words of Jesus … “In a little while you will see me … just a little while.” We will see who? Jesus, the true ruler of all, who says “Take heart; I have overcome the world.” (v33). More on that to come. But for now, dear friends, reset your clocks. The joy has started. The day of full joy is closer now than when we first believed. Can you keep going until this time tomorrow? This time next week? This time next year? In Terms of eternity, it is only “a little while”.