Life is not a party

“Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Mt 5:16)

“Happy Birthday to You! Happy Birthday to You!” We sing about being happy. We do what we can to make a crying baby happy. We buy homes, cars, and toys to make us happy. We are happy when we are surrounded by friends and family. We listen to comedians to make us happy. We take drugs to make us happy. And yet we're not happy. What's up with that?

Could it be that we are not happy, because God didn't create us to be happy? Happiness is dependent on happenings. If everything is going smoothly and everyone is doing what I want them to do, then I can be happy. But if something changes my plans, someone crosses my path, I am no longer happy, nor am I expected to be happy. Did you notice how selfish those two sentences are? I will be happy if things are going my way. If they are not going my way, then I will not be happy. Happiness is truly selfish.

We are never commanded by God to be happy, but we are commanded to rejoice. Is there a difference?

In Matthew 5-7, Jesus is instructing His followers about His rules for life on earth. Not the rules of society or of religious leaders, but the rules of our Master. And what does He say about rejoicing? “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Mt 5:11-12). Does that sound like “Happy Birthday?” It's clearly not a party.

The command to rejoice and be exceedingly glad is right in the middle of a description of persecution. When people are ridiculing you, persecuting you, and falsely accusing you because of your testimony about your life in Christ, rejoice! That doesn't sound like cake and ice cream, does it?

Jesus expects you to rejoice in the midst of persecution. Why? How can He expect you to rejoice when people are making fun of your relationship with Him? “For great is your reward in heaven.” When your happiness is dictated by your happenings and nothing more, you will find little reason to be happy. But when your joy is guided by the hope of eternal rewards then your happenings are not that important.

What others might say about you is nothing in comparison to hearing your loving Master say to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Mt 25:21). The physical abuse that you might receive for standing up for Jesus has no lasting effect when you remember that your body is going to be transformed to a glorious body (Phil 3:20-21). Even martyrdom for the sake of Christ is cause for rejoicing (Mt 10:28; 2 Tim 4:6-8).

Rejoicing in the midst of persecution is repeated throughout the book of Acts and the Epistles. In Acts 5, the disciples, who had heard Jesus preach about rejoicing in suffering for Christ were able to live that out. They had been imprisoned for preaching about Christ. An angel set them free in the night and commanded them to return to the temple to preach. The religious leaders who had arrested them, found the prison locked and guarded, but empty. Then they heard that the former prisoners were preaching in the temple. The disciples were arrested, interrogated, threatened, beaten and released. Their response: “So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. (Acts 5:41). They rejoiced because they were suffered for the cause of Christ!

Could it be that you are not happy because you are not suffering for the cause of Christ? If rejoicing in the midst of persecution is commanded, maybe you are not rejoicing because you are not being persecuted. And why would you not be persecuted because of your relationship to Christ? Maybe no one knows that you have a relationship with Him. Though persecution is not the only reason for rejoicing, there is a connection in this passage. One way that you could become joyful would be to talk with your co-worker about your relationship with Jesus Christ. He might rejoice with you, as you both discover that you are both followers of Christ. He might ask you more questions, which will cause joy as you dig into the Word to answer them. He might laugh in your face and ridicule you to the rest of the office staff. Regardless of your co-worker's response, you can rejoice “for great is your reward in heaven!”