Encourage joy in the unlikeliest of places. Last night my “indescribably beautiful” wife showed us a a wonderful video of a group doing a “flash mob” performance of the Halleluja chorus from Handel’s Messiah in a shopping mall food court. Talk about the sacred invading the secular! It was like the kingdom of God routing the kingdom of darkness, not through the force of arms, but through the force of joy.
And it wasn’t just because they were singing about something “spiritual,” as incomparable and stirring as Handel’s composition is. Next, we watched a “flash mob” dance to “do-re-mi” from The Sound of Music in a Brussels train station.
There was no “sacred” content in this one, but God’s ever-present, inexhaustible cataract of joy was still evident, threatening to wash over the lonely, harried lives of passers-by. Since joy is a fruit of the Spirit, we should expect him to be present when joy breaks out. Remember, joy is God‘s territory, not the devil’s.
So I say encourage joy, wherever it can be found. It may open a well of longing that only God can satisfy, leading to everlasting joy.
