June 3/4, 2023
From the Pastor’s Desk – Pastor Alex Poon
Dear brothers and sisters of RCAC,
Happy and joyful, joyful, and happy – we use these words interchangeably, don’t we?
But they’re not the same. Joy is something deeper than happiness. Happiness comes and goes with favorable happenings. Joy is deeper and does not depend on our happenings. Joy is a heart posture, rooted deeply beyond events and experiences, but felt in our soul.
Where does joy come from? “Rejoice in the Lord” (Philippians 3:1) the Apostle Paul writes from his jail cell in Rome. He’s writing his letter to the church of Philippi he helped start.
“Rejoice in the Lord”, Paul has exhorted the same message before, so he writes, “To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.”
We do need constant reminders to find our joy. To find our joy in Christ.
If I was to ask you, “Are you happy?” What would you want to tell me? Perhaps you would say, “No, I’m not! How could I be?”, “I am busy with work, the rise of prices is making me worry, my children aren’t listening, my parents are ill, and I’m not sure when my next day of rest will be.” These are all deeply upsetting circumstances. I pray for your comfort and peace to arrive soon. Know that Paul would resonate with all your feelings – he is after all, sitting in his jail cell, wrongly accused, waiting to see if he will live past this foreseeable future.
What is his pastoral exhortation then? It’s found in verse 8, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
Knowing Christ leads to joy, joy that is beyond happiness.
Knowing Christ Jesus deeply, in such a way that experiences him in our distressing times will lead to joy, a joy that binds up fear.
It seems like an impossible task – of knowing Christ this deeply – but it is not. For this is our invitation. This is the trajectory to which we strive. This is the aim, the goal of the long and possible journey.
Do you know Christ?
Do you know how he sees you? Do you know how he looks upon your life’s circumstances today? Do you know his compassion, his ever near presence, his ability to save you in all the ways you need to be saved? Do you know him as Redeemer that he would free you from any sin that we have let ourselves be bound to? Do you know Christ as the Son of God who adopted you into his family? Do you know you can trust and delight in the Father because you have Christ who restored your relationship? Do you know that Christ is light, who can drive out the dark? Do you know Christ is the one by whom all things were made, and he bothered making you? Did you know that you can come to him for his embrace when all seems to go wrong? Did you know you have Jesus who sees you with eyes of love and longs to show you the power of his resurrection life which puts death and sin and evil and Satan in their defeated places?
This is tangible and practical joy we gain from the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus Christ our Lord. A joy that helps us stand each day.
Your servant in Christ,
Pastor Alex Poon