In a doom-laden world this matters. We call people to come follow a saviour who promises unburdening (Matt 11:28), feasting (Luke 15) and joy (Gal 5:22). We call lonely and unloved people to come into a fellowship of people marked by togetherness, love and gladness.

Life is hard. Difficult things happen to us. Serious matters—Heaven, Hell, eternity, sin—weigh on us. Yet in some places I see a long-faced Christianity—the long face worn almost as a badge of godliness.

Sometimes the retort is given, “We are never told of Jesus laughing, but often told of his weeping. He was ‘a Man of Sorrows’.” And this is true, and if we were bearing the burden of the sins of the world on our shoulders, and facing the wrath of the Judge of all the earth, we would be justified in being men and women of sorrows.

But we have received “glad tidings of great joy” and are to be so marked by hope that people will ask us to explain our inexplicable expectations.

Yes, we will weep; times will be hard, but what marks our demeanour? As we age, what story do the lines on our face tell? When people read between the lines, do they read a deep-seated joy?

In a doom-laden world this matters. We call people to come follow a saviour who promises unburdening (Matt 11:28), feasting (Luke 15) and joy (Gal 5:22). We call lonely and unloved people to come into a fellowship of people marked by togetherness, love and gladness.

This ought to be seen in us, not simply as individuals, but as we gather as congregations. True, we will weep with those who weep, but ***the default mode of our fellowship should be a deep joy. ***

I was wondering if this thinking of mine was a modern phenomenon—a result of living in the fluff and feathers of the 21st century. So I was surprised to read the 17th century Thomas Watson echoing these thoughts:

“We glorify God by walking cheerfully… The uncheerful lives of the godly bring a scandal on the gospel.” (A Body of Divinity)

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