TEXT: Psalm 16:11

SUBJECT: Gabe's Funeral

Last Tuesday night, Gabe Leonard closed his eyes in fear and trembling. Moments later, he opened them to "the fullness of joy" and to "pleasures forever more".

"Joy" and "pleasure" are words not easy to define, but are feelings we all know. Think of satisfaction joined to elation; think of excitement coupled with serenity. Put these together and you have "joy"; you have "pleasure".

Joy is felt in good times, of course. When the People of God returned from their long exile, they sang,

"Our mouth was filled with laughter

and our tongue with singing".

As for hard times, they have a joy of their own. There is a poignancy to them, a quality we call "bittersweet". Jesus Christ is the chief exemplar of this. Though "The Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief", He "Rejoices in spirit" and is "Anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows".

Where do these feelings come from? Are they the result of an evolutionary quirk? No they aren't. We have them by design. God knows joy. We're made "in His image". Therefore, we're capable of joy.

And not only that. The Lord who made us receptive to joy also gave us the things to make us happy.

St. James says,

There is a false Puritanism that makes God hard, stingy, and malicious. He isn't! He overflows with goodness and takes great pleasure in our happiness. Like the disciples of old, we must learn "Not even a sparrow falls without your Father".

Can joy be found in this world?

Mystics and hermits say it can't be, but the Bible says otherwise. Solomon found "joy" in eating and a "merry heart" in wine. He "rejoiced" in his work and was "enraptured" with the love of his wife. His children were "a crown of glory" and his friends "ointment and perfume".

"The Living God--writes St. Paul--"Gives us all things richly to enjoy". That's why the Psalmist sang,

"Oh that men would praise the LORD

for His goodness

And for His wonderful works

to the children of men".

Happiness can be had in this life--much happiness.

But its fullness can't be. Eternal pleasures aren't so easily gotten. Where can they be found? Our text leaves no doubt. Speaking of God, it says,

"In Your presence is the fullness of joy

At Your Right Hand are pleasures forever more".

This isn't the only verse that says so. Psalm 73:25 is to the same effect:

"Whom have I in heaven but You?

And there is none upon earth that I desire

besides You.

My flesh and my heart fail,

But God is the strength of my heart

and my portion forever".

St. John agrees:

"The world passes away and the desires thereof,

But he who does the will of God abides forever".

The joys of this life are real, but they're not permanent. They were never meant to be. The blessings of life are meant to point us to their source--to God who alone provides "the fullness of joy and pleasures forever more".

Gabe Leonard now has that joy--in full. He now has those pleasures--forever more. Six days ago, he heard the Voice: "Enter into the joy of your Lord". Now He is gazing upon the Face of the One who "loved him and gave himself for him". One look at that face--the face of God in Christ--has given our young man a joy we can't describe. And pleasures beyond imagining.

They're his--in full forever more. But not only his. The joy Gabe now knows can also be yours. How? Through faith alone in Christ alone.

Those who believe in Christ "rejoice with a joy unspeakable and full of glory". Yet the joy we now feel is but the beginning. In joy, Gabe is ahead of us all--way, way ahead of us. If given the chance to come back, he wouldn't. But we can go to him. We can have the very same joy ourselves.

In Christ.

God give us that joy, for Christ's sake. Amen.

When you first believe in Christ, you "rejoice with a joy unspeakable and full of glory". Yet this joy--as great as it is--is only the beginning. It grows in life and is perfected in death.