16: Joy & the Promise (Advent: Part 3)

(00:01) Stephanie: Season 4, Episode 16. Hello Father. I am very, very happy by your sweater choice for this episode.

(00:06) Marcus: Hello, daughter. Yeah, for those who are not watching on YouTube you won’t notice, but I’m wearing my traditional Christmas sweater with lots and lots of multicolors, because today is also about joy. So I thought I’d wear my joy sweater.

(00:27) Stephanie: And you know, joy pops on a dark background, so I’m wearing black. Fabulous,wonderful.

(00:32) Marcus: Yeah. No hidden meanings here.

(00:46) Stephanie: Well, as we’re getting started, I just wanted to thank you our Fellowship of the Trail. Our, you know, we’re still working on our name for people who are listening and watching, our on the trail community. But thank you for being with us on the trail. And we just invite you to consider partnering with Deeper Walk as you are putting together your end of year giving. I wanted to give our “joy Marcus” here an opportunity, anything you want to say about that?

(01:23) Marcus: Like I said, we are focusing on expansion at Deeper Walk. God’s blessed us and He’s opened up doors that only He could have opened. I look back on the partnerships that God has brought our way. Very few of them happened because I strategically went out to make that partnership. God just brought people to us. And the result is, opportunities globally to reach new nations that we’ve never gotten into. Also, more opportunities to work with churches directly and not always just with individuals and churches. And so your gift this year end is going to help both of those areas significantly.

(02:04) Stephanie: Truly, the people of Deeper Walk, every time I meet people who are in our community I truly feel you are epic. I don’t know if it’s still in my bio on the website, but when I engage with people who are spreading heart-focused discipleship, who are getting it into their churches, getting it into their communities, and those who are already doing it. When we partnered with them, we were like, whoa, look at what God’s doing in your ministry and how can we help each other? I’m like, wow. God has a kingdom full of epic people who just make me smile. So on that note, it’s joy. Oh, and on the note of hope of the season, I talked to Emily, who is the director of the School of Ministry. Last week was the deadline to get into our spring classes and cohorts for School of Ministry, but she said, she may still be able to get you in. So please email her ASAP. Details are in the description if you were like, oh shoot, I missed that deadline. There may still be hope for you, in this regard.

(03:17) Marcus: Yep, sometimes they fill up and we gotta say, no, but sometimes we can sneak people in too.

(03:23) Stephanie: All right, Father, for Advent, we’re looking at the Abrahamic covenant of promise. This week on the Advent calendar, we are looking at joy. We are going to be looking more at the aspect of the promise that has to do with belonging. So on that note, will you give us a quick recap of covenant and move into joy?

(03:49) Marcus: Yeah, when I think of the covenant, I think of an acorn. It is like my symbol of the covenant. An acorn can pop into two parts, and there’s two parts to the covenant. The top part reminds us of the promises to Abraham where he’d be given a seed. Which means he’s going to have kids and a family that’s going to grow into a nation. He’s going to be given land where that family can live. And he’s going to be given a special promise of belonging, that is that I will be your God and you will be my people. And I will be the God of your offspring, and they will be my people.

And so this idea of relationship with God, a unique relationship with God is what we’re going to be focusing on today. It comes from this top part. And then the bottom part of the acorn comes to a point. And we talk about the point of the promise is, God bringing blessing to the nations through the salvation that is offered, by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. So yeah, that’s the promise in a nutshell. And that’s why we’re focusing on belonging today, and God’s unique relationship with His covenant people. And there is, as you know, a direct correlation between belonging and joy.

(05:01) Stephanie: We’ll get more into that in a little bit. I do want to say that throughout the Old Testament, we see this very powerful refrain where God says, “I will be your God and you will be my people.” I usually think of Exodus when I hear that, but we get that echo throughout the Old Testament. It kind of has a seed there, appropriately, with Abraham, so would you talk about that a little bit?

(05:31) Marcus: Yeah, the picture that comes to my mind is that in the ancient Near East marriages were arranged. A man would sit down with the father of the woman he wanted to marry and they would enter into negotiations. And basically a betrothal arrangement was agreed upon and it was actually arranged between families, and not just between two people. And once this arrangement was made you were considered to be married from that point on. There did come a wedding day in which the betrothal was finished and there would generally be a big party that would often last for days and days. And it was the families, and the community welcoming a new family into their fold.

And so there was a massive celebration. And this is kind of the background of the language that’s being used here.Yahweh is saying to Abraham, you’re going to have a child someday, and when that child grows up, I’m going to claim that child as my bride. And this is a metaphor, like I am going to claim this nation as my nation. If I can back this out just a minute too.If you go back to the flood and then to the Tower of Babel, you think about that the flood kind of wiped the earth clean.Then there’s one family, here’s Noah and his wife and they got three seeds, and each of those seeds becomes another tree. And then those trees produce more seeds that produce more trees.

So that there are family trees sprouting up all over the planet, repopulating the globe after the flood. But the problem is that none of these family trees have embraced the creator God, as their God. They are still more pagan in their thinking. So out of all of these family trees, out of all these tribes, and all of these nations, God says, none of them are mine. They don’t belong to me. So they rebelled against me at the Tower of Babel and I handed them over. And so at the Tower of Babel, God hands them over to the gods of the nations. And after that, he says, but I’m going to make one for myself.

I’m going to have a people that belong to me and the people that belong to me, I’m gonna give them many signs that these are my people. First of all, they shouldn’t have existed in the first place. It was a miracle birth, right? A 100 year old man and a 90 year old woman having a baby. That’s a miracle, right? And then the next generation he kind of does it again, only this time it’s a barren woman who for 20 years can’t have kids, and all of a sudden has twins. Another miracle birth.

And then God says, I’m going to choose the younger one, not the older one. We’re going to flip this around so that everybody knows that what is happening here is my doing. I am creating this nation, this is my nation. This is one that I’m claiming that I will be their God, they will be my people. And this stands in contrast to all the other nations in the world that belong to some other deity. Whether it was Baal, Asherah, Startha, Molech, or…Marduk, you name it. It’s like the gods of the nations.

Each nation worshiped its own gods, and our God, Yahweh, was like, nope, I will have my own people. And so that’s where this idea of belonging originates, that God wanted a people for himself. Not like I “just” get somebody, like he’s pouting or something. He’s like, nope, actually I have a people for myself and through that people, I’m eventually going to reclaim all of the other nations and they’re going to be mine as well.

(09:33) Stephanie: I mean we’ve talked about this before, the relationship between spiritual warfare and evangelism and the work that Jesus did. His death and resurrection opening the nations in a way, but maybe I digress. So talk more about this idea of offspring and belonging if you will.

(10:00) Marcus: Yeah. So once Abraham did have a child God also changed his name from Abram to Abraham. And implied in that name change that’s associated with the covenant, that you’re going to be the father of nations. Not just one nation, but many nations. I’m going to bless all of those nations, but there will be one specific one. It’s the one that comes through Isaac. That is the nation of promise. And then through Isaac, it was determined the promise is going to go to Jacob, not to Esau. And so it’s Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who are the ones to whom the promise is specifically given and repeated.

And thus it is the descendants of Jacob whose name was changed to Israel, who are the fulfillment of this promise. And so it is at Mount Sinai then that Israel and Yahweh finally say, okay, we are actually going to cement this. And in the ceremony the betrothal covenant is confirmed, and they do get married and there’s a big celebration. And from that point on, all of the prophets refer to Israel as Yahweh’s wife.

And the idea of idolatry is now associated with adultery. because you’re now cheating on your husband, because they are now bound together in a covenant. So they truly have become from Sinai forward, they truly have become, I am your God and you are my people. And that is the essence of what that covenant was confirming. So yeah, that’s kind of how these things come together. We also have this interesting thing, the first seed that started the whole process of all of Israel coming together had an interesting name. His name was Yitzhak, in English it’s Isaac. And it means laughter, which seems appropriate for joy. In other words, because Isaac brought tremendous joy and the joy he brought was a relational joy that you can only experience with babies.

And also then just the joy of God, the joy with God. God, you are somebody who fulfills your promises. You have done something for me that I never dreamed possible. And so there is joy in the usual sense of a baby being born. But there’s also this joy in you God. How amazing are you? How wonderful are you? How much do I love you and enjoy you and what you have done for me here? And so I think there’s a reason why laughter embodies that idea right from the beginning.

(13:02) Stephanie: Mm-hmm. I love it. I love that God was like his name is laughter. Obviously, there are many implications for what it means to belong to God. But in the spirit of this joy in this laughter, let’s talk about the nature of belonging as it relates to joy. What is relational joy?

(13:21) Marcus: One of the things that we teach at Deeper Walk and then we learned from Dr. Jim Wilder, and the folks over at Life Model about the brain, is that our brains experience joy in the relational. In the part of our brain that is committed to relationships. And because of that, joy always has a relational component to it. So even when I am by myself and I’m not sharing it immediately with somebody else, but I’m experiencing joy, there is a relational component to it.  I’m thinking about who I want to share this with, who I want to tell about this, or I am just directly sharing it with God.

And I’m thanking God for what is going on here. And so it becomes a relational experience with him. And so often I am asked like, what’s the difference between regular joy and spiritual joy? And then I’m like, in a sense regular joy is joy that I experience here as a human with other humans, and the experiences of our humanity that brings us joy. But spiritual joy is just the same kind of relational joy only with God. I’m experiencing a joyful bond with God and I’m enjoying belonging to God because he’s so cool and he’s so amazing.

We were watching one of these TV series on Bible stories and sometimes I like them, sometimes I don’t. This one I like because it was giving me this new perspective on what is at stake. That God is so big and we can either fear God or we can fear other people. People often ask, well, how do fear and joy connect? At its base level, it says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but our walk with God isn’t anchored in fear. It’s wisdom that begins in fear.

At a very basic level, the question is, are you more afraid of people or are you more afraid of God? And most of us are more afraid of people than we are of God. We’ll straighten up our behavior when a person walks in the room a lot faster than we’ll straighten up our behavior just because we know God is watching. And most of us don’t live with a fear of the consequences is really what it’s talking about there.

But as we get to know God personally, we watch him provide and we watch him do things that we wouldn’t have thought of. We watch him do things that are just extraordinary. We begin to learn that there’s more to my walk with God than just fear. There’s actually a growing love of God and a growing trust in God, and that expresses itself in joy with God. There’s a story about David who was running from Saul and feeling really down on himself.

And it says he strengthened himself in the Lord. And it reminds me of what Jeremiah said when he said, the joy of the Lord is my strength. And I think those two things are related. When we renew our strength by renewing our sense of joy in our walk with God, that is spiritual joy. And so spiritual joy is relationally connecting with God.

(16:54) Stephanie: I love it. When you talk about the fear of the Lord, in that similar context of am I fearing God or am I fearing man, or am I fearing God or am I fearing the other deities? I see the fear of the Lord as a sense of protection. Like, when I’m fearing the Lord, I feel protected by the Lord. If I’m in the wrong, then there’s a holy fear that I need to straighten up. And that’s also corrective and it keeps me protected in the grand scheme of things to have those consequences.

(17:32) Marcus: Yeah, that’s a good point, that’s a very good point. The folly of the world is that they don’t fear God. And so I’m sitting here going, I am protected by the most powerful being on the planet and you’re not afraid of him at all. It’s like, how foolish is that? And the counter side to that is, he’s so powerful and awesome and when we perceive that, and we realize that, and we know that we’re doing what he wants us to do, it also fills us with tremendous confidence.

(18:07) Stephanie: Right, which also fills us with peace. So we were just talking about peace. Would you take a moment to also talk about peace versus joy and how they work together?

(18:18) Marcus: Yeah. From a brain science perspective, they’re both relational words. Joy is high energy, happy to see you, like relational joy. Peace is low energy, happy to be with you. And so it’s the idea of, it’s you, yay! And then later you’re like snuggling next to each other and just enjoying the person’s company, at whatever level. So there’s all these dimensions in between. Joy and peace are kind of the high and the low energy of relational contentment and happiness.

And I think that there’s also this sense that you don’t always have to be with the person to feel it. And so sometimes just thinking about a person can help you feel joy or just thinking about them can help you kind of calm down and feel peace. And I think this happens with God, that God wants us to have the kind of relationship with him that he is a perpetual source of joy and peace for us, in whatever we need.

(19:20) Stephanie: Yep, for the joy set before him, Jesus did. So we can have that peace and that joy just resting, abiding in God, and knowing he’s got us. It’s so good. Well, on that note, how can we meditate on this idea of joy during Advent? Yeah, what does it look like in the season?

(19:45) Marcus: Well, I think that the fastest path to joy is appreciation. And so it’s taking time to notice what there is to appreciate in life, taking some time to dwell on it, and letting it sink in. And that can be a lot of different things. One thing I like to do is take walks, especially in nature, as well as just being outside, because there’s something restorative about being in nature. Especially when you are partnering that with not only the appreciation of nature, but the God who created it. And then there’s also opportunities for creating experiences, where you meditate on and dwell on different aspects of what God’s incarnation meant. What the Advent season is all about and what Christ has done for us.

So I look at a lot of this as meditation. And then there’s also just experiences and opportunities to be with people, and making sure that we take the opportunity to share joy when those opportunities are there. And if you find yourself in a place where I don’t have family and I don’t have people that are happy to see me. I feel more alone at the holiday season than any other season, then it’s especially helpful to do the meditation things. But also to look for people who also have a need. And sometimes just meeting needs and bringing a little bit of joy to somebody else brings a tremendous blessing back to you. And so those could be things that you do as well in this season to grow joy.

(21:31) Stephanie: When you were talking about going and taking walks, I was remembering a time in my life where, so I’m not really a verbal processor, I’m a writer. I love prayer journaling and writing out thoughts or exploring a story and coming out with things. I went through a season where I had a little recorder and I would go on walks in nature and I would pray into the recorder. It helped me not feel weird just talking out loud, but I needed something to help me focus. I wanted to talk to God and I wanted to do it out loud. I wanted to have that relational time outside of my own thoughts or pen time.

And it was really rich, it was really good. I am throwing that out there as a possible tool of something that I have experienced. I was by myself with God enjoying nature and his creation, and talking with him literally with my mouth. It was great. So there. All right, well, thank you all. I’m encouraging you to remember us in your end of year giving. Also, Emily said you can reach out to her if you are still interested in the school of ministry. So take advantage of that. On that note, Father, we’ve got one more episode for the year. We’re wrapping up Advent next episode, but for this episode, any final thoughts?

(23:02) Marcus: Yeah, and that is, we can all use more joy. We can all use any excuse we can to experience a little bit more joy. And so if you find yourself in that situation right now, there’s basic things sometimes we have to do. There may be people you need to forgive and there may be some things you need to be honest with God about. But you want to get to a point where you’re sharing appreciation with God and you’re really dwelling on the things you have to be grateful for at this time of year. And I really hope this season will afford you the opportunity to do all of that.

(23:37) Stephanie: Go with joy.