Belonging (Joy 3)
Jesus teaches and exemplifies a joy that comes from a placed source, not external circumstances.
Today’s passage is really quite different. It’s full of joy, but we have to take a keen look to understand why.
Joy is one of those words that can easily drift toward the superficial. But in today’s passage, joy shows up in a place we might not expect and in a way that shapes it in ways we might not otherwise understand it.
The seventy disciples return from their mission exhilarated. Even the demons submit to us in your name! They are thrilled, energized, and validated. Something worked. Power was exercised. Results were visible. It all feels very familiar to us. We, too, are often tempted to equate joy with success in the things of numbers, outcomes, influence, effectiveness. When things go well, we call it joy.
But Jesus gently redirects this.
Yes, he acknowledges what they’ve experienced. He even speaks of seeing Satan fall like lightning from heaven. There is something real happening here. But then he pivots: Do not rejoice in that the spirits submit to you. But rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
In other words, don’t root your joy in what you can do, but in who you belong to. (Remember, the actions matter, but only as a result of what is right inside.)
This is the point of all the fruit of the Spirit. As important and enjoyable as the fruit are, as beneficial as they are to you, to others, and to the world, they are the result of something else - the Spirit at work in you. That is the point Paul is making and the life that Jesus teaches and extends. Actions matter and we are and will be judged by them. But they are evidence, not the source.
So the correction Jesus is making is an important one, especially for those of us committed to action, ministry, justice, and faithful labor. Jesus does not discourage this work, nor does he deny the goodness of what has occurred. But he refuses to let their joy be tethered to power, effectiveness, or visible impact. Those things are unstable foundations. They rise and fall. They can inflate the ego or hollow out the soul.
Joy, Jesus insists, must be rooted somewhere deeper.
And then something remarkable happens. Luke tells us that Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit. This is one of the rare moments where the gospels explicitly show Jesus rejoicing. And it is not because of success or control, but because of God’s gracious way of working through humility, hiddenness, and relationship. Jesus rejoices that God’s kingdom is not built on human strength or religious prestige, but is revealed to the little ones.
This is like the joy of a parent watching a child finally understand something for themselves.
This joy is relational. It flows from communion with God, with the Spirit, with those who are being drawn into God’s life. It is joy grounded in belonging rather than accomplishment.
This is Advent joy. Not always loud or triumphant, but deep and durable. Joy that remains even when outcomes are uncertain. Joy that does not depend on control. Joy that is born of the Spirit and anchored in heaven.
Not joy because everything is fixed, but because God is near, and we belong.
Luke 10:17-24
The seventy-two returned joyously, saying, “Lord, even the demons submit themselves to us in your name.”
Jesus replied, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Look, I have given you authority to crush snakes and scorpions underfoot. I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, don’t rejoice because the spirits submit to you. Rejoice instead that your names are written in heaven.”
At that very moment, Jesus overflowed with joy from the Holy Spirit and said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you’ve hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and shown them to babies. Indeed, Father, this brings you happiness. My Father has handed all things over to me. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wants to reveal him.” Turning to the disciples, he said privately, “Happy are the eyes that see what you see. I assure you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see and hear what you hear, but they didn’t.”
Prayer
God,
And heaven and nature sing…and heaven and nature sing.
I love watching your creation. I do get the sense that all creation is singing when I just observe the birds or stare at the trees in the forest on a walk, knowing all that it’s taken for this 200 foot beech tree to come to the point of towering over me. I love it.
But why? Why do heaven and nature sing? Help me see the source, Lord. I love the result, but keep me from the ignorance of fleeting emotions and superficial pleasure. Let me draw deeply from your Spirit, that when the birds and trees are absent, my joy remains in you.
Holy Father of all creation, I see your loving justice in Jesus of Nazareth. By your Spirit, make me more like him.
Amen.