Surprised by Joy

C.S. Lewis (along with J.R.R. Tolkien the only two saints recognized by evangelicals) entitled his autobiography, “Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life.” His aim was to show how his search for joy as a young man led him to Christianity. It’s a fine book—I re-read it every few years—because it shows how Lewis’ mind and faith were formed through his early years.

But the title can be misleading for today’s readers. The reason for the disconnect is that Lewis’s joy isn’t the same as ours. Joy for us is the exuberance, happiness or positive feelings we get when events turn out to our liking. Say, when our favorite football team wins an important game. Or when a family celebration includes loved ones we haven’t seen for a while. Or an investment pans out better than we expected. Or the right candidate is elected to office. I’m not saying those examples are all on the same level of importance—in the larger scheme of things they’re not! In terms of how they make us feel, though, joy is the word that comes to mind.

The joy Lewis speaks of is different. For him, it’s an intense longing, a desire not satisfied by anything on earth, a spiritual compass:

All Joy reminds. It is never a possession, always a desire for something longer ago or further away or still “about to be.”

In his book, Lewis explains how he experienced this kind of joy first as a child reading fairy tales. He found some measure of it later as a student of philosophy and non-Christian religions. As his studies went deeper, he encountered joy in the myths and legends of northern Europe (Tolkien blazed that trail before Lewis—the two were great friends).

Finally, Lewis realized that the joy he yearned for didn’t exist for its own sake. What mattered was where joy led him. And that’s when he came to faith in Jesus. While he doesn’t use St. Augustine’s famous quote in his book, I think it captures his discovery exactly: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”

Lewis’s journey had been charted long before. In fact, the Bible lays out the spiritual map with such clarity that it’s impossible to miss. There, joy is a central theme and the experience of it a sure guidepost to the soul’s true home.

Joy is the angels’ song as they witness the power of God in creation:

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?…On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? (Job 38:4, 6-7)

Joy is a central feature of worship:

Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise! (Psalm 66:1)

Jesus’ birth is joy for all the world:

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11)

Joy is proof of the value of God’s kingdom:

The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. (Matthew 13:44)

Joy is the fabric of God’s kingdom:

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:7)

Followers of Jesus are invited into a life filled with joy:

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. (Philippians 4:4)

The joy we find in Jesus is so charged with heaven’s glory that there aren’t words to describe it:

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and full of glory. (1 Peter 1:8)

And at the end of time when heaven and earth are joined together, joy is the atmosphere of eternity:

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory.” (Revelation 19:5-7)

Through good times and bad, in plenty and in want, in seasons of fear and confidence, through war and peace, joy is the alternative to the anxiety of a world that’s lost its way.

Where do we find that kind of joy?

Last Saturday and through this week as I watched the news of the No Kings protests, the American Army’s 250th Birthday Parade, the war between Israel and Iran, the likelihood of America being drawn into yet another Middle East war, the running conflict over ICE’s enforcement of immigration laws, and the cynical posturing that defines America today at almost every level, well, I wondered if looking for joy might be a fool’s errand. Joy’s opposite—joylessness—seems a better fit.

But that’s where Lewis's insight is so important. Joy isn’t an emotion that we cultivate. It’s not an attitude that we psych ourselves up for. It’s not a skill that we learn. It’s not a contrivance for dealing with the anxieties of modern life. It’s not a novel paradigm for comprehending the world. It’s not a cliche that we use when we don’t know what else to say.

Joy, in Lewis’s telling, is a surprise, coming as it does unannounced and maybe even unintended as we follow Jesus.

I heard years ago of a man and his wife from Boston on vacation in Nashville, Tennessee. Their first morning in the city they found a local diner and ordered a traditional Southern breakfast, something neither of them had ever experienced.

But when the waitress brought them their food, the husband and wife were confused with what was on their plates.

“I see eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy,” the man said to the waitress as he looked over his plate.

“Yessir,” the waitress replied. “That’s what ya’ll ordered.”

“But what’s this white stuff piled on the side?”

The waitress glanced down at the man’s plate. “Them’s grits.”

“I didn’t order grits.”

“You don’t have to order grits,” the waitress said. “They just come.”

I don’t know if C.S. Lewis had any experience with grits, but the Southern waitress’s answer to the Boston man is the same as Lewis’ observations about joy. We find it not by our own labor or even intention but as the gift of a gracious God. Our place is to receive what he wants to give us.