What does Tribe teach about finding joy?
Drawn from the message where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At Tribe, the teaching on finding joy is rooted in what God has already given, not in what a person has managed to earn or hold together. In the message 'Rest and Celebrate,' Brian drew from Isaiah 61:10 and the season of Sukkot to make the case that genuine celebration flows out of rest, and that both are made possible by recognizing what God has clothed his people in. The Hebrew behind the idea of being 'dressed' carries the sense of being completely surrounded, so that what is on the outside is all anyone can see. That outer garment is righteousness given as a gift, and Brian was direct that when people drag their past failures back before God, what God sees is that garment, not what is underneath it.
The obstacle to joy, as Brian described it, is that people reach past what they have been given and put on something lesser instead. He put it plainly: 'How many times do we look in our metaphysical closet and we're like, that’s too nice to wear today.' The joy described in Isaiah 61:10 is the joy of a bridegroom and a bejeweled bride, which is not mild or polite. It is the joy of someone who knows they have been prepared and provided for by someone else, and who is willing to receive it.
Brian also pointed to the nature of Jesus himself as the ground of this joy. 'Jesus is alive, and he is experiential. And when you encounter him, our lives are changed.' The feast of Sukkot, in his framing, is a rehearsal for the return of Christ, and celebrating it is a way of letting that future reality shape the present. Joy at Tribe is not a feeling to manufacture. It is a response to something real that has already happened and something real that is still coming.
Taught from Isaiah 61:9-11 · Deuteronomy · Leviticus 23 · Isaiah 42:3 · Revelation 3:20
“When we quit trying to do this on our own, he's like, okay, you've given me something to work with.”
From Rest and Celebrate
The passage taught · Isaiah 42:3
3 He won’t break a bruised reed. He won’t quench a dimly burning wick. He will faithfully bring justice.
World English Bible
Messages that go deeper
- October 21, 2024 Rest and Celebrate Brian Hunter explores the Feast of Sukkot, showing how God clothes us in salvation and calls us to rest from striving and celebrate his goodness with joy.