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 the idea that joy is not something a person manufactures on their own. Drawing from Isaiah 61:10, Brian taught that God has already dressed his people in garments of salvation and a robe of righteousness, and that the image the Hebrew carries is of being completely surrounded by what God has given, so that what is on the outside is all anyone sees. Joy, in that frame, is not about striving. It flows from recognizing what has already been placed on you.
The obstacle Brian named is a familiar one. People tend to reach past the garment God has given and pull out the old clothing of past failures instead. He put it this way: "How many times do we look in our metaphysical closet and we're like, that's too nice to wear today." When someone brings their failures back to God, God's answer is that he sees the outer garment, the righteousness given and not earned. The celebration God invites his people into is a response to that reality, not a performance put on to earn it.
Brian also pointed to the experiential dimension of this. Joy is not only a theological position but something that happens when a person actually encounters Jesus. As he put it, "Jesus is alive, and he is experiential. And when you encounter him, our lives are changed." The feasts of the Lord, and Sukkot in particular, were presented as one way God designed for his people to rehearse that encounter, recalibrate when life has pulled them off course, and celebrate what he has done.
Taught from Isaiah 61:9-11 · Isaiah 42:3 · Leviticus 23 · Deuteronomy
“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.