His Smile

Every Wednesday night at 11:00 p.m. I meet with some of my fellow coworkers to talk about Jesus, the gospel, and the glory of God.  Since January, we have been working our way through the gospel of John, and last night we made our way to chapter eight.  The majority of our discussion had to do with Jesus’ relationship with the Father. 

As Jesus testified concerning himself, we noticed certain aspects of his identification with the Father, including the following:

• The Father sent Jesus into the world (v. 16, 18, 26, 29, 42)
• The Father bears witness about Jesus (v. 18)
• Jesus spoke just as the Father taught him (v. 28)
• Jesus spoke of what he had seen with the Father (v.38)
• Jesus did not seek his own glory (v. 50, 54)
• Jesus knows the Father and keeps his word (v. 55)

All these aspects are worth serious meditation, but there was one that really caught our attention.  Jesus said,

“And he who sent me is with me.  He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him” (v. 29). 

As we reflected on Jesus’ mission as seen in the previous chapters of John, we find Jesus at the climax of his ministry and popularity after feeding the 5,000 (ch. 6) only to later find Jews grumbling about him (6:41), disputing among themselves (6:52), his disciples joining in the grumbling (6:61), and eventually having some of his disciples turn their back and no longer follow him (6:66).  In the next chapter, his brothers challenged him (7:3-5), the crowd accused him of having a demon (7:20), the Pharisees sought to arrest him (7:32), and eventually they wanted to stone him (8:59).  This is not exactly the kind of reception you think would happen for one who was sent to save the world.  Yet in all these things, during all these moments, Jesus was always found doing the things that pleased the Father.

So what sustained Jesus during all this time?  The same crowd whom he fed, working miracles before their midst could not bear the message he brought.  His disciples abandoned him, and his own family even did not believe in him.  If he was not being questioned, he was being attacked.  If his audience was not grumbling, they were conspiring how they could arrest him.  Towards the end of his mission, those whom he called denied him as he went to the cross alone.  How did Jesus, in light of all this, stay on mission and not fail to fulfill God’s purpose for him?  It was Jesus’ desire to please the Father in everything he did.  It was the pleasures of God that fueled his passion, and it was such pleasures that brought him unending joy.  Jesus knew something that the world around him did not know, that the smile of the Father is worth a million frowns (and infinitely more).

It was at a Christmas Conference in 2000 when I heard John Piper proclaim that “the smile of God is worth 10,000 frowns.”  That phrase shook me out of my seat.  This was the reality of the early church, as Paul commented that “whether we are home or away, we make it our aim to please him” (2 Cor. 5:9).  Living for the smile of God could not be more counter-cultural in a day where people dance for men’s eyes and long to be object of their attention.  Yet the pursuit of God’s pleasure takes us to a place of utter self-forgetfulness where our identity is realized in Christ who has sent us the same way the Father has sent him, and where our mission causes us to lose ourselves so that other may find Jesus and treasure him as their Lord and Savior.  It is the apprehension of such a smile that causes us to experience the joy “inexpressible and full of glory” because we are doing the thing we were created to do.  Moreover, we are doing the thing we will continue for eternity–delighting, worshipping, and extolling the excellencies of Jesus Christ as we behold him in all of his glory. 

Our discussion last night brought me to conviction over my deep need to live with a single-minded vision for the smile of God.  I should not concern myself with those who grumble and frown.  Rather, I should live my life in such a way that they see the “surpassing value of knowing Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:8) and have their frowns transformed by the grace of God.  I pray that the Spirit will help me glorify Christ as I seek his will and live for his smile.  I can’t say that I always do the things that are pleasing to God, but I get up today with a deeper longing in my heart to live for his smile as I seek to obey his Word. 

And that, well, that makes me smile.