Part 2. Go Do What Makes You Happy

I am excited this morning to get into the next installment of the Jesus Never Said Series. This is part 2, if you missed part 1 you can go online to our website, or, you can do what I like to to do and go to the handy app.

So we started this 4 week series called things Jesus never said and you may be thinking, how weird is it that you are talking about the stuff Jesus didn’t say? Sounds like a time waster in a way. But we are going to be talking about some of things that Jesus didn’t say.

And we get Jesus’ words primarily from the gospels.

If you don’t know, there are 4 biographies that have been written about Jesus and we call those biographies the gospels. Matthew Mark Luke and John are the biographical accounts of Jesus Christ’s life on earth.

In those books we see the words of Jesus. Some of your bibles will have Jesus’ words written in red and we remember that the words of Jesus are otherworldly, they, in some cases seem to make no sense; it makes me think of last weeks message, pray for your enemies. Outside of Jesus that makes no sense, it’s other wordly.

Those words are powerful and sometimes, to understand the power of what Jesus said.. we need also to understand what He didn’t say, what He could have said, what you or I would say.

But we remember that sometimes to understand what Jesus says we need to also understand what He didn’t say, because what Jesus

What Jesus could have said, what you or I would say what he didn’t say

We look at what he didn’t say to truly be able to understand what He DID say.

Today we are going to talk about what Jesus didn’t say about happiness. Now I know something about all of you here, because I am included with this statement.

Today we are going to talk about what Jesus didn’t say about happiness. Now I know something about all of you here, because I am included with this statement.

All of us want to be happy. We do don’t we? We all want to be happy. No one’s goal is to be miserable.

Just For fun this morning...

Jesus did not say: Go into all the world and preach whatever makes people happy.

Jesus doesn’t say, “whoever wants to be my disciple must affirm themselves avoid the cross and follow their own heart

Jesus Never said, ask and it will be given to you because God is your celestial sugar daddy! Or your cosmic coke machine.

God never said any of that about our happiness.

Incredible power for us today.

And the end we will look at what he did not say. It has the power and potential to transform our lives

John 8:2-

John 8:2–3 ESV

2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst

Now let me interrupt just for a second to let you know what is going on. Jesus is teaching in the temple (it’s kind of like our home group, not a huge amount of people, it’s not a ceremony, jesus is just teaching some folks and in the middle of his teaching there is a commotion, there is a crowd coming in and they completely interrupt what is going on.

Interrupting Jesus when he is preaching? That’s weird.

But these men, these leaders of the church at the time come in and they bring a woman before Jesus who was caught in the act of adultery.

We don’t have time for this but we have talked in the past about this story. We don’t have time to go over the fact that we don’t see the man in the story being drug before Jesus. We don’t see him.

We also see that the guys that drag this lady before Jesus are the accusers.

Listen, the way the law worked was this, you could only bring this type of accusation if not one person sees the act, but if at least two people see the act. and can you say peeping Tom?

How in the world would two guys happen to come along this scene? Listen, people acting out in adultery usually don’t flaunt it, especially the part of it about her being caught in the act of adultery. These guys are setting this situation up.

And if they caught her in the act, then she is probably barely dressed, she is humiliated beyond belief, she is in the worst state of shame she has probably ever even experiences and the men who bring her don’t care about her. They are using her to get to Jesus. It was all part of their grand plan to get Jesus between a rock and a hard place. verse 4

John 8:4–5 ESV

4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?”

John 8:4-

So the teachers of the law, the Pharisees bring this woman before Jesus and they basically ask Jesus what are you going to do? The law says that anyone caught in adultery is to have the people pick up stones and throw them at her until she is dead. That is what the law said.

Verse 6 there says that this was a setup. This was a trap to use against Jesus. This is one of those times when they were trying to catch Jesus. You will see this a few times in Scripture. People try to use God’s own Word against Him and they think that this is a no win situation for Jesus.

They think he either had to agree with the law and have her killed. Or to say, your sin is no big deal, don’t worry about it.

If he says yes, stone her, he doesn’t look full or grace and love. Or, he says, This isn’t that big of a deal, we need to love her and forgive her and we should just let her go.

Then, Jesus is going against the law of Moses and loses his credibility as a teacher. This is a no win situation. Ever been there? Ever been in a no win situation? verse 6

John 8:6 ESV

6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.

So they are accusing him and Jesus bends down on the ground and writes with his finger.

And of course this brings us to the question if you have ever paid any attention to this story, what was it that Jesus was writing on the ground? What was he doing? Was he doodling? Was he avoiding the situation by playing tic tac toe in the sand?

No one really knows what he wrote but most scholars believe Jesus wrote down their sins.

Don’t know if its true but all that I have read from scholars makes me lean in this direction because of how the word is used in the Greek.

The word to write is graphin which means to write down.

The word used in this story is Katagraphin Kata is the word for against. So in this story Jesus is writing agaisnt something or someone.

So Jesus knows these pharisees, of course he does, He is God! And he is writing on the sand, avoiding? No maybe he writes, Frank, He looks at Frank, Frank the Pharisee, then he starts writing against. He says, Frank, I saw your browsing history.. I heard what you said when that camel cut you off on your way to the temple. You didn’t know I saw you but I did.

Maybe Jesus is even writing down the names of the guys holding that poor woman.

John 8:7 ESV

7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”

John 8:

This is something I learned this week was that the word Jesus uses for sin there does not just mean acting in sin but it’s even more than that. It is all encompassing, meaning sin in your heart. Even the desire, the wanting to sin.

Now can we be honest? Can we be real for a couple of minutes? There are lots of times where I have a sin presented to me, we all do and there are times when I want to do it, I want to sin there. I am tempted to say something I shouldn’t say, or I am tempted to do something.

That is real isn’t it? It’s also true that it’s really easy for me to see other people’s sin when I want to cover mine up.

Almost like my sin doesn’t count or something. We are sinful people. We enjoy pointing the finger at someone else because it takes the eyes off of us and on to another person.

This is what Jesus is saying.

Whoever is without sin, whoever is guiltless. Go ahead and pick up a rock and throw it at her.

John 8:8–10 ESV

8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

8-11

John 8

John 8:8 ESV

8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground.

John 8:8–11 ESV

8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

11 she said, “No one Lord,” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you.....

Jesu

Here is what Jesus didn’t say, I know, it took a little while but it had to be set up.

Jesus didn’t say, Go now and go do whatever makes you happy, go do what you feel like!

Follow your heart honey! It doesn’t matter as long as it makes you happy. It doesn’t matter as long as you are happy, Follow your heart. Follow your feelings, follow your dreams! You gotta be you!

Jesus didn’t say this does he? No, He says, “where are they? Has no one condemned you?

John 8

John 8:11 ESV

11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

Not condemning, not judgemental. But it is urgent. Go NOW.

Go NOW.

Don’t live for the lower things, I have set you free, Go NOW and be free. You don’t have to give in to that sin anymore.

You don’t have to be held hostage, go walk in truth.

Why do we give into temptation so often? Honestly it looks fun. Can sin be fun?

Raise your hands if you know that sin can be fun. “I have people looking at me going, no, you aren’t gonna get me to do that. Not in church.

If it wasn’t fun people wouldn’t do it. If it isn’t fun then you probably aren’t doing it right. Hebrews calls sin pleasurable that is fleeting.

What does sin do? What does it do? Listen, this is important.

Slide #13

Sin Promises satisfaction at the cost of disobedience to God and eventual pain to you.

Get in the mind of this woman. We don’t know much about her, she could have been an evil harlot who was a home-wrecker to all kinds of guys, we don’t know, we can’t know.

Sin

It might help us here today if we imagine her in a modern day context because of how this stuff happens

It could be that she was a God-fearing woman who could have been dissatisfied in her marriage. She didn’t get much attention from her husband anymore.

Maybe he didn’t appreciate her, maybe he was verbally abusive or maybe worse but she doesn’t feel good about herself so she gets a job so that she can have some sort of existence where she is appreciated.

She makes some friends at work. Particularly this one guy. They talk a little bit but it’s perfectly innocent.

He laughs at her jokes and compliments her. And, oh, he is paying attention to me. She might feel a little guilty, a little off about how she feels but they haven’t done anything wrong.

He notices that one day that she changed her hair and he complemented it, said it looks nice and her husband didn’t notice anything about her hair! I could get a tattoo on my face and he wouldn’t notice.

You see where this is going. She begins to look forward to those interactions with him. She knows it’s not right but she continues.

.

Then they become friends on instagram… when she puts stuff up on instagram he likes it and makes comments. And sometimes comments with hearts and smiley faces and she likes it.

One day they both work late and he opens up to her and talks to her about his failing marriage. And a little bit later he talks to her and says, “I think that maybe I made a mistake marrying my wife and I wish I married someone like you.

Then when he walks by her one day his arm brushes against hers. Oh boy. Was that an accident? Was it on purpose? She confides in her girlfriend who says.

“You have to follow your heart.”

It could have been like that with this woman. Step by innocent step. One small decision after another and eventually she finds herself undressed in front of Jesus and this crowd.

How did she get here? No one wakes up one morning deciding to wreck their lives because of some sin. But one bad decision after another gets you there.

Sin promises satisfaction at the cost of disobedience to god and eventual pain to yourself.

How do we get there? How do people end up in this place?

We live in a relativistic society. What does that mean? it means that when it comes to truth that there is no standard.

The standard for truth for me might be a different standard for truth for someone else. That may work for you an I Am happy for you but that isn’t for me.

That is relativism. They can do what they want as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone or affect me and my life.

Why is Christianity looked at today as so backward? Because we believe in absolute truth. Meaning there are things that are just sinful and things that are not sinful. There is right and there is wrong.

That is a problem with the modern world.

You live your truth, I will live my truth and don’t tell me I can’t live my truth.

Slide #14

Here is the problem, without a belief in ab truth then truth is defined by whatever makes me happy. And that is a dangerous place to live.

And when the bottom line is my happiness, then happiness becomes the standard to which I live and judge my actions.

If something makes me happy, it must be good, if something doesn’t make me happy it must be bad.

I know everyone says this is wrong but it .... feels so right.

The root of the problem is that we think that happiness and holiness are separate things.

That is a distorted view of what Christ came for and what he expects from us. WE think there is one or the other.

Holy means living a life that was boring and lame. No fun. Destined to wear a braided belt with pleated kakis listening to Amy Grant tapes for the rest of my life.

You know what I mean?

You get to that point where you really want to take Christ seriously and you think that you have to give up fun and joy?

(BIG) God is not in heaven looking down on you whom he loves thinking for god so loved the world that he wants them to be miserable.

Here is what Jesus says about God.

Mat

Matthew 7:11 ESV

11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

God loves you and wants the best for you.

If we think that happiness and holiness are mutually exclusive, we are looking for happiness in the wrong place, a lower place,

Max Lucado asks would a fish ever be happy on the beach? IS the fish happy? No, maybe we give the fish some things from the world. Cash. Good food, is the fish happy?

Throw a party for the fish so they can party is the fish happy? How about some booze

How about the fish gets viral selfies?

The fish will never be happy because the fish was not created for the beach

If you are wondering why you aren’t happy living for the lower things of the world then maybe you should lower your expectations for earth, because you were not created for the earth,

You were created for God, by God to live for things that are not of this world and that is why sin promises but never delivers. It never will.

Sin promises satisfaction at the cost of disobedience to god and eventual pain to yourself.

Holiness isn’t mutually exclusive with happiness. It’s not holy or happy

They are actually very closely related. Holiness is the path to true happiness and joy

Holiness and happiness are together.

Psalm 16:11 ESV

11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Not the fleeting pleasure of sin, but grounded.

When that woman stood before Jesus and that crowd. Jesus didn’t say,

What have you done? I am so disappointed in you, you embarrass me. You are pathetic Jesus didn’t say that.

Jesus said I don’t condemn you, but he did give her some absolute truth, there is something better. Go now, and live in truth, live for the things that really matter in life.

Why, when you know whats right do you keep doing wrong? That sin was supposed to make me happy, but it didn’t.

What is it that you are looking for to fill that void in your life? You are looking to be happy but you are looking in all the wrong places.

Maybe its drinking to escape.

You feel empty so you fill up with food.

You think if I buy this thing or that thing that I will feel better so you spend uncontrollably.

Some of you are critical pick everybody apart everyone and everything you see.

Some of you are trying to get satisfied by what you look at on your computer only to feel remorse and shame and guilt.

Some, Wrong type of relationship.

What do you do when you know that where you are looking for happiness is not God’s best. What do you do when you find yourself like that woman half dressed and full of shame?

We need to understand the faithfulness, the grace the love of a faithful God who will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can endure and that there is always a way out.

God gives you all a way out through him.

Slide 16

Every temptation is an invitation to follow Christ. Every time you feel trapped, it is an opportunity to follow Jesus.

He gives you a way out, he isn’t ashamed and he tells you not to sin again, but he tells you to be free.

There is a power in you that isn’t you. You have the holy spirit living in you and that HS is so much more powerful than you.

You have to make that decision to say no. You have to make those decisions.

You repent. Re means to turn pent is the highest like the penthouse.

Turn to the highest.

Some of you are going to return to God today.

Craig Groeshell wrote out a sentence of re words. Remember they meant to turn. Listen to this it is great.

When you rebuke the enemy and return to God by repenting of your sins and then receiving Christ your spirit is reborn your mind renewed your life rebuilt and while you are reconciled by the grace of Jesus Christ you reap the rewards of relationship causing revival to break free.

Trapped caught shame. Jesus didn’t say, That wasn’t good, go do what makes you happy.

No, he said, I do not condemn you, not because I want you to be happy, but because I want to forgive you and I want to set you free. Go and sin no more.