What are you smiling about?
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Have you ever met someone who just always seems to be smiling?
Have you ever met someone who just always seems to be smiling?
You know the one I’m talking about.... You’re in the ridiculously long check out line at Walmart.... Why can’t they just open another register? But…instead of being annoyed like everyone else, they seem to be happy — filled with joy!
You know the one.... She ordered her steak medium-rare, but it comes out so well done you could hammer a nail in with it! But she’s not complaining, it doesn’t seem to bother her… she just eats it!
This is the guy whose car is broke down, his electricity just got shut off, his kids are out of control and no matter what he does it just turns out bad… yet he is always smiling…always happy… always filled with joy...
Those people are so annoying aren’t they?!
I mean, why can’t they be like the rest of us?! Annoyed, unhappy at times, upset about their circumstances, ....
They just make us want to cry out: “How can you be so happy?”
I remember the very first man I led to Christ… Well, I didn’t lead Him in the prayer, but God allowed me to be a part of it. You see, he was a guy I had worked with prior to coming back to Christ…
(tell John’s story)
“How can you be so happy? I know the crazy stuff going on in your life, How can you be so calm?”
That’s the question we face today. How can you be so happy?
Where does Joy in our life come from?
Let me share with you a story — about a preacher from the seventeen hundreds...
He and His brother were raised in a Christian home, by a devout mother, and they had grown to become accomplished evangelists and songwriters. They had been traveling and serving the church for some time, and this particular part of the journey finds him on a ship, headed to America.
Now, traveling with him on this ship was a group of German Moravian Christians. These were a particularly devout group of people, and their faith ultimately changed his life.
You see, on the way, the Moravians began a worship service… As soon as they had begun to sing, a storm arose… the waves began to crash over the side of the boat, thunder and lightning crashed all around them, it was a storm of “ship sinking” proportions, but through it all, these believers sang on....
The other passengers were terrified, screaming arose all around them, as fear enveloped the crew and the passengers, yet these people sang on....
After the storm subsided, this young preacher asked them: Weren’t you afraid?
Their answer: “No!”
That preacher was John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church. Let me share with you his words on this event: (From his journal, Jan. 25, 1736)
“In the midst of the Psalm wherewith their service began, the sea broke over, split the main sail in pieces, covered the ship and poured in between the decks, as if the great deep had already swallowed us up. A terrible screaming began among the English. The Germans calmly sung on.
I asked one of them afterwards, ‘Were you not afraid?’
He answered, ‘I thank God, no.’”
Later, Wesley found himself again impacted by the Moravians at his Aldersgate experience. (again, allow me to share his words)
“On Wednesday, May 24th in the evening, I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the epistle to Romans. About a quarter to nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and felt an assurance was given to me, that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”
John Wesley’s encounter with the Moravian believers, changed his life!
You see, what he discovered was that:
The greatest joy we can have is the assurance of our salvation.
That assurance comes form our dedication to Christ.
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
In other words, “BELIEVE IT!” Find hope in it! Allow God’s Word to bring you an assurance of His love for you! And live like you believe it!
Look at what this did for the Moravians: Their dedication to God, overcame fear.... It overcame the fear of the storm.... It overcame the fear of death… It overcame the fear of this world....
All around them, the storm raged on, but their faith was unshaken! They knew who was in control, and had the assurance of His Love for them!
Wesley says this about the Moravians:
“Everyday had given them occasion for showing a meekness which no injury could move. If they were pushed, struck, or thrown down, they rose again and went away, but no complaint was found on their lips.”
Now, understand something… Nothing in Wesley’s writings, or in any historical accounts in any way indicates that these people were weak… that they were “push overs”....
Meekness is not Weakness! The very ability to walk away from insult, with our dignity intact, takes a greater strength then many of us have, amen?
Why were the Moravians able to live life this way?!
Wesley tells us that even their wives and children were not afraid, so… How could they be so dedicated in their devotion to God?
Because, they understood the power that comes from the assurance of our salvation.
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
There is nothing… absolutely nothing… in this world that can separate us from God!
When we understand this, we gain power, amen?
If we are in Christ, then nothing can touch us!
But, I don’t think we really “get” that! I don’t think we understand what that means....
You see… I think… we are like those English on the ship with Wesley....
The storm is raging around us… The waves are crashing… Things seem bleak… the threats of the world around us are scary… We are threatened with illness… with judgment… we see riots, unrest, violence… and a lot of it seems to be directed at Christians!
We are struggling… people have lost their jobs… businesses have closed… the media makes it seem like Covid is a death sentence… and worse, if we vote for the wrong candidate the world will end! It’s a very scary time for many people!
I don’t know what the storm is in your life, but let me tell you: God Loves You!
There is promise in that!
No matter what we face… no matter the trial… God loves us, and promises that nothing will harm us! Why?! Because our names are written in the Book of Life… Because we are His!
Do we understand that?!
You see… that is what Christ wants us to understand!
Look at Luke 10:17-20. (read it from the Bible)
The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”
He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.
However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
The seventy-two returned, excited, after all, who wouldn’t be?
They had just been out, working, evangelizing, healing, sharing the Gospel… They had witnessed the power of God in their work, in the lives of the people, and over the enemy....
But.... What were they excited about?
The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!”
They were excited about what they had done!
Look at Jesus’s response:
He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning.
See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you.
Jesus knows the enemy has lost.... He knows that satan cannot stand against Him.... He has seen satan cast out of Heaven… and He knows that He is the final nail in the coffin…
His authority in absolute! Nothing can stand against Him! Not the enemy…not people…not disease… nothing!
And He has given that authority to us!
I wonder, do our prayers reflect that? Does our faith reflect that?
Look at the last part of that verse: “nothing will hurt you.”
Say that with me: “Nothing can hurt me.” (say it again)
We need to understand that! We need to learn to live by that! We have been given the power of God… the authority of Christ… nothing can harm us! We have nothing to be afraid of!
We need to understand that! Especially in today’s world… Because people are watching us!
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
People are watching how we live… How we serve… How we believe…
But...... That is not where our Joy comes from!
Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
You see… It is not about what we can do! It is about what Christ can do!
We have authority… we have power… we have protection… not because we are special… but because Christ loves us… because He has given us Grace… because He has written our names in the Book of Life!
Because we know where we are going! Amen?
We know that death has no hold on us… that the enemy cannot touch us… that even to die is gain!
Because we belong to Christ!
But, what about those who don’t?
They need to see our faith! Just like John Wesley needed to “see” the faith of the Moravians, people today… all around us… need to “see” our faith!
They need to “see” the strength of faith in our lives.
They need to “see” the lack of fear, caused by faith.
They need to “see” the healing balm of faith in the brokenness of our lives.
They need to “see” us “smiling through the storm” because of the assurance we have in Christ!
You see… We have the assurance of salvation… We have the assurance of provision and protection… We have the authority of Christ over literally everything that threatens to “steal” our faith!
Do we understand that?
You have the power to say to satan… to say to everything that seems to be threatening to overwhelm you… “In the name of Jesus, get out of my way! You cannot stop me satan! You cannot destroy me! You cannot steal my blessings! You cannot steal my family! You cannot steal my life! Because I… am a Child of God! So, in the name of Jesus, get behind me satan!”
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
We have been given authority to take back our lives, not because of what we can do, but because when we accept what Jesus did, when we accept His love for us, our names are written in the Book of Life!
That is where our Joy comes from. That is what we rejoice in. That is what changes our lives, and the lives of those around us!
Now hears the cool thing…
When we understand this… when we take it to heart, and put it into practice in our lives, Jesus rejoices with us!
At that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
Then turning to the disciples, Jesus said to them privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!
For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”
Today, we are going to take communion....
The communion table is the perfect place for us to come… to receive… to celebrate… to rejoice in the presence and promise of Christ’s love for us.
It is the perfect place for us to be reminded of the power and authority granted to us… not to “do” things in this world, but to change our lives...
Let us come, receive, and rejoice in Christ’s love and provision for us...