Let's Get Crazy Happy
Notes
Transcript
Most of us have experienced what happens to motorists when one of those huge graders goes to work on a highway repair job. when the machine is operating on a busy road, traffic is halted and the cars lined up in opposite directions are allowed to proceed alternately. A veteran operator of one of those big machines decided one day to try to relieve the tension that inevitably results from such a traffic backup. Consequently on both the front and rear of his grader a sign now appears, declaring, "The Road to Happiness is Almost Always Under Construction."
There is truth in this statement and we sometimes wonder, “Does God want me to be happy?” Can I answer that question for you by saying, “YES!” absolutely. God doesn’t just want you to be happy, He wants you to be Crazy Happy.
Today, we are going to start a new series called Crazy Happy. Here is the thought that I want to talk about for the next few weeks, God really wants you to be happy. But God’s plan for happiness is found in unexpected or crazy places.
If you have your bibles with you today, go with me to the book of Matthew. I want to read from chapter 5, beginning at verse 3.
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
This is the beginning of Jesus famous sermon known as the Sermon on the Mount. The verses that I have just read to you is known as the beatitudes. What is a beatitude?
In order to answer this, lets start with a word that you are probably familiar with, benediction. A benediction is the utterance or bestowing of a blessing, especially at the end of a religious service. In the Old Testament there are scriptures that are benedictions. The standard Old Testament benediction is the Aaronic blessing found in Numbers 6.
24 “ ‘ “The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” ’
What was referred to as a benediction in the Old Testament was sometimes called a “beatitude” in the New Testament.
To understand the Beatitudes, we must understand a bit about the form they take. They are what are know as “oracles.”
A famous oracle from ancient Greece was known as the oracle of Delphi. This was a woman, a priestess at the temple of Apollo, who would look into the future and read the fortunes of kings and generals as they prepared for battle. She was called an oracle because she delivered a message from the gods; she was a conduit for divine revelation.
In the Old Testament, the prophets of Israel were agents of revelation. They did not speak their own message or express their own opinions but prefaced their teaching with the phrase “Thus says the Lord.” they they delivered a pronouncement from God. God said to Jeremiah that He would put His word into his mouth, and Ezekiel had to swallow the bitter scroll that became sweet to his taste, because it was the word of God.
In the Old Testament, there were two kinds of oracles: oracles of weal, which were announcements of prosperity or divine benevolence, and oracles of woe, which were pronouncements of doom or judgment. An example is found in Amos
1 Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come!
Jesus used this as a part of His prophetic role.
15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.
The opposite oracle, an oracle of weal, was prefaced by the word blessed. The Beatitudes are a series of just this kind of oracle. Jesus was delivering the word of God to define the new covenant—the new situation that came to pass with His appearance.
Now that we know more about a beatitude, lets continue with the thought, “does God want us to be happy?”
1. What is Happy?
1. What is Happy?
My answer to that question is yes. So, what is happy? Some people think happiness is in relationships or stuff or success or whatever else you may think will make you happy. True happiness is only found in the Lord.
15 Happy are the people who are in such a state; Happy are the people whose God is the Lord!
Other translations use the word blessed for happy. The word blessed actually means made happy by God.
Blessed = made happy by God
Blessed = made happy by God
Followers of Christ are happy people because they follow Christ. Happiness should always be an ever-present part of our lives. And not only that, but the pursuit of happiness is an act of worship.
When we are laying our lives down for Jesus, when the one true God is our Lord, we are happy people.
But, some of you may be thinking, “When I pursue happiness, why is it that I sometimes end up no happier than when I started?
To answer that question, we have to ask this question.
2. How Does Jesus Define Happiness?
2. How Does Jesus Define Happiness?
Think about the culture that we live in today. We are constantly bombarded with things that supposedly make us happy. We think...
“I’ll be happy if I just get a raise or a new job.”
or “I’ll be happy if I get into a relationship.” or “I’ll be happy if I just lose some weight.” Or “I’ll be happy if my beloved hogs win a football game.”
We are constantly finding ourselves on a happiness-seeking hamster wheel. No matter how fast we run, we’re not going anywhere.
God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah about this same thing.
13 “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
We all try to create our own versions of happiness. That’s what it means by “dug their own cisterns”. We all have ideas about what happiness is and how it works and how we try to make it happen. But the problem is, our self-made ideas about happiness are broken. They are cisterns that cannot hold water. And to make matters worse, in our desire to dig our own cisterns, we also forsake God in the process.
God is a fountain of living water. Jesus is the only source for satisfaction and quenching. Without him directing our happiness journey, we will never be happy.
Whenever we come to a place where we are creating those broken cisterns, we are searching for happiness in the wrong places. We must turn back to the Lord and let Him lead us into happiness.
So, how does Jesus define happiness. Look at our text again.
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Many of the modern translations use the word, happy at the start of every verse. It is the Greek word “Makarios.” It is commonly translated as Blessed. The blessed person is the happy person. Happiness is not about what we do, but it is about who we are in Jesus. Jesus leads us into the blessed life.
It is so important that we understand how Jesus defines happiness. He doesn’t say what we expect. He says happiness is found in places like humility, sadness, meekness and mercy.
That is why we can refer to a live with Christ as the Crazy Happy life. When a person is crazy happy, something extraordinary happens. What happens?
3. The Blessed Person Bears Much Fruit.
3. The Blessed Person Bears Much Fruit.
God desires for us to bear much fruit.
8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
The main characteristic of a disciple of Christ is to bear fruit. When our lives bear the fruit of the crazy happy life, we know God is glorified in our lives.
So, what is the fruit God wants us to bear? The fruit of the Spirit.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
As we simply respond to Jesus, the Spirit of God brings an amazing harvest in our lives.
I planted a garden this year. It was my second year. Last year did okay. This year is better. The best thing that I was able to grow was watermelon. I have picked 4 watermelon so far and I have 6 more growing. Watermelon are growing crazy in my garden. The harvest is amazing and it is fun watching them grow. And they are good to eat too.
I believe the harvest that God brings in our life is just like my garden at home. The harvest in our life is full of fruit… The fruit of the Spirit. And when this happens, our lives take on the beautiful qualities we desire and we find ourselves fulfilled and truly happy.
Can I say it again? God wants us to be happy.
God wants us to be Crazy Happy!
God wants us to be Crazy Happy!
When you and I realize God wants us to be happy, and that the Lord has already shown us the way to happiness, we can begin the journey.
Imagine if you will, what would our lives look like if we followed Jesus into the Crazy Happy life? How different would your experiences be?
I know I want to be happy. I want to walk with you on this journey together. For the next few weeks we are going to experience this crazy happy life together. You don’t want to miss where God is taking us.