Dreaming of the Wrong Destination
Notes
Transcript
Today we stand together and bare witness with Tyler and Savannah in Kade’s dedication. As I pondered and prayed about this throughout my week I kept coming back to one word- happiness. Why? Because so many parents make happiness their greatest goal for their kids. The same can be true of what we desire for our spouses, or friends, or even ourselves- we place happiness at the top of the list of priorities in our lives.
It’s the reason why consumer culture works so well- why porn and alcohol are the most lucrative industries in the US; why there are no less than 100 dating websites; I would argue that its why marijuana has been legalized, and why antidepressants are the most prescribed medication the in country- because everyone, yes everyone wants to be happy! The question becomes not if you want to be happy, but what are you turning to for happiness.
And the Bible acknowledges that- the Bible is a look at encourages happiness! However there is some tension we have to hold in this statement- a tension with God’s role and empowering of our happiness.
On one hand, we must acknowledge that God wants us to be happy. It is important for us to remember that we are all fearfully and wonderfully made by the hand of God. When God designed humans he intricately molded us and made us; every part of our being- and so our desire for happiness is a God-given gift. God made us with a desire to be happy; it was his idea in the first place. So God makes us with this desire buried deep in our hearts- the desire for happiness, contentment, satisfaction. Yes! Rejoice today that God wants you to be happy!
But, yet, we must not let the pendulum swing to the other side, either. God wants us to be happy, but God is not our cosmic concierge. He is more than a butler or genie who’s entire existence is based on keeping us content. God is not here to serve us, we are here to serve God. God gives us good gifts, and gives us the desire of our hearts, but we are not in the driver’s seat of this relationship- God wants to do more for us than just give us things to make us happy.
Finally, we must hold in tension that while God is pro-happiness; God is anti-sin. So, while God wants us to be happy, God always wants us to resist sin, even if we believe that sin will make us happy.
Many Pastors have said before that God is more concerned about your holiness than your happiness- in fact, I have probably said that before; but that is not always a fair statement. In fact, God always cares about your happiness and your holiness. The problem is that many times happiness and holiness live in tension with one another because of sin.
Many people assume that happiness and holiness are not connected; they try to pin one against the other. It’s like they envision they are standing at a fork in the road and one side leads to happiness and the other leads to holiness and they are constantly asked to choose one over the other- and that is not always true.
In fact, listen to the words of Psl 106:3
Blessed are they who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times!
The Bible actually teaches us that for a Christian- for the follower of Jesus- happiness and holiness are always connected. If you are a follower of Christ you will begin to see that holiness leads to happiness; that is what the Psalmist says. It tells us that we will be blessed- the Hebrew word asre (ash-ray) literally means happy or fulfilled. In the OT the word Asre is used some 44 times and out of those 44, 32 of them are found in Psalms in verses just like this that tell us how we can be blessed in the Lord. In this verse we read that blessed are those who do righteousness. What is righteousness? Right standing with God. When we build our lives on faith and work out the commands of the Scriptures and follow God’s plans for our lives, are we not DOING righteousness? In fact, one of the most beautiful pictures of righteousness is the Chinese character for the word. In order to draw the character for righteousness you draw the character for lamb over top of the character for I- we find righteousness when we place the Lamb over ourselves.
Righteousness is not just something that we desire or something we become- it is something that we do.
Isn’t that exactly what the words of Psl 37 say? It is not that we are wrong for searching after happiness, contentment, or fulfillment- after all God did not call us to live unhappy, empty, lifeless lives- God called us to fulfillment! But, these 2 verses build for us a healthy foundation for us to seek happiness- so on days like today when we pray for Kade’s happiness we can specifically think about it in these ways.
First, trust in the Lord and do good. Happiness for a Christ follower is based in trusting the Lord and his goodness, and allowing that goodness to overflow from us. When we do good we are inviting happiness into our lives. I like to think of it this way- when I do something good I am setting the table and inviting happiness and joy to dinner. Doing evil things and expecting to have a life of happiness is like planting a green bean seed and expecting a stalk of corn to grow! That is part of the reason our world is so messed up, people scatter seeds of evil- gossip, lying, sexual immorality- and expect to reap a harvest of happiness- it just wont happen. So, if we want to find happiness and contentment as a Jesus follower we must ask ourselves if our actions and behaviors are good and rooted in trust of God.
Second, dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. I love this sentence, it is so beautiful. If I befriend someone, I cultivate a relationship with them; I get to know them; I spend time with them and develop a connection to them. One of the reasons I love to visit folks when they have come to the church for a bit is to cultivate a relationship with them- to learn about them and connect with them.
The Bible asks us to befriend faithfulness- faithfulness to what or who? To God. How do we befriend faithfulness to God? By reading and studying his word; by keeping his word, and making it our way of living. When we spend time in the Bible we are cultivating a relationship with faithfulness.
Many people say that are people of faith, but they never because people of faithfulness. We can believe and have faith about a lot of things, but unless those beliefs begin to influence the way we live- our lives, intentions, and actions, we err. At some point happiness for the Christian is connected to our faithfulness.
Let me ask, if you are friends with someone- would you knowingly or intentionally hurt them or betray them? I hope not. But yet so many times we as Christians betray the faithfulness we have to God. We knowingly do things that we know violate our covenant to God.
Third, delight yourself in the Lord. The Hebrew term for delight here can also be understood as “refreshed” or “pampered” when I was studying this verse the first image I got was a good shower after a hard, hot day of work. You know, when you have been outside working in the garden all day in the summer heat, and you come in and just let the water of a refreshing shower come over you and everything just seems to feel better.
If we want to be happy as Christians, we must delight, or be refreshed in him.
And when we do these things- the Psalmist says- God will give us the desires of our hearts. Why? Because we earned it? Or because we are good enough? No, God gives us the desires of our hearts because when we trust in the Lord and do good; when we befriend faithfulness; when we delight in the Lord we will be transformed; and thus our desires will be transformed too. Transformed, like the story of 2 Corinthians 3:18
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
When we spend time with Jesus, we are transformed, and our desires become part of that deal...
It’s hard to believe that I have been out of high school for almost 18 years. but I have been. If you asked my beautiful wife what I wanted in high school; what my greatest desire was for my life- she would testify that it was to be a musician. All I wanted to was play music. I spent my time
And then I met Jesus, and music slowly faded from being my identity...
What changed? Did the music changed? Did my ability change? No, my heart changed.
Some of us just need to be transformed...
Because eventually God does not want us to choose between happiness and holiness- he wants us to be transformed into people that are happy in holiness.
Christians can find true happiness in Jesus; not because Jesus gives them everything that want or everything they desire- but because they allow Jesus to transform their hearts and make HIS desires for them their desires for themselves.
So, when I say I am praying for Kade’s happiness- when I say I am praying for your happiness, when I pray for my happiness, I am not just praying for some pie in the sky ideology; or praying that you get all the things you want- I am praying that we all trust in God; befriend faithfulness; and delight in the Lord- because through those we will find spiritual happiness.
And we have one last promise to take hold of- when we are transformed by Jesus and his desires become our happiness…
“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’