Rev. David Holwick O Baptism service
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
April 12, 2015
Ecclesiastes 5:18-20
DOES GOD WANT YOU HAPPY?
I. (Almost) everyone wants you to be happy.
A. An internet sensation.
Last year, Pharrell Williams' song "Happy" inspired young
people around the globe to make dancing videos.
While the song played in the background they would tape
themselves dancing and generally acting happy while
lipsynching the lyrics.
It is a contagious song:
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I'm happy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
One of the most popular versions was done by seven young
Iranians.
It got over 400,000 hits on YouTube.
It also got them arrested, convicted, and sentenced to
six months in prison and 91 lashes.
Their crime was mixed dancing with boys and girls, and
the girls didn't have head coverings on.
Fortunately for them, the sentence was suspended as long
as they stay out of trouble for the next three years. [1]
And you thought Baptists were killjoys!
B. We tend to get in trouble if we are NOT happy.
1) It is our right as Americans.
a) "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," as the
Declaration of Independence put it.
b) 300 years ago, your parents wanted you to survive.
150 years aog, they wanted you to have a good job.
Today, they just want you to be happy.
2) It is our duty as Christians.
Pastor Mark Schaefer sees a good illustration of this in
one of the characters in the Simpsons cartoon show.
Ned Flanders is Homer Simpson's neighbor and an Evangelical
Christian.
Ned is always saying things like "Hi-dilly-ho neighborino"
and other cutesy upbeat things (just like our Ned).
He and his children sing "I've Got Joy Joy Joy Down in My
Heart..." and "Put On a Happy Face."
Ned Flanders may be a caricature, but he's a caricature we
can easily relate to.
We have the idea that Christians are supposed to be a
positive, upbeat, smiling, happy bunch of people.
Sermon #64729
And if you can't chuckle with us, you are pulling us down,
and we'd be better off if you would just move to Iran.
C. What does God think?
1) This is always the question a Christian should come back to.
2) Our personal view needs to be considered but God's view
is the only one that matters in the end.
a) How close is our view to God's?
b) Are we viewing life as a Christian, or as the world
does?
II. The world has a rather narrow view of happiness.
A. We expect material things to bring us happiness.
1) The disconnect between our wealth and our happiness.
Economist Richard Layard notes that people are getting
wealthier and living more comfortably, but they're not
getting happier.
Studies show that only about 30% of Americans identify
themselves as "very happy."
That number has remained constant since the 1950s despite
the fact that incomes have doubled since then -
even when you factor in inflation. #31353
2) Do you think you would be happier with a higher income
or a bigger house? (Don't lie...)
B. Hedonism is a popular shortcut to happiness.
1) Last week I spoke to a Christian who confessed he loved
Jesus and he loved crack cocaine.
He knew he was a torn man, but he didn't know if he could
ever resolve it.
Both Jesus and cocaine had been powerful influences in
his life for a long time.
Many believers live with a tension like this.
2) Drugs and sex and extreme adventure can give anyone a rush
-- for a while.
3) But the thrill doesn't last, so you have to keep ratcheting
it up to get the same level of pleasure.
4) In the end you are left empty and unfulfilled.
C. There is a danger in making happiness your highest goal.
1) It can be a tool to justify sin.
Wayne Jackson says the details may vary, but the basic
story is the same.
A Christian man, very active in the church, meets a woman
in a store in which he occasionally shops.
The lady is quite friendly and they strike up a friendship.
Eventually, they exchange e-mail addresses and begin a
correspondence.
The messages ultimately become intimate.
One day the man informs his wife that he is leaving her.
He claims to have found the "love of his life," and has come
to experience a "happiness" that he hasn't had in years.
He believes God wants him to be "happy," and this new
relationship seems to be the epitome of his dreams.
A Christian young lady of college age increasingly becomes
discontented with her family and church life.
She cannot precisely identify the problem, but says she is
just "unhappy" and feels that she must explore new
avenues of life in her quest for fulfillment.
After all, she says, "God wants me to be happy."
She ends up leaving the church and entering a decadent
lifestyle.
In both cases, the immorality is justified with the
rationalization of "happiness."
#64821
2) It can also be a false goal for faith.
Joey Horstman once wrote:
"Religion, it seems, is no longer a search for meaning or
truth, nor a way to find salvation or forgiveness.
It is a means to be happy, to improve your self-image....
I am skeptical of formulas that equate God's goodness or
power or existence with my level of happiness....
"I'm not saying God doesn't want us to be happy.
I'm saying that, in the biblical record at least, nearness
to God rarely looks like what we would consider happiness.
Christ seems less concerned that we are happy than that we
are His."
#2844
III. Ecclesiastes 5 gives insight into God's view on happiness.
A. The passage begins with a sober assessment of our mortality.
1) Verse 18 mentions our "toilsome labor under the sun."
a) We often have to work hard in lousy conditions.
2) Then it mentions our "few days of life."
a) Not to be a spoilsport, but Marilyn's 60th birthday
party yesterday - she probably won't be having one
on her 120th.
b) When you are six, the birthdays are way too far apart.
When you are 60, they come way too quickly.
3) Our lives have limitations. Always have, and always will.
B. Happiness is not the same as having great possessions.
1) Solomon, who himself was filthy rich, knew that you could
be rich and miserable.
a) It had happened to him.
b) He had seen it happen to others.
2) It is possible to have possessions WITH happiness.
a) There is a GHTV real estate show that Celeste loves.
Couple won $185 in lottery, are looking to buy a house.
They got a $5.8 million steal with all the trimmings,
of course.
Are they contented there? We would hope so.
b) There is nothing wrong with material things.
1> They can make our lives easier.
2> They can give us pleasure.
3> Solomon says it is good to enjoy them.
A> But material things are not the final answer.
C. The final answer is always with God.
1) He is the beginning of the answer, too.
a) Notice how it is God who gives us life (v. 18) and
God who gives us wealth (v. 19).
b) It is also God who gives us happiness (v. 19).
c) Even better, God gives us contentment and a glad
heart (v. 20).
2) Apart from God, life will always end up frustrating us.
a) That is why Ecclesiastes has its famous line,
"Vanity, vanity, all is vanity." (NIV: meaningless)
b) It is only with God that our short, difficult lives
can make sense.
IV. So does God want you to be happy?
A. The short answer is, YES.
1) He wants you to find fulfillment in your work and joy
in your possessions. There is nothing wrong with this.
2) The earliest Christians were famous for their joy in life.
3) But what he really wants is for you to want Him.
B. Sometimes happiness is not the best for you.
1) When you sin and rebel against God, happiness is
inappropriate.
a) Instead, he wants you to feel sorrowful, so you will
turn back to him.
b) Happiness and joy can blind us to things that need
to change.
2) It is also right to feel heaviness at all the suffering
in the world.
a) It is not a perfect place - yet.
V. To be really happy, be holy.
A. The Bible's preferred word for happiness is "blessed."
1) The beatitudes of Jesus use this word.
a) Those who are poor, and grieving, and meek can
be blessed of God.
2) It is not a feeling so much as a status.
a) When you belong to God, everything will work out OK.
b) He offers an eternal joy that the troubles of the
world can't take away.
B. Do you belong to God?
1) Do you value what he values?
2) If you lost every earthly possession, and every family
member and friend, would you still have joy?
3) God offers you a happiness that the world can't touch.
a) Have you received this gift of salvation?
=========================================================================
SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
1. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/18/iranians-sentenced-happy-pharrell_n_5
842532.html>
Sermon #64729 “Lies You Hear In Church: Christians Should Always Be
Happy,” Rev. Mark Schaefer, AU United Methodist Chaplaincy,
American University; Washington, D.C., September 30, 2012,
<http://www.aumethodists.org/worship/sermons/2012-fall/9-lies-you-hear-in-church-4-christians-should-always-be-happy/>
# 2844 “Is Religion Just a Means To Be Happy?” Joey Earl Horstman,
"The Other Side," July/August 1994, quoted in Discipleship
Journal, #84, November/December 1994, page 16.
#31353 “Richer But Unhappier,” Richard Layard, Preaching Now,
<www.preaching.com>, November 6, 2007; original source is
Today in the Word, June 2007.
#64821 “God Wants Me To Be Happy,” Wayne Jackson,
<https://www.christiancourier.com/articles/1270-god-wants-me-to-be-happy>
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
=========================================================================
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
Created with the Freeware Edition of HelpNDoc: Create HTML Help, DOC, PDF and print manuals from 1 single source