This Week's Light Service Sermon

Light Service Sermons for the Month
Putting the Life Back Into Life
Putting the Joy Back Into Life
DATE: October 25, 1998
TEXT: Romans 15:13

The older I get the more I like the term BABY BOOMER. The term at my age helps toward my denial. Clare Frankenfield celebrated her 95-year young birthday this week. A couple of months ago she gave me an article that says,
1) You know you're getting old when hair begins to appear miraculously where it has never grown before.
2) You know you're getting old when you reach up to pull down a window shade and your upper arm keeps moving long after you're done.
3) You know you're getting old when you start finding liver spots attractive.
4) You know you're getting old when medication, even other people's, is interesting to talk about.
5) You know you're getting old when you discover that most colors now go just find with most colors.
6) You know you're getting old when you know you could do your work a lot better if you could take a nap after lunch!"
Well, as we grow older, I know that you and I search for a sense of fulfillment, happiness, and joy. Back in 1967 a book was written JOY: Expanding Human Awareness and even though that book is out of print, it began a trend of books about "Joy" ... The Joy of Cooking, the Joy of Parenting, The Joy of Sex, and Americans revealed a quest to discover joy in their lives.
A couple of year's ago ABC featured a one hour special with John Stossel titled The Mystery of Happiness: Who has it, How to get it. John Stossel began the program by saying, "Over the past four decades have been thousands of studies on unhappiness, anxiety, depression and so forth. Only recently have they begun to study happiness. But it's time, isn't it? Because isn't pursuing happiness much of what life's about? If you had just one wish for you children, that they had wealth, high intelligence, a successful job or career, or an overall happy life, wouldn't you pick happiness? We are in the pursuit of joy.
So what are ingredients of a joy-filled happy life? Beauty? Success? Family? Money? Let's talk about money.
Probably the greatest myth in our culture today is that somehow money is the answer to happiness. Even though we might say over and over we know money doesn't bring happiness, we Americans seem to have become increasingly convinced that somehow money will buy happiness. The psychologist David Myers who wrote the book The Pursuit of Happiness spent six years studying surveys and research about people who are happy. He says when we get past the poverty level and we have enough money to feed our children and ourselves money doesn't help--no matter how much we buy with it. In the ABC special a number of people were interviewed who had won the lottery. They discovered, hands down, that person after person was no happier today than they were before they won the lottery. They were shocked by this, but they shouldn't be. Many of them said they were less happy than before they won the lottery. And all of them had been divorced.
Consider Bob--an American, middle-class, middle-aged man who has just bought a brand new big screen TV and stereo with surround sound. He just bought some new clothes, a new computer and some new CDs. Now a few months later after the joy has worn out from that experience, he wants to "re-juice" his joy. So he upgrades to a 233-megahertz computer, a bigger screen for his TV, more and better clothes and stockpiles CDs. Bob is like many people in America who think that somehow the possessions we gain and the money we have will bring us joy. It juices us for a moment but then it wears off and we need more.
A study was conducted of three-month-old babies who were put in cribs. Over each crib researchers placed a mobile with two objects for the baby to look at. Each baby enjoyed those two objects. Then the two object mobile was replaced with a ten object mobile. The babies enjoyed that. But then they took out the ten object mobile and returned the one with two objects. Quickly the babies cried or lost interest. We get used to have more! That's why today with double the income and more buying power that we've ever had, we are still no happier than we were forty years ago.
So if money doesn't buy happiness, what does? That's what we're going to talk about today when we focus on the theme, "Putting the Joy Back into Life." But first, let's pray...
Joy is so illusive dear God. Just when we think we have it sowed up in our lives, it flies away. How can we keep joy in our lives? From where does true joy originate? We ask your guidance this morning as we try to answer the question, how do we put joy into our life? AMEN .
In our text for today, Paul talks about joy. "May the God of hope fill you with all joy." Paul the Apostle not only talked joy, he lived it. In fact one of the books we read in the Bible, Philippians, has been considered a letter of joy. It's filled with references of joy and rejoicing. But consider Paul's situation for a moment.
Paul wrote many of his letters from prison. The political authorities didn't appreciate what Paul was doing and often sent him to prison. And while in prison--in those dank, dark quarters--Paul said he suffered from a "thorn in his flesh." We don't know exactly what that was, but it was some kind of physical suffering. He knew that his friends who were serving Christ were being killed daily. He grieved that he couldn't get to them. He knew that many of the Christians who'd been newly born into Christ were now fighting one another in the church in Corinth, and that false teachers had come in and tried to infiltrate and pull these Christians away from the church. On top of all this, he faced the possibility of execution every day.
Now if you were in Paul's shoes, living in a prison, your friends dying daily; of the one's you loved were in constant conflict, would you be writing about joy? Yet in the midst of all this Paul says, "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice." How could he do that?
Paul discovered that joy is not the absence of something negative as we might think. Rather joy is the presence of something positive. He learned that joy is not something we pursue. In fact, the more we try to grab for joy, the more it seems to elude our grasp. Rather joy is a byproduct of something more in our lives--a greater reality. The presence of God. I'd like to share with you three gifts that God gave Paul and gives us that can bring us joy.
First of all, joy is a byproduct of positive people. Paul began this book of Romans by talking to his friends. He calls them "beloved." Later, in the first chapter Romans, Paul says to his friends, "I thank God through Jesus for every one of you. People everywhere keep telling me about your lives of faith and every time I hear them I thank God whom I love to worship by spreading the good news of his son, every time I think of you in my prayers (which is practically all the time) I ask him to clear the way for me to come and see you."
Do you hear in this passage the love, care, and concern that Paul had for these people? One of the biggest predictors of joy in our life is close caring relationships.
In Philippians, Paul called his friends, "my joy and my crown." Close caring friendships for you and for me brings joy.
A couple had been married for 50 years. She said, "You know, it's just not the same anymore, Fred. You use to sit so close to me." He said, "Whoa, I can remedy that!" And he moved right next to her on the couch. She said, "You use to hold me so tight." He said, "How's this?" And he placed his arms around her and gave her a great big hug. "But, you remember, honey, how you used to nestle in my neck with your nose and nibble at my earlobes?" He stood up and walked out of the room. Surprised, she said, "Where are you going?" He said, "I'll be right back--I have to get my teeth."
Have things changed for you? Perhaps you can remember a time when you enjoyed close caring friendships and now it seems those friendships are gone. Perhaps you've moved from another part of the country and you're starting all over. Perhaps your spouse has passed away. Or maybe you're in a marriage and a family but your work has so consumed you that you have less and less time for those you care for. How are you fixed for friends? God invites you today, and he will help you, to find friendships that are caring and close. There are all kinds of people right here with us who would love to befriend you. Through our support groups and our small groups we find great caring togetherness. One of my personal goals for Faith this coming year is to encourage the development of small groups for caring, for support, for spiritual growth. And that brings me to my second point.
Secondly, Joy is a byproduct of purpose. When we think of joy, another myth in our culture is that we'd be happier if we had more leisure time. If we were only retired. If only we had more time to sit and watch TV and just do the "fun" things in life. But research shows that the opposite is true. We discover joy when we have purpose, when we are actively developing and growing in our skills. The gifts God's given us are not only used for ourselves but for the sake of other people--a purpose.
A loaded station wagon pulled into the last available camping spot and immediately four children jumped out of the car and feverishly pulled the tent and all the camping gear out of the station wagon. They set things up as fast as they could. Some went for firewood, others set up the cooking utensils and cooking ware. The gentleman in the next campsite watched in amazement. Finally, he walked over to the dad and said, "Sir, this is unbelievable. I've never seen teenagers so motivated. They are working with a sense of purpose! How do you do it?" The dad replied, "Well, I have a system. No one goes to the bathroom until the camp's all set up."
What motivates you? What drives you? Is there a purpose in your life beyond yourself--even beyond your family--that will give you joy? God has purpose for each and every one of us. It may not be some grandiose dream to change the world, but it may be the dream to make a difference in the people that we love, the people around us. God has a purpose for you. As we catch that purpose beyond ourselves, God brings us joy.
Mr. Raker planned to sell a horse for $1500. His little 11-year-old friend, Chase, so desperately wanted a horse. Yet his mom was single had little funds. $1500 was needed to provide braces for little Chase. So his mom said, "No." But Chase occasionally traveled to Mr. Raker's house and rode that beautiful horse. One day Chase and his mom arrived at Mr. Raker's farm and the red horse trailer was gone. On the way back to his own house, Chase sheds many tears, knowing that this horse had been sold. But when they arrived at Chase's house, what did he see but a red horse trailer and a beautiful brown horse. Mr. Raker leaning against his pick-up truck asked, "chase, how much have you raised to by a horse?" Chase replied, "I have $17.00." Mr. Raker said immediately, "Well, you know that's funny. That's exactly how much I was going to charge for this horse and trailer." Within a SECOND, Chase ran up to his room, grabbed his money and was on that horse riding off into the field. Mr. Raker never explained why he sold that horse for $17. But time and time again people could hear Mr. Raker say, "I'm the happiest I've been in years."
A Purpose beyond ourselves gives us joy.
Finally, joy is a byproduct of positive faith. Senator John Micatin suffered for five years in a concentration camp in North Vietnam. Two of those years he was in solitary confinement. Regarding that ordeal Senator McCain said, "Many times I thought I was happy. There were times I would laugh at the Vietnamese, the guards and interrogators. The reason so many of us were able to come out of the experience with a very good mental condition was because we were happy a lot."
What sustained Senator McCain? Faith. Faith in Jesus Christ. The word joy comes from the same Greek root "Karin" from which we translate the word grace. The love of Jesus which enters your heart and your life is the source of joy! It depends not on our circumstances, not on our situations, not on the pain we face, but this God who promises to be with you no matter what you face and no matter where you are. This Jesus was with the Apostle Paul He was with the early Christians. He's been with Christians for centuries and he's with you today.
It's with this Jesus, that gives us faith so that we can have joy.
As I conclude today, I'd like you to consider...how are you fixed for friends--the people in your life. What is your purpose? Do you have positive faith?
The great news today is that our loving Lord gives us each one of these as a gift. God provides people who can care for you and for whom you can care. God will answer that prayer. God gives you a purpose for living. And God gives you positive faith. Faith is a gift.
So we can say today not only, "This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice." But we can say, "These are the people God has made, I will rejoice. This is the purpose god has given me, I will rejoice. And this is the faith God has given me, I will rejoice.
AMEN