"Happiness or Joy?"
April 2, 2006

The Old Testament Lesson: I Peter 4: 12 - 19

To encourage people to look at the brightness of our life in God

Introduction:   Our series is called You’re a Character

     We are looking at the characteristics that mark a life that effectively draws people toward Christ.

     Our attractive characters draw people to Jesus.

     First, we talked about authenticity:

        Are we sincere?  are we open and vulnerable?

        If we are not authentic people, those outside the church will ignore us.     We said that people of faith draw interest through compassionate living.

     Last week, Pastor Laura addressed our need for courage

Here’s another Characteristic that makes an impression: I Peter 4.12-19

I.  People who are full of joy attract others to what they’re doing.
   A. Think about the people you knew in school: Who was popular?
        1. I’m willing to bet that the most popular people were FUN!
            a. They were the people who were always laughing.
            b. They greeted everyone with a smile.
            c. Often they had a joke to tell
        2. That is the sort of thing that is easily recognized.
        3. In school, Bill Hargest was an engineering student.
            a. He wanted in the worst way to be popular.
            b. He studied the matter and concluded that popular people told jokes.
            c. So he went out and bought a joke book, put them on 3x5 cards.
            d. He’d stand in line and read them and we’d laugh!
            e. not at the jokes, but at the entire idea—his delivery stunk!
        4. But, whether he knew it our not, he was popular
            a. Not because he told jokes.
            b. But because he was filled with JOY.
            c. He was upbeat, encouraging and positive.
            d. Just like Jesus!
   B. Look at the life of Jesus: it was obvious he was the life of the party.
        1. Everybody wanted Jesus to come to their house.
            a. The Pharisees all asked him to come.
            b. Of course the tax collectors and prostitutes did as well.
        2. And Jesus knew how to have a good time.
            a. Look at the accusations that were made of him.
            b. He was called a glutton!  He didn’t fit the mold of ascetic!
        3. But most telling was that little children enjoyed being near Jesus.
            a. Kids will not put up with the pompous and arrogant.  They can see a mean streak a mile away!
            b. They like people who laugh and know how to tell a story!
            c. I am certain that description fits Jesus.

II.  We are promised more than Happiness: Jesus gives us joy.
   A. There is a danger in this little retrospective.
        1. The popular people at school were not always the best to follow
            a. At times, their popularity depended on shallowness.
            b. They made jokes, but other others were the butt of it.
            c. They laughed but often at the expense of others.
            d. They were happy, but it was a fragile as a good time.
        2. People don’t always distinguish between happiness and joy.
        3. Happiness is fairly easy to obtain, but it disappears just as quickly.
            a. Happiness depends completely on the circumstances.
            b. As long as things are going right, anyone can be happy.
            c. Got an A on a test: You’re Happy!
            d. Got a raise at work: You’re Happy!
            e. Got a new car, new house, new shoes: You’re Happy!
            f. The problem is that all that gets old and the feelings fade.
        4. While happiness is fragile, the joy God gives is dependable.
   B. God’s joy is based on realities that can’t be altered by what happens
        1. Instead of being part of the material realm, it is Spiritual in nature.
        2. It is part of what God has promised and is supported by our faith.
        3. When difficult times roll around, Joy is still rolling within us!

III.  Generating true joy is essential for our impact on our society.
   A. What we offer to the world is a way to generate a life of joy!
        1. People will be draw to a community whose members exhibit joy.
        2. Upon a cursory inspection, joy will look like happiness.
            a. You will see people smiling and laughing.
            b. There will be excitement toward life in general.
            c. People may not notice that it is not sourced in material blessings
            d. In fact, a part of our joy will come from just that place.
        3. difference will be seen as Joy Filled people experience tough times!
   B. Here, what peter says comes into play.  (relates as well to what Laura said about courage last week.)
        1. Do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal!
            a. Laura told us that we would go through painful times.
            b. God doesn’t shield us for all harm.
            c. truly, commitment to Christ is one of the magnets for problems!
        2. Instead of surprise, try rejoicing!
            a. Your trials are an indication that you are following in Christ’s way.
            b. Jesus himself said that we would have to pick up our cross…daily
            c. Peter is echoing the teaching of Jesus: we will suffer.
        3. But, we suffer from a different perspective.
            a. It is this perspective that allows us to continue living in Joy.
            b. Joy in times of “fiery ordeal” is our witness to God’s presence.
   C. Here are the three reasons to keep rejoicing.
        1. In our suffering, we are becoming like Jesus.
            a. Becoming like Jesus is our main purpose in life.
            b. It is our reason for being alive!
            c. When we suffer in patience, we are accomplishing our purpose.
        2. Secondly, our suffering is temporary.
            a. We have hitched our wagon to God’s eternity.
            b. What happens here is very temporary in terms of forever.
            c. I have learned that I can endure a lot, if there is a time limit.
            d. Focusing on the time when the trial is over helps us to have joy.
        3. Lastly, At the end of the suffering, we can expect our reward!
            a. This life is kind of like going to work.
            b. Even the best jobs have their moments of hard labor.
            c. But, we put up with the trouble because at the end there is pay day!
            d. Peter reminds us that God’s pay day is coming.
            e. And that keeps us joyful, especially when that pay day will make any lotto jack pot look like minimum wage!

     My dear friends, Happiness depends upon everything going your way.  And we all know how likely that is!  But, joy is a matter of getting your thinking straight.  When you keep in mind that presence of God with you every day, the effectiveness of hard times in molding you in the image of Jesus, and the reality of the jackpot that is waiting for us at the end of our labor, it is easy to be filled with unshakable joy…a joy that draws others toward the source the eternal life that the see in us.

     One of the greatest examples of Christian Joy is found in the person of Hannah Whitehall Smith.  She was so filled with joy that she wrote a book entitled “The Christian’s Secret of a Happy life.”  If you haven’t read it, you should: it considered a classic!  But her life was anything but a source of Happiness by the world’s definition.  Her Husband rarely held a steady job.  Four of her seven children die at young ages.  Her husband Robert experienced 3 mental breakdowns.  Finally, he took a mistress and left Hannah.  Her daughter Mary divorces her husband that later led Hannah to fight for custody of her grandchildren.  Her youngest surviving daughter married atheist Bertrand Russel.  She was confined to a wheelchair for the last 7 years of her life.  Yet, in the face of all that suffering, she was able to write about the joy of being a Christian.  She wrote, “It is grand to trust in the promises, but it is grander still to trust in the Promiser!  The God who is behind His promises and is infinitely greater than His promises, can never fail us in any emergency, and the soul that is stayed on Him cannot know anything but perfect peace.”

     That kind of joy in the face of suffering is one of the most powerful witnesses that we can give to the presence of God in our lives!