Week 2

This four-week series is designed to highlight the relevant and important topics of happiness and contentment. Happiness means something different to different people. Many, in our modern society, attempt to “find” happiness through material possessions, a new job, or even a significant other. In the end, though, these things often leave us just as empty as we were before. ‘The Search for Happiness’ flips this approach on its head, detailing the importance of putting our focus on the person of Jesus, as well as our walk with Him. This alone will bring us lasting joy and contentment.

In this episode, Pastor Tito shows how to find happiness in helping others.

Read the Sermon Summary below

GIVING OUR LIVES AWAY

How to be happy by helping others

“You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.” John Bunyan

My wife and I share many things in common, but we express one thing a little differently.  Being a pastor obviously involves interacting with people.  I personally like to study people and analyze trends in society.  My wife likes to people watch anywhere she can.  I know she is not alone.  I’m sure.  One thing that we all notice of ourselves as people is that we search for significance and purpose outside of ourselves.  It’s like we all know that we are empty inside.

Under the Old Covenant in the Jewish Scriptures, God taught the nation of Israel that their lives could be filled if they would just follow His rules.  Many Jews associated one’s health and wealth to how good they were at following those rules.  Sickness and poverty were apparent signs that you weren’t passing God’s test.  They believed in principles which stated that you will get if you give (Proverbs 11:24).    But what we get back doesn’t have to resemble what we give away.  This is where the Prosperity Gospel has built its poor theology, telling people that if they give $10 to God and He will give them back $100.  That’s not how it works.

This Old Covenant model of being “filled up” by following rules was imperfect because people are not perfect.  Giving with the intent to receive is a self-centered approach that leads to disappointment.  The New Covenant that Jesus has given us reveals that our lives are filled when we empty ourselves out for the sake of others!  Jesus took the “Give & Get” model (Luke 6:38) and amplified it, declaring that “It is better to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).  This others-centered view shows that we don’t have to give to be happy, rather we give because we are happy.  Therefore, if anyone is serious about searching for happiness, they cannot look past helping others.  The Apostles John, Matthew, & Paul each learned this lesson from Jesus’ own example.

³⁴ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. ³⁵ By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  John 13:34-35 (ESV)

Jesus really raised the bar on how we are to love others by the way He loved us.  Later that night, after giving this commandment, Jesus would put on the ultimate display of love by dying for sinners like you and me.  The commands to love God (Deuteronomy 6:5) and love others (Leviticus 19:18) showed up separately in the Old Testament.  Teachers and Rabbis had been teaching these two principles since the time of Moses.  They prioritized loving God by following rules over loving your Jewish neighbors.  Jesus was the first to combine the two and show the equal importance to do both (Matthew 22:36-40) and He re-defined neighbor to be anyone, not just Jews (Luke 10:25-37).

This new commandment replaces the “greatest” commandment by bringing a greater level of clarity to what was on God’s heart.  We are no longer to focus on loving God AND loving others.  According to Jesus, we are to love God BY loving others as Jesus Himself has loved us.  We should never treat others the way others treat us.  Yet treating others the way we would like to be treated falls short of Jesus desire that we treat others the way He has treated us!  It is Christ who defines what love looks like.  Not you or me.  Jesus declared that this love for one another inside of the Church will cause those outside of the Church to take notice!

^“16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16 (ESV)

Again, we see this principle outlined, that if we shine our light, our light being the love of Christ, others will take notice and gain a glimpse of our Heavenly Father.  I like to say that because God has been good to us, we should be good to others to show others how good God is!

⁸ so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well. 1 Thessalonians 2:8 (NIV)

The Apostle Paul models this kind of joy-giving love in this letter to the Church in Thessalonica, which was a Greek City-port along the Aegean Sea.  The Christians in this Church were under serious persecution from Rome.  They shared with the Apostle Paul some concerns about what happens to Christians when they die and if they had missed Jesus’ Second Coming.  In this letter, Paul addressed those questions, but in chapter two verse eight, he encourages this young church not to lose sight of what they can do today despite not knowing what might happen tomorrow.

Paul, modeling Christ, reveals that his motivation to care for them and share with them is rooted in love!  We too must follow this example.  Because of Jesus’ love for us, we ought to care about others and their needs by expressing our compassion in action.  Also, we ought to be willing to share what we have, what we know, and who we know (Jesus) with everyone we know.  Jesus promises that we will have a great impact in our surrounding communities when we as His Church prioritize loving one another by the way we care for each other and share life together.

When we give in this way, we gain a level of happiness that we cannot find any other way.  Helping others helps us to grow our faith, which motivates us to help even more people for the glory of God!  It’s a beautiful cycle.

What happens at Church should never stay at Church.  Loving and serving each other in the local church is how we learn to grow and go do the same in our neighborhoods, schools, and places of work.  Living by this kind of faith in Christ allows us to help others and live happily.  May the world be jealous of how the rich and poor love and serve each other in the church rather than exploiting each other.  May the world be jealous of how people of different races embrace and celebrate our differences rather than devalue each other.  May the world be jealous of both how men and women and the young and old complement each other rather than compete against one another.  Can you imagine that?  I can.

We can care for others because God first cared about us.  We can share what we have, what we know, and who we know because God first shared all He has and who He is with us.  Finally, we can love others in such a radical way because God first loved us in an extraordinary way.  Simply put, what we do for others from here on out needs to be in response to all Christ has done for us.  This not only will change us, but it will change the world.