Jamin Metcalf – September 15, 2019

Key Idea: God never said: “Do what makes you happy.” // Key Passage: Matthew 5:3-12 (The Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes)

SUMMARY: We are the most pleasure-seeking society in history, and yet as a society we deal with increasing rates of major depressive episodes, anxiety attacks, and suicide. We use the mantra “Just do what makes you happy.” It doesn’t work. Jesus tells us in Scripture how we can be truly “happy”.

TEACHING:

All human beings want to be happy. It’s universal, but no matter what we do, we aren’t satisfied. The world tells us, “Do what makes you happy.” It doesn’t work and, in fact, it can be destructive to us. God gives us a new definition of happiness.
The Dead Tree: Happiness According to the World: Sex, Money & Power
- Sex
  - 1960s free love movement – “sex never hurt anyone, do whatever you want”
  - We are the most sexually free culture, but we’re never satisfied. We have double-digit divorce rates in the U.S. We’ve made sex our ‘god’, yet we still aren’t happy.
- Money
  - We think if we had a better house, car, job, a raise, etc. then we would be happy.
  - When J.D. Rockefeller, one of the richest men in the world at the time, was asked How much is enough money? He answered, “Just a little bit more.” Money never provides the satisfaction we are looking for.
- Power
  - If people would respect me more, if I was more popular, had a better reputation, had more followers on social media, etc. then I’d be happy. It doesn’t work.
  - We’ve made our hearts our own gods. I want to do what I want to do.
  - 17.3 million adults have had at least 1 major depressive episode, 40 million adults have had a major anxiety attack, and 1.5 million adults have attempted suicide
  - Genesis 3:1-6 – We were created to be in right relationship with God, with each other, and with the earth. Our fulfillment was to be found only in God. In the Garden of Eden, but Adam and Eve were tempted and bought the lie.
  - Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 Solomon tested everything in the world that he thought would make a person happy. In the end, he discovered it’s all meaningless, all a vapor.
  - We all have a God-shaped hole, a lock without a key. God is the key.
The Tree of Life: Happiness According to Jesus
- In Greek, the word for happiness means the right order of your soul. As health is to the body, happiness is to the soul.
- In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus shares what it means to have happiness, or blessedness. Matthew 5:3-12
- Jesus tells us:
  - Come follow me, and you’ll be happy.
  - Be founded on the Rock of Jesus Christ (Matthew 7:24-27)
  - What will it profit you, if you gain everything and lose your soul? (Matthew 16:24-26)
- The Tree of Life is a cross—the paradox - when you deny yourself, you’ll find fulfillment.
The Fruit of the Tree of Life
- Everything we have we receive back as a gift from God that we can be grateful for.
- Everything in our lives becomes a blessing.
- Our happiness is secure. No one can take it away, because it is rooted in Jesus Christ, not the things we acquire and the circumstances that surround us.
- It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t enjoy things in our life, but C.S. Lewis sums it up in the quote below.

Conclusion

“Give up your self, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it. Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favourite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end: submit with every fibre of your being, and you will find eternal life. Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will ever be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.” -C.S.Lewis, Mere Christianity

You can find satisfaction and happiness only in Jesus Christ!

Reflection:

Throughout the week in your own time with the Lord, you can use these reflection questions as a way to deepen your relationship with God. Reflect on these questions in the presence of God, allowing the Holy Spirit to shine a light into your heart.

1) It’s easy to buy into the “Do what makes you happy!” philosophy. Stickers, social media posts, signs, and memes are everywhere shouting that message. What is your experience with following the message, “Do what makes you happy”?

2) Does it surprise you that people seek happiness in sex, money, and power? Or that human beings have been seeking these 3 things for thousands of years? Describe a time when you sought for happiness in one of those dead trees (sex, money, and power), or another not mentioned. What did you discover?

3) When we look at the number of adults (not including children and teens) who are experiencing depression, anxiety, and suicide, it would be hard to not have experienced some of those things ourselves now or at one time, or at least know someone who has or does experience some of those things. How do you think the world’s “messages” contribute to these problems?

4) Jesus defines happiness for us in the Sermon on the Mount—resulting in the right order of your soul (mind, will, emotions). What does it practically look like for us to live out the Sermon on the Mount, specifically the Beatitudes?

TIP: Go to BibleGateway.com and look up Matthew 5:3-12 in the Amplified Bible (AMP) version. This might give you some more practical ways we can understand how to apply this passage to our lives in a practical way.

FAQs:

I want a relationship with Jesus, but I’m not sure how to do that.

You can pray a simple prayer from your heart, no matter where you are or what you are doing.

Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. In Your Name I pray, Amen.

The next step is to tell someone. Talk to someone at church who is wearing a “How Can I Help You?” badge on Sunday, or share in your small group, that you prayed that prayer. They can make sure you get a Bible and support you in beginning your new life with Jesus.

I want to read the Bible but I’m not sure where to start. I don’t have a Bible.

If you are not familiar with the Bible and you aren’t sure where to start, you can always start reading about the life of Jesus in the book of Matthew in the New Testament. If you don’t have a Bible, let someone who is wearing a “How Can I Help You?” badge on Sunday morning that you don’t have a Bible and would like one.

I would like to get involved and serve in some way, but I don’t know how.

We invite you to attend Discover, which takes place once a month after the 10:45 am service on Sunday morning. It is a great way to hear the vision for the church and discover how you can get more involved and serve.

Full Podcast Episode: https://banner.church/podcast/2019/9/16/god-never-said-that-do-what-makes-you-happy-91519