Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 You're listening to a live recording from Westside Church in Bend, Oregon. Thanks for joining us.
Speaker 1 00:00:07 Uh, we are in this series, uh, it's based on a book by Eugene Peterson, the great late Eugene Peterson called The Long Obedience in the same Direction. It's really talking about, um, how do we, um, take the long road of becoming more like Jesus? Because it's not an easy path. It's not a short path. It's one that takes time and energy and intentionality. And, uh, Peterson uses the image of a pilgrim on a journey. It's not, it's, it's, it's a journey that takes some time and, and it's, but it's rich with, um, with God's presence and community and connection. And, and, and so we're gonna, and we're gonna keep looking at, um, for a couple more weeks, Psalms of ascent. These are Psalms at the Jerusalem, uh, the people of of Jerusalem, the people of Israel, as they walk to Jerusalem, as they pilgrim to Jerusalem, they would sing these songs, um, on their way up to Jerusalem, the Psalms of Ascent, because Jerusalem is at a high point.
Speaker 1 00:01:01 And so they would walk there and, and, uh, and, and in a sense it's, these Psalms are like a direction for us. It's to help us know what is, what does a long obedience in those, in this direction look like. I love what Peterson wrote in his book. There is a great market for religious experience in our world. There is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what previous generations of Christians called holiness. Practicing the way of Jesus is a commitment to, to the long game. It's, it's a commitment to walk to pilgrim together with others, um, over days, weeks, months, and years to become more and more like Jesus and to allow the deep work of the spirit to, to transform us, to change us, to help us become more and more like Jesus. And so that's what we've been talking about over these last several weeks. And, um, and the psalm we're gonna look at today is gonna, we're gonna talk about what is it? What does it take to be happy in this world?
Speaker 1 00:02:08 And, uh, what does it take to be happy? It's a, it's, it's the way we're gonna look at it. It's not, um, typical. It's, it's gonna surprise you. Um, I think for many of us, it's gonna be something that you haven't seen before or maybe you haven't connected this spiritual principle we're gonna look at with happiness. And yet the scriptures kind of talk about this in particular. Psalm chapter 1 28, Psalm 1 28, the Psalm of ascent talks about this kind of practice that leads to happiness. Okay, here we go. Verse one, all you who fear God, how blessed you are, how word blessed pretty much everywhere you see that word. Blessed in the old. And New Testament means happiness. It means a not, not a, not just a, a kind of a shallow happiness, but a deep sense of contentment, fulfillment. Like I, I like, I'm living my best life.
Speaker 1 00:03:05 Blessed. Um, and so that's what, that's what the psalmist is talking about all you. Who God, how blessed, how happy you are, how happily you walk on his smooth straight road. You worked hard and deserve all you've got coming. Enjoy the blessing. Revel in the goodness your wife will bear children as a vine, bears, grapes, your household lush as a vineyard, the children around your table is fresh and promising as young olive shoots stand in awe of God's yes. Oh, how he blesses the one who fears God. Enjoy the good life in Jerusalem every day of your life and enjoy your grandchildren. Peace to Israel. Shalom in this psalm, this, this, this. We're blessed. It's just like, how do we have happiness? Now you're, as you're reading this, you might, as we're reading this, you might be thinking, okay, so happiness is having a wife who bears a lot of children, and the women in the room are going, that's not happy. <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:04:05 That's a pathway to poverty, not happiness, you know? And, uh, or maybe you're well if, but hard work, that's the path. That's how you, that's how you end up being happy. So if you just work hard, but that's not, these are like the, for the Hebrew culture, these were signs of happiness. These were like, this is how you know when you're happy. Like, oh, well, I get all my kids around my table eating all my food, my wife, grandchildren, I feel good about what I do in life. You know, these are for the Hebrew culture. These were signs of happiness. Those weren't, they, they weren't the pathway to happiness. That's not how to be happy. It's what happiness for them look like. And so thankfully we can just kind of all rest. You don't need to try to have as many children as possible, or keep them in your home as long as possible, or have as many grandchildren as po to be happy.
Speaker 1 00:04:56 Um, somebody say amen to that. You don't, that's not the pathway to happiness. I'm not saying it's will make you unhappy necessarily, but it's not the pathway. I love what Peterson argued too much of the world's happiness focuses on taking from one to satisfy the other, to increase my standard of living. People in other part of the world must lower theirs the worldwide hunger crisis that we may have, that we have today as a result of that method of pursuing happiness. So what Peterson argues in his book about happiness is that, that often the way that we try to pursue happiness is just acquiring more and more for us, for our lives, for our children and their children's children and et cetera. And we, and, and sometimes we unin and unintentionally take from others for in order for us to be happy. But instead, according to this song, this song, the pathway to happiness begins with something I'm almost positive.
Speaker 1 00:06:01 Very few of us have thought about in terms of happiness. It starts with the fear of the Lord. And some of you're right now, you're like going, okay, that what? Being afraid of God, how does that lead me to happiness? But that's not what the fear of the Lord means. The fear of the Lord is not, um, if I step outside of his will, he's going to punish me, therefore I'm afraid of him. That's how most people think of the fear of God. That's not what the fear of the Lord is. What the fear of the Lord is, is saying, I honor you God, and I respect you, and I trust you. So I'm gonna follow your way. I'm gonna obey you. That's what it means to be, to have the fear of the Lord is I, I'm in awe of you and your way.
Speaker 1 00:06:50 And so I'm gonna try my best to like follow you, to obey you at the expense of other ways. I'm gonna fear you, God. That's what that means. It's an invitation to honor God in every area of our life, to humbly walk according to His word and his way. It means respect and honor and believe that God's way is the best. That's what the fear of the Lord means. So is the psalmist. What he's saying here is that the pathway to happiness, if you wanna be truly fulfilled in this life, if you wanna have a sense of contentment, deep contentment in your life, it begins and ends with the fear of the Lord God, I wanna walk according to your way. The Bible says that the way of people seems right, but it leads to destruction. And I've noticed something in our world, even among Christians, is that we have this strong sense that we know what's best for us.
Speaker 1 00:07:54 I know what's good for me. I know what's going to make me happy. And this is pervasive. It's, it's, we grow up in it. It's like this is kind of natural, it's like second nature for us. But, but to walk according to our own wisdom. And, and then, but if you think about it, an honest evaluation of our world and our present level of happiness, one might conclude we should try something else. This walking our own way that we think leads to happiness seems to be leading towards anxiety and depression. Like no other generation has ever experienced it. So, so maybe, maybe we should go ahead and take a risk, though. I don't think it's much of a risk based on how the direction we're going right now, like, you know, I'm gonna go a different way. I'm gonna, I wanna see what God says about his way that leads to happiness.
Speaker 1 00:08:51 And yes, it's different than the way that you think leads to happiness. Yes, the fear of the Lord, but really it's all about like, what, what is God's way for my life? What is his purposes for me? What, how does he want me to live into this life? John Calvin once told his congregation in Geneva, Switzerland that we must develop better and deeper concepts of happiness than those held by the world. So if the fear of the Lord means walking according to God's way and not our own, what does that look like? Well, one place we could start is with the 10 Commandments. And before you roll your eyes and go like, oh, here we go. Old Testament stuff. No, don't this, hang with me. This is amazing. So we have a slide of the 10 10 Commandments just to refresh your memory of what these are. So here, here they are. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make idols. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Remember the Sabbath. Honor your father and mother. Don't murder, don't commit adultery. Don't steal, don't bear false witness. You shall not covet. These are the 10 commandments. And before you start thinking that, oh, this is, yeah, I knew that church would go here, limiting us is the way to happiness.
Speaker 2 00:10:02 <laugh>
Speaker 1 00:10:04 Restricting us is the, no, no, no. That's not what it's saying. Jesus, God was saying to the people of Israel, and he gave these 10 commandments to Moses. He was saying, if you want to be happy, if you want to have fulfillment in this life, don't kill each other.
Speaker 2 00:10:22 <laugh>,
Speaker 1 00:10:25 Don't lust after your neighbor's wife. Bad idea will not lead to happiness. Contentment is not found there. Contentment is putting God first. Contentment is honoring your neighbor. Contentment is listening to your parents. This is where contentment is found. That's what the 10 Commandments were for. He's like, this is for your good. This is for your good. You're gonna be living in community for a while together. You might wanna follow these things. But what happened, funny enough, what happened in Judaism is that they take these 10 commandments and they build other laws around them. But what they did is that they made little loopholes. So like, okay, don't murder. Got it. Never have done that. I've never done that. But Jesus comes along and he says, Hey, have you, you've heard it said, thou Shelton, not murder, but I say, don't even be angry with your brother unless you sin.
Speaker 1 00:11:26 And you're like, oh, well I've done that. And what Jesus does is he says, he takes the 10 commandments and he says, so you can find loopholes that lead to unhappiness. Don't commit adultery. Jesus says, I tell you, don't even lust after a woman because he knows He's not trying to restrict us and limit us. He's trying to say, listen, cuz I know, I know. Listen to me. He say, I know this to be true, that if you lust after your neighbor's wife, it will not lead to your happiness. You will not be blessed in this life simply because you're going down the wrong path. You're following the way this world thinks. Anything goes. No, it's not good for us. At, at some point, I think, I think I don't, I'm, I probably am totally wrong and naive, but I sometimes I just think that eventually the pendulum is gonna swing back to this place.
Speaker 1 00:12:24 Like, no, not everything is okay. No, it's not okay. It's not okay for us. It's not a, it is not, it is not a religious thing. It's just like anything goes, it's not good for us. It's not, it's not, doesn't lead to happiness according to what I'm seeing. It leads to anxiety and depression. So this way of Jesus, this way of that God says, it's like there's a way to walk in this world that leads you to happiness. And it's not meant to be restrictive. It's not. It's meant for your good. It's meant to like, Hey, listen to these things. This is for your better. This is for your happiness. This is for your blessing in your relationships, in your life, in your world. It's not a list of rules that, that we disobey and then we feel judgment. These are a list of the things that God says, listen, this is good for you.
Speaker 1 00:13:21 I made you, I created you. I i know you. I know what's good for you. I know what will lead to your happiness, your contentment, your fulfillment in this life. And it's not what the world has to offer. You know, we find happiness so often in the western world through acquisition of things, you know, um, yeah, I've, I've, I've went shopping to help me feel more happy. I've done that. What's that called? Shopping therapy. What is that? Retail, retail therapy. Suzanne, thank you. She heard she cert Yeah. Clinical. The clinical name for that. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. We, but we try, we try to find this different ways. And I wanna, I wanna propose something that's really like some of, you're gonna be like, I don't like this.
Speaker 1 00:14:13 What if instead of pursuing happiness at the expense of others, we f we find happiness through giving of ourselves to others. What if the pathway to happiness actually means it's more blessed to give than to receive? It's more blessed to give than to receive. In other words, Jesus was saying, happier are those who give rather than take nowhere. Does Jesus say blessed are the greedy. Blessed are those who take what they deserve. Blessed are those who give when they give rather than they receive. See, according to the way of Jesus, our vitality increases our potential for happiness increases. The more that we give away, the more that we, um, lay our lives down for the other. Science has caught up with this, by the way. They, they've done many studies of this and they've found them that someone who gives, um, minimum of two hours a week in serving other people are happier than those who do not. That's an easy one, right? I mean, I was like, I just gotta, I I'm, I'll be happier if I give, like, serve some for two hours a week. I can do that. I mean, the children right now are waiting for you. <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:16:01 I mean, yeah, right? I mean, yeah, I mean, I mean, yeah, that's, that's just a little pastored away of putting a little dig in there on for children's mysteries. But, but there's, but it's, it's a simple way to take a step towards happiness and not just towards happiness. Cuz that's, that's not the goal, by the way. See, I think, I think the American way is a pursuit of happiness. It's a, that's the kind of the end. That's what we're after. That's not for the Jesus way. For, for Jesus people. The ultimate goal is becoming like him. It's like, I wanna live into his way. I want to become more like Jesus. And Jesus Hebrew says that for the joy, for the joy set before him, he endured the cross. I just think about the way Jesus like led his life and it was all give and no take.
Speaker 1 00:16:57 And I'm not asking you to lay your life down like literally, but I have this theory that that's ultimate joy. And if we can reframe our thinking to consider that ultimate joy is found in actually laying your life down for someone else, then we might actually be able to work backwards from that and see that our happiness is dependent on our ability to sacrificially love and serve as just as Jesus did. Yet I think we, we we like, we think that sacrifice and you know, and like laying down our lives causes us to live like in some depravity of soul. Like, you know, I just think of these grumpy old monks that, you know, I'm just gonna live my life down, you know, this's what, how to do. And you're just like, I hate doing it, man. I'm gonna do it. You know, I'm like, I don't think that's what it means.
Speaker 1 00:18:02 I think it means like, this is where joy is found as I give of myself to another, this is where like, this is how I find happiness is by giving of myself. I think we think of, uh, serving others like fasting food and that's no fun at all. And we think, I think we think of serving like that. And yet I'm, I've found in my own life, and I've seen it in other people's lives, that there's so much joy to be found there. Let me mention Pastor Dario Dario, Dario Capin. I've known, um, I met him 16 years ago, I think it was 16 years ago when we lived in Croatia. And he's a pastor in, um, a city one hour north of Saraia in Bosnia and Herzegovina, uh, called Zenni. And uh, it's predominantly Muslim. Uh, his city's predominantly Muslim, and he got saved, radically saved at a, as a teenager. Um, was went to Sweden and was discipled there. And, and then, um, planted a church in Novi, sad Belgrade. Um, he served ethnically. And um, and then God called him, um, back to Sara, Ava where he was born and, and, and to serve there. And he ends up planning this church in Zenni, uh, um, some 20 plus years ago. And, um, so he's been serving for like 20 some years. His church is, um, like maybe 20 people.
Speaker 1 00:19:38 And uh, we have a picture of Dario. And this is what he, um, this is what he looks like all the time. He has a smile on his face all the time. And I know Dario pretty well, and we've talked about his struggles. It's not easy. His life is not easy. His ministry is not easy. He is one of very few Christians in his city and he's chosen to like, serve God in this city. And he just pours his life out over and over every single day. He's just pouring his life out and he's just trying to figure out new ways to love his city and the people, his neighbors. And he's just pouring his life out. And, and then I, I show up and I end up being sick that week, like really sick, like coughing and just a mess. And this, and Dario is just like, he's keeps going to the store, buys me cough medicine.
Speaker 1 00:20:27 He is like, what else can I get for you Steve? He's just like, lays his life down for me the entire week. I'm there. And just like he's got a conference, he's like hosting and he's just like, I'm just gonna love you and serve you. And I realized something with Dario that it's like, I just kind of thought it was two random things. He's happy all the time and he serves all the time. I just thought it was two random things. Never really put the two and two together. And this week I was like, no one has caused the other, his posture towards his city, his posture of love and sacrifice and laying down his life for others is directly linked to his level of joy and happiness and contentment. So let me ask you, what does this look like for you? If your happiness depends on finding ways to love others outside of yourself, of giving of yourself without a guaranteed return. What, what needs to shift in your thinking today or in your actions today?
Speaker 1 00:21:34 What in instead of trying to procure happiness, what if you leaned into the idea that happiness is the result of laying down your life for others? So what does that look like for you, for your relationship with your spouse and your relationship with your coworkers and your relationships with your neighbors, your teachers or your students? What does it look like to lean into, to the pathway of happiness as a sacrificially giving of yourself to others? One of the prayers that I've been praying, um, for the past few months is a prayer that's credited to St. Francis. And, and as I've prayed this prayer and I've meditated on its implications for my life, God has begun to provide ideas of like how to do this, how to live this out, not just pray about it, but to live it. And I want us to pray this prayer together.
Speaker 1 00:22:31 And I'm believing that as we do this, the Holy Spirit may drop just some ideas and thoughts and maybe names of people into your heart that he would ask you to like take a step of faith to give of yourself this week in certain ways. So I want us to pray this prayer together out loud. Um, and let's, let's listen to the Holy Spirit. Let's put that prayer up on the screen. There it is. Ready Go. Lord, make me an instrument of your peace where there is hatred. Let me sow love where there is injury. Pardon? Where there is doubt faith, where there is despair. Hope where there is darkness, light where there is sadness, joy, oh, divine master grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love for it is in giving that we receive. It is imparting that we are pardoned and it is in dying. That we are born to eternal life. Amen.
