Man on a Mission: The Pursuit of Happiness

As we traverse this time between elections and the Christmas season, we are reminded about the things that people hold dear. It is engrained in the foundation of our nation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” ― Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence

Without a doubt, God cares about us living fulfilled and significant lives. With obvious comparisons to Moses giving the Commandments on Mount Sinai, Jesus shows us how in the Sermon on the Mount. It is a good reminder to us of the good things into which we will invite people as we prepare for our December 9 prelaunch.

Matthew 5:1-12

The Set-Up:

The story of human history is people's quest chasing things, attempting to be happy without God, and their disappointments that follow. As a person ages, the temporary, fleeting pleasures of food and sex give way to deeper, more permanent desires that drive a person to the ultimate search for meaning in life.

In the Beatitudes Jesus goes through a survey of the categories and arenas in which people most often pursue happiness. He addresses each one exhorting them to find rest in Him.

In typical pattern of Jewish teachers, Jesus sits down with his disciples to expound the Law.

If scholars are correct the location of this mountain was actually a ridge of hills to the West of Capernaum called Eremos, a transliteration of the Greek word for "lonely" or "solitary."
It is the first block of teaching that Matthew records following Jesus' exhortation to a repentant life.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus paints a picture of what that repentant lifestyle looks like, what it means to follow Him as a disciple, and the blessedness that ensues.

*The meaning of blessed (Greek: Makarios) : blissful (extremely happy or full of joy). Biblically, one is pronounced blessed when God is present and involved in his/her life. It means to be fully satisfied. It is far more than just being happy, which is often associated with a person's "luck" or circumstances.

The Pursuit (and why each substitute fails):

1.) Eternal realities, transcendent inheritance and reward He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. (Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV84)

We are on strike, we, the men of the mind. We are on strike against self-immolation. We are on strike against the creed of unearned rewards and unrewarded duties. We are on strike against the dogma that the pursuit of one's happiness is evil. We are on strike against the doctrine that life is guilt.”  ― Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

The truth is, if we could, most men would desire to find a way to be happy without the effort of God. For those with this mentality, the unfortunate fact is, we are like a car that wishes that it did not have to run on fuel. The reality is, however, that because we were made by Him and for Him, we are not designed to function that way.

2.) Comfort in the midst of the harsh realities of life Leads to escapism and addictions

Psalm 126 Ecclesiastes 7:1-6 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. (Proverbs 4:23 NIV84)

There are both present and future realities to the Kingdom of God, as reflected in the tenses of the Beatitudes. Those that are future are also progressive, having their full expression in the culmination of Jesus' return with the New Heaven, the New Earth and the unchallenged Kingdom of God. It is unchallenged because it is then that God exerts His full authority and strength. He came first in His mercy as a sacrificial Lamb, He will return with justice as the conquering Lion. We see the same reflected in the Beatitudes.

But there is a place where someone has testified: “What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor and put everything under his feet.” In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. (Hebrews 2:6-9 NIV84)

TV watching all day does not revitalize you. You still end up tired at the end of the day because there was no rest for your soul which is only found in Him.

Psalm 62

3.) Power to rule their surroundings Exertion of strength, extortion, cut throat business and politics, exploitation, etc

A man wants to earn money in order to be happy, and his whole effort and the best of a life are devoted to the earning of that money. Happiness is forgotten; the means are taken for the end.”  ― Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays

Many of the Jews of the time were waiting for the Kingdom promise that indicated that His people would be given delegated rule over all the earth, and thought that it would be brought about by Messianic political and military force. Jesus once again turns this expectation on its head. When He comes to judge, it is clear that it will be against those who persist in evil, or rebel against the loving design of His government. If this internal work hadn't been the tone of His first advent, we all would have been lost because we would have been the recipients of that judgment. We would have continued as slaves to sin and pride attempting to usurp His benevolent rulership in our lives.

What you see in the temptation of Jesus is where we live every day in our workplace, relationships. It's not just financial power, but the power to control our world through manipulating relationships with family, lovers and friends trying to extract from them the satisfaction and security that can only come from God. Thus we bend our convictions or throw off what we know is right to obtain that which we can never really keep. The recent recession was a reminder of this and the broken marriages and relationships that we see daily reaffirm this fact as we forget the ways of God.

The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.  The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it an unscalable wall. (Proverbs 18:10, 11 NIV84)

4.) Sense of morality and decency Why pluralism, relativism and moralism are so popular. Straight-edge people without religion. Peace corps and other charities that spring from Judeo-Christian ethos

5.) Mercy in the midst of their shortcomings We want to be shown mercy, but are quick to judge others in the world to alleviate our own sense of bitterness and self-derision

6.) A relationship with the Creator, to know and be known People are open to this as long as they can make their own version of God which bends to their whims, preferences, desires and ideologies imposed by their experience or culture

 7.) Belonging and value

 8.) A sense of sacrificial fortitude Many find this one difficult because they have not truly identified themselves as followers of Jesus above all else in the world. They've chosen to gravitate more to cultural norms and memberships in communities that seem more acceptable to them - like being African American, a republican, an artist or a young, independent businesswoman. It is when these measures of identity and our good standing within these subcultures are threatened that our devotion to Christ is tested.

9.) This was ultimately expressed and demonstrated in Christ Himself, the lawgiver Most People at the time did not think that prophets in the OT sense still existed. It is often spoken of as the intertestamental period with 400 years of perceived silence from God. As in the Exodus, Jesus shows up to lead the people to deliverance. He makes the association to the prophets to speak of the importance of His disciples’ life and work. Like the prophets, they would help turn others back to relationship with the one true God and His standards for living.

They represent paradoxes that contradict the manners in which people think that they are attained. When you are appealing to people, it is a part of the good news. Some are intuitive, yet when disconnected from God, incomplete

*When a Christian (this is a shaking question) or non-Christian finds themself without the extreme happiness and joy to which the Beatitudes refer, it is because a substitute has been made for one of the "if", "then" qualifiers.

For example, instead of being poor in spirit, trying to be self-reliant or self-righteous gives you no assurance of an eternal home. Who can ever guarantee that they've been good enough to measure up to the perfection of God. No one. Enter the gospel. Or, instead of taking the time to mourn, being sober about things pertinent to the Kingdom, people ride an emotional roller-coaster searching incessantly for momentary pleasures of temporary highs and devastating lows when the party is over. There is no sense of stability, people or place that you can truly call home because it is all about finding the next source of entertainment to fight off the boredom and emptiness that lingers. We can go on and on.

The Rest: The solution is to realign ourselves with the original recipe that Jesus prescribes. Only then can we once again find our rest in He who holds the destinies of men, past, present and future in His hands. He is the one who distributes the zoe life of God (John 10:10).  All of this background in regards to the Jewish expectation of the Messiah and the contextual interaction with the Law and the Prophets is what we see Jesus expound in the rest of the Sermon on the Mount. Next week, during our first prelaunch, we'll take a look back to examine what one of those Prophets who has already been mentioned several times has said. We'll begin our prelaunch series, "Coming Soon" working through the book of Isaiah

Practical Faith Challenge of the Week: Let as many people as you can know why the happiness they are looking for is found in Jesus alone and invite them to next week's prelaunch

2nd City Church - Man on a Mission Sermon Series 2012