Joy: Overcoming Sorrow Series

Happy Father’s Day to all! Dads and granddads, we greatly appreciate you!

Good Morning to our Cross Church family meeting at Nance Elementary again this morning.

Let me ask you a serious question, “What would like to change about your home?” If you could change one thing about your roommate, what would it be? If you could change one thing about your siblings, what would it be? Children, if you could change one thing about your parents, what would it be? Parents, if you could change one thing about your children, what would it be? Or if you could change one thing about your spouse, what would it be?

We’re in a summer sermon series devoted to bringing the change into our lives that we’ve always longed for. It’s a series devoted to explaining, promoting, and advocating living life with the fruit of the Spirit: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23). We will look at each of the fruit of the Spirit in turn over the course of the summer.

Today, I want to speak on how you can become more joyful and overcoming sorrow that comes into our lives. Most of our life is a search for happiness in one form or another. Some of you may have read Katherine Mansfield, a short-story fictional writer of a century ago. Katherine Mansfield describes happiness as suddenly swallowing a glowing slice of the afternoon sun. We search for happiness in our careers, in our childhood, and certainly, we search for it in our homes. But happiness or joy eludes us. Where is your happy place?

Three Myths to Happiness

Now, sadness cannot be normally reduced to one universal cause in our lives. Instead, you need to ask yourself, “What made me happy that is now missing in my life?” What fire have I been warming myself at instead of Jesus?

1) Money Brings Happiness

The first myth when it comes to pursuing happiness is this: the more money I earn, the happier I’ll be. Studies show there is a diminishing return to making more money. In a 2010 study, people making over $75,000 a year saw a diminishing return to happiness.

Myth #1: Money Brings Happiness

2) Escape Brings Happiness

Abraham Lincoln is generally noted as our nation’s greatest President, but even he went through a period of depression that those closest to him removed all razors and knives from his home, thinking he might commit suicide. After a breaking up with his Mary Todd (eventually his wife), Lincoln wrote a letter to his law partner and ended the letter with these words:

“I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on earth. Whether I shall ever be better, I cannot tell; I awfully forbode I shall not. To remain as I am is impossible. I must die or be better, it appears to me.”

We often think escaping the circumstances we are facing will bring us happiness. So we go on vacation, or we find our favorite band who’s playing in a concert for fun. Yet, after the concert, the lights will come back on. And the cruise ship will return back to port. And eventually, the vacation will end.

Myth #2: Money Brings Happiness

3) Image Brings Happiness

A recent study by the University of Missouri researchers demonstrated a relationship between Facebook users and depression. When individuals see a stream of positive Facebook posts – new jobs, engagements, and vacations – this leads to an inaccurate picture of others' lives. After surveying more than 700 college students, they came up with the term “Facebook envy.” How many times have we heard, “Image is everything”? When you live to create and sustain an image, you’ll become a fake. And there’s no shorter distance between losing happiness than living a fake life.

Have you fallen behind the “Hope Line” where not even a hint of joy’s rays of light have fallen on you?

Today’s Passage

Jesus is but hours from His death when He speaks the words in today’s Scripture. These words are part of what is known as the Farewell Discourse, but for us today, Jesus’ words show us the way to possessing tremendous joy in our lives.

“A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?” So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” (John 16:16-24)