“Lost in Translation”
Introduction:
Many times we can approach life with a sense of defeat. I had a negative friend I used to hang out with in High School. He was always complaining about how negative things were in life. Even now I get emails from him about how the world is going down, how Bush is a bad person and doesn’t care for the country… so on and so forth. I eventually had to put him on my spam blocker because he would just email these to all his friends. It was so negative and it would make me irritated to read these, even putting me in a bad mood.
We have choices. We can approach life with a positive attitude, or a negative, defeated attitude.
It is my hope that you will tune in today. If you will allow, today can be a day of change about how we approach life. I want you to anticipate that God wants to speak to you today.
God wants you to know that he cares for you and he wants you to approach life in victory and joy, not defeat.
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. - Jeremiah 29:11
Children’s Sermon:
“The Gift” - Get a wrapped gift and a plain box. Inside the packages but a Bible. Joy is like the wrapping paper that lets people know that there is something good inside. Which one would you want to get. Which one do people see in us? Ask questions like: What do you like the most about Christmas? Which of these two packages would you rather have? Etc.
If you are like me then many times we can forget how to live a daily life of gratefulness. I don’t know about you but many mornings I just don’t remember to get up and thank God for the blessings in my life. But we should and here is why. It is difficult and I would say almost impossible to have joy with an ungrateful heart.
One of the battles we face as followers of Christ is confusing the language or the world with our language. I think one area this happens in is with the differences of joy and happiness.
Often times as followers of Christ we confuse joy with happiness. I believe there is a difference though at times we use the words interchangeably even in the Bible. There are times in our English Bibles where joy and happiness are used interchangeably because we use these words interchangeably.
Joy – is the word chara – If you have been keeping up with us when we share these greek words with you, you will know that charis- is the word for grace, thanks. It is the word we get charisma and character. In short, it means it is of God.
Worldly happiness or pleasure – is the word hedone – where we get the word heathen.
There is a difference between worldly happiness and joy. Happiness has its roots in desire, pleasure or self beneficial situations. To some it up, it’s rooted in worldly things or situations. Whereas joy is rooted in gratefulness to God.
Joy and happiness come from two different sources. The people of God have a different source of power than the people of the world. We have different values and different perspectives. So we can see that there is a difference between joy and worldly happiness.
(***BEGIN*** This section used from La Juana Morris –sermoncentral.com)
What do I mean by this?
- Have you ever found money in your pocket you don’t remember having?
- Get a new home or car
- Find a new love in your life
- Get a new job.
I would say that many if not all these things are things that give us happiness not joy. If any of these things were to disappear, such as the new home gets termites, or you get that first dent in the car, or the new job doesn’t work out… the happiness is suddenly gone.
(***END*** This section used from La Juana Morris –sermoncentral.com)
Brand new French Horn Story – First Dent
Ebay story. I remember the first purchase I ever made on Ebay. I was living by myself and I bought a horn online. I just wanted it and I had a few extra dollars to spend. Better yet the horn only cost $5.00 to purchase. What I didn’t know when I bid on it, was that it cost $100 to ship from India. So you can imagine my disappointment when the bill came online for $105.00. I was happy to find this deal for $5, but my happiness was gone when I saw the full price. Now I think it just sits in my closet. I had buyers remorse.
But on the other hand joy doesn’t react to situations in life. Joy is the strength provided to believers that enables us to endure in the face of adversity. Joy with stands the darkest and most lowliest times in our livess. It is joy that endures. And Joy comes only when we have a grateful heart for the Lord being in lives. When we are at our lowest we can take heart because, “The joy of the Lord is our strength.”
We must fight this worldly language and see the true difference between joy and happiness.
This is why this message is so important for us today. The thief wants to steal our Joy.
As we live in a society of much… gratefulness tends to fade away. When you don’t have much it is easier to have a sense of joy for the things of God. Take a look those who don’t have anything yet they have a smile on their face. I would contend they are grateful something other than things that are material.
We should not go through life without a sense of joy active in our lives. When the enemy steals our joy, we are left with disappointment, bitterness, hopelessness. God does not want that for you. You see those people around.
Read (Luke 15:11-32)
• The younger son asked for his inheritance early/He was unhappy.
- looking for happiness... ever wonder why the son wanted to leave? Why this young man just wanted to get away? Was he unhappy? Perhaps we was unhappy doing the chores and daily tasks his father wanted him to do around the land. Perhaps he was at odds with a family member and could no longer stand to be around. What ever the case he took his inheritance and headed in search for what ever would make him happy.
• Does life give you discouragement about where you are in life?
I think we can relate. Do you walk through life discouraged about where you are? Instead of seeing the blessings we can often times only see the negatives of life. Many of you are perhaps feeling that this second. Instead of being thankful for what God has gotten us through we can become bitter at our allotment. We walk around with a frown on our faces instead of walking with optimism and a positive attitude. We see the negative instead of seeing the blessings. We can relate to this young man walking through life hoping and searching for something that will make us more satisfied.
• He escapes to “Wild Living.”
The story continues, what does the young man do next? He is so unsatisfied with life he takes his inheritance and escapes the dreary life he is living. He flees from whatever his troubles are. The word of God says he wasted his money on “wild living.”
Does it sound like to you that he was looking for something to make his life more bearable? This young man was searching for happiness. Unfortunately he was squandering his life looking for it. You could say he was searching for happiness in all the wrong places. He thought by asking for his father’s money he would surely be able to find it.
• Father sad as he watches His Son Leave/He can’t go.
I can see the look at the father as he is watching his younger son leave. I can just see him begging him not to go. I can see the father pleading with his son not to turn to the world for his pleasures but to stay in security with him. I think the father knows what is in store for his son as he goes out to face the world alone.
I can’t help but think that our heavenly Father knows what we are up against and yet can’t help but plead with us through his Spirit and His Word. Don’t turn to the world. Don’t go. Yet, we go in pursuit of those things that will we believe will bring us happiness. I can just see the tears in the Heavenly Father’s eyes as he sees his beloved walking away alone and into the world. The Father knows that he can’t follow his son in to the world. He has his kingdom, his land to watch over. He lets him walk away over the horizon. The boy is left to find his happiness away from his father and in the world.
• God put something in our heart that seeks fulfillment.
I think everyone at some point probably goes through something similar. I think it is very common because God put something in our heart that seeks fulfillment. Unfortunately, we look in the wrong places. We turn to the worldly instead to God. We think once we get more money things will start looking up in my life. Or perhaps when I find that job is just right then I will be happier. But the truth is that God is available now to us.
• Happiness will soon fade/Happiness is fickle.
The problem is that when we pursue happiness instead of joy is that happiness will fade eventually fade away. Happiness is fickle. You can be happy one moment and then the next so angry that your top is about to blow right off. We seem to be either happy or not happy.
So the boy is out in world in search for happiness. Soon he finds that his wild way of life has not led him to happiness at all. Instead he finds himself in desperate need. I would say the situation was pretty desperate when you long to eat what the pigs are eating. Now, because of the famine, or we might call that his situation, his happiness is gone. It has left. He was happy when he had the money, now he is not happy because all the money is gone and with it, the happiness is gone too.
We all have problems in the world the difference we can make is how we react.
• Looking back – looking around brings us to gratitude.
The Bible says that “he came to his senses.” He looked back on his life and he said, “You know what? Life really wasn’t that bad? Even the hired servants had food to spare. Why was I so unsatisfied where I was in life?
We see it all the time, and it has to do with the secret of joy. The secret of joy is gratitude. We can get so caught up trying to compete with others, being bitter about our place in life that we fail to see what God has already blessed us with? We are in the perfect season for this. We are in the season of giving thanks. Joy comes from a thankful heart that is confident in God’s Provision. Giving thanks is huge. It goes down to our soul and gives us something to be joyful about. Our praise and thanks pleases the Lord. It gives Him delight and joy.
Instead of dwelling on the negative, we can see that God has blessed us with so much already. We can see on TV that there are people in this world that have so much less in this world. Yet in pursuit of happiness we want more. That is the problem with happiness that comes from the world. It is never enough. Only God can satisfy what our hearts our yearning for. Our home will never be big enough, our car will never be fast enough, the money will never be plentiful enough if that is what we seek to make us happy. Stop being unsatisfied with your life and be grateful for what God has already blessed you with.
• The son is humbled.
So the son sees that he was wrong in the choices he makes. His spirit becomes very lowly. He is humbled. He even says that he will come back and work for him. When we fail to reach our happiness, it can make very negative. We get envious, hurtful toward others, or we just feel defeated and our value is lowered. The young boy was willing to be a servant. The low of the low.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. - James 1:2-3
• The son returns and the father shows joy.
But we know what really happens in this story. Instead of the father being angry or upset, the father is overjoyed. He can’t wait to see his son. Is this father unbelievable or what? The world would say that the father should be upset at the waste this young man made of himself. But instead we see a gratefulness that the son has returned, and as a result we see joy overflowing from the Father.
The father hugs him, kisses him, clothes him, lavishes joy on him with rings, feeds him with the finest. Do you think the father is overjoyed?
• The other brother.
Now the brother, on the other hand is not happy that his brother is home. Do you have the sense that the brother is a little bitter. Do you see he has become unhappy with his allotment in life. This happens because we think we are owed everything that is given to us. You can perhaps see it when you visit a lavish house of a personal friend, or your neighbor drives up in a brand new car. We get bitter at our meager allotment in life.
Who knows that house and that car maybe what makes them happy. But you know better. You know that God would desire joy that only comes from Him. God desires that you would be grateful for what you have instead of envious for what you don’t have.
The enemy would like nothing more than to steal your joy away. The brother should have been joyful.
• The older brother unhappy with his position in life.
But instead he was joyless. Satan made the older brother focus on what he didn’t have rather than the life he had. The older brother never had to face this hardship the younger son did. He was never begging to eat from the trough of the pigs. He had much to be grateful for, yet the devil pointed out the things he didn’t have.
• Satan points out what you don’t have – Adam & Eve.
Would you know that this happened to Adam and Eve as well. The devil made Adam and Eve focus on what they didn’t have. They had everything they wanted except the fruit from the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil. They wanted what they knew they shouldn’t because it was “pleasing to the eye.” They were seeking happiness.
God wants us to seek joy. The father was joyful and he lavished blessing upon his son. Don’t you know that God wants to do the same to you and me. He wants to lavish blessings. Look what happened. The son turned to his father, the father was joyful and blessed his son, then the son was joyful too. Can you imagine how it felt to be accepted by the father. When he expected to be made a servant the father takes him back with joyful celebration .
• How to be joyful? Take the robe and jewelry… celebrate
The attitude of gratefulness is something we choose to put on. As simple as putting on your clothes in the morning. Take that robe and ring of joy and put it on every morning. Ask for an attitude of thanks. Praise God for what he has given you and put a smile on your face. Put away any bitterness and face your day with a joyful start.
• Joyful people are pleasant to be around.
People want to be around others who are joyful. Joy brings a brightness to those who are around you. We want to be around encouragers not discouragers. We want to be around people who will left us up. After all, we are a testimony for the gift that has been given us.
• Joy can be advertising for our God/Our testimony/wrapped gift
When people look at you and see how joyful you are despite your circumstances they will know you posses something not of this world. They will see the Joy coming from you and they will know that you have something they don’t. They will see the joy that only comes from God. They will want what you have. They will see your actions and your attitude when things aren’t going your way when it even seems to be an impossible situation… will you know what? Scripture says the “Joy of the Lord will be my strength.”
They will want to know who is the Lord of your life. And you will say Jesus Christ is who gives me joy. Just like the beautifully wrapped present. Joy is like the wrapping. When people see the joy they will know you have been given a great gift. They will want it too.
Love one another, so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. - John 15:11
• Joy and our relationship with God/Stolen by enemy
C.S. Lewis called joy, the enjoyment of God and the good things that come from the hand of God.
Joy is a good indicator of our relationship with God. If God is really the center of one’s life and being, joy is inevitable.
Joy can only be stolen by Satan. Joy is not dependent on the people you meet. It is not dependent on the car you drive, or the house you live in. It is not dependent on the time of day, or the tone of someone’s voice. Joy is dependent on the gratefulness in your heart. Are you in agreement with me today.
We have the opportunity to live our lives with joy. An overflowing of our relationship with God. People can look at you and know that Jesus is your Lord. Stop walking through life with a big frown on your face and walk boldly and confident in God’s word. He wants you to be grateful and joyful as a result. We have the opportunity to experience Thanksgiving every day.
1 Thes 5:16 – Be joyful always
