O.INTRO:
Does God exist to make you happy or do you exist to bring him glory?
I’m not asking can a person be happy when God is glorified…that is a different question…one to which the answer is “yes”
I’m asking about purpose…is God’s purpose for existing…human happiness?
Or is human purpose of existence…God’s glory?
These are distinct views of reality…that translate directly into how people live their lives.
Christy and I were watching a TV drama last week and Romans 8:28 “All things work together for the good” became a sort of centerpiece of the show.
It was used out of its context for the most part…but it was clear in the show, and in many other shows that reflect the general culture…that the prevailing view is that God’s purpose for existing is to make us happy.
But the premise is all wrong…he does not exist for us, we exist for him.
Narcissism is considered a mental disorder…it is in essence “extreme selfishness.”
The term comes from the Greek myth were the young, proud Narcissus fell in love with his own image reflected in the water…not realizing it was only an image.
There he remained, captured by his image until he eventually withered away or in some versions killed himself.
Extreme narcissism is seen as a mental illness…but “self centeredness” as a general approach to life is embraced, and promoted…to care most about self, to be dominated by image…this is the normal way of life in our culture.
But a real sense all sin is a mental illness…if mental illness is a disconnect from what is actually true and real…then sin is just that.
Repentance, the word used in the Bible for turning away from sin and turning towards God, is a word that literally means “a change of mind”–metanonia.
Repentance then is a return to sanity…turning your mind away from self and sin…back to the reality of God…back to the priority of God.
The problem with thinking and living outside of what is real is that reality always wins.
If we are on the wrong side of reality…then we lose…and depending on the issue at hand the results can be more or less devastating…and in the long term even small degrees of unreality can prove to be devastating.
For instance if you consistently believe (no matter how subtle that belief) that God exists primarily to make you happy…then you will be very disappointed in God and never fulfilled in him or in life.
Over time this will misshape you into a certain kind of person…as that belief is translated into behavior and spills to over to all your relationships.
Occasionally, for those who believe God exists to make them happy…
There may be an intersection of God will for their life and their own desires for happiness…and at those points in time…all will be seen to right in the universe.
God is doing exactly what he is supposed to do…making me happy…he finally figured it out.
But over time…and in fact most of the time…the lines of our own demands to be happy and what God causes or allows will not intersect.
So eventually something has to give in our thinking.
Either we will come to see that our purpose is his glory…he does not exist to make me happy
Or we will come to believe that God is not there, or God is not good…and we will hold resolutely to the belief that life is supposed to be about me.
But although God doesn’t exist to make you and me happy…he would prefer that we be just that…happy.
And since he is really, really smart…he knows exactly how that happens.
The word translated “blessed” seen over and over in the Bible in relationship to the person who walks in God’s will and ways…really means “happy.”
Ps 144:15 “Blessed (happy) are those whose God is the Lord.”
Happy as in real human thriving…a life well-lived.
Not “happy” as in…life is about me…which is a child’s version of happiness.
James 1:2-4Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Mature and complete…not lacking anything.. is a great definition of human thriving, true human happiness.
What is the pathway there?
From Trials to perseverance
From Perseverance to mature and complete
So…since all this is true…James says, it makes sense to “consider it joy…when you face trials” because they can (if approached with a “joy” perspective) lead to not lacking anything.
So “trials” a common sources of unhappiness…is actually a key part of the path to thriving and becoming mature and complete.
We exist to bring him glory…and he is most glorified in us when we are most happy in him.
Those who are most holy (a word that literally means “set apart for God”)…are not the most somber and serious people…they are the most joyful ones…they are the truly happy ones.
For seven weeks…starting last week we are looking at 7 essential heart attitudes.
These are biblical values that shape our church, our family life here.
To embrace these values such that they shape us…we must first embrace the fact that we exist to bring God glory…he does not exist to make us happy.
Then the follow on to that…the more we close the gap on bringing him glory…the more we are going to experience his blessings (happiness) in our lives.
Today we look at the heart attitude “Demonstrate an Open and Honest Life
What it is not:
- Letting just anyone in to our hearts.
-There are people who should not be trusted or at least not at the same level as others…with our open and honest hearts.
-And then people have difference capacities/needs for how many people they let in.
*All of us need someone who really knows us and whom we really know…but not all need as many as others do.
All need some, some need(want) more.
- Letting people see everything, all the time.
-That would be folly and folly is not a biblical value.
-So to have no filters, no discretion, no internal privacy…is clearly not good.
But to be a mystery to everyone, to be truly known by no one…will prove to make you unhappy and it will disallow any real, personal, positive impact with your life….as well as keep you from growing.
What it is:
Knowing and being known by others.
It is living by humility and faith rather than pride and fear in regards to relationships with one another.
*Humility is the opposite of pride.
*Faith is the opposite of fear.
Pride and fear are powerful forces that can drive our lives away from God and from each other.
- God empowers humility (grace is power) and opposes pride:
James 4:6 “God gives grace to the humble, but opposes the proud.”
- Fear is the opposite of faith…faith is necessary to please (bring glory to) God:
Heb. 11:6 “without faith it is impossible to please God.”
So…since you and I exist for God’s glory
And…his glory revealed in my life is where I will experience his blessing in my life
Then…I must live in a way that moves toward humility and faith and away from pride and fear.
Demonstrating an open and honest life: Is trusting God with your reputation, your image, with your fears and insecurities.
It is sharing what is actually real about where you are now, who you are right now…not everything but everything that is appropriate to tell…to everyone for whom it is appropriate to know.
So…The “Spirit behind this value” (this is not a rule or law…it is a value) is don’t hold back in fear and pride…both will undermine your spiritual health and that of the community as a whole.
This is about making life about God’s glory and the good of others…when you live this way…you will thrive as a person…and the spiritual family God has placed you in can thrive because of the example and impact your life.
People are challenged by your strengths and encouraged by your weakness…they need appropriate honesty…visibility in both.
This is about authenticity…sharing strengths and weaknesses.
And wisdom…doing so in ways that are beneficial
In Community.
*My Story: Up to my 19th summer I lived largely for self
-June of that summer…church was boring, the people where uninteresting, sermons terrible, music worthless…why did I go?
Until I was 18 I lived at home and my dad made me go (which was really good for me)
Now, I was 19 I went occasionally out of a sense of obligation and family legacy…but I was not engaged with it at all.
-September of that summer…I was at the church whenever the doors were open, the people there became my people…they could have read from the dictionary in the service and I would have been there.
*The difference between June and September was that in July of that summer…God had captured my heart…and when he did…his people, his church…became my family.
No one had tell me…I just saw it…I’m going to be there with my people…doing what my family was doing.
*It has stayed that way ever since…the only time I have wavered…has been unrelated to externals (factors outside me, what was going on in church)…and has always been related to my current perspective on the inside…who is God, who am I…how do I live in light of the truth?
God exists for his own glory…I exist for his glory.
He has put me in a spiritual family…there is where I am best positioned to bring him glory…and to fully enjoy him.
Today we look at 1 John 1:5-10 (there are many passages that speak to his HA)
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
1John 1:5-10
This passage speaks specifically about being open and honest with our sin…but the Heart attitude is much more than that.
But since openness and honestly with our sin and our failure is so difficult and so important…we will focus there…but again remember…openness and honesty is more than confession of sin.
It is letting people in to your life in a variety of ways…dreams, desires, strengths, vision, humor, hurts…as well as struggles and failure.
Walk through this passage as it relates to the heart attitude “Open and honest life.”
- Foundation: God is light:
God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.
To live open and honest…we need light…to be able to see and to be seen.
Darkness is not the presence of something it is the absence of light.
When light is low the human eye is unable to perceive color…Everything becomes shades of grey
When light is absent…everything becomes black…no sight at all.
Light is essential to seeing.
Even in the darkest night the trees, flowers, and lakes retain the properties that give them “greenness or redness or blueness” but in the dark of night their beauty is unrevealed to our eyes…it is all grey or black.
Likewise dangers are hidden in the dark.
One could stumble off a cliff on a dark trail because the eye cannot perceive the break in the trail.
Light is essential for beauty, and for safety…to see what is actually there.
God is said to be “light” or “photos” in the Greek.
That of course is a word we get “photon” from, photons are the “packets” or “particles” of light that bounce off objects and then strike our retinas creating images that we “see” in our brains.
God is essential for “seeing” things as they are, in him there is no darkness, there is never a time or circumstance that he does not clearly see what actually is and what actually should be.
His “light” extends into the past and the future; he sees all time and all events as an eternal “now.”
He also “sees” into our hearts.
He has perfect clarity on our motives and desires.
He sees through our words and our emotions and our attempts to hide…to the truth that is inside us.
He sees exactly what is real and true about us. This can be terrifying or this can be a great relief.
We really don’t have to expend the energy to pretend or to hide anymore.
God sees everything anyway…with perfect clarity.
Wise parents will pray their children will get caught…if they do wrong.
-Why? Because if they do wrong and don’t get caught it further embeds folly in their hearts.
-Then when they do actually get caught (and they will) it might be in a situation that proves devastating for them.
It is a blessing that God always “sees”…but that blessing impacts us positively when understand the value of it.
He can see you better than you can see yourself. Yet, he has accepted you in Christ Jesus.
Romans 5:8 “God demonstrates his love in that while we were sinners Christ died for us.”
So you can rest in his light…instead of living in fear of his perfect sight…you can rejoice in it.
We normally prefer to physically rest or sleep in darkness. But for spiritual rest we need light.
We need to understand that there is no darkness for him.
There is no hiding our deeds, our thoughts, or our motives from him.
All is laid bare before him and yet he does not despise us, he loves us.
To say God is light is another way of saying he is “truth.”
The light reveals what is actually there…while darkness can hide what is really there.
*The light reveals imperfections…things that are hidden by the dark.
So John wrote that if we walk in the dark then we are not living in the truth.
There are many ways to live in this “lie-dark” rather than the “truth-light.”
It could be denying the truth of the gospel itself.
It could be denying that we are sinful and need the gospel personally.
It could be claiming to have close relationship with God and yet having broken relationships with the people around us.
It could be living a “hidden life”…not allowing others into who we really are.
Again…this is most often a result of the evil twins…fear and pride.
The light reveals what is actually there…the dark hides the truth
CS Lewis said he believes in Christianity as he believes in the sun…not just because he can see it but because of it he can see everything else.
So it is because of the fact that God is light and in him there is no darkness…that we see ourselves clearly and we can live with clarity in relationships with one another.
- The Church: The Fellowship of the light
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
God has designed us to live in his light…he pours light on our sin, need, imperfections…and when we don’t hide from that light…we discover that it doesn’t just expose us…it heals us.
He doesn’t want to shame us, he wants to love us…but to love us and be loved by us… we must drop the pretense.
No hiding, no games, no darkness.
The result of walking in his light is that we have fellowship with him.
The result of that fellowship with him is fellowship with each other.
John talks much of this in his letters…if you love God, you will in fact love others.
If you have trouble loving others…it is rooted first in your relationship with God.
The word translated fellowship is “koinonia”…means communion, partnership.
Fellowship is a close relationship with people of shared or common interests.
Tolkien used it to describe the collection of beings (elves, hobbits, dwarfs, humans) that were brought together for a great common purpose.
They were “The Fellowship of the Ring”
If you have read the book or have seen the film version you have pretty good idea of what “fellowship” is.
It is robust, alive…meals, war, and difficulty…it is learning to appreciate each other, and sinning against each other and forgiving each other…it is relying on each other’s strengths and differences and accepting each other’s weaknesses.
Fellowship for me growing up was a boring word…I had not read Tolkien yet…or experienced what it actually meant in my life at church.
-Our church had a Fellowship hall…I was mostly bored there.
-Boring conversation, boring food…boring people.
What had I missed (until my 20th summer) was that the church is the “fellowship of the light”
I didn’t see the stories behind the people gathered in that “fellowship hall”
People engaging all the realities of sin, sickness, seasons of life, success, hospitals, graveyards…all as a part a “fellowship”
When I look around my small group…I see men who would not know each other, or trust each other…let alone share lives with each other…apart from the gospel having created the church.
The church is a group of people who apart from Jesus would never get together…hobbits, elves, dwarfs, humans, and wizards.
We are, as a church…the fellowship of the light.
Some people have had terrible experiences with the church…I’ve heard their stories personally.
I don’t deny what has happened to them…it has been terrible…some are my good friends.
But I haven’t had those experiences…and the terrible stories are not the full picture.
I once asked a friend who had been dating his girlfriend for years if he was going to marry her and he said “no.”
I asked him why not…he said, “I don’t know anyone who is happily married.”
I said, “You know at least one…me…and you need to get around more or different people.”
By the way he didn’t marry her.
Some might say they have never known anyone who has been happy in and with the church…but no one who knows me can say that.
I love being in a fellowship of the light…even thought, especially when the light reveals the imperfections…because the same light allows for cleansing.
We walk in his light…we have fellowship with each other…and we live with continually cleansing.
This blood of Jesus…means we live in the reality of his ongoing purification of sin…it is what allows us to live in fellowship with each other.
If I walk with Jesus and you walk with Jesus…we can walk together…even though we will fail each other.
It is assumed we will sin…but in this fellowship of the light…we live in ongoing forgiveness…first with God, then with one another.
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense — Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 1 John 2:1
He is writing to call us away from sin…but when we sin…we have an advocate.
As we live forgiven…we give forgiveness…this is the fellowship of the light.
III. The Fellowship of the Light: Living forgiven…living forgiving
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
This confession of sins…is to God as well as one another.
Who would ever claim to be without sin? Surely nobody is that “self unaware”!
But there are those who do believe that for the most part…they are okay.
Jesus encountered a local magistrate who prided himself on being a spiritual person. (Luke 18)…called the rich young ruler.
He asked Jesus how to have eternal life and Jesus said “you know the commandments…”
And Jesus listed the ones that pertain to relationships with others…adultery, murder, steal, lie, honor father and mother.
The wealthy young man with some excitement said, “I’ve done all that…since I was a boy…I’m a good guy!”
Jesus said…”Okay, then one more thing…sell everything and give it away to the poor.”
The young man went away devastated…now Jesus had addressed the first commandment…”you shall have no God but me”
This young man had wrapped his heart around the god of image and money.
In addition to the theme of “God exists to make me happy” in our culture…it is common to see an approach to God that mirrors this young man’s.
I’m no sinner…I live a decent life…I treat people relatively well. (which often isn’t actually true)…but even still the Lord’s question remains…
Is God the center of your life…or something else?
Living an open and honest life will mean that we fess up to whatever has become a god or a potential god in our hearts.
Whether it is a job, or stuff, or image, or physical desires (food, sex, sleep, play) or the applause of others.
Life in the freedom of the light requires living as surrendered sons and daughters…openly confessing our sin, and most importantly the sin of putting other things in the place of God in our hearts.
This is the root of all the other sins…hence it is listed first.
But we are not left with only honesty and confession…we have access to continual forgiveness…cleansing.
1 John 1:9 has been called “spiritual breathing.”
We when we sin we “exhale confession and inhale forgiveness.”
This does not imply “cheap grace” or that the confession of sin is a small, insignificant thing.
What it means is that we can and we should move through life keeping short accounts with God and each other.
We don’t build walls of unconfessed sin between us, God and with each other.
We can move through life constantly “breathing” God’s grace.
Repentance is the process whereby we see our sins as God does then we turn around and go his direction.
Since God stands so ready to forgive us and we should both stand ready to forgive one another and to quickly and completely confess our sins to one another.
This lifestyle of “spiritual breathing” can empower us to live more open and honest lives because we don’t have to hide from one another in shame.
We don’t have to pretend we are doing better than we actually are.
As we comprehend that we are fully accepted and forgiven by God then we can take greater risks to forgive and accept one another.
A person whose foundational relationship is secure is able to venture out into other less secure relationships.
The foundational relationship for all of humanity is with God, the creator and Father of us all.
In the gospel that relationship has been restored and permanently secured.
Now from that secure foundation we can love, forgive and live appropriately open lives with one another.
Again…I have spoken much about honesty with failure…but we must also share honestly about the parts of our lives that are good.
Pride and fear can make us hide the good and bad…but we want to be known, we need to be known…if we want to close the gap on faith and love.
APPLICATION:
How do we actually, practically…Live an open and honest life: The Fellowship of the Light?
Believe, Value, Do…three words that describe why we do what we do as a church.
Believe: God has called us to live in his light and has given us the resources we need to do so.
Value: So we place a high value on living an open and honest life with one another.
Do: So we have processes, ministries in place that are designed to make this life possible in our church.
Small groups are the primary way this heart attitude is worked out of us and worked into us.
Small groups are more than meetings…but not less than them.
We must meet together regularly…the writer of Hebrews wrote…or we will find our hearts are being hardened. (Heb. 3:13)
But just hanging out does not automatically lead to good outcomes.
There are plenty of people who spend a lot of time at the bar or the gym or the stadium…sitting next to the same people…but they are not living open and honest lives.
Small groups: Mission (reach out)/Member care (reach in)/Meetings (get together regularly)
*The Fellowship of the Light: has a mission, takes care of each other…this takes time being together regularly.
In addition to the “formal” group structure there is the informal and powerful ministry of life on life.
This is where folks live as the fellowship of the light…hobbits, dwarfs, humans, elves, and wizards…learn to thrive in relationship with others who are very different than they are.
It is messy, it confusing, it bothersome…and it is wonderful and beautiful and powerful.
I think that of all the heart buddies I have, I have one man who is much like me in personality and temperament…all the rest have been very unlike me.
This has proven to be a challenge and one of my life’s greatest joys and opportunities.
There is an open invitation for you to live as a part of the Fellowship of the Light.
The only thing that might keep you out is fear or pride…it would be very sad if you let them do so.
For those who are enjoying the fellowship of the light…there is one key thing that can take you out.
If you walk out of the light of Jesus…lose fellowship with him.
It is a matter of time before you will lose fellowship with his people.
But as you walk in the light as he is in the light you will have fellowship with others and experience his continually cleansing from sin.
This is a real way of life that many here are experiencing…that I am personally experiencing…and have since God in his mercy opened my heart to love him and then to love his people.
Are you afraid of this openness? I understand…it can be scary.
But we must learn to fear the dangers of the dark, not the exposure of the light…the light is where a full-color life is lived…the light can feel unsafe, exposure can be frightening.
But the dark is not safe, hiding from God and others…that is not where you want to live.