My friend Brenda was on the
television being interviewed about happiness.
There she explained the difference between hedonic happiness and
eudemonic happiness. She said that hedonic
happiness is found in instant gratification whereas eudemonic happiness is
found in having a life filled with purpose.
Hedonic happiness is found through partying and pleasure and having a
good time. Eudemonic happiness is found
in living for something or someone bigger than yourself and by having
meaningful relationships with people.
Hedonic happiness does not last very long and eudemonic happiness is what
we should be striving for.
As I watched this clip of Brenda
talking it occurred to me that Christianity has so much eudemonic happiness to
offer. It invites us to be a part of a
story that stretches from infinity past to infinity future. It offers us an intimate relationship with
the God of the universe and his people.
We can live for something bigger than ourselves. God even uses our lives, words and prayers in
the extending his kingdom.
God
often redirects our lives in ways we never expected
King David is now settled in his
capital, Jerusalem. He has brought the Ark
to the city. He has built his
palace. The Lord had given him rest from
all his surrounding enemies. He is very
conscious that God has been good to him.
As he contemplates his situation,
he seems to have a very good idea. ‘I am
living in a house made of cedar, and the Ark of the Lord is in a tent. I should build a house for God.’ When he shares this idea with the prophet
Nathan, Nathan also thinks this is a good idea.
But then God informs Nathan that this is not actually his plan. Sometimes even the best plans, made with the
best motives, are not actually what God will have us do. God may redirect our plans in ways that we
have never imagined. Many people have
been sure that God was calling them to one area of service, only to have the
door closed in front of their face. God
had something else in mind!
God
always does more for us than we ever expected
God often redirects our plans and
always does for us more than we can imagine.
God is about to inform David about the purpose he has him.
When does the story of David
begin? The story of David’s life did not
begin when we are introduced to the shepherd-boy whose dad thought that he
could never be a candidate for king.
David’s story goes back to the book of Genesis, to Jacob blessing his
sons and prophesying that from the tribe of Judah would come a king (49:10). In fact, David’s story goes back before that
to before the foundation of the world, when God planned, the establishment of
his kingdom. We do not play David’s
unique role in the Bible’s story line, nevertheless God choose us before the foundation
time (Ephesians1:4). He has prepared
works in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).
God’s story involves us, and so our story is eternal.
When does the story of David end? You could read of the death of David in 1
Kings (1 Kings 2:10). But the story of
David continued. Remember the words of
angel Gabriel to Mary, ‘You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will
call him Jesus. He will be great and
will be called the Son of the Most High.
The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David …’ (Luke
1:31-33). Think of Jesus entering
Jerusalem and the people crying out, ‘Blessed in the coming kingdom of our
Father David’ (Mark 11:10). The life of
David pointed forward to his descendant, Jesus.
Indeed, in the very last book in our Bibles the cosmic Christ declares,
‘I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright morning star’
(Revelation 22:16). While we may not be an
ancestor of Jesus, we are destined to rule with him for all eternity. God’s story involves us, so our story is eternal.
Clearly David’s life, and ours,
is a part of a greater story. What
eudemonic happiness David must have experienced as he contemplated that God was
going to use him as part of his eternal plans.
He lived for a cause bigger than his little self. David saw the future through a glass
darkly. We have been given an even
bigger view than he. We have seen more
of the story unfold.
David wanted to build a house for
God, but God says that he will build house (a dynasty) for David. Our God is so different from the gods of the ancient
near east. The kings of the ancient near
east built temples in payment for the blessing of their gods. God has blessed this shepherd-boy, David, but
he does not need David to build a temple in payment. God wants nothing in return but the
opportunity to pour out more blessing.
God does not want us to even try and pay him back!
God is not only exceedingly
gracious to David, he is spectacularly kind to all of his beloved! ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no
mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him’ (1 Corinthians
2:9).
God
brings us blessing through the Son of David
Old Testament prophecies often
work at a number of levels. You see the
mountain on the horizon but when you reach the peak you see that there is a
bigger mountain on another horizon. Some
of the prophecy in this passage points ahead to David’s son, Solomon, and the
kings in that line, but more of it points to the Son of David, Jesus. ‘I will be his father, and he shall be my son’
(19) is especially true of Jesus (and these words are echoed at Jesus’ baptism
and transfiguration). Solomon will be
the son who builds the temple, but Jesus refers to his body of God’s
temple. Jesus’ body is a temple that
will destroyed and raised up in three days (John 2:19). It is through Jesus that God’s manifest
presence is experienced. Solomon will be
given a throne, but it is only Jesus’ throne that will be established for
ever.
The mention of the son doing
wrong and being punished seems to fit Solomon but not Jesus. However, I think it does point to Jesus, for
Jesus takes our sin upon himself. In a
very real sense God does ‘punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings
inflicted by human hands’ (14).
Indeed, it is through this Son of
David, whose eternal kingdom is established as he is punished for our sins,
that we enter into God’s big plan. He is
the one who enables us to become beloved of God. He is the king who makes us his
co-heirs. How exciting it is that he
chooses failed people like us to be his ambassadors? How amazing that the Son of David uses our
prayers, our words and our lives in building his church?
Our
hearts rejoice as we thank God for his kindness
My friend Brenda did her PhD on
gratitude. That’s why she can speak so
well on the subject of real happiness.
For a thankful heart is great medicine for the soul. On that television program, Brenda said that
we should cultivate happiness in the day to day of our lives. David delights in the fact that he is a part
of God’s big story, and then furthers his delight by opening his mouth with a
prayer of gratitude.
David is amazed by grace. ‘Who am I?’
Like David, we brought nothing to the table. God has reached down and rescued us from a
life of emptiness. His love adopted us
when we were spiritual orphans. He
pursued us when we were spiritual rebels.
He has forgiven us, cleansed us, made us holy and treats us as his beloved
children. Though we let him down every
day, he continues to delight over us.
‘Who am I?’
As well as gratitude there is
praise. ‘There is none like you, and
there is no God beside you.’ There is
only one God who rules, only one story that really matters, and only one cause
worth every fibre of our being.
Conclusion—Do
you want real pleasure?
Recently I was talking to two
young men who once seemed to walk close to God but who are now living very far
from him. I asked each of them, ‘is it
not true that you were happiest when you were walking with God?’ They both said they were. I then explained that people often choose to
walk at a distance from God because they think that he is the enemy of our
pleasure. But this is a lie. It is only Jesus who can offer us life in all
its fulness. They actually agreed with
me!
But it is not only the backslider
who fails to enjoy the pleasures of God.
I often feel convicted about the fact that I am so foolish. We will have gone a whole day without even
thinking about God, but rather than approach his throne of grace to find
refreshment in our hour of need, we go vegetate in front of the television. Such behaviour doesn’t revive us or
strengthen us or bring us real happiness.
We listen to Jesus command to forgive as we have been forgiven, but we
nurse old bitterness, even though bitterness is an acid that destroys its own
container. We hear God’s challenges, but
we retreat to safety. We demand that
some special person complete us, but only Jesus can. Without Jesus we get to the top of the ladder
and yet don’t feel fulfilled. We seek
all the world has to offer, but the world leaves us empty. We settle for comfort rather than adventure. We are so slow to surrender our petty
ambitions, but God wants us to be a part of a bigger story!
These promises remind us that our
lives can be incorporated into a story that has its origins in eternity past
and travels into eternity future. We are
being invited to live for something bigger than ourselves.
As Brenda spoke about living for
something or someone greater than ourselves her eyes lifted to heaven. I think it was the subtlest piece of
evangelism I have ever seen (actually Brenda talked about her faith but the
editor cut it from the program). You see
she knows that he is the source of true happiness! The Son of David died that we could truly
live. The Son of David lives, and we can
live with him. The Son of David is
building his church and has given each of us a role to play. He is the source of true eudemonic
happiness!
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