How Faith Empowers Happiness

The following video transcript has been lightly edited

Don't worry, be happy. Bobby McFerrin sang those words, but Jesus taught them. He reminded us not to worry, and his ministry was so that his joy might be complete in us. Now, these are words that we all desire. Who doesn't want to be a little bit happier? But how do we do it? How can we actually accomplish that?

On Tuesday, Arthur Brooks and Oprah Winfrey released a new book called "Building the Life You Want". And it's based off of Arthur's work on what allows us to grow in our own sense of happiness. And what he's found is that it's based on four things. It's based on faith, family, friends, and meaningful work.

Those four things, when we engage them and pay attention to the quality of them, will help us to live happier lives. These four things don't sound all that surprising. I think each of us knows that those four things make up a lot of our happiness. And so what we're going to do over the next few weeks is look at how, from a Christian perspective, these things can shape us.

And so today, I want to talk to you about how the Christian faith empowers happiness for you in your life. I'm going to do that by looking at 1 Corinthians 15. And 1 Corinthians 15 is Paul giving a vision for life because he believes that Christ has lived, died, and resurrected.

So he starts off by saying, in fact, this is what happened. Christ came, lived, died on the cross for our sins, and then appeared again. First to the apostles, and then to many others, and including himself. And so in that, he's reminding us that this This new story is a story in which, though the world is broken, it's good, and that God has not abandoned it, but God has come to it, that God has lived in it, and has rescued us.

And this is great news because it's not some tall tale, it's not something we just hope for, but it's anchored in historical reality. Jesus life and death are not questioned. It's also not questioned that the tomb was empty. There are certainly different arguments about what may or may not have taken place, but one cannot deny that there were thousands of people who at first had witnessed accounts of seeing Jesus, and then from there began to build this thing called the church.

And the church, though having many problems, has also loved this world and offered grace and mercy. And so Paul goes on, he says, because of this reality, we have this vision for the future. That the resurrection we see in Christ is the resurrection that's going to happen for all of the world, all of creation. And he uses the analogy of a seed. He says that this world, this life, this body is like a seed. But the world to come is like a flourishing plant.

When I was a kid, I used to love riding and mowing the lawn in the fall because we had these two apple trees. And as I would drive by, I would be able to grab an apple and eat that apple and all of its deliciousness.

Maybe you like apples, but I love that picture because if you were to open up an apple and take the seeds, you would say, this isn't much. In fact, we would sort of strain to be able to imagine a tree that grows tall with leaves and blossoms that bloom, that change into fruit and things that we can eat and then make delicious things like apple pie and apple cider.

And yet that's Paul's imagination. That's what Paul believes is shown in the resurrection. That this world... It's good and beautiful and wonderful, but it's just a seed compared to the world that comes. That the imperishable world, the world where love always wins, is one of radiant beauty. And so as we'll see, this gives us a better vision, an expanded vision for life and living now and engaging that full reality.

And Paul wraps up by saying, Therefore, therefore, because Christ has lived, because Christ has died, because Christ has risen, because this life is a seed of a more flourishing life to come, because God has rescued us, and because God has affirmed the goodness and beauty in this world, live in a way that's steadfast, give yourself to good work, and love those around you.

And each of these things help us with our own happiness. They help us with our own happiness because they give us a story to live by. It expands our vision of reality and gives us wisdom for the now. So the story to live by is it offers us a story of life, death, and resurrection. And this happens in our life over and over and over again.

You and I live and we go through some sort of challenge and that is death and then we face the choice. Do we believe that those elements of our story can shape us and we can live again, or do we feel like that has been the end of our story? And do we get dragged down by the brokenness? I think a great application of this is that you and I need to learn to sing the blues.

I love the blues because it is this mashup. of tunes that are often joyful and hopeful, and yet they are confessing real life challenges. They have great lines such as, "If I didn't have bad luck, I would have no luck at all." They say, they remind us that life does have challenges, but that there is still something good in the world, that there's still something to come.

And so for you and I, the Christian faith offers us this opportunity to view everything through the story of life, death, and resurrection. And to allow ourselves to lean into that story, to tell that story with a sense of joy and hope. And what we'll find is that as we do that, our happiness will rise.

Back to the vision of flourishing. This seed that becomes an apple tree. For each of us, we sense this all around. Maybe you put your kid on the bus this week and they're going to kindergarten for the first time. Maybe for some of you, you're in a stage like me where your kids are in high school and college, and you're just amazed and so proud of the people they've become.

Maybe for some of you and you're in an entirely different chapter and it's just you, just you and your spouse, and you're living this new life. And you had some really rich time with friends this week, or maybe you went for a walk and it was incredibly beautiful. For you and I, we have these moments throughout the week that are moments of transcendence, moments of resonance, in which when we open ourselves to it, we feel as though there's something more, that there's something bigger in this world than what you and I can even imagine.

And when we allow ourselves to connect with that transcendence, that resonance. It increases our happiness because what we believe is this world is good, but it's just a sign, it's just a seed of what is to come. And somehow that richer, fuller reality is something that we're already living into, building into the future.

And finally, as Paul says, because those two things are true, because you can live this story of resurrection, because you can connect to a more expanded vision of reality, one in which there's eternal transcendence and resonance all around us in music and people and friends and art and love and beauty.

What you do with that is that you live in the now with a sense of steadfastness, with a sense of loyalty to the good in the world. And the application for us, as we think about our fall rhythms, I think is real easy. The wisdom of the now is don't go chasing after power and money and fame and things. Because while we think that's going to bring us happiness, they always fail. Instead, what we want to go after are things of love, things of family, things of friends, things of creation and beauty.

So my challenge to you is as you enter school, as you are in your family, as you go to your workplace, as you wander around in this world, wherever it brings you, do three things this fall. And this is the wisdom of living in the now. Grow in love. Every moment you have, grow in love. No matter what situation you face, you can grow in love. And as you grow in love, you will find yourself growing in happiness.

2. Be a builder of community. The happiest people experience rich community. And so be a person who builds that kind of community. A community that is welcoming, a community that helps people feel seen and heard. A community that offers connection.

And finally, give yourself the good work. Look at the work you do. Whether it's taking care of your family, taking care of your house, whatever role you have as... A nurse or a doctor or an engineer or as a consultant, whatever it might be, and know that you're getting a chance to contribute to something good.

You're building good things and that you will find life in it and allow yourself to find life in it and celebrate that life that you experience. And what you'll discover is this faith of yours that gives you a story to live by. It gives you an expanded vision of reality and offers you wisdom to be now in the present will expand your happiness.

I hope you have a great week and I'll see you soon.