Presence

These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. (John 15:11)

You will show me the path of life; in your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:11)

The Christian's deepest struggle is not too much desire, but too little—we settle for mud pies when an ocean of joy is offered in His presence.

The Tension Between Serving God and Being Happy

The 17th century philosopher, mathematician, and theologian Blaise Pascal said, "The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves." As I observe the body of Christ, I am convinced there are many Christians in churches all over the country who carry a terrible tension within them.

It goes something like this: I want to be happy—all men seek happiness. But I also want to serve God, because the Bible says to serve God. The Bible also says to deny myself, take up my cross, and follow Him. So I'll do it dutifully, because that will glorify Him, even if it means I won't be happy. Many Christians hold this tension of serving God and being happy as if these things are mutually exclusive.

Voices from the Fellowship

This was reconfirmed to me several times this past week as I interacted with people over last week's message on happiness versus joy. One of our lead worshipers told me, "You didn't go the direction with that message that I thought you were going to go." Later he wrote, "I struggle with the idea that I have as much fun as I have serving the Lord. I struggle with the right response when someone pays me a compliment. I know some great players and songwriters who have spiritualized themselves right out of serving in any capacity that involves using their God-given gifts, because serving the Lord can't be fun."

Another brother said, "I've been blessed with so many things, and I feel guilty for having these things when many people in the world don't. I have a hard time enjoying them because of the feeling of guilt." Now, there are times when guilt stems from a God-given conviction, so we should prayerfully ask, could this be the Lord convicting me? But there are other times when Christians default to a lifestyle of ingratitude as a result of misplaced guilt. We end up neither joyful nor thankful, but guilt-filled and irresponsible—not using what we've been given in a way that could honor God.

A sister told me, "I thought I am supposed to deny myself." Yes, we are. The Bible does say to deny ourselves and take up our cross. But that is not the end of the story. That self-denial is the doorway through which we apprehend greater joy. At least, that is what we see in the Scriptures.

Is Self-Denial the Point of Christianity?

These reactions highlight the pervasive thought that self-denial and the abolition of joy is the focal point of our faith. But if that were the case, Christianity would be remarkably similar to Hinduism and Buddhism, which highlight asceticism as the focal point of their religion. There is a death to self in Christianity—the Bible is very clear that we are to die to ourselves—but that is not the focus or the end of our faith. The end of our faith is Christ and the salvation He has given us.

Just as Pascal observed, at our core we long for happiness. But our carnality, this earthly part of us that only recognizes earthly things, is convinced that happiness is found in the things of this earthly existence. Setting our affections on temporal things as the source of our happiness is exchanging the glory of God for the glory of creation. It is idolatry. God spoke through Jeremiah:

My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:13)

The epitome of evil is to depart from the true source and seek for joy and satisfaction in things that are broken cisterns. Paul identified this same thing in Romans 1, where people "changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator."

Gifts or Idols

If we become enamored with the gifts we've been blessed with and think ultimate joy is found in them, those gifts become idols. But if we recognize those blessings as gifts given by God to bless and glorify Him, then through those gifts our focus shifts from the things to Him, and we can experience ultimate joy through their proper use.

The lie of this world is that ultimate joy is found in things, so we seek for more things, thinking more gifts mean more joy. But experientially we recognize this isn't true. The new iPad is shortly replaced by an even newer iPad, leaving you dissatisfied. The promotion induces a longing for something greater. The relationship is realized only to recognize it does not bring ultimate fulfillment. The pleasures of this world do not ultimately please.

Even pop culture confirms this. In the first Pirates of the Caribbean, Captain Barbossa says, "The drink would not satisfy, food turned to ash in our mouths, and all the pleasurable company in the world could not slake our lust." The Rolling Stones sang, "I can't get no satisfaction"—coming from someone you'd expect to be satisfied, because he had so many things. The cry of our soul is expressed throughout our culture.

Does Dutiful Service Glorify God?

So the Christian thinks, I'll serve God out of duty, because that will glorify Him even if I'm not happy. But is God glorified in mere dutiful, joyless service? I suggest He is not. Let me illustrate with an example I shamelessly stole because it's so good.

Suppose I leave here, stop at the store, and see a beautiful bouquet of red roses. I buy them for my wife Andrea, drive home, and knock on the front door instead of going through the garage. She opens it, sees the flowers behind my back, and tears fill her eyes. "Why are you getting these for me?" And I say, "It's my duty as your husband." Now, why do you laugh? Duty is not a bad thing—many of you served in the military and did your duty. But in that situation, it's a terrible answer. The moment I say "it's my duty," she no longer feels honored, because the motivation behind my action is not love or joy.

But suppose she asks, "Why did you do this?" and I say, "It is my joy. I love doing these things for you—I just couldn't help myself." Would she respond, "How selfish of you, you're only concerned about your joy"? Of course not. Why? Because my joy is maximized in her joy, and our joy is full.

God judges joyless service in the Old Testament. He says, "This people draw near to me with their mouths, and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me" (Isaiah 29:13). In Isaiah 1, He says your incense is an abomination and your sacrifices His soul hates—because it's mere dutiful service with no love or joy behind it.

Now someone may ask, should I not do a good thing when I don't feel like it? No—sometimes the first step is simply recognizing, "God has called me to this, and I will do it." But what we find is that when we take that first step, we are immediately met with fullness of joy. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:3 that if I give all my goods to feed the poor and have not love, "it profits me nothing." Notice—it profits me nothing. God is concerned about our profit, that we would be joyful even in the midst of obedience. "Delight yourself in the Lord" is a command.

Is Desire the Problem?

How do we move from delighting in things to delighting in the One who gives them? Some Christian ethicists argue that what we really need is to do away with desire—that desire is the bad thing that must die. They say crucify any thought that tends toward your desire for happiness, because love seeks not its own.

But is that true? Should we kill desire? God engineered us as little desire factories, constantly desiring from morning to night. Yet some Bible teachers say you must kill that desire—which is the very thing Buddhism teaches. The second noble truth of Buddhism is that suffering comes through desire, so get rid of desire and you'll get rid of suffering. Was Buddha right?

Billy Graham said, "People are little creatures with big capacities, finite beings with infinite desires, deserving nothing but demanding all." God made us this way. And the Bible reveals that God has desires—He is "not willing that any should perish." Since God is not sinful, desire is not in and of itself sin.

We don't have a desire problem; we have a belief problem. Do we believe what the Bible says about the things we desire—that they will not bring ultimate joy? If we can come to truly believe what Scripture says about where ultimate happiness is found, then the sin of idolatry, trying to find happiness in things, is no issue at all. We can be released with total liberty to pursue ultimate happiness. That should be our endeavor as Christians. And no, that isn't me-centered—not if ultimate happiness is found in God, who is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.

Here is the rest of Billy Graham's quote: "God made people with this huge capacity and desire in order that He might come in and completely satisfy that desire. God made the human heart so big that only He can fill it."

Must We Get Rid of Everything?

So does it follow that we must get rid of all earthly things to find ultimate happiness? No—but we must recognize that earthly things themselves do not bring fullness of joy. They are God-given gifts to be used for the glorification of God, the edification of the body of Christ, and the evangelization of the lost. In their proper use we experience exceedingly great joy.

Notice the word might in John 15:11: "that your joy might be full." There is uncertainty there. Jesus has opened the door to true joy—a great and effective door—but a door is only effective if you go through it. And there are many adversaries: the world, the flesh, and the devil. Our flesh desires fleshly things, the world is full of fleshly things, and the enemy dangles them before us, saying, "You'll find happiness here." He robs us of maximal joy by giving us marginal joy, and in robbing us of joy, he robs God of glory.

The enemy does this two ways: by having us believe joy is found in those things, or by feeding us the thought that our desire for happiness is itself sinful. So Christians try to kill desire—but trying to kill desire only inflames it.

Correcting the Belief Problem

How do we deal with a belief problem? "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17). Wrong belief is corrected by right theology. So what does the Bible say about where fullness of joy comes from?

Psalm 16:11 shows the first step: "You will show me the path of life." Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). Jesus is the key that unlocks the door to the path of life. And "in your presence is fullness of joy."

Is that supported elsewhere? In Luke 1, when Mary—carrying Jesus—greets Elizabeth, the baby John the Baptist leaps in Elizabeth's womb. Elizabeth says, "As soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy" (Luke 1:44). Here is an unborn baby who cannot see or hear, and at the presence of Jesus he leaps for joy.

In John 16:22, Jesus prepares His disciples for His departure: "Ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you." In John 3:29, John the Baptist says of being near the Bridegroom, "this my joy therefore is fulfilled." And Jude 24 closes with God being able "to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy." There are dozens of verses like this. In His presence is fullness of joy.

Two Paths and a Better Song

The world says happiness is found in things you can amass. The Bible says it's found in His presence. One of them is wrong, and experientially we know which one—because we've sought what the world promised and not found it. As Bono sang, "I still haven't found what I'm looking for."

Here's the problem: people come to churches that just say "happy, happy, joy, joy"—no loss, no pain, no difficulty—and they vacate those churches saying, "You're disconnected; it's not true." Christians do have pain and suffering. Then we're told the answer is to kill desire, but that doesn't work because God created us full of desire.

As C.S. Lewis wrote: "The Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." He nails it.

Another evangelist asked, "Why does the cow stand at the barbed wire fence chewing the stubby grass along the roadside when there is a whole pasture of green grass within its fence line? Why does the Christian stand at the border of morality seeking satisfaction when a river of pleasure is found in Christ?" Because we bought the lie.

Consider Homer's Odyssey. Odysseus had his crew plug their ears with wax and bind him to the mast so the Sirens' song would not destroy them. He survived—but for the rest of his life he longed for the Sirens' song. It pained him. That is how many Christians try to handle desire: they bind it, seal it up, cut it off—and it never goes away.

But in another Greek tale, Jason and the Argonauts also passed the Sirens. When the crew began steering toward certain doom, Orpheus stood up, took his lyre, and played a more beautiful tune. The seduction of the Sirens was severed, and they escaped unscathed—because they heard a better song.

Sin lyingly promises us enduring happiness apart from Christ. The only way to sever that root is by a superior tune, a better promise, the fullness of joy found in Christ. Anything that hinders or distracts us from His presence is hindering us from enduring joy. If something can aid our enjoyment of His presence, enjoy it. If it's a hindrance, why be distracted by marginal joy when maximal joy is offered?

Mud Pies in the Slum

Nielsen Media Research found in 2010 that the average U.S. household watched 5 hours and 33 minutes of TV per day—40 hours a week, 160 hours a month. Why? Because we account that there is a measurable amount of joy in it. Advertisers know it; that's why it's the most expensive place to advertise. The real question is: is it Uber joy, or is it a hindrance and distraction from a greater measure of joy found elsewhere? Is TV akin to making mud pies in the slum while a holiday by the sea is offered us?

Each of us has little mud pies all around us—trifles of delight that distract us from joy that is inexpressible and full of glory. So many times we strive unsuccessfully against desire. "I'll cut off the cable, take the TV to the garage, and smash it with a sledgehammer." There's a little joy in that—but the desire is still there, now with nothing to attach to. Then a friend says, "Did you see that show?" and it inflames the desire all over again.

Perhaps the issue is not the death of desire at all, but the nourishment of desire with whatever will produce the fullest and most enduring satisfaction. I can say that because I know there is only one well, one place of full and enduring satisfaction. So I'll tell you to seek your full and enduring pleasure—it's radical, I know. "You will show me the path of life; in your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

There are two paths: the path of life and enduring joy, or the trifles of this world that never quench our insatiable appetite for pure joy. The desire is there, but it is not satisfied by anything this world offers. We are confronted with a belief problem. The enemy has done a good job consuming us in "kill desire, kill desire." But the awesome thing is, when you are satisfied, the desire departs. The question is: do we believe it? And will the open door become effectual? That is the question each of us deals with before the Lord.

Closing Prayer

Father, in your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. I'm certain there may be many here questioning whether that's really true. The vain, empty philosophy of this world is spoiling our confidence in You as the source of eternal joy. Lord, right our wrong thinking by Your word. Just as the father of the demon-possessed child in Matthew 17 said, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief"—Lord, help our unbelief.

I know there are some here today who have been satisfied with mud pies in the slum. God's word reveals that Christ offers a greater promise, both in this life and forever. That promise does mean loss—but the loss of things that don't ultimately satisfy. King David said, "O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him" (Psalm 34:8). I call you this day to put your faith in Jesus and taste and see that He is good. This is conversion—shifting your confidence from things that don't satisfy to the One who does. Wherever you are, if the Lord is ministering to you, step out and come.

Paul said, "What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ... that I may win him" (Philippians 3)—because He is greater. Don't leave here; come and pray with one of the pastors.

Let me share why we're going through this series. John said, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth" (3 John 4). And Paul said the servants of the Lord "are helpers of your joy" (2 Corinthians 1:24). God desires that our joy would be full in Him, because He is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.

Father, thank you for the work you are doing in this place. Transform us by the renewing of our minds, so that as we see what your word says, it changes how we think and leads us in new directions. And Lord, be glorified in us as we satisfy ourselves upon you and find our pleasure in you. In Jesus' name, Amen.