Name one thing that makes you happy. Would you be surprised if I told you that you had spent $100 this year on something that you thought would make you happy and you could have saved your money? What was it? The truth is that most of you have spent $1,000 foolishly already this year and some of you have spent $10,000 and you will not be happier.
I don’t want to be trite, but I hope that everyone who attends Community Church gets happier in life. Accepting Jesus into
your life is supposed to bring liberation – soul saving, economic liberation, healing – salvation opens 
your life to the new kingdom and its treasures of life as God created us to live it in the Garden.
But most of us are on the combination plan. We hope that faith in God will bring happiness, and if it does, life will be great. But we see no harm in looking for our own happiness while we wait for eternal riches and everlasting youth. I came across this book, however, that says we are just terrible about guessing what will make us happy. I saw an interview with Daniel Gilbert on the Colbert Report and it was so good that I want to bring it now as an introduction into three weeks at Community Church where we are going to explore rock solid, Biblically based promises on how to be happier which I have named after Daniel Gilbert’s book, Stumbling Into Happiness.
I think there is someone here who needs more happiness. We are going to look at some different areas of life where you can take more control of your life, in your health, and in your relationships. These are not simplistic promises. And a lot of things that make you happier are not obvious at first. But I am praying that God is about to touch your heart and send you home today with a new determination to do one thing that will add to your happiness. God bless you richly
The Book of Leviticus is filled with laws that we just don’t know what to do with. They say that if you have ever tried to commit yourself to reading the Bible through in a year, most people who fail get through Genesis and Exodus and meet their doom in Leviticus. One guy wrote in to Dr. Laura for advice on how to observe Levitical laws.
1. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is, my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?
2. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2. clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?
3. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20 for worship?
4. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?
There is another way to read Leviticus. I confidently offer it to you as the correct way which makes Leviticus a fascinating book worth a lot more exploration. I believe that the laws in Leviticus are a reflection of deeper principles that God wants for the people.
So while we do not follow many laws from the book of Leviticus, I believe that we should follow all of the principles that they represent. Leviticus is not a relatively useless part of the Bible, it is rich with lessons for our growth as people of God today.
And a great part of that law is the dietary law. Eating shellfish is probably something that you have done this week, even though it is forbidden in Leviticus 11:10. Leviticus forbid eating all animals that are scavengers, that live off the carcasses of other animals. Without the sanitation and heating resources in the desert that we have now, the dietary laws were an essential part of the health of the nation as they traveled.
God has a clear concern that we defeat death and promote health in our own lives. If you eat things that you shouldn’t eat, how many of those meals actually bring you more happiness? Let’s start with soda. How many of you feel that you couldn’t possibly drink diet soda or even worse, water? Then ask yourself, 15 minutes after you finish a Coke, has it really brought you more happiness? You have just added 155 calories which takes about 15 minutes to burn off on a treadmill and you have overworked your pancreas for insulin. Do that every day for a 30 years and you know what I can guarantee? I can guarantee that you will take 10 years off your life.
I usually don’t bring messages of guilt and I don’t want this to be hard on you today. But I have to tell you that as a pastor, I realized that most younger people are making health choices that are going to be reflected in their older years. There certainly are childhood diseases and accidents and many health issues. But as a pastor, I have to tell you that most of the sick people that I have visited for 20 years could have prevented their misery. Their unhappiness came because their feelings told them that one more steak, one more bowl of ice cream and one more cigarette would make them feel better. Just like Daniel Gilbert says, there are moments when your body and its desires are not telling you the truth.
How can you fight these things?
1. Ask the question more often. Is this food going to bring me more happiness? I have been able to drink a lot more water lately just asking that question. Make the issue more conscious in your mind.
2. Join the 50% club. You are not going to resist all potato chips and beer after one quick message. But what if you could keep asking the question and turn away 50% of the time? Eugene Peterson describes discipleship as a long obedience in the same direction. 50% is a great start.
3. Start telling yourself the truth. I belong to Executive Fitness on 78th Street. Probably three years ago I started to exercise. I won’t even tell you how many times I’ve failed. But the good news is that 2006 I exercised more than any previous time in life. And I’m working at more for 2007. One thing that I'm doing now is to keep telling myself how the exercise is an investment in my life. My body keeps telling me to give up and I keep fighting that message.
Realize that after sin came into the world, we now have a death instinct as well as a life instinct at work in our bodies. And part of aging is to resist the death instinct. One of the ways that the death instinct operates in with quiet messages to just give up, stop fighting, enjoy the moment and take no thought for tomorrow. Take leadership in your life and you tell your body what will bring true happiness.
4. Follow a good example. Alberto Diaz is a consistent exerciser. Mayor Bloomberg works out every day. It helps to know someone who has found some secrets of success and ask them more about how they do it.
5. Combine these decisions on physical health from Leviticus with meditation on God’s desire for your health. Look at the Scriptures. Matthew 4:23 - "And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people’. He healed Peter’s mother in law and spent as much time healing as he did preaching. When you make one right choice, the angels are rejoicing. Make this whole experience a spiritual experience. Keep talking to the Lord about it. Praise God for the guidance of Leviticus.
6. Flee temptation. I’m basically a weak person. Put me next to a Edy’s Gourmet Ice Cream and bad things are going to happen. Go home. Make a terrific meal from all the things you shouldn’t eat. Choke it down after this sermon. And then while you are feeling full and momentarily happy, throw away all the things in the house that will tempt you once you recover. At home, I just have popcorn. I read that it was healthy. So there are no cookies or ice cream or butter. We have to flee temptation.
7. Form a small group Bible study on health. Why not get some friends together, appoint a leader who joins our small group leaders and have time each Sunday for prayer, sharing about health, and Bible study? The Methodist class system included accountability. That means helping each other say committed to the things that you truly want to change in your life. I believe there are natural leaders here who are not yet in leadership. I hope that you will come and see me and I will help you get something started.
If you work on just diet and exercise, you are going to add to your strength and peace of mind. You will have more energy this week. You won’t have those sugar and insulin attacks. You will feel that you and God are on a new adventure just as Jesus cared for those who needed health. You place yourself right in the center of what God wants for the people of God.
You will stumble. But unlike so much that we try in life, from the heart of Scripture, from Leviticus to Matthew and Mark, I guarantee that you will be stumbling into happiness.
