The Happiest Person Alive | What Makes Us Happy

Welcome to Trinity Sermons. It is great that you are here with us today. Now we at Trinity

Streetsville are a church in the city of Mississauga where we want to love Jesus, live like Jesus

and lead others to Jesus. Now this is episode 3 of our sermon series, What Makes Us Happy?

And we are excited to have Rob Hirkmans with us to teach us about the happiest person alive

and a little bit about the amazing party that he is intending to throw for us. We hope that

you enjoy the sermon today. God bless.

Good morning Trinity. Today's reading is taken from the Gospel of John chapter 2 from verse

John 2 · chapter mention

12. On the third day, a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there

and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was

gone, Jesus' mother said to him, they have no more wine. Woman, why do you involve me?

Jesus replied, my hour has not yet come. His mother said to the servants, do whatever he

tells you. Nearby stood six-toned water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing,

each holding from 20 to 30 gallons. Jesus said to the servants, fill the jars with water,

so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, now draw some out and take it to the

master of the banquet. They did so and the master of the banquet tasted the water that

had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants

who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, everyone brings

out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to

drink, but you have saved the best till now. What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was

the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory and his disciples believed in him.

After this, he went down to Capanum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There

they stayed for a few days. The word of the Lord.

Well, good morning, everyone. My name is Rob and I have the great privilege of being the

minister here at Trinity Streetsville. And I want to extend my own very warm welcome

to each and every one of you this morning. Maybe you remember when you were little, you

would come across little puzzles or games like this in magazines and stuff like that.

It would say, what's wrong with this picture? And it would show you a picture. It would

say, there are seven things wrong with this picture. There are 10 things wrong with this

picture. Can you find out what is wrong? And I found this one from like an old Reader's

Digest magazine. And I think there's supposed to be something like 25 things wrong with

this picture. And I looked at it and I found, yeah, a few of them. For example, there's

a bunch of broomsticks in the refrigerator. The boy seems to have a slipper and a shoe

on and if you can't see it, but if you look at the calendar, the calendar says June, but

it has 31 days in it. So there's a lot of things wrong with this picture. Nevermind

the fact that he's sitting down reading while she's just doing all the housework. But this,

again, this is from the 70s or something like that. But I thought, hey, why don't we play

this game a little bit this morning? I'm going to show you a picture and you can tell me

what you think is wrong with it. So what's wrong with this picture? What's wrong with

this picture? Hmm. Well, you could say there's a few things possibly wrong with it. One is

Jesus seems to be fairly white and pale. And of course, Jesus was a Jewish person who grew

up in the Middle East and the Mediterranean basin and he spent his childhood growing up

in Northern Africa. So, so probably he didn't look like that. Also, so many pictures of

Jesus like this, he looks kind of thin and he looks kind of sick, which is probably not

right either because the Bible tells us that Jesus was accused of being a glutton and a

drunkard. So, so that's probably not right either. But there's one other thing about

this picture, especially that I think is just not right. Something is wrong and that is

Jesus is sad. Why are pictures of Jesus always so sad? Well, you may say, well, Rob, it's

because he suffered. He had a life of suffering. Even Isaiah 53 says that he was a man of sorrows.

He was acquainted with grief. And of course you're right. Jesus lived a human life. He

was a human being just like you and me. And he was sad and he grieved and he wept at times

and he suffered and he died. And so yes, yes, Jesus was sad surely. But I got to tell you

that that right there is not the best picture of who Jesus was and who Jesus is. So we are

in the middle of a teaching series that's called What Makes Us Happy. And last week,

no, two weeks ago, we said one thing that makes us happy or relationships, relationships

with each other, with God and with ourselves is essential to happiness. And last week we

pulled out the ancient wisdom of Psalm number one. And we learned that happiness is found

when we root our lives in the love and truth of God. But today we're going to kind of turn

the tables and we're going to say, okay, God, God, you're always talking about how we should

be happy. But is God happy or Jesus, Jesus, you apparently have the secret to happiness,

about Jesus, are you happy? Do God and Jesus practice what they preach when it comes to

happiness? Is this the right picture of Jesus? Because if this is the right picture of Jesus,

then where does Jesus get off telling me, Rob, you should be a happier person. You should

be a more joyful person. Well, today I want to tell you that the sad Jesus is not the

right picture of Jesus. You see, Jesus entered the world on a high note of celebration. The

angel that announced his birth said, I bring you good news of great joy that is going to

be for all the people. Right? And that's why at Christmas we don't sing sadness to the

world. The Lord has come. We don't sing thanks to the world. No, we sing joy to the world.

The Lord has come. That's how it started. That's how his life began. But then as his

ministry began to grow, he went into Galilee proclaiming not the bad news, not the sad

news, but proclaiming the good news of God's kingdom. And then more and more people started

to be drawn to Jesus and people love to be around Jesus. Everyone wanted to be around

you. Even kids wanted to be around Jesus. And Jesus said, let the kids come to me. Don't

stop them from coming to me. Now, do you think that the kids were drawn to Jesus because

he was sad and he was dour and he was serious? Nobody wants to be, no one's attracted to

someone who's sad. They were attracted to him because of his joy, because of the happiness

of his demeanor. He was a happy and joyful person. Even on the night before Jesus died,

when he knew that his death was imminent, you know what he told his disciples? He said,

these things I have spoken to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may

be full. So why are there so many sad pictures of Jesus? I'm telling you they got it wrong.

I'm telling you, I'm telling you, Jesus isn't just a happy person, but today I want to suggest

to you that Jesus is the happiest person of all. And that's why the Bible actually says

when it speaks of Jesus, it says God has anointed you, Jesus, pouring out the oil of joy on

you and get this, say that with me, more than anyone else, more than anyone else, the oil

of joy on Jesus. If I was a Bible translator, I would translate this piece of scripture

into this. I would say God has made you, Jesus, the happiest person who ever lived. So let

look at a story from the life of Jesus and you will see that it's true. Jesus was the

happiest person who ever lived. And we read that story. Eric Hand read it for us. It's

found in John chapter two. If you have a Bible, you can take it out. If you have a Bible app,

you can turn it on and you can head over to John chapter two. And here's where it starts.

We read that on the third day, a wedding took place in Cana of Galilee and Jesus's mother

was there and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. Right away,

that's the first thing that we notice is that Jesus is the kind of person you invite to

a party. Jesus is the kind of person you invite to a wedding. Why? It's because he's the life

of the party because he's a happy guy. I don't know, but this is probably also one reason

why you invite Jesus to a party is that when the wine was gone, Jesus's mother said to

him, Jesus, they have no more wine. I love the passive aggressive part here. It's like,

Jesus, they have no more wine. You know, whatever shall we do? Jesus. Oh, it's really too bad.

They have no more wine. And then, and then Jesus replies, woman, which actually is a

term of endearment. So don't read that wrong. Woman, why do you involve me? He replied,

my time has not yet come. Jesus says to the servants, he says, go fill these jars with

water. So they filled into the brim. Then he told them, now draw out some of that water

and take it to the master of the banquet. And I can just picture Jesus stepping back

into the corner. He's waiting for it. He's waiting for it. Waiting for it. He takes a

sip and the master of the banquet tastes the water that had been turned into wine. And

he didn't know where the wine had come from. And then he calls the bridegroom and he says,

Hey, everybody brings out the choice wine first. And they bring out the cheaper wine

after the guests have all become drunk, but you have saved the best till now. And then

we read, and this is the one sentence I really want us to pay attention to today. Then we

read this line. We read that what Jesus did was the first of his signs through which he

revealed his glory and his disciples believed in him. So to prove my point to you today

that Jesus is the happiest person who ever lived. All I need are those three points that

this was the first of his signs, that it revealed his glory and that his disciples believed

in him. So let's start with this one though. Let's start with what Jesus did. We are told

revealed his glory. Now, when you hear that, you know, that the revealed his glory, you

probably think of things like celebrity and fame and you know, Hey, hallelujah. Yay. Jesus,

give God the glory. Woo woo woo. It's, it's God. Yay. God. But when, but when the Bible

talks about glory or God's glory, it actually is referring to God's presence and God's person.

I'll give you a couple of examples. When Israel was walking through the wilderness, there

was a big cloud in front of them that was said to have guided them through the wilderness.

And it says that the, the glory of God was in the cloud. What that means that the presence

of God was in that cloud, that God's person was somehow in that cloud or, or in the temple

in Jerusalem, we are told that the glory of God filled the temple. And what that meant

was God's presence moved into the temple and took over the temple. So that where the temple

was, their God was where the cloud was there. God was. So when we read a story, therefore,

think about it, when we read a story about Jesus going to a party and turning water into

wine and we're told that this revealed his glory. Do you know what it's telling us? It's

telling us that this is what God is like. This is the kind of God we're talking about.

This is the kind of person that we're talking about. God is first of all, the kind of person

you would invite to a party. He's at the top of the list. Second of all, he's the kind

of person who says yes and actually shows up to the party. He RSVPs and says, yes, I

will be there. Third, he stays for a long time. He's not like me and goes home at 10

o'clock and says, I got church tomorrow morning. You know, he stays, he stays like late into

the night and fourth, he, he, he decides to make more wine so that the party doesn't have

to end and it gets to keep on going. And fifth, he's not making just any kind of wine here,

right? This is not Jackson Triggs that he's making, right? This is God going down into

the cellar and pulling out the bottle of the best stuff he has and bringing it up and saying,

this is what we're serving now. This is the glory of God. This is who God is. He is a

happy and joyful person who stays at the party till the end and make sure that the party

can keep on going. He's, he's not just the happiest guy at the party though. I want to

take it one step further. I want to say that he is the happiest being in the entire universe.

And I'm not going to say that in the email. I say, Rob, that is a pretty bold statement,

but all you got to do, all you got to do is turn to page one of your Bible and you will

see a picture of a God who is singing the universe into existence. And as he creates,

he keeps singing out, it was good. It is good. He created this and it was good. He created

the land and the sea and it was good. He created the sun and the moon and it was good. He created,

you know, plants and animals and it was good again and again. God makes the wind and God

makes the flowers and God makes grand canyons and sunsets. And it's all very, very good.

When you read Genesis one, what you see is at the center of the universe, there is this

God that is overflowing with happiness and joy. He cannot contain the happiness and joy

within him and that keeps leaking out. And when it leaks out, it creates solar systems

and it creates Algonquin Park and it creates maple trees and it creates craft beer and

it creates pad thai and all the wonderful things in the world. He can't be contained.

Why? Because that's who he is and it just leaks out of him. At the center of the universe

is a God who is happy. In fact, all happiness flows from this God. All your happy moments

came from this God. If you were to close your eyes and I were to say, think back to some

of your happiest moments. Think back to that family vacation. Think back to that time with

friends. Think back to your wedding day. Think back to the birth of your first child, right?

God was there in that place with you and the happiness of God's life was overflowing and

touching your own life. So what is wrong with this picture? My goodness, what's wrong with

this picture? If the glory of God, if the person of God, if the presence of God is pure

happiness, then that's probably not the best picture of Jesus to have in our minds. God

is the happiest being ever, ever. But we can't even stop there. We can't stop there because

we also have to figure out why this party, according to Jesus, according to the gospel

writer John rather, was the first of his signs. Now what does that mean? Well, all throughout

John's gospel, again and again, Jesus does these things called signs. If you read the

gospel you'll see Jesus did a sign. He did a sign. He did a sign. And kind of just like

a road sign, what these signs mean are they are pointing towards something. And what they're

pointing toward is Jesus' signs point toward the way the world should be, the way the world

in fact will be, the way the kingdom of God actually will look like when it finally comes.

Now I know there is a lot of bad news out there in the world these days, but can you

imagine what the world would be like if the happiest being that ever existed was finally

in charge, was finally allowed to rule and be in charge? Well, Jesus says, I'll show

you what it would look like. Go get me those stone water jars, fill them up with water

and take them to the master of the banquet because when the kingdom of God comes, it

is going to look like a wedding feast. There is going to be music. There are going to be

piles of food. It's going to go on until 2 a.m. in the morning and the wine never runs out.

What does the kingdom of God look like? Jesus says it looks like an all out party. Or Jesus

says, I'll tell you again, I'll tell you what the kingdom of God looks like. There was once,

he tells a story, he says there was once a prodigal son who went and wasted all of his

money and as he was, he decided he'd finally go home and as he was walking home practicing

his apology with his head hanging low, his father came running out, running out and embraced

him and grabbed hold of him. And then the father said to the servants, he said, hey,

you know that cow that we have behind the barn? Go and kill that sucker because we are

going to have a barbecue. We're going to have a great big party because my son who was lost

has been found. My son who is dead has been brought back to life. That's what the kingdom

of God is like, Jesus says. Or Jesus one day, he's walking along the road and he comes across

this guy whose name is Zacchaeus and everybody hates Zacchaeus because he ripped off people

and he swindled people. And so Jesus said, Zacchaeus, you dirty, filthy sinner, you are

going to burn in hell forever. No, that's not what he says. It's not what he says at

all. He says, Zacchaeus, come on, we are going to go to your house and we are going to have

a party. That's what the kingdom of God looks like. This guy named Tim Chester says that

in Luke's gospel, Jesus is either going to a meal or at a meal or coming from a meal.

And that's because Jesus is a party animal. He has to party. He has to celebrate because

he has to show us what the world could look like, what the world should look like, and

in fact, what the world will look like. The kingdom of God is a party. Lots of people

when they think of parties, they think of another kind of party. They think of drugs

and booze and, you know, sex and regrets, right? And you know, that guy likes to party,

that girl likes to party. That is not the kind of party that Jesus has in mind when

he thinks of the party of the kingdom of God. That kind of party usually leaves you kind

of feeling empty, not full. That party leaves you feeling hurt, not healed. That party leaves

you regretting, not rejoicing, but Jesus is throwing a better party. It's a party that

says a world is coming where tears will be no more and diseases will be no more and oppression

will come to an end and wars will cease. And here's the best thing. Everybody is invited

to this party. Have you ever been left out of a party, not included on the guest list?

It kind of sucks. It hurts, right? But not with Jesus, not the party he's throwing. Everybody

is included. Jesus says the orphan, the widow, the lame, the blind, the sick, the lepers,

bring them in. All the people that the world say shouldn't be invited, they're invited.

All the people that the religious establishment out there says shouldn't be invited, they

too are invited. Whosoever will, let them come, Jesus says. I tell you, if you're going

through a hard time right now, if there's pain or sickness or if there's just feelings

of defeat in you, be of good cheer. Jesus says a party is coming. God is the happiest

being in the universe and he is planning a party and nothing is going to stop that from

happening. In fact, Jesus says, I'm even going to start this party now. That's what these

signs I'm giving you are all about. That's what the water turning into wine is all about.

It's a sign. It's a taste of what is to come. So is this the best picture of Jesus? Is this

a picture? No, no, no, because what's God like? He's the happiest person who ever lived.

What's the kingdom of God like? It is a wedding feast. It's like one gigantic party and it's

happening. So what's wrong with this picture? It just doesn't capture. It doesn't capture

the happiness of God. It doesn't capture the celebration of the kingdom and it does not

capture the joy of Jesus. But there's one more thing we have to talk about. At that

wedding, Jesus revealed his glory, we're told, and we now know that means revealed his presence.

This is who God really is. And at that wedding, he gave us a sign, which means he shows us

where the world is going. But we're also told that when he did this, his disciples believed

in him. There was something about the happiness of Jesus, something about the joy of the kingdom

that made people want to be part of it. And more and more people joined Jesus. And this

thing started to be formed, which we now call the church, the church and get this, the tractor

beam, the magnetic pole that was pulling people into this church was this hope, was this happiness,

was this joy that they saw these people experiencing his church, our church, the church was birthed

out of happiness and the church should still be the happiest place on earth. I mean, think

of it this way. God is the life of the party and Jesus came to get the party started. And

that means the job of the church is to keep the party going. Our lives as followers of

Jesus should be marked by a magnetic kind of celebration and joy and happiness. But

the problem is for so many people, the last thing they think of when they think of happiness

is the church. And the last person you'd want to invite to a party is a church person. You

know, go to some churches and yes, there they are. They're mouthing the words, they're going

through the motions, they're singing about joy and happiness. But when you look at their

faces, they don't seem to be particularly happy about it. In fact, they kind of look

downright miserable from time to time. It is sad to say, but for many church people and

for too many religious people, this picture is actually pretty accurate. They think of,

you know, Dana Carvey's disapproving church lady, or they think of, you know, Ned Flanders

and his straight laced kind of Christianity, right? Party poopers, maybe, but not a party.

So you know what? We need to change that picture. If God's the happiest person to ever live,

then the church cannot look like that. And if the kingdom of God is a party, then the

church cannot feel like that. And if that's how we look, if that's how we feel, then yes,

there is something wrong with that picture. Tony Campolo, who is a sociologist, he's an

author, he's a speaker. He actually spoke here at Trinity years ago. He once told a

story of something that happened to him that shows us what it would look like if the church

were to embrace this joyful mission that we've been given. I want you to hear what he had

to say.

If you go to Honolulu from the East Coast, those of you who have been there know that

you wake up like at three o'clock in the morning and you can't get back to sleep. And I'm hungry.

And I went looking for something to eat. And even at that wee hour in the morning in a

bustling city like Honolulu, you can't find a place that's open. But up the side street,

I did find a place. I went in, sat down on the stool. It was a greasy spoon, no booze,

just a row of stools in front of the counter. And this fat guy with a dirty, filthy, greasy

apron came out, pulled his cigar out, put it down, said, what do you want? I didn't

touch the menu. It was one of those plastic menus that grease had piled up on it. And

I knew that if I opened it, something extraterrestrial would fall out. So I'd like a cup of coffee

and a donut. So he poured the coffee and then he did this. And he picked up the donut. I

hate that. So I'm sitting here, 3.30 in the morning, drinking my coffee and eating his

dirty donut. Into the room come about eight or nine prostitutes and they sat down on either

side of me. And I tried to disappear. And the one on my immediate right said, tomorrow's

my birthday, she said to her friend. I'm going to be 39. Her friend said, so what do you

want me to do? Sing happy birthday? You want a cake? What should we do? Have a party for

you? You're going to be 39? First woman said, look, I'm not expecting anything. I just,

why do you have to put me down? And then she said, with a cracking voice, I've never had

a birthday party in my whole life. I don't expect to have one now. That did it. I waited

till, you know, till they all left. And I was the only one left. I called Harry over.

I said, do they come in here every night? He said, yeah. I said, the one next to me,

said, Agnes. I said, tomorrow's her birthday. What do you say we decorate the place? And

when she comes in tomorrow, we have a birthday party for her because I heard her say she's

never had a birthday party in her whole life. He said, mister, that's brilliant. That is

brilliant. Jane, he called his wife out of the back room. She did the cooking. He wants

to throw a birthday party for Agnes. I thought, this is great. She comes out, she grabs my

plate. She says, mister, you wouldn't understand this because of what she does, you know, but

she's one of the kind people in this town. She's one of the caring people in this town.

I said, look, can I decorate the place? She said, to your heart's content. I said, I'm

going to bring a birthday cake. Harry said, oh no, the cake's my thing. I thought, oh,

geez. So I got there the next morning. I got there the next morning at about 2.30. I had

bought crepe paper at the Kmart, strung it across the place, made a big sign that said,

happy birthday, Agnes. Put it on the mirror behind the counter. I had the place spruced.

Jane who does the cooking got the word out on the street so that by 3.15, every prostitute

in Honolulu was squeezed into this place. I mean, people, it was wall to wall prostitutes

and me. 3.30 in the morning, the door opens. In comes Agnes and her friends. I got everybody

poised, everybody ready. The minute she walked through the door, we yelled, happy birthday,

Agnes, and all start cheering like mad. I've never seen anybody so stunned in my life.

Her knees buckled. They steadied her in gutter and sat her down on a chair. We started singing

happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday, dear Agnes. And when they brought out the

cake, she lost it and started to cry. Henry just stood there with the cake and finally

he said, all right, Agnes, knock it off. Blow out the candles, Agnes. Come on, blow out

the candles. She tried and she couldn't so he blew out the candles and handed her the

knife and said, now cut the cake. Come on now, cut the cake. She sat there for a long

moment and then she said to me, is it all right if I don't cut the cake? She said, what

I'd really like to do is take the cake home and show it to my mother. I said, it's your

cake. She stood up. I said, do you have to do it now? She said, I have two doors down.

Let me take the cake home. I'll bring it right back. I promise. She picked up the cake. She

pushed through the crowd and out the door and as the door swung slowly shut, dead silence.

The whole group was stunned. I didn't know what to say. Finally, after a few uneasy moments,

I said, what do you say we pray? It's weird looking back on it now. A sociologist leading

a prayer meeting with a bunch of prostitutes at 3.30 in the morning in a diner in Honolulu

is the right thing to do and I prayed that God would deliver her from what dirty filthy

men had done to her. Usually starting like it when they're about 12 or 13 and then they're

ruined and hurt. When I finished praying that God would make her new, that God would give

her back everything that had been taken from her. I said amen and lifted my eyes and Harry

was right in my face. He said, Hey Camp Paulo, you told me you were a sociologist. You're

no sociologist. You're a preacher. What kind of church you belong to? And one of those

moments when you come up with just the right words, I said, I belong to a church that throws

birthday parties for whores at 3.30 in the morning. I thought that was a clever answer.

I'll never forget his response. He looked back and he said, No, you don't. No, you don't.

He said I would join a church like that. Wouldn't we all? Wouldn't we all? Wouldn't we all join

a church like that? And I got news for you. That's exactly the kind of church that Jesus

came to create. It's exactly what he calls us to, to go out into this world and create

a church that is filled with everybody. Everybody is invited and bringing celebration into the

lives of all those who might feel they have absolutely nothing to celebrate. That's what

we're called to do. That's who we are called to be. So just in wrapping up, remember Jesus

is the happiest person alive. God is the happiest being who ever existed. The kingdom of God

is the happiest place you can imagine. And the church, that's you and me, we're called

to be agents of God's happiness, bringing love and joy into what is often a loveless

and joyless world. That's the right picture. Let's make sure everybody sees that picture.

And let's speak to God. Amen.

Thank you so much for joining us today for our sermon here at Trinity. If you enjoyed

the sermon, please take a minute to rate and review our podcast so we can continue to spread

the good news with others. And please come back next week as we continue our sermon series,

What Makes Us Happy. Today's sermon was taken from the October 1st, 2023 service at Trinity

Church, Streetsville in Mississauga, Ontario.