06/29/18 - Romans 12

June 29, 2018

In view of God's mercy, offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God-this is your true and proper worship. Romans 12:1

God's forgiveness was given for us to pursue His holiness, not our 'happiness'.

Over the years, I’ve attended a lot of funerals.  A few for my family, but most for friends who have passed away, or relatives of friends.  In most cases, there is a part of the funeral where people get the chance to express stories, kind words, or memories of the one who parted.  It usually is the memorable part of the ceremony, and is often one of the most helpful elements for the family.

I’ve listened to many of those comments, and they all tend to have a common thread:  happiness.  Either the deceased person brought happiness to people, or had things that made him/her happy.  Most of the stories tend to talk about either good things the person did (to make others happy), or good things that happened to them (to make them happy).  Somehow, because we assume that the goal in life is happiness, then talking about ways happiness happened means they met the goal.

But what if happiness wasn’t really the goal?

Imagine if God was conducting an ‘entrance service’ at the same time we were holding a ‘departure service’.  Imagine what God would be looking for about the person.  I don’t think it would be happiness that would top God’s agenda.  According to Jesus, God would be interested in what our ‘holiness’ record was.  But holiness wouldn’t be a religious checklist, holiness would be a lifestyle.  God would want to hear the stories of what we believed and did about His Son.  God would look for our acts of obedience out of love for Jesus.  God would want to know what we did to help others grow their holiness – even more than their happiness. 

When God made man, He made him in God’s own image – that image was about holiness.  When God formed Eve, it was because man was not good alone – marriage was God’s method of growing holiness in each other.  When God saved Noah, it was to rebuild the world’s holiness.  When God laid out the Ten Commandments, it was to define holiness.  Story after story shows that the goal was holiness, not happiness.  Holiness leads to permanent happiness.  Jesus affirmed that often, calling us to Be Holy. 

So if we are serious about joining God’s family, know that it comes with sacrificing the world’s lust for happiness and pursuing what God intended all along – holiness.  Lay down your life as a living sacrifice, HOLY and Pleasing to God, and you will not only worship God well, but you will find the joy that creates lasting happiness.

It’s time to change the goal.  And maybe it will also change the conversations about you at your funeral someday.  They won’t talk as much about happiness, but about the inspiration and lifestyle of holiness you left behind.  That would be the best funeral story ever!