Finding True Joy: Embracing Christian Hedonism

we are far too easily pleased that's the problem in america we're not too hedonistic too pleasure centered no we're not pleasure-centered enough we settle for the world's paltry joys at the expense of giving our lives to pursue our deepest and most lasting joy and in settling for the trivial pleasures of this world we undermine both of our chief callings in life the two great love commandments that we have to love god with everything that we have and to love others as ourselves in fact it's only as we pursue our highest joy that we are driven to enact these loves essential but counterintuitive point that we make in christian hedonism [00:04:43]

if you and i don't pursue our ministry because we expect to find great joy in it then we don't pursue the command of god there's another verse this one is so familiar you don't need to look it up it's acts 20 verse 35 and strikingly it's paul's address to another group of elders and listen to how he motivates those elders to care for the weak remember the words of the lord jesus how he said it is more blessed elders to give than to receive now when paul says remember this keep it in your mind he must mean that when it's in your mind it functions rightly as a conscious motive for ministry [00:07:40]

he must mean that the moral value of our generosity in ministry isn't ruined when we pursue it hedonistically like so many people think it is it is not wrong to desire and to pursue the blessedness which jesus promised when he said it is more blessed to give than to receive he didn't say now this is the truth and get it out of your head as soon as you can lest you do it pursue the blessedness that comes from giving which brings us back to where we were last week what's the hindrance to love in the church [00:09:02]

it's the same hindrance to worship the thing that keeps us from obeying the first vertical commandment is the same thing that keeps us from obeying the second horizontal commandment and it is not that we are all trying to please ourselves but that we are far too easily pleased we don't really believe jesus when he says there's more joy more blessedness more full and lasting pleasure in giving in a life devoted to helping others then there is in a life devoted to our material comfort we don't believe it [00:11:03]

and therefore the very longing for contentment that according to jesus ought to drive us to simplicity of life and labors of love contents itself instead with the broken cisterns of american prosperity and comfort the message that needs to be shouted from the top of the ids tower and the city center to pleasure seeking americans is this hey americans you're not nearly hedonistic enough don't lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust corrupt and where thieves break in and steal go for broke lay up for yourselves treasures in heavens [00:13:31]

where no moth and and uh rust corrupt where no thieves can break in and steal quit being satisfied with little five and a quarter percent yields of pleasure that get eaten up with the maws of inflation and the rust of death invest in the blue chip high yield divinely ensured securities of heaven a life devoted to material comforts and thrills is like throwing money down a rat hole but a life simplified for the sake of love yields dividends unsurpassed and unending hear the word of the lord o americans sell your possessions give alms provide for yourselves purses that do not grow old and treasures in the heavens that do not fail [00:15:08]

come on become real hedonists wake up that's the message we've got gospel we've got good news to share with the world leave the broken cisterns of temporary unsatisfying pleasures come to christ in whose presence there is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore join us in the labor of christian hedonism for the lord has spoken it is more blessed to love than to live in luxury oh that we believed that the lord's word were believable to us [00:18:32]

recall the former days when after you were enlightened you endured a hard struggle with sufferings sometimes being publicly exposed to abuse and affliction and sometimes being partners with those so treated for you had compassion on the prisoners and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one you see the situation some christians had been arrested and put in jail the other believers were facing a moral dilemma do we go underground pray for them or do we express our solidarity with them and risk losing our hopes [00:21:36]

and the text says that their joy in god's reward overflowed in love here's what they did if i can reconstruct the situation they looked at their own lives and quoted to themselves psalm 63 the steadfast love of the lord is better than life and they looked at their houses with all of their their furniture passed down from their grandmother precious vases and they said to themselves we have a possession in heaven that is better and longer lasting than any of this let goods and kindred go this mortal life also the body they may kill god's truth abideth still his kingdom is forever [00:24:39]

and they went with jesus to the jail and they lost their possessions and what does it say they felt as they went joy christian hedonists through and through they knew where their treasure was they didn't have to act according to any sterile sense of duty they just glutted themselves on the joy of love such a key point in a key sermon in the piper archive is titled the labor of christian hedonism preached on october 2nd 1983 it was part of a series in which pastor john outlined christian hedonism a series that would eventually become the book desiring god [00:27:02]

it also happens to be the only mention that i can find in any of his sermons to the topic of inflation that's how i found it originally i was looking for what he had said on that and you heard it in his contemporary paraphrase of matthew 6 verses 19 to 20 where he said quit being satisfied with little five and a quarter percent yields of pleasure that get eaten up by the moths of inflation and the rust of death invest in the blue chip high yield divinely insured securities of heaven so good i love that line so relevant for us today in this age of inflation [00:30:44]

well i found this clip if you find one email it to me give me your name hometown the sermon title the timestamp of where the clip happens in the audio and make a note of what stands out to you put the word clip in the subject line of an email send it to me at askpastorjohn desireringgod.org an email address pastorjohn desiringgod.org well did paul say that christians no longer have evil desires inside you might get that impression from colossians 3 and it's a text we need to think more about because we have some really good questions from a listener named mary uh mary puts on a clinic for us and how to write an articulate specific hard question uh via email to us and uh with it we will end the week i'm your host tony reinke and we'll be back with pastor john on friday we'll see you then [00:33:56]