“The Building Blocks of Eternal Life:

Activating Your God-Given Goodness”

Mark 8:27-37

Rev. Martin C. Singley, III

We’re talking these days about the building blocks of eternal life.

But what is “eternal life?”

If your answer to that question is “eternal life is life that goes on forever”, you are in very good company. In fact, at our staff devotion this past week, I asked that question – “What is ‘eternal life’?” – and got that exact same response from the staff. So if your answer is that eternal life is life that goes on forever you are in good company. You’re wrong, but at least you are not alone!

There are two biblical concepts about life that we sometimes mistakenly merge into one. There is EVERLASTING LIFE which is life that goes on forever. And then there is ETERNAL LIFE which is a particular kind of life. EVERLASTING LIFE is about the QUANTITY of our days. ETERNAL LIFE is about a QUALITY of our days.

Jesus described eternal life as “knowing God.” He also called it “abundant life.” And Jesus was drawing from a central Jewish understanding that the ultimate goal of life is to achieve and experience shalom. That’s why their capital city was called “hiru – shalom” – the City of Shalom. We think of shalom as “peace”, but the kind of peace shalom refers to is the peace that comes when all is well – when you have enough to eat, and meaningful work, and a wholesome environment in which to raise your kids and grandchildren, and a secure place to lay your head at night and live out your days. Shalom is life at its very best, the life God intends for all God’s creatures. Shalom is life that is meaningful and happy.

That’s the QUALITY of life Jesus was talking about when he spoke about us having “eternal life.” It is life as God intends it - life that is rich and good – and yes, it is life that goes on forever!

To put it in a nutshell – God wants you to be happy – to have a rich and wonderful life overflowing with meaning and goodness!

As Sandy and I were driving home from New England a few weeks ago, we were listening to a radio program where a couple of guys were being interviewed about a book they’ve written. It’s a book of quotations which – on the surface – may seem not to be the kind of book you’d like to buy. But these quotations are not your typical dime-a-dozen sayings that are found in every other book of quotations. These are pretty unique and very rich. The title of the book is itself a quotation from Thomas Jefferson: “If Ignorance Is Bliss, Why Aren’t There More Happy People?”

What a great question! Just the last part of that is very profound: “Why aren’t there more happy people?”

Let me challenge you with a possible answer to that question: “There are not more happy people because many of us have lost the skills that make for a happy life.”

Jesus and the disciples are walking along the road when Jesus tells them he’s going to Jerusalem – hiru-shalom – where he will lay down his life. Immediately, Peter rebukes him! “God forbid that anything like that should happen to you!”

Why do you suppose Peter was so shocked by Jesus’ announcement that he was going to Jerusalem to lay down his life?

Certainly because Peter did not want his friend to die. Certainly because he feared for his own future if such a thing were to happen.

But consider one more reason: like most of us, Peter lived in a world where people just don’t do that sort of thing every day – giving up yourself for the sake of others. Oh, we enshrine with honor the soldier who falls on a grenade to save his comrades, or the woman who drowns trying to save a child being swept downstream in a flood. We recognize in these altruistic acts something very good about these human beings. We call them “heroes” and think of them as people apart from ourselves. But seldom do we consider that self-sacrifice is actually wired into all of us by the One who created us. It is part of a network of instinctive emotions that God designed into us, and that are intended to give our lives meaning and happiness.

But in the course of life, these built-in instincts are often suppressed and dulled. That’s why Peter didn’t get what Jesus was going to Jerusalem to do. Peter was oriented into a self-serving, not a self-giving world. And honestly, I don’t “get” that self-sacrifice thing so much either. Long before I would ever get to laying down my actual life for others, I’d even struggle with giving up things like possession of the TV remote control. Self-sacrifice is not my strongest suit. Looking around at our very self-centered world, I suspect I’m not alone. Many of us have lost our ability to use the very gifts God has hardwired into us for the good life.

That’s why there are so many unhappy people.

Dacher Keltner, in a book called “Born To Be Good”, cites studies conducted by cultural anthropologists, neuroscientists and others that demonstrate conclusively that human beings are born with a set of emotions that enable us to live meaningful lives. Some of these emotions are things like self-sacrifice, gratitude, mirth, awe, and compassion. And the key to becoming a happy person is to let these emotions arise and become more active.

This is exactly what Jesus taught! The Lord calls us to live in ways that science now tells us are essential for happiness and well-being! So when the rich young man came to Jesus asking what he could do to have eternal life – to be HAPPY - Jesus said, “Go and sell your stuff, give the proceeds to the poor, and come and follow me.” Self-sacrifice.

Interestingly, the Bible says the young man went away sad because he had a lot of stuff he was unwilling to let go of. Did you hear that? He went away SAD. But Jesus had shown him the way to happiness.

How can you become happy, and find the meaningful life?

By activating and developing the God-given goodness with which you were created.

How do you do that? How do you activate and develop these good, healthy instincts?

Well, let me offer you three Jesus-thoughts on how to find the good life.

First, your highest happiness will be found when you focus your life on bringing the good things of others to completion, and stop triggering the bad things.

I always cringe when someone comes along and tells me that they were out at a cocktail party somewhere and someone said something nasty about someone who wasn’t there and…well, you know how it goes! This is called “gossip” and the Bible identifies it as a very serious sin. Why? Because it’s goal is not to enhance the good in the person being talked about, but to elevate the bad. And what we love so much about gossip is that it feels so good to spread it! People who gossip make themselves feel better at another’s expense. It is the complete antithesis to Jesus’ command to love your neighbor as yourself. It is taking the sacred gift of speech that God has given you, and using it sacrilegiously. It is the worst kind of profanity if you understand that profanity is simply the good gift of speech used profanely. And no good comes out of it. No good purpose is served. And the person or people being talked about are not made more whole. They are harmed.

But think about the opposite. Think about what happens when you use your speech to build up others, to complete their joy, to enhance them in the eyes of others.

“Loving your neighbor as yourself” is not an empty phrase. It is a life-skill that not only benefits others, but benefits YOU! It makes you happy! It gives your life meaning!

So Jesus calls his followers to use our words, our actions, our gifts, indeed our LIFE to complete the goodness in others. That’s one way to develop the good life God created us to enjoy.

A second step toward happiness is found when you dust off and set free the emotion of sympathy. You know, for all the furor surrounding the work of old Charles Darwin, one of the oft-ignored gems of his research into human behavior is the finding that sympathy is our strongest human passion. Did you know that?

Sympathy.

Sympathy is an emotion that causes one person to stand alongside another, closely understanding their feelings and experience. You may not realize this, but most of Jesus’ stories in the Gospels illustrate the power of sympathy. And many of Jesus’ teachings are intended to stir up in us this gift of sympathy.

A Samaritan woman is standing by the well. Samaritans are despised by Jews. They don’t speak to Samaritans, let alone hang around with them. But Jesus goes to her, sits down, and strikes up a conversation with her. Imagine that!

Lepers stand in the distance, upholding the rule not to come close to other people. Jesus crosses the divide and stands with them. Imagine that!

A party is held at the home of a religious big-wig. Jesus opens the door and lets in tax collectors, sinners, and even prostitutes. Imagine THAT!

Do you see what Jesus is doing? He is practicing sympathy! He is going to people who are outcast, and he is standing WITH them! And as Jesus stands alongside these rather colorful people, he finds himself able to care for their needs, defend them against others, and even point them in a better direction to live.

Sympathy. It is a core component of Christian love.

And we all have the emotion of sympathy, but most of us have never learned to use it with people outside our own little circle of familiarity. Have you ever noticed how often we refer to people who are different from us as “THOSE PEOPLE.” And on the other hand, have you ever noticed how when you cross over to stand with “those people” - people who are different - your understanding of them changes, and your life is blessed by them? I will never forget the little girl in our Youth Group who went on a work project up in the mountains of Appalachia. She and her middle-class, suburbanite friends had gone to help “those poor people up there.” But at the end of the week, she came to me with tears in her eyes saying, “Marty, these people aren’t poor. They’re RICH! We’re the ones who are poor!”

Sympathy. Standing alongside others. Let me challenge you with something. Find some person, or some group that you don’t like, or understand. Go make friends with them. Listen to them. Work with them, or participate with them in their activities. Keep your mouth shut unless its to build them up. And see what happens over a period of time!

And one final thing today. One of the truly powerful findings of many recent studies of human behavior indicate that those who think the world turns on the phrase “survival of the fittest” are wrong. The most well-adjusted, happy people in the world are not those who are strong, but those who are kind! It is not “survival of the fittest.” It is “survival of the kindest.”

So here’s a challenge for all of us: begin a discipline of engaging in at least five acts of kindness each week. Donate blood. Buy a friend a sundae. Give money to someone in need. Send a loving note or card to someone. Take a shut-in person for a drive up into the mountains. Volunteer at a helping agency. Be creative with this! Five acts of kindness each week. Some of the most recent studies in neuroscience show that when people exercise kindness this way, the reward centers of your brain start humming with activity!

Be kind.

Jesus said, “I have come that you might have life, and have it to the full!”

God wants you to be happy! So follow Jesus to eternal life!