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Sacramento Central SDA Church

Chris Buttery

The Smile of God

I wonder how many here are familiar with the term or the term refrigerator mom.

Refrigerator mom, anyone heard of that before?

It was a label for mothers of children diagnosed with autism or schizophrenia.

And these moms were often blamed because of their children's behavior, which involved speech difficulty or isolation, self-isolation among other things.

The refrigerator mother label was given because it was believed that autistic behaviors stemmed from the emotional frigidity or the coolness exhibited by these children's mothers.

So you can only imagine how this left or how this left these mothers feeling considering up until the 1970s this was the prevailing medical belief.

Bernard Rimland came along and I think we have a little picture for him, of him for you up on the screen.

Bernard Rimland obtained his PhD in Experimental Psychology from Penn State University in Pennsylvania.

A few years later, his son Mark was born, who was eventually diagnosed with early infantile autism.

It was his son's diagnosis that propelled Bernard Rinland into a quest to understand autism along with its causes and its treatments.

In 1967 he established the Autism Research Institute and eventually showed that autism was not necessarily the result of poor parenting skills but it had a neurological cause.

Later on his profession, he received quite a bit of flack from his peers, or some of his peers, because he linked the rise in autism with vaccinations, or more specifically, thiomersal, which is a mercury-based preservative used in vaccines.

Still a very controversial discussion even today.

Well, Bernard Rimland conducted a fascinating study that didn't necessarily have to do with his main theme, his main passion for life.

He did a study that he entitled the altruism paradox.

Each person involved in the study was to write down or list 10 people that they knew best, and then they were to label next to each of those 10 individuals which ones were happy and which ones were unhappy.

Then they were to go through that list again after they had done that and list by the size or next to those same names, those that they perceived to be selfish or unselfish.

And he used this definition of selfishness, a stable tendency to devote one's time and resources to one's own interests and welfare, an unwillingness to inconvenience oneself for others.

In categorizing the results, guess what Rimland found?

He discovered that all of the people labeled happy were also labeled unselfish.

In other words, the happiest people are those that help others.

Rimland wrote, quote, those whose activities are devoted to bringing themselves happiness are far less likely to be happy than those whose efforts are devoted to making others happy.

Now this doesn't surprise us at all because it was Jesus who said it is more blessed to do what?

And there was a group of individuals, 70 as a matter of fact, and we're going to read about them in Luke chapter 10, so if you have your Bibles turn there with me if you'd be so kind.

Jesus had gathered together these 70 individuals to go out and they experienced this blessing as well according to the story.

They had been gathered together to go out and proclaim the good news, to visit people in their homes and to connect with individuals.

He told them that the harvest was great, You can read about it in Luke chapter 10 and verse 1.

He told them that the laborers were few and so in sending them out he said, as you go pray that the Lord of the harvest will send out or send forth laborers.

And apparently their mission to visit and to minister to people in the region was very successful and they came back happy and about how they had been used by God.

As a matter of fact, we read in Luke chapter 10 and verse 17 these interesting words.

This is after they return, and the 70 returned again, what's the next word?

The 70 returned again with joy saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name, joy.

That's not a word we use every day, gotta admit.

Someone comes by and they ask you, how you doing?

You don't say, oh, I'm very joyful, thank you very much.

I've not heard that, I don't say that myself.

We don't use it frequently ask young people how you doing yeah all right I'm okay yeah cool man thanks different expressions we use today we're not accustomed to saying joy we say we're happy we're fine we're good thank you very much The word joy that is used here in Luke 10, verse 17, denoting the experience of the 70 when they returned from their missionary activities, carries with it a sense of calm, delight, deep satisfaction, or a type of holy happiness, as opposed to exuberant jumping up and down.

When Jesus shared his 3 parables in Luke chapter 15, stressing the need for the rescued to go out and rescue those who needed rescuing.

He painted a picture of the atmosphere in heaven when 1 sinner repents.

Jesus said, I say unto you that likewise there will be joy in heaven over 1 sinner who repents than over 99 just persons who need no repentance.

The word joy, joy in heaven, is very similar to the word expressed in Luke chapter 10 and verse 17 with regards to the 70 when they returned with joy, calm, delight, cheerfulness, deep satisfaction.

The angels are therefore portrayed here by Jesus as not partying, as sometimes is suggested, but rather it is with calm happiness, with deep satisfaction that they observe the conversion of a sinner.

Paul, He wrote to the Thessalonians, the Thessalonians in Thessalonia, in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, 19 and 20, he asked a rhetorical question.

He asked, for what is our hope or our joy or our crown of rejoicing?

And he continues by answering, Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?

For you are our joy, glory rather, and our joy.

It is you, ready when Jesus comes back, ready to meet him when he returns.

This is our joy, this is where we get deepest our deepest satisfaction from.

Paul in effect was saying that the conversion of a sinner and their readiness for the coming of Christ brought him this type of joy, this type of cheerfulness.

He also felt that way about the Philippians.

The Philippian believers, when he called them in Philippians 4 verse 1, his joy and his crown.

Those that Paul had brought to the Savior and had remained faithful followers of the gospel were his joy, were his calm delight.

It brought deep satisfaction to him you see, it made him feel well-off.

Now it gets even more interesting when we find out what it was that took Jesus or drove Jesus to the cross.

You can understand knowing what was coming, it was not something that Jesus, humanly speaking, would have wanted to experience or endure.

But what was it that caused him to press on to the cross?

Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 2, the writer to the Jewish Christian says, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

So what was it that encouraged Jesus to go through with the cross?

The question is, what was the joy that was set before Him?

Anybody, anybody who would respond to His great sacrifice, this was the joy that allowed Jesus to press on, irrespective of the difficulties and the hardships and the challenges He was going to face during this tremendous trial.

It was you, it was me, anybody, who would respond to this great gift from heaven, you see.

That was the joy that caused Jesus to press on.

Christ experienced joy, calm delight, by putting himself out into the harvest, you understand.

Here we discover what it is that makes God smile.

Here's where we discover what makes God smile.

When someone living a life, a reckless life, turns their heart heavenward, guess what God does?

When a child prays, dear Jesus, please come into my heart, guess what God does?

When a youth realizes he doesn't have all the answers and recognizes his dependence upon Jesus, what happens?

When someone chooses to place God's way above their own way, God smiles.

When Jesus saw all those who would unreservedly serve Him because of His tremendous sacrifice, He smiled for the joy that was set before him, the Bible writer says.

Look, and we know, we know full well that Christ could not have accomplished what he did had not the Spirit of God rested upon him.

It was the Holy Spirit that put him into ministry after his baptism.

It was the spirit that anointed him to preach the gospel and heal the sick and to set the captives free.

It was all done by, through the Holy Spirit.

This was the experience of the early Christian believers as well.

Before Jesus went back to heaven, he told his followers to tarry in Jerusalem until the promise of the Father come upon them or until they were endued or endued with power from on high.

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The Smile of God

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