The Sacrament of Happy: What a Smiling God Brings to a Wounded World

By Lisa Harper and Christine Caine

God is good, God does good, and oh, how He wants you to be happy.
 
In her new book, The Sacrament of Happy: What a Smiling God Brings to a Wounded World, Lisa Harper unveils that happiness is a gift from God that we can unashamedly enjoy. Happiness tends to be cast as a fluffy emotion without substance rather than a biblical concept, but this is not theologically accurate. Wearing the twin hats of both seminarian and belly-laughing adoptive mom, Lisa Harper dismantles the old-school idea that joy, not happiness, is the truly spiritual emotion, and asserts that Christ-followers are actually called to happiness.
 
We are called to happiness, and this happiness is not impacted by personal or global tumult. In fact, happiness is a sacrament. The general definition of sacrament is “a visible sign of inward grace.” In communities of faith, it most often refers to holy communion or the Eucharist. In the broadest understanding, however, a sacrament is a gift bestowed by God, and in that case, ‘happiness’ is absolutely a sacrament—a visible, sometimes even audible, sign of inward grace!
 
Lisa shares heart-wrenching difficult stories from her past, as well as some side-splitting hilarity along the way. Throughout the book, we see that happiness and sadness can coexist and ebb and flow like the tides.
 
Christine Caine, Founder of A21 & Propel Women, had this to say about Lisa’s new book: "The Sacrament of Happy—like all of Lisa’s messages and books—enriches my understanding of God and His Word—and His great love for us. As always, she unfolds biblical truth so clearly and calls me to action. Every. Single. Time.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: BH Publishing Group
• Release date: Jun 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9781433691911

Lisa Harper

Lisa has been lauded as a compelling communicator, whose writing and speaking emphasize that accruing knowledge about God pales next to a real and intimate relationship with Jesus. Her style combines sound biblical exposition and exegesis with engaging anecdotes and comedic wit. Her vocational resume is comprised of 30+ years of church and para-church ministry leadership, including 6 years as the director of Focus on the Family's national women's ministry where she created the popular "Renewing the Heart" conferences, which were attended by almost 200,000 women, as well as a decade of touring with "Women of Faith," where she spoke to over a million women about the unconditional love of God.

Book preview

Copyright © 2017 by Lisa Harper

All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

978-1-4336-9193-5

Published by B&H Publishing Group

Nashville, Tennessee

Dewey Decimal Classification: 158

Subject Heading: HAPPINESS \ JOY AND SORROW \ CHRISTIAN LIFE

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers. Also used: The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (esv). ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. New English Translation (net), NET Bible® copyright © 1996–2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com. All rights reserved. New Century Version (ncv), copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Young’s Literal Translation (ylt) by Public Domain. Living Bible (tlb), copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. The Message (msg), copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. New American Standard Bible (nasb), copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. New International Version (niv), Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Good News Translation (gnt), copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. New Life Version (nlv), copyright © 1969 by Christian Literature International. Complete Jewish Bible (cjb), copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved. New Revised Standard Version (nrsv), copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Common English Bible (ceb), copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible. New King James Version® (nkjv), copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The Voice (voice), copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society. All rights reserved. New Living Translation (nlt), copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Publishers Inc.

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Cover photos by Mandy Johnson

To my daughter, Melissa Price Harper, who—other than my salvation—is the greatest gift God has lavished me with and whose happy giggle makes my whole world go ’round.

Acknowledgments

LATE BISHOP LESSLIE NEWBIGIN ASSERTED COMMUNITY was one of the most effective hermeneutics of the gospel—in other words, that we see Jesus more clearly through the lens of the other Christ-followers we get to rub shoulders with. And that has certainly been my experience. I’m indebted to an incredible community of family, friends, and colleagues who helped breathe life into this project.

Chief among them is my very dear friend Christine Caine, who would surely drag me toward Jesus if I got discouraged and attempted to tap out on this journey of faith!

I’m also beyond grateful for Lisa Jackson, my literary agent/coach/confidant, who champions me with way more grace than I deserve.

I can’t overstate how awesome and riddled with integrity and creativity the entire publishing team at LifeWay is, but I must give special kudos to Heather Nunn, my dedicated-far-beyond-the-call-of-duty editor, and Jennifer Lyell, the head honcho of B&H and the godliest gambler I know because she definitely took a chance on me!

I’m also deeply grateful for the constancy of two Bible study sisterhoods that I get to do life with on Tuesdays at Belle’s house and Wednesdays at my home church, Grace Chapel.

And last but certainly not least, I’m truly blessed to have a loving, patient, and supportive family who never complains about my penchant for mining the colorful hills of our genealogy for storytelling jewels!

Foreword

I LOVE LISA HARPER. SHE IS A GIFT TO THE BODY OF Christ and to me. Over the years, we have laughed together—and cried together—a lot. She is one of my closest confidants—someone I know I can talk to openly and trust with the depths of my heart. I love how she always directs me to God’s Word, His love, and His grace, and being around her simply makes me a happier person.

I first met Lisa when we were both scheduled to speak at a women’s conference. I cried and laughed throughout her message and knew we were destined to be forever friends. As I got to know her and grew to love her, her life story unfolded. She was a brilliant Bible teacher and great lover of people who served faithfully in ministry all her adult life—but there was one goal she had yet to achieve. She wanted to be a mom, and repeated adoption opportunities had fallen through. Despite her heartache, I was always aware that Lisa was still happy and in love with Jesus! She was happy even though her life was less than perfect and her deep yearning for a child was unfulfilled. That’s because her happiness was rooted in something far deeper than circumstances going her way. She had learned a deep truth that anchored her life and ministry.

That powerful truth is what she uncovers in The Sacrament of Happy.

The Sacrament of Happy is one more reflection of her deeply intimate relationship with God—and her powerful insight into His character. Page after page, she walks us into deeper understanding and acceptance of His passionate desire for all of us to live happy. I’m so thankful God has spoken this message through her to us because it’s not something we all know how to walk in. In fact, many of us wonder if it is even biblical for Christians to be happy. It is no accident that you are holding this book in your hand; you are about to discover one of the greatest keys to true freedom you could ever have.

Learning to live happy has been a critical part of my own journey to freedom because I didn’t grow up around very happy people. I grew up the daughter of Greek immigrants—in a culture of fatalists. My Greek family and extended community believed that no matter how bad things are, they can always grow worse. Speaking out of this mentality, my mother always thought FIRST of the worst possible scenario that could happen . . .

Christina, are you wearing clean underwear? You don’t want to be in an accident and not have clean underwear on. (Despite the fact I actually did have a skiing accident once and had to go to the hospital not wearing any underwear under my base layer is beside the point. If I’d had any on, surely they would have been clean.)

My mother truly believed . . .

You can’t have your cake—and eat it too.

If it’s too good to be true—then it is.

If it can go wrong—it will.

Everything that goes up—must come down.

Keep both feet on the ground—and your head out of the clouds.

Don’t count your chickens—until they hatch.

Her motto was to live safe and risk-free—and you may experience happiness occasionally, but don’t expect to very often. After all, life is hard, suffering is everywhere, and hopes and dreams are shattered. Christine, expect disappointment and you will never be disappointed. Why she was unhappy was understandable—but staying unhappy wasn’t. Long before I was born, she and my father fled Egypt following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952. Their traumatic escape after the coup to find safety in Australia led to living with a sense of fear and anxiety, a sense of sadness and loss—and it never left them. Like so many of the families I grew up with in our Greek community and church, they never knew happiness—and they wore their sadness like a badge of honor.

Today, as I travel and speak, I meet people who live the same way. They haven’t overcome a tragic childhood or some terrible experience they endured . . .

Losing a child

Closing their company

Watching their marriage unravel

Foreclosing on a home

Spiraling out of control with addiction

Unrealized dreams

So they live hopeless, depressed, bitter, hard, isolated. They battle with being fearful of the future, confident that it won’t be good. They’ve lost their joy—and don’t know how to find it.

That journey back to happiness is what Lisa so beautifully illustrates in this book. She directs our attention to Jesus—over and over again. She directs our attention to the truth He spoke: The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly (John 10:10 nkjv).

Lisa makes it clear: God wants us to be happy! And it’s not something we have to wait until heaven to enjoy. Right here, in the midst of pain, God wants us to experience a taste of heaven on earth every day. He encourages us to live joyful: Rejoice in the Lord always, and again, I say, rejoice (Phil. 4:4).

In her brilliant yet personable style, Lisa shows us how happiness is not something that happens externally—like finding a new romance, buying a new car, or getting a big promotion.

It’s something that happens internally. It’s developing a perspective of looking higher. An attitude of believing for the best. A transformation of the heart that trusts Jesus no matter what. A life that looks forward to the future.

The message of The Sacrament of Happy is very personal to me. Building on the same principles Lisa outlines in this book, Nick and I have built a home where happiness is highly valued. We want our girls to live happy far more often than they are sad or mad—the same way God intends for us to live.

We’ve built our ministry on these principles as well. Being involved in rescuing the victims of human trafficking gives us a front-row seat to seeing the worst of humanity in the traffickers—and the powerful beauty of God’s restoration in those we rescue. The only way for our team not to be overwhelmed by the darkness is to ensure they are happy at the core of their being by staying connected to Jesus. By abiding in the vine, by staying connected, they can bear much fruit (John 15:1–17).

The Sacrament of Happy—like all of Lisa’s messages and books—enriches my understanding of God and His Word—and his great love for us. As always, she unfolds biblical truth so clearly and calls me to action. Every. Single. Time.

—Christine Caine

Founder, A21 & Propel Women

Chapter One

Is Happy Even Holy?

Every man, whatsoever his condition, desires to be happy. ¹

St. Augustine

A FEW YEARS AGO ONE OF MY DEAR FRIENDS, SHEILA WALSH, and I were invited to walk the red carpet for the premiere of another friend’s movie. But don’t picture a typical red carpet premiere seen on television or in magazines! Imagine more of a burgundy indoor/outdoor polypropylene floor covering kind of event taking place at a multiplex in the suburbs next to several fast-food restaurants. Suffice it to say, we were tickled before we even got there.

Sheila’s husband, Barry, chauffeured us to the event since we weren’t sure we could walk­—much less drive—in our snug, fancy dresses. We parked at the edge of the lot so we’d have privacy to make any necessary hair and makeup adjustments before facing the swelling crowd of eight or nine people who’d gathered to meet us. While the place he parked was private, it was—unbeknownst

Reviews for The Sacrament of Happy

[Zoe Stares · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great. An encouraging book with the lingering sense that God just might be pleased with you.

[Rhode-Elise St. Jacques · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is engaging. Lisa Harper knows how to pull readers in.