Lately I’ve been seeing references in the press to a Harvard psychiatrist, Robert Waldinger. Dr. Waldinger, it turns out, is dealing with just these questions—and in a major way. He’s the director of the longest-range study of human contentment ever conducted. It’s called the Harvard Study of Adult Development. Beginning as far back as 1938, the study has tracked more than 700  people—700! This landmark study tracked these people throughout their lives, eventually expanding to include their offspring.

       In this unusually long and extensive search, they came up with this central factor that determines contentment in life. Another word is satisfaction. Can you guess what it is this key to living a satisfied life? It’s not money. It’s not achievement.

       “The big, surprising, takeaway from the study,” Waldinger says, “is the extent to which your interactions with other human beings affect not just your outlook on life but also how long you stay healthy, how long your brain stays sharp. Having these good connections makes you less likely to get coronary artery disease. You’re even less likely to get arthritis. It’s not necessary to have a life partner or an intimate partner. You can have strong connections with friends, family members, work colleagues, many different kinds of relationships.” Even casual connections have real benefits: with the people you see in the coffee shop, or the grocery cashier you know by name. Those more casual ties turn out to give us little hits of well-being, too. We evolved to be social animals.”
       Of course, you and I know God designed us to be social animals. And His primary base of connection for us, along with our families, is connection with Him and our church.

       In the Bible you see all these references to Christian fellowship. What actually IS Christian fellowship? It’s a community of believers gathered–like all of us here today. But it’s a little more than that. The word fellowship in the Bible implies a deeper connection than coming to church to worship and carry out our various ministries—crucial though these are. It means our being in one accord, other words total agreement in realizing we need Him and we need each other our fellow Christians.
       There’s amazing power in Christian unity, when we share a mutual commitment to living the life God shows us how to live, when we put our trust in Him, when we practice loving each other as He taught us to do. In our oneness, in our mutual caring, in our trust relationships with each other we find a unique bond and a unique power. And we show the world out there something non- believers are not going to see anywhere else, in any other way. “They’ll know we are Christians,” the old song goes, “by our love.”

       Never in my lifetime has the world needed more than it does today to see the love of Jesus shining out of us Christians in how we live our lives, how we care for each other, how we treat others.

       Others is the operative word. We are called to take what we find here—mutual respect and caring and relationship with the Lord and each other. We are called to take what we have here, take it out, out into the world. The Lord expects us to  show the world what compassion looks like. Our guidelines—restated and re-taught by Jesus—didn’t start with His time on earth. They were renewed and given added power when He was physically here.

       But the Lord’s guidelines for how His people are supposed to live actually go back thousands of years before Jesus. This morning we hear these guidelines spelled out for us in the words of the prophet Isaiah.

       Isaiah is calling us to get connected with God and with each other to such a degree that we’re living the lives He has for. But how? How do we do that? We do it by carrying out the tasks He has for us.

       What are those tasks the Lord has for us? Isaiah tells us here in words that God says are for us as much today as they were for our spiritual ancestors all those years ago.    

       Isaiah tells us you and I are supposed to somehow help the Lord in His ongoing effort “To loose the bonds of injustice. To undo the thongs of the yoke. To let the oppressed go free. To share our bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into our house; when we see the naked to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin. THEN,” Isaiah says, when we’ve  done those kinds of things, in our lives here, in the ways that work for us, “Then, he tells us, your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.”

       How powerful is that? What a promise! What an opportunity! What wonderful things the Lord has for us. Has for us if . . .

       If what? If we in some ways that work for us help the needy, the homeless, the hungry, the oppressed, he scared, the lonely. How can we do things like that in our busy lives? We can volunteer at a homeless shelter, or help get food to feed the hungry, or write a check or  stand up in some other ways for the people who can’t help themselves.

       We get the same holy credit for helping people who aren’t homeless, not indigent, by reaching out to someone we know who is sad or lonely, or ill, or has lost a loved one—anyone who could benefit from who would benefit from our showing concern. We can call or text or e-mail; anyway to show our concern. And we can pray. Never underestimate the power of prayer.
       AND WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE DO OUR PART IN HELPING ALLEVIATE THE HURTING OF OTHER PEOPLE?

       Isaiah tells us. He says: “Then—then—your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.”
       Here I am, my beloved people. You’re doing the things I’m calling you to do and here are some benefits!  One of which, in my experience, at least, is a satisfaction, a joy we can get no other way.

       I was talking to a friend recently and he told me he’s been volunteering in some new and different ways and when he gets home, he said, he feels happy all over. It’s a kind of tangible joy. No wonder Jesus said it’s more blessed to give than to receive.  Because the payoff is a kind of satisfaction we can’t get in any other way.

       I started with Dr.  Waldinger’s study that shows we find life satisfaction in positive relationships with others. I’ve seen other studies that build on this. Studies conducted by Harvard, Vanderbilt and others show that our interaction with others in church also has innumerable benefits. Some are improved immune system, lower blood pressure, better heart health, a sense of well-being because we  release dopamine. Regular church goers even live longer!

       One, positive relationships. Go a step further. Two, relationships with the Lord and our fellow Christians. Three, helping others, whatever their need may be. See how the Lord put this together, had it in mind from the beginning? Is this not incredible?

       Years ago, I knew a Presbyterian minister, Sid Rigell. At an age when most people retire, Sid and his much younger wife Betsy did something a lot of people would have considered ridiculous or at the very least scary.

       They banded together with some people to lease and repair an inner-city church. They re-opened the church, offered services on Sunday and Wednesday mornings. They set up a program, providing food and clothing for homeless or otherwise impoverished people, and services for drug and alcohol dependent youth.  Their work was beyond powerful. The ministry of this husband and wife team, saints of God that they were, made a profound difference in untold numbers of lives. They could have been basking on the beaches of Florida. Instead, they chose to help

transform lives in the inner city. They were prime examples of Isaiah’s call to us today.

And they were two of the happiest, most satisfied people I’ve ever known.

       You and I can’t expect to do something as radical as Sid and Betsy did. We can, with God’s help, find ways to help improve the lives of other people in all kinds of ways.

       Then these words will apply to us: “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”
       Let our light shine before others? Does that mean we’re supposed to brag about helping people? No. If we do these helpful, often ultimately life-transforming things for others, our actions will be like light, urging others to do the same. Let’s come to church and figure out how to make it happen. Then let’s go out and help the Lord transform the world. And, by the way, it’s good for us!

       Let your light shine!