There was an op-ed piece in the New
York Times on May 29 written by T. M. Luhrmann, a professor of anthropology at
Stanford and the author of “When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical
Relationship With God.” The article was entitled “Belief is the Least Part of
Faith.” He was saying that it was not belief that is at the heart of
evangelical Christianity. He wrote: “To
be clear, I am not arguing that belief is not important to Christians. It is
obviously important. But secular Americans often think that the most important
thing to understand about religion is why people believe in God, because we
think that belief precedes action and explains choice. That’s part of our folk
model of the mind: that belief comes first. And that was not really what I saw
after my years spending time in evangelical churches. I saw that people went to
church to experience joy and to learn how to have more of it.”
This joy or happiness is what I am
talking about today. I will be using the beatitudes as my text this morning.
That is because a popular modern translation uses the word “happy” in the
beatitudes. Instead of the familiar “Blessed are the poor in spirit, etc.” Today's
English Version (also known as the Good News Translation or the Good News Bible)
replaces the word blessed with the word happy: “Happy are you poor, happy are you who are hungry now, happy are you
who weep now, Happy are you when people hate you.” These sound like very
strange words to our ears. Are the translators correct in rendering it in this fashion?
I think the word “blessed” is a much richer, deeper and broader term, and generally
I prefer it. But happiness is part of what it means to be blessed. So it is not
incorrect to use the word here. That is clear by the fact that all translations
will end the beatitudes with words like: “Rejoice
and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven….” To rejoice, be
glad, and be happy are part of what Jesus is part of what Jesus means by “blessed”
in the beatitudes. In these beatitudes Jesus is giving us a recipe for
happiness. It is a very different understanding of happiness than what the
world offers.
1. First, Happiness is not
dependent upon what you own. “Blessed
are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Poor in
spirit does not mean spiritually poor (even though some translations take that
route.) Jesus is talking about material wealth, not spiritual wealth. He makes that
clear in Luke’s form of the beatitudes which omits the phrase “in spirit.”
There Jesus says simply “blessed are you poor” or (as the TEV translation says)
of “Happy are you poor.” But the phrase “poor in spirit” is helpful for it
tells us that what matters is the spirit in which we possess things. What
matters is our attitude. We are to treat possessions lightly; as if it made
little difference whether we had them or not. Happiness is not dependent on
whether we are financially rich or poor. Rich people can be miserable. Poor
people can be miserable also. Especially if they so poor they do not have the
necessities of life – if they are starving to death. You have to have the
necessities of life, but above that it doesn’t really matter that much. It
doesn’t matter how much we possess. It matters how much things possess us. “Poor
in spirit” refers to being unattached to material wealth, whether we have much
or little.
In the May 27 edition of UA Today
there was an article entitled, “Can wealth really buy happiness?” It presented
the findings of a new study by the Brookings Institution. It found that to a
certain extent wealth can buy happiness, seeming to contradict Jesus’ teaching
and another well-publicized 2010 study that indicated that money did not make
people happier. But it really doesn’t say that when you read it closely. The
subtitle for the article read: “If money isn't buying you joy, you're probably
not spending it right.” The article concludes by saying, “So can money buy
happiness? The answer turns out to be complicated, because happiness is
complicated. But if money isn't buying you happiness, we do know this: You're
probably not spending it right.” The article confirms that money is not making
people happy. People with money are happy only if they spent money on people
rather than possessions. Basically it says that true wealth and happiness is
measured in relationships. Helping
people, not making money, makes you happy.
2. Second, happiness is found in
embracing all emotions – even the strong negative ones. Jesus said, “Blessed
are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.” Or as the TEV puts t “Happy
are those who mourn.” That makes no sense on the surface. Those who are
mourning are the least happy! Grief is one of the strongest, saddest emotions
that one can have. How can one be happy when one is sad? When Jesus says happy
or blessed are those who mourn, he is saying that strong emotions will come and
go, but the comfort of God remains forever. “Blessed are those who mourn, For
they shall be comforted.”
True joy – which is the word I
generally prefer over happiness – can be the background of our lives. It can be
the default setting of our hearts. Sure we will be sad sometimes. When bad
things happen, we will be sad. Something would be psychologically wrong with us
if we weren’t! We will sometimes be very, very sad. But it will pass. And when
it passes the underlying joy will return. As psalm 30 says, “weeping may endure for a night, but joy
comes in the morning.” It is alright to be sad. It is alright to be unhappy
sometimes. I don’t trust people who always have a smile on their face. I have
known preachers who wear a perpetual grin. I don’t trust them. It just doesn’t
seem genuine. There are some things in life that you just can’t grin about.
There are some times in life when we should cry and be angry about and be sad. We
should not try to suppress feelings of loss and grief and sadness because we
think it is not spiritual or not faithful. It is much healthier to experience and
express these emotions fully and completely. Let whatever emotions that arise
come. They won’t stay forever. Emotions have a life span; we can feel them ebb
and flow. If we try to stop that natural process, we will get ourselves into psychological
trouble. Feel whatever you are feeling; let emotions come and go, and when they
have run their course joy will return.
3.Third, happiness is selflessness.
“Blessed are the meek,” says Jesus. “Happy are those who are humble.” I
would interpret this to refer to the selfless. Selfishness makes you unhappy;
selflessness makes you happy. That is what that Brookings institution study
found. The more you give yourself away the happier you are. Take Bill and
Melinda Gates for example. Bill Gates, of course, is the founder of Microsoft. They
are among the richest people in the world today. They are not religious at all.
But they certainly appear to be happy. They are happy because they spending
their fortune to help as many people as they can. I don’t know if you would
call Bill Gates meek or humble, by the normal definitions of those words. But
maybe we need to redefine those words. Scripture calls Moses meek. Numbers 12:3
says, “Now the man Moses was very meek,
more than all people who were on the face of the earth.” But Moses was no
doormat; he was a strong personality and a strong leader. So is Bill Gates.
I think humble and meek really mean
selfless. Self gets in the way of our own happiness. Selfishness is the
problem, and selflessness is the solution. It is not the external circumstances
of our lives that make us happy or unhappy. It is how we approach life. And the
strange truth is the less we think about and are preoccupied with ourselves and
our happiness, the happier we are. It is a paradox.. The less we are the center of our lives, the
more happy we are. The more we empty ourselves the more we can be filled with
the joy of God. “Have this mind be in
you which was also in Christ Jesus,“ the apostle Paul says, “who though he was in the form of God did
not consider quality with God something to be grasped, but emptied himself,
taking the form of a servant.” One of the main ingredients in the recipe
for happiness is selflessness.
4. Fourth, happiness comes when we
hunger for what is right. “Blessed are
those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.”
“Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires; God will
satisfy them fully!” This is talking about morality and ethics. Too many
people think of morality as a restrictive set of rules and laws that force us
to do what you don’t want to do. And when we are forced to do what we don’t
want to do we are unhappy. The key to happiness is to want to do what God
wants. When you hunger and thirst to do what is right, there is joy! The Good
News Translation of Psalm 1 says, “Happy
are those who reject the advice of evil people, who do not follow the example
of sinners or join those who have no
use for God. 2 Instead, they find joy in obeying the Law of the Lord, and they
study it day and night.”
Some people think religion is a
joyless affair. Unfortunately that is true of some religious people. I have
known some very miserable people who call themselves Christians. But a truly
spiritual Christian is one who has been
so transformed by the Holy Spirit that he/she loves what God loves and desires
what God desires. The commandments of God are not burdensome “Thou shalt nots.”
They are a joy. Because they have united with God by Christ and the Spirit,
they want what God wants. It makes them happy to make God happy!
The Biblical word for forgive means
simply “to let go.” The word picture is that of a clenched fist that is opened.
It means you no longer hold onto the hurt and pain. What that person did to you
may be a terrible thing! Then why would you want to carry that terrible thought
around with you? Let it go! Forgive it and forget it and you will be happier.
The same with our attitude God. Some people get angry with God. Something
happened in their lives and they won’t forgive God for letting it happen. They
will not step foot inside a church while alive, and these days they don’t even
have to be buried from a church. I was talking to a funeral director not long
ago. He told me about the three biggest trends in funerals in the last decade.
They are (1) cremation (2) nonreligious funerals, and (3) no funeral or
memorial service at all. People get mad at God or they get mad at a church or
church people, and they never let it go. To forgive means to let it go. That is
what the mercy of God means. When God forgives God lets go of our sins, as if
they never happened. It doesn’t mean there is no such thing as sin. It means
that sin has been dealt with through the Cross. Because of the love of God and
the justice of God demonstrated in the death of Jesus, God lets go. God gives
us the power to let go.
6. Sixth, happiness is purity of
heart. “Blessed are the pure in heart,
(Happy are the pure in heart) For they shall see God.” That verse is worth
a whole sermon in itself. How do we become pure in heart? God does it by his
grace; he purifies us and sanctifies us. But we need to do some things make
that a living reality in our experience. This happens with spiritual
disciplines like prayer, meditation, confession, repentance. I don’t think most
Christians are serious enough about spiritual practices, doing the inner
spiritual work of purification. Jesus said to the Pharisees “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful
outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 Even
so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of
hypocrisy and lawlessness.” A lot of Christians look good when it comes to the
externals, but not the internal. Scripture says, “man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
The insides are cleaned when we open up our hearts and minds and souls to the
Holy Spirit. We do this by an inner decision and attitude and daily practice of
surrendering our hearts to God.
7. Seventh, happiness is peacemaking.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, For they
shall be called sons of God.” “Happy are those who work for peace; God will
call them his children!” We live in a warring world. Wars and rumors of
wars abound. The new type of guerilla warfare called Islamic terrorism is
horrible. People are killing innocent bystanders in the name of God! That is
spiritually pathological! It shows the depths of depravity to which religion
can go. But all warring is caused by the warring within the human heart. James
says in his letter, “Where do wars and
fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure
that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot
obtain. You fight and war.” Peterson’s translation puts it this way: “1-2 Where do you think all these
appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think
again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep
inside yourselves.” Conflict in the world is caused by conflict within the
human heart. It will only be ended when the human heart is at peace with itself
and at peace with God. That is the only way to happiness.
8. Lastly, happiness can be found
even in persecution. Jesus said, “Happy
are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires; the Kingdom of
heaven belongs to them! 11 “Happy are you when people insult you and persecute
you and tell all kinds of evil lies against you because you are my followers.
12 Be happy and glad, for a great reward is kept for you in heaven.” A
couple of weeks ago I asked for prayer for Pastor Saeed Abedini, the American
pastor serving an eight year prison sentence in Iran for his faith. His wife
spoke at the UN Human Rights Council on Monday urging nations to fight for the
release of her husband, but our government seems uninvolved. Anyway, on May 22
he wrote a letter from prison to his wife in America. He wrote: “I heard that the persecution, my arrest
and imprisonment has united churches from different denominations, from
different cities and countries, that would never come together because of their
differences…. You don’t know how happy I was in the Lord and rejoiced knowing
that in my chains the body of Christ has chained together and is brought to
action and prayer.” He writes of joy in persecution, much like the apostle
Paul often did in his letters.
We Americans don’t know what
persecution is. We do know prejudice though. Anti-Christian prejudice is
increasingly being recognized as a problem in America; some are calling it
Christophobia. There is an anti-christian prejudice voiced by many people in
this country. It is one of the last remaining socially acceptable forms of bigotry
in our country. People will be called on the carpet for saying or writing anything
racist, anti-semitic, or homophobic. But people can speak against Christians, against
evangelicals, the institutional church and organized religion (which is code language
for Christianity). People repeat offensive stereotypes of Christians as ignorant,
hypocrites and bigots, and people just smile and agree.
I might be oversensitive to it
because of my position as a church leader, but I hear it so much; it is
pervasive and offensive to me. It is socially acceptable to be anti-Christian in
our country. Many people are prejudiced against Christians and don’t even know
it, the way many of us did not recognize our own racist attitudes back in the
1960’s. Hopefully this will change. Thankfully we are not experiencing persecution
in this country; there are too many Christians with too much power. But many
countries are experiencing increasing persecution of Christian communities. A
report just issued by the Vatican two weeks ago to the UN’s Human Rights
Council in Geneva reported that a staggering 100,000 Christians are killed
annually because of their faith. Christianity is the most persecuted religion
in the world today. Several human rights groups report that anti-Christian
violence is on the rise in countries like Pakistan, Nigeria and Egypt. The
so-called Arab Spring has released anti-Christian violence in many lands.
What should be our response as
Christians? Jesus says, “Blessed are those
who are persecuted. Happy are you when people insult you and persecute you and
tell all kinds of evil lies against you because you are my followers. 12 Be
happy and glad, for a great reward is kept for you in heaven.” I admit to
you that I am not there yet. This is something I need to learn, and I haven’t
learned it yet. But the persecuted Church is teaching me this as I hear and
read their testimonies of joy in the midsts of persecution. It is part of
Jesus’ recipe for happiness. I hope you will join with me in heeding all eight
of Jesus’ beatitudes and put into practice in our lives Christ’s recipe for
happiness.
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