HOW TO BE HAPPY
Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>
December 26, 2004
Text: Psalm 146
Having just cleared snow from drives and sidewalks prior to working on my
sermon draft, and then seeing it piled back over parts of those same
sidewalks by the snow plows, I am seriously thinking that for me how to
be happy is to find myself once more in a climate that does not include
much, if any, of the white stuff. This provides a good illustration,
though, of why happiness can be pretty elusive for us humans. Just the
day before, I was very happy because, even though predicted, I did not
have to contend with any snow during my trip to the Indianapolis airport.
The next day, though, I was not so happy when I had to keep clearing
drives and sidewalks that kept getting closed again by the plows.
Happiness comes, and happiness goes.
But we can trace the coming and going of such human happiness, or lack of
it, to its temporary origins. After all, circumstances are going to
impact our feelings, our outlook, and our attitude. Even in the story of
Pollyanna, a little girl who sees the bright, happy side of everything,
is overwhelmed by the prospect of being a paralytic following an
accident. In short, nothing in this present life lasts forever, including
those circumstances that bring us happiness or unhappiness.
This is the reason, then, why lasting happiness comes from a source
completely outside of our human capabilities. According to Proverbs
16:20, Whoever trusts in the Lord, happy is he. In some versions, the
word blessed is used instead of happy. Gods blessing is the source
of happiness. Likewise, in Psalm 146:5, we learn that Blessed is he
whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God. The
foundation for happiness is a proper relationship with God. There is not
another source from which we can gain everlasting happiness.
At the same time, we can experience more enriching and more lasting
happiness even in this life by building on our foundation of spiritual
happiness in practical ways. A list published in 1991, Ten Rules for
Happier Living, help us form some ideas about how to build on our
foundation of spiritual happiness in practical ways. These are not meant
to be in any order of priority or importance. In fact, one rule is
meant to be just as important as another.
Number one: give something away. We are still in the midst of our
Christmas season in which we know quite well the joy in giving. Many
charities depend upon the Christmas season as the time of the year in
which they receive the largest share of their funding. A tradition in
Spain, and probably other European countries as well, is to give to the
beggars outside the Cathedral as one enters for midnight Mass on
Christmas Eve. Giving is just part of who God is, as we are reminded in
the second part of Romans 6:23:
but the gift of God is eternal life in
Christ Jesus our Lord. In Psalm 146:7, God is praised because He
upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. Since
God expresses His happiness through the giving He has done, it stands to
reason that our spiritual image likewise experiences happiness through
giving.
Number two: do a kindness. Well, this is not too different than giving
something away. Continuing with the rest of verse seven and then verse
eight, we learn that God treats us kindly. The Lord sets prisoners free,
the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed
down, the Lord loves the righteous. Prisoners referred to those taken in
captivity; those who were made prisoners for no just cause. In essence,
no matter how hard life knocks us around, God wants to reverse the
damages. All of us will be made perfect in heaven, but while here on
earth, we are to treat one another with kindness. Over the years, the
term random acts of violence has come to refer to those cruel things
that some people do to others for no explainable reason. The woman who
strangled a pregnant woman and cut the baby out of the womb falls into
that category of random act of violence. There is no explanation. To
counter all of this, a movement began recently calling for people to
perform random acts of kindness. We are happier whenever we do a
kindness.
Number three: spend time with the aged. One of the Ten Commandments is to
honor your father and mother
(Deuteronomy 5:16). There is a literal
application to that commandment, of course, to ones father and mother.
There is also an implied instruction to treat with respect those who are
older than us. From their experience, they are supposed to be willing to
teach, and those who are young are supposed to be willing to learn. An
old saying tells us that we learn from our mistakes. I think it a
better idea to learn from somebody elses mistakes. Just learn from
others experiences; you will be blessed.
Number four: look into the face of a baby. This is at the other end of
the spectrum from number three, but there is a lot of happiness value in
reflecting upon the miracle of birth and life. Even though a baby has its
own distinct personality and quickly develops its knowledge of
possessiveness, it is nevertheless utterly dependent upon another human
for life itself. That is how we are to be with our heavenly Father -
utterly dependent. We feel love for a baby for no other reason than he or
she is there. A baby does nothing to deserve love. He or she just is
loved. Again, that is Gods relationship with us. We are just loved by
God. The Lord watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the
widow.
Number five: laugh often. Unfortunately, laughter is not used in a
positive way in the Bible very often. Most of the time, it is associated
with Gods scorn for evil. But the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he
knows their day is coming. (Psalm 37:13) Or it is used as a warning to
those whose trust and faith is in earthly pleasures and securities, for
their laughing will turn to mourning. You get the idea. Still, there is a
reference in Psalm 126 that reminds us that laughter is a sign of Godly
happiness. When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion, we were like
men who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with
joy. Laughter and happiness go hand in hand.
Number six: give thanks. The Bible is a book about giving thanks to God.
When we are a people of thanksgiving, we are a happy people. Praise the
Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life; I
will sing praise to my God as long as I live. Doesnt that sound like a
person who knows how to be happy?
Number seven: pray. Prayer is our conversation with God. One follower of
God has said, We pray to see life as it is, to understand it and to make
it better than it was. We pray so that reality can break into our souls
and give us back our awareness of the Divine Presence in life (Joan
Chittister, O.S.B., Wisdom Distilled from the Daily). Prayer keeps us in
contact with the source of our happiness.
Number eight: work. This may not sound like a formula for happiness on
the surface, but most of us who have been around for awhile are quite
aware of the secret here. God has given us all purpose. I refrain from
saying a purpose, because I think that we have multiple purposes. Or,
perhaps, we express our purpose multiple ways. Work is one of those ways
of expressing our purpose. I do not necessarily mean work as in the job
we have or the necessary tasks that we have to do in life, although those
are not necessarily excluded. Our work is to serve the Lord and fulfill
His purposes. There is no human task, as long as it does not violate any
of Gods commands, that cannot be used to serve Him. Paul encourages us
in Colossians 3:23, Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as
working for the Lord, not for men
Number nine: plan as though you will live forever. The sentence begun in
Colossians 3:23 is finished in 3:24,
since you know that you will
receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. We will live forever.
Specifically, those who have received Gods loving gift of salvation will
live forever with Him. This is why happiness that finds its source in the
Lord is everlasting happiness. It is not dependent upon day to day
circumstances that push our emotions up one moment and then dash them
down the next. Our inheritance from the Lord is two-fold. First, like we
typically think of inheritance, it is a future event. Our eternal life
with God in heaven will be fully realized upon our mortal death. At that
time, that part of the inheritance will be bestowed upon us. Second, it
is an inheritance that we have already received. As we well know, Gods
gift of life that comes through Jesus is a reality right now. The
presence of Christ not only sustained the apostles like Paul and Peter
and John and Matthew and the rest, it provided them with their
indescribable present joy in the midst of all of lifes painful
sufferings. Pauls familiar words in Philippians 4:4-7 keeps that
reminder in front of us all: Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it
again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and
petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace
of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and
minds in Christ Jesus.
Number ten: live as though you will die tomorrow. At first blush, this
does not sound like something that contributes to happier living. The
emotions of death include shock, disbelief, anger, and sadness. Yet,
mysteriously, if we are honest about all of our life, including death, we
will discover greater happiness. Im not an expert in it by any means,
but I think that one of the basic tenets of Freudian psychology is that
we create all kinds of unhappy mental neuroses and illnesses by denying
our mortality. Face it, it is hard to live happy lives with the pallor of
a final end hanging over us. And some fixate on it to the point that it
ruins the very life they are trying to desperately cling to. On the other
hand, Christians who have been faced with death through enemy hands or a
terminal illness or some other means have used such moments as a victory
for Jesus. Some have even given their lives as substitutes for another.
But that is the result of receiving everlasting happiness from the
eternal God. Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 15:54-57, When the perishable
has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality,
then the saying that is written will come true: Death has been swallowed
up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your
sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But
thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
In less than a week, we will turn the old calendar page once again. Will
you have a Happy New Year? You can, by turning to God as your source for
love, salvation, and happiness. The Lord reigns forever, your God, O
Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord.
Rev. Charles A. Layne, pastor, First Baptist Church, Bunker Hill, IN