Are You Happy?
Sermon
It's News To Me: Messages of Hope for Those Who Haven't Heard
Cycle A Gospel Sermons For Advent, Christmas, Epiphany
Object:
When I'm teaching a class, and want to get a discussion going, I often begin with something that's called a sentence stem. I start a sentence and let the participants complete it. This morning, if I were to ask you to complete this sentence, what would you say? "Happy are those who...." What would you use to complete the thought?
Happy are those who have lots of money and can go anywhere, do anything, have anything they want? Happy are those who are successful and well acclaimed in their businesses or professions? Happy are those who are healthy, or those who have good marriages, or who have perfect children?
I've had people sit in my office and say to me, "If only I could find the right mate, then I'd be happy." Or I've heard infertile couples say, "If we could just get pregnant and have a baby, then our happiness would be complete! Things would be perfect!" When I hear things like that, I want to shout, "No! That's not true! You're missing the point!" Happiness isn't "out there" somewhere. It's in here. If we aren't happy without a child, we won't be happy with one. If we aren't happy as we are right now, then a mate -- no matter how well matched we might be -- will not make us happy.
Happiness is, in John Powell's words, "an inside job."1 If we stop to think about it, we are all smart enough to know that happiness does not come as a result of money or material possessions or from any external source. Sometimes we let ourselves believe that having all the outward looks of happiness actually means we're happy. However, happiness doesn't have anything to do with external circumstances.
In the movie, Cool Runnings, John Candy played a former American gold medallist who became coach to the Jamaican bobsled team. As the story evolves, the coach's dark history comes out. After his gold medal performance, his competitors discover that he broke the rules by weighting the U.S. sled. By doing so, he brought disgrace to himself and to his team. One of the Jamaican bobsledders didn't understand why someone who'd already won a medal would cheat, so he asked Candy to explain. The coach said, "I had to win, but I learned something. If you are not happy without a gold medal, you won't be happy with it."2
In some ways, that's what Jesus is trying to say in this familiar passage that we call the Beatitudes. If we were to take these sayings literally, we would get the wrong idea. The point Jesus is trying to make is that happiness is not found where the conventional wisdom of the world would have us believe. In essence, Jesus turns things upside down, and offers the reverse of what we might expect. Happiness is found in some unlikely places, and is a byproduct of our manner of living and our attitudes toward life.
Part of the assumption here is that God wants us to be happy. That's God's intent for our lives. Jesus knew that unhappy people tend to be self-focused, and look on the gloomy side of things. Happy people, on the other hand, have different characteristics, and tend to be more energetic, decisive, flexible, and creative. They tolerate more frustration, are more forgiving, and tend to be more willing to help those in need. At least, that's how many psychologists describe them.
What would it mean for you if you heard God say, "I want you to be happy for the rest of your life"? Given the fact that we live in a time where things are more concise and to the point, where we work in smaller sound bytes, I think Jesus would probably have distilled these thoughts on happiness down to just a few broader categories. Now I don't presume to have the mind of Jesus, but I think the new revised, updated, current version of the Beatitudes might contain just four basic premises.
First, I think Jesus would say, "Happy are those who have a good sense of self." By that, I mean accepting ourselves as we are, without having to do or be anything. We don't define our self-worth by how much money we earn, or by our achievements, or by material well-being, or by whether or not others approve. To have a good sense of self, we need only accept that we are ultimately and unconditionally accepted and loved by God.
As hard as that concept is for us to understand, I believe it is at the very core of our ability to have a good sense of who we are. It doesn't have anything to do with how we compare ourselves with others, nor does it have anything to do with the fact that we're far from perfect people. We have to give up pretending to be something we're not, and accept ourselves as we are, limitations and all. I suspect that the reason many of us are unhappy is that we're trying to be something we're not, or we're trying to do something that just isn't who we are. Living as an imperfect being is a reality. We have limitations and weaknesses, but that's all right. God loves us still, and can and does work in and through us. So, my condensed Beatitude number one would be, "Happy are those who have a good sense of self."
Secondly, Jesus would likely say, "Happy are those who have good, supportive relationships with others." True happiness comes from how we relate to and treat others. That means developing a sense of empathy for what it would be like to be inside someone else's skin. It means caring for one another, and forgiving one another's faults.
Now that's difficult enough today. There was an article in the paper about the fact that we don't cut anyone any slack these days. The writer of the article shared an experience he'd had where he was unfamiliar with an intersection, and had done the wrong thing, and as a result, had irritated several other drivers. People shouted at him angrily, and some sent certain gestures his way, while others impatiently honked their horns. Even something as simple as that everyday experience tests us in terms of how we treat one another. Jesus says that cutting one another some slack makes for happiness.
While it's impossible to be inside someone else's skin and live their experiences and understand all their feelings, it is important at least to make the effort. It is important to stop and think before we speak. Is what we're about to say loving and sensitive to the other person's perspective, or is it more reflective of our own needs and agenda?
In my other life, I was a school teacher, and I often saw some young people making fun of others, sometimes being downright cruel to a fellow student. Early in my teaching career, I observed how another teacher handled a rather sensitive situation. There was a child in her class who, like many seventh graders, was a bit "overgrown," and quite awkward. Children at that age go through growth spurts and often become awkward and uncoordinated.
As I was watching one day, my mentor-teacher said to the gangly youth, "Will you please open the window for me? It's really warm in our classroom, and I can't reach the upper windows." After the young man had done so, the teacher said to the entire class, "I just don't know what I would do without him! He's the only one who's tall enough to reach up and open the window for me." That teacher taught me a lot by her sensitivity to that student's need. She had empathy for him, and that's a piece of what it means to have supportive relationships with others.
Supportive relationships also have to do with forgiveness. We cannot be happy if we hold a grudge or harbor bitterness toward another. The greatest gift of love is forgiveness, and it may be the hardest gift for us to give. Let me ask you: "Are you holding something against someone else? A friend? Your partner? Your parents? Your employer?" Let go of it! Jesus taught us to pray, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." We will never be truly happy unless we can learn to forgive one another, and that's a big part of having supportive relationships with others.
A third thing I think Jesus would say today is, "Happy are those who look for good and work for good." Unhappy people tend to dwell on the down side of things, rehashing all the gory details of tragedy or heartache, while people who are happier tend to look on the good side.
It's hard to be what someone has called a "goodfinder." Not long ago, we had just returned from a trip, and hadn't been watching much television. As I was unpacking, I turned on the 11 o'clock news to catch up on what was going on locally, and the first three stories were real "downers." They included the fatal shooting of a state trooper, a police chase that ended in the death of a motorcyclist, and a shooting in another section of the city which had left one person seriously wounded. It may be naive, but sometimes I think we need to take a break from all the bad news that seems to surround us, because it's easy to get overwhelmed by all the agony to the point of thinking that's all there is. I think "goodfinders" are people who try to seek the good in other people, in themselves, and in every situation of life.
There's one more thing about those who look for good, and that is that they are the ones who want to work for good, too. Someone has said that the most significant thing about any task is the spirit in which it is done. Goodfinders work in a good-spirited fashion. I think that means working for the good in all things, and actively working for the well-being of all persons, and of all creation. It means our motives are oriented toward a good that's greater than our own personal gain.
Maybe the Hebrew word "shalom" says it best. "Shalom" means peace, but it really implies more than that. It is a wish for the presence of all good things and the enjoyment of all good things. It is everything that makes for the highest good for all. So the third thing Jesus would say today is, "Happy are those who look for good, and work for good."
There's one more thing I think Jesus would offer us in the concise, current version of the Beatitudes. I believe he would say, "Happy are those who have a growing faith in God." We like to think that we've got it all together, that we're in control, that we are totally self-sufficient, but that's just not so. Anyone who has heard a doctor's prognosis offering no hope, or anyone who has stood by the casket of a loved one knows that there are things far beyond our control.
Jesus would probably say that we need to face our spiritual poverty and emptiness, and recognize eventually that everyone will let us down or fail to meet our emotional needs. No one can ever totally love us the way we want to be loved. Faith in God will not take away all the struggles and tragedies of life -- of a spouse dying too young, of a teenager's accidental death, of a tiny baby dying of SIDS, but God's presence and love can and will comfort and sustain us, stabilize and guide us. We can experience the Godliness that is within each one of us.
There you have it -- my concise, revised version of the Beatitudes. "Happy are those who have a good sense of self." "Happy are those who have good relationships with others." "Happy are those who look for good and work for good." "Happy are those who have a growing faith in God."
Now let me ask you: "Are you happy?"
Closing Word
As you leave here this morning, I pray that you allow yourself to experience all that life brings you, and in the midst of it, to know God's presence and love, for that is true happiness. Go in peace. Amen.
____________
1. John Powell, S. J., Happiness Is An Inside Job (Allen, Texas: Tabor Publishing, 1989), p. 2.
2. Cool Runnings, produced by Disney, 1993.
Happy are those who have lots of money and can go anywhere, do anything, have anything they want? Happy are those who are successful and well acclaimed in their businesses or professions? Happy are those who are healthy, or those who have good marriages, or who have perfect children?
I've had people sit in my office and say to me, "If only I could find the right mate, then I'd be happy." Or I've heard infertile couples say, "If we could just get pregnant and have a baby, then our happiness would be complete! Things would be perfect!" When I hear things like that, I want to shout, "No! That's not true! You're missing the point!" Happiness isn't "out there" somewhere. It's in here. If we aren't happy without a child, we won't be happy with one. If we aren't happy as we are right now, then a mate -- no matter how well matched we might be -- will not make us happy.
Happiness is, in John Powell's words, "an inside job."1 If we stop to think about it, we are all smart enough to know that happiness does not come as a result of money or material possessions or from any external source. Sometimes we let ourselves believe that having all the outward looks of happiness actually means we're happy. However, happiness doesn't have anything to do with external circumstances.
In the movie, Cool Runnings, John Candy played a former American gold medallist who became coach to the Jamaican bobsled team. As the story evolves, the coach's dark history comes out. After his gold medal performance, his competitors discover that he broke the rules by weighting the U.S. sled. By doing so, he brought disgrace to himself and to his team. One of the Jamaican bobsledders didn't understand why someone who'd already won a medal would cheat, so he asked Candy to explain. The coach said, "I had to win, but I learned something. If you are not happy without a gold medal, you won't be happy with it."2
In some ways, that's what Jesus is trying to say in this familiar passage that we call the Beatitudes. If we were to take these sayings literally, we would get the wrong idea. The point Jesus is trying to make is that happiness is not found where the conventional wisdom of the world would have us believe. In essence, Jesus turns things upside down, and offers the reverse of what we might expect. Happiness is found in some unlikely places, and is a byproduct of our manner of living and our attitudes toward life.
Part of the assumption here is that God wants us to be happy. That's God's intent for our lives. Jesus knew that unhappy people tend to be self-focused, and look on the gloomy side of things. Happy people, on the other hand, have different characteristics, and tend to be more energetic, decisive, flexible, and creative. They tolerate more frustration, are more forgiving, and tend to be more willing to help those in need. At least, that's how many psychologists describe them.
What would it mean for you if you heard God say, "I want you to be happy for the rest of your life"? Given the fact that we live in a time where things are more concise and to the point, where we work in smaller sound bytes, I think Jesus would probably have distilled these thoughts on happiness down to just a few broader categories. Now I don't presume to have the mind of Jesus, but I think the new revised, updated, current version of the Beatitudes might contain just four basic premises.
First, I think Jesus would say, "Happy are those who have a good sense of self." By that, I mean accepting ourselves as we are, without having to do or be anything. We don't define our self-worth by how much money we earn, or by our achievements, or by material well-being, or by whether or not others approve. To have a good sense of self, we need only accept that we are ultimately and unconditionally accepted and loved by God.
As hard as that concept is for us to understand, I believe it is at the very core of our ability to have a good sense of who we are. It doesn't have anything to do with how we compare ourselves with others, nor does it have anything to do with the fact that we're far from perfect people. We have to give up pretending to be something we're not, and accept ourselves as we are, limitations and all. I suspect that the reason many of us are unhappy is that we're trying to be something we're not, or we're trying to do something that just isn't who we are. Living as an imperfect being is a reality. We have limitations and weaknesses, but that's all right. God loves us still, and can and does work in and through us. So, my condensed Beatitude number one would be, "Happy are those who have a good sense of self."
Secondly, Jesus would likely say, "Happy are those who have good, supportive relationships with others." True happiness comes from how we relate to and treat others. That means developing a sense of empathy for what it would be like to be inside someone else's skin. It means caring for one another, and forgiving one another's faults.
Now that's difficult enough today. There was an article in the paper about the fact that we don't cut anyone any slack these days. The writer of the article shared an experience he'd had where he was unfamiliar with an intersection, and had done the wrong thing, and as a result, had irritated several other drivers. People shouted at him angrily, and some sent certain gestures his way, while others impatiently honked their horns. Even something as simple as that everyday experience tests us in terms of how we treat one another. Jesus says that cutting one another some slack makes for happiness.
While it's impossible to be inside someone else's skin and live their experiences and understand all their feelings, it is important at least to make the effort. It is important to stop and think before we speak. Is what we're about to say loving and sensitive to the other person's perspective, or is it more reflective of our own needs and agenda?
In my other life, I was a school teacher, and I often saw some young people making fun of others, sometimes being downright cruel to a fellow student. Early in my teaching career, I observed how another teacher handled a rather sensitive situation. There was a child in her class who, like many seventh graders, was a bit "overgrown," and quite awkward. Children at that age go through growth spurts and often become awkward and uncoordinated.
As I was watching one day, my mentor-teacher said to the gangly youth, "Will you please open the window for me? It's really warm in our classroom, and I can't reach the upper windows." After the young man had done so, the teacher said to the entire class, "I just don't know what I would do without him! He's the only one who's tall enough to reach up and open the window for me." That teacher taught me a lot by her sensitivity to that student's need. She had empathy for him, and that's a piece of what it means to have supportive relationships with others.
Supportive relationships also have to do with forgiveness. We cannot be happy if we hold a grudge or harbor bitterness toward another. The greatest gift of love is forgiveness, and it may be the hardest gift for us to give. Let me ask you: "Are you holding something against someone else? A friend? Your partner? Your parents? Your employer?" Let go of it! Jesus taught us to pray, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." We will never be truly happy unless we can learn to forgive one another, and that's a big part of having supportive relationships with others.
A third thing I think Jesus would say today is, "Happy are those who look for good and work for good." Unhappy people tend to dwell on the down side of things, rehashing all the gory details of tragedy or heartache, while people who are happier tend to look on the good side.
It's hard to be what someone has called a "goodfinder." Not long ago, we had just returned from a trip, and hadn't been watching much television. As I was unpacking, I turned on the 11 o'clock news to catch up on what was going on locally, and the first three stories were real "downers." They included the fatal shooting of a state trooper, a police chase that ended in the death of a motorcyclist, and a shooting in another section of the city which had left one person seriously wounded. It may be naive, but sometimes I think we need to take a break from all the bad news that seems to surround us, because it's easy to get overwhelmed by all the agony to the point of thinking that's all there is. I think "goodfinders" are people who try to seek the good in other people, in themselves, and in every situation of life.
There's one more thing about those who look for good, and that is that they are the ones who want to work for good, too. Someone has said that the most significant thing about any task is the spirit in which it is done. Goodfinders work in a good-spirited fashion. I think that means working for the good in all things, and actively working for the well-being of all persons, and of all creation. It means our motives are oriented toward a good that's greater than our own personal gain.
Maybe the Hebrew word "shalom" says it best. "Shalom" means peace, but it really implies more than that. It is a wish for the presence of all good things and the enjoyment of all good things. It is everything that makes for the highest good for all. So the third thing Jesus would say today is, "Happy are those who look for good, and work for good."
There's one more thing I think Jesus would offer us in the concise, current version of the Beatitudes. I believe he would say, "Happy are those who have a growing faith in God." We like to think that we've got it all together, that we're in control, that we are totally self-sufficient, but that's just not so. Anyone who has heard a doctor's prognosis offering no hope, or anyone who has stood by the casket of a loved one knows that there are things far beyond our control.
Jesus would probably say that we need to face our spiritual poverty and emptiness, and recognize eventually that everyone will let us down or fail to meet our emotional needs. No one can ever totally love us the way we want to be loved. Faith in God will not take away all the struggles and tragedies of life -- of a spouse dying too young, of a teenager's accidental death, of a tiny baby dying of SIDS, but God's presence and love can and will comfort and sustain us, stabilize and guide us. We can experience the Godliness that is within each one of us.
There you have it -- my concise, revised version of the Beatitudes. "Happy are those who have a good sense of self." "Happy are those who have good relationships with others." "Happy are those who look for good and work for good." "Happy are those who have a growing faith in God."
Now let me ask you: "Are you happy?"
Closing Word
As you leave here this morning, I pray that you allow yourself to experience all that life brings you, and in the midst of it, to know God's presence and love, for that is true happiness. Go in peace. Amen.
____________
1. John Powell, S. J., Happiness Is An Inside Job (Allen, Texas: Tabor Publishing, 1989), p. 2.
2. Cool Runnings, produced by Disney, 1993.
