What
makes you happy? -- How would you define your "happiness?"
Most of us have been amused &
entertained by the once very popular Charlie Brown cartoons -- & his cast
of "Peanut" characters.
I always enjoyed their popular
"happiness is..." one-liners.
According to Linus -- "happiness is a
thumb & a blanket."
Snoopy sees happiness as -- "walking on
the grass in your bare feet."
Schroeder --
the real artist of the Peanuts characters -- see happiness in the form
of fine music -- or finally getting the silver out.
It is likely that each one of us here today
could provide our own definition for happiness.
The fact is that happiness is different
things to different people!
Somebody said: -- "Happiness is good
health -- & a bad memory."
I like this definition -- which was given to
me: -- "Happiness is -- seeing a rainbow -- & knowing Who to thank!"
If you want the most accurate expression of
genuine joy however -- you should turn to the Scriptures -- where often the
word "blessed" is used to describe real happiness.
In fact -- this whole
"happiness is..." idea -- originated in the Bible.
Jesus begins His Sermon on the Mount with a
list which we often call the Beatitudes! -- They are recorded in
The Beatitudes -- those crisp powerful words
that begins Christ's Sermon on the Mount -- offer us a wealth of information on
how to live within the security blanket of God's peace; -- & how to
experience real happiness.
When I was just a young lad -- my dear
mother encouraged me to begin memorizing important passages of the Bible; --
Early on -- these Beatitudes were added to
my list to be memorized.
Have you given them much thought lately?
Let's look at them together today: --
Jesus began each of these Beatitudes with a
pronouncement of blessing.
Some Bible scholars -- like J.B. Phillips --
substitutes the word "happy" while translating these verses into
modern English.
Some use the word --
"joyful." -- Still others may
say -- "fortunate."
The Amplified Bible says: -- "Blessed
-- happy, to be envied & spiritually prosperous (that is, with life-joy
& satisfaction in God's favor & salvation, regardless of their outward
conditions) -- are the poor in spirit."
Now, that’s a mouthful!
What ever word we may use --
"blessed" or "happy" or joyful -- it is important to
distinguish between the superficial,
temporary emotion that many call happiness -- & the lasting, more satisfying happiness -- or blessedness
-- that comes through a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ!
Perhaps the most comprehensive Scriptural
"one-liner" concept is this:
-- Happiness is knowing & doing the will of
God!
True joy is the thrilling by-product of
obedience to God!
The blessedness -- or happiness -- that
Jesus is describing in the Beatitudes -- has some very definite
characteristics.
Allow me to share them with you this
morning: --
1.
Real Happiness Doesn't Depend on External Circumstances!
Here may be an example of where the word
"blessed" is a better word than "happy" -- for so often
"happy" is totally dependent upon what is "happening" at
any given moment in our lives.
Happiness is often an emotion that comes
& goes.
Here the term "blessed" has a
deeper more significant meaning!
It is clear from the teachings of Jesus that
you can be in all kinds of terrible circumstances -- & still be blessed --
or fortunate -- or even genuinely happy.
Some of you may remember when Oprah decided
to kick off the new season of her television show by giving each of the 276
members of her television audience a new car.
Members of the audience -- at first looked
at one another in shocked amazement -- & then they became delirious with
joy!
They were screaming & jumping all over
the place! -- Still, after the show --
they had to return to the reality of their everyday lives.
It didn't take long for them to realize that
receiving a new automobile really hadn't changed their lives much.
They all learned that happiness that depends
on outward circumstances doesn't last -- because circumstances change!
Most people believe that if they could just
change their circumstances -- they would be happy.
"If I could just change my spouse --
then I would be happy."
"If I could just lose a few pounds --
then I could be happy."
"Oh, if I could just retire ..."
-- It is all a part of the "If -- Then" thinking.
The happiness that Jesus is describing is
not dependent on outward circumstances!
With Jesus living in your
heart -- "You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. --
With less of you there is more of God & His rule. -- You're blessed when
you feel you've lost what is most dear to you.
-- Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear
to you" (5:3-4 -- The Message).
At 30 years of age -- Mike Scott led a
pretty good life.
He was a devoted husband -- & a loving
father.
He enjoyed hunting & fishing in remote
areas of the
He had a job he enjoyed; -- his life was
just about perfect.
But that drastically changed one evening!
Mike had been watching TV -- & decided
he wanted something to eat.
As he was coming into the kitchen he
suffered a stroke that left him completely disabled. -- This experience wreaked havoc on his life.
He went from a vigorous 220 pounds -- to a
frail 85-pound invalid -- who required 24 hour a day care in a nursing home.
If anyone deserved to be angry & bitter
over the injustice of it all -- it was Mike Scott.
Because his paralysis prevented him from
speaking -- no one really knew what Mike was thinking.
Those who knew him could only imagine the
intense bitterness & anger that must be clouding his thoughts &
feelings.
As part of his rehab -- Mike learned to use
an alphabet board to spell out sentences.
It was a long slow process -- but finally
Mike was able to spell out his first message; -- just three words long.
The message read: -- "I love
Jesus."
"You're blessed when you're at the end
of your rope. -- With less of you there is more of God & His rule. --
You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. -- Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you" (The Message).
That -- my friends -- is a happiness that
does not depend upon outward circumstances.
Circumstances constantly change -- but there
is one thing you can count on; -- God never changes!
The inner joy God provides cannot be touched
by even the worst of circumstances.
God truly wants you & me to experience deep
peace -- despite our outward circumstances.
In his book -- When God Interrupts -- Pastor
Craig Barns tells the story of how he was trying to prepare a sermon -- settle
staff conflict -- & basically save the world all in one week.
He had one more thing to do before going
home: -- he had to lead a Communion Service at a nursing home.
As he said: -- "It was the last thing I
wanted to be doing."
He was feeling overwhelmed & exhausted;
-- all he really wanted to do was to go home.
An encounter he had with Lucille quickly
changed all that.
According to his book -- Lucille was almost
blind -- & very hard of hearing. -- She gradually had become shut off from
the world.
Her health was slipping away -- & now
she is confined to a small room -- having given up her house years ago.
She had outlived her husband -- & all
her close friends.
Very few people in the church knew who she
is.
She has lost almost everything -- except for
life itself.
Pastor Barnes wrote that it was a humble
scene.
He muttered the words -- "This is my
Body broken for you. -- This is my blood poured out for you."
They fumbled their way through -- & he
guided her shaking hand to the bread & the cup. -- Then she spilled the
juice on his slacks.
He thought to himself: -- "Just one
more things that isn't going right."
He patted her on the back -- said a prayer
& was leaving when he heard her say clearly: -- "Thank you, God, for
being so good to me. Thank you that I am
not forgotten. Thank you for always
loving me."
My friends -- God's grace isn't just for the
days when you are happy -- healthy -- & the world is going your way.
Blessedness -- the happiness that Jesus
describes in the Beatitudes -- is a 24/7 kind of grace that is not determined
by external circumstances.
It is a deep abiding presence of joy that
only God can give.
2.
Real Happiness is Connected to the Kind of Person You
Are!
Happiness isn't about what you have -- or
how you look.
Happiness is a result of who you really are!
The Beatitudes express quite plainly that
God views this world through a different set of lenses.
God seems to prefer the poor -- & those
who mourn -- & those who hunger for righteousness -- to the Fortune 500 --
& the super-models.
"You're blessed when you're content
with just who you are -- no more, no less.
-- That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that
can't be bought.
"You're blessed when you get your
inside world -- your mind & heart -- put right. -- Then you can see God in
the outside world.
"You're blessed when you can show
people how to cooperate instead of compete -- or fight. -- That's when you discover who you really
are, -- & your place in God's family." -- (Matt. 5:5, 8-9 The Message)
Some people are so self-absorbed that they
will never experience the happiness Jesus is talking about here.
Many of these people are desperately seeking
happiness -- because they misunderstand real happiness; -- they continue
looking in all the wrong places.
Ken Behring is a self-made multi-millionaire
-- a man who grew up during the Depression. -- Ken made his fortune in
real-estate.
At one time -- he owned the Seattle Seahawks
football team.
One of his hobbies was traveling to
out-of-town games in his own MD-87 jet. -- No material pleasure was out of his
reach.
Then, in 1999 -- just as Ken was planning a
vacation to
They needed help delivering food &
wheelchairs to refuges in Kosovo & Romania.
Ken agreed to loan them some space on his
private jet. -- He had no way of knowing how this request would change his
life.
This trip was so eye-opening for Ken that he
established the Wheelchair Foundation -- to provide free wheelchairs to
impoverished people around the world.
In just four years -- his foundation
distributed almost 250,000 wheelchairs to needy people in 121 countries.
Ken now travels all over the world --
In many cultures -- a disabled person is
unable to work -- or participate in the community. -- A wheelchair represents a
chance for a normal life.
And for Ken Behring -- a wheelchair
represents joy.
As he says: -- "I'm 75. -- But my life
began just five years ago when I found a purpose. -- Before that, I’d had
everything you could imagine -- but something was missing. -- When you get your
eyes off yourself you can really begin to live."
He didn't experience real joy until he
learned to get beyond focusing on himself -- & he began to give himself to
something that made a difference in the lives of others.
The happiness you experience cannot be
separated from the person you are!
Jesus said you are blessed when you --
"hunger & thirst for righteousness ... are merciful ... become pure in
heart ... live as a peace-maker ..."
Have you discovered the source of real
happiness yet?
Blessedness -- or real true happiness -- is
not dependent on externals.
Real happiness is determined by the kind of
person you are!
Jesus calls us to be; -- to be like Him! --
To be Christ-like!
His greatest concern is not what we do -- or
what we have -- but the attitude behind the doing. -- The essence of
Christ-likeness is attitude.
The foundation of Christ-likeness is what we
are & who we are in Christ!
3. Real Happiness is Based
on Knowing You Belong to God!
Happiness comes from looking for approval in
the right place.
This world -- with its misleading standards
& values -- is not the right place! -- Happiness is
knowing we have the smile of God on our life!
There is real security in knowing that
whatever is going on in the world -- or even in your life -- that there is One
Who will always stand by us.
I'm not worried about terrorism -- or the
bird flu -- or about global warming -- or world economic collapses.
My citizenship is in another Kingdom -- a
When this life comes to an end -- sooner or
later, which ever may be -- I know I have a heavenly home -- that awaits me on
the other side!
My happiness is based upon knowing I belong
to God!
Blessed
assurance, -- Jesus is mine!
O what
a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir
of salvation, -- purchased of God,
Born
of His Spirit, -- washed in His blood.
This
is my story, -- this is my song,
Praising
my Savior all the day long!
Latin American evangelist -- Luis Palau --
tells about a dinner he attended in
This was a dinner which sole purpose was to
encourage people to pray for their nation.
For the first time in the history of
During the meal -- the president of
He went on to explain that when all the
leaders of Latin America gathered to sign the Panama Canal treaty -- President
Carter invited every leader -- right & left wing radicals -- conservatives
& liberals -- republicans & democrats -- to a Bible study at the White
House.
That morning at the study -- Carter asked
each of the men to read a verse of
Carter then explained what he thought it
meant when Jesus spoke of wars, pestilence, & darkness. -- Then Jimmy
Carter closed in prayer.
The president of
When President Carter invited those men to a
Bible study -- he did not know what the result might be. -- He just obeyed the
Spirit's prompting.
Jimmy Carter lives for the approval of only One!
Carter's sense of security comes from
knowing that he belongs to God!
My friends -- we don't need the applause of
the crowds around us if we know we have the approval of God Himself!
When you & I live a life that is totally
surrendered to God --the Bible says -- "all heaven applauds."
Conclusion:
That is what Jesus meant when He said in verse
12 -- "Blessed are you (even) when people insult you,
persecute you -- & falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
-- Rejoice & be glad, because great is your reward in heaven."
"You can be glad when that happens --
give a cheer, even! -- for though they don't like it," -- Jesus says! --
"I do! And all heaven
applauds."
This describes the ultimate -- the highest --
the most fulfilling of all human experiences; -- to know the Lord -- to honor
His authority -- & to obey His commands!
Real blessedness is a kind of happiness that
only Jesus Christ can give.
It's a kind of happiness that does not depend
on external circumstances
It is connected to the kind of person you
are!
It is based on knowing you belong to God!
Some people would say the ideals of the
Beatitudes are like "pie in the sky." -- And in a sense, they are.
Jesus said that His kingdom was not of this
world.
But the real happiness expressed in the
Beatitudes is also for the here & now.
It
begins with a new heart! -- A heart of love that comes from receiving what
Jesus did for us
on
the Cross of Calvary.
God truly wants you & me to experience
deep peace -- despite our outward circumstances.
But real happiness & serenity comes only
if we abide by His conditions.
This means repenting of our sins --
accepting Jesus as our Savior -- & continually hungering & thirsting
after righteousness.
It can be summed up in the words of the
psalmist: -- "How happy are those who (serve) the Lord -- all who follow
his ways" (Psalm 128:1