Happiness is a buzzword these days. Everyone is talking about it and everyone wants it. Several years ago ABC's "20/20" conducted a poll and asked parents what they most wanted for their children. Of all the answers parents could have given, an overwhelmingseventy-onepercent said that their number one goal for their children was that they would live happy lives. A successful career came in far behind in second place at twelve percent.
Virtually everyone wants to experience true happiness. And why shouldn't we? No one wants to sit around being depressed and lethargic and bored. No one wants to mope around draining everyone's energy, wishing for better days. And no one wants their children feeling unhappy either.
Instead, we want to be energized and enthusiastic about life. We want our lives to be doused with optimism, excitement, and contentment. We want the inner satisfaction and peace we have come to know as happiness. And we want our children and grandchildren and spouses to have it too. How many times have you thought to yourself, "I just want to be happy?"
Are we happy?
Back in 1997 ABC's John Stossel did a one hour special entitled, "The Mystery of Happiness: Who has it? How to Get It." He opened his program saying, "Over the past four decades, there have been thousands of studies on unhappiness, anxiety, depression and so forth. Only recently have they begun to study happiness. But it's time, isn't it? Because isn't pursuing happiness much of what life's about? If you had just one wish for your children, that they had wealth, high intelligence, a successful job or career, or an overall happy life, wouldn't you pick happiness? We are in the pursuit of joy."
Even our nation was founded with happiness in mind. The Declaration of Independence reads, "We hold these truths to be self-evident. That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." We are, for all practical purposes, absorbed with a pursuit of happiness.
Now despite our obsession with happiness, in his book Are You Happy? Dennis Wholey tells us that according to experts, only about twenty percent of Americans are happy. Can you believe that? Only one out of every five people we encounter is happy! What is going on? We have more than any nation on earth.
Leon Appel, former president of Lincoln Christian College, used to stand in the pulpit looking out over the congregation at Lincoln Christian Church and jokingly say, "If you're happy and there is joy in your heart, tell your face about it!" Perhaps in his jesting there was a grain of truth. Our facesare often the best barometers for the state of our hearts. Proverbs 15:13 (NIV) says, "A happy heart makes the face cheerful." Remember the lyric we used to sing as kids, "If you're happy and you know it, then your life will surely show it."
Chasing after happiness.
All of us want happiness. Our problem is that we just can't seem to grasp it. It eludes us, and often that fact shows on our faces. At home we have a miniature schnauzer named Addie. Addie is a pretty happy dog. She is lazy. She does nothing but sleep on our couch. In fact, the only difference between her and a pillow is that you don't have to feed a pillow and a pillow never has to go outside. Anyhow, every so often, unannounced, Addie leaps straight up off the couch and chases her tail, round and round, with such violent intensity that you would think her very life depended on her catching her short little stubby gray tail. The vet says that she has an anxiety disorder. I just think she's a little mixed up. You know, despite hundreds of attempts Addie has never been able to catch her tail. Her tail is always just a few inches out of her grasp, and it's a good thing too!
So often, it is the same for us when it comes to pursuing true happiness. We chase after happiness with great intensity, as if our very lives depended on it. But happiness always seems to be just beyond our reach.
If you have been chasing your tail trying to find happiness, today may change your life. Have you ever considered the fact that God wants you to be happy? Yes, God wants all of us to be happy, but with one distinction. He wants us to realize that happiness is not a destination. In fact, when we make happiness our destination, we end up in misery. Rather, happiness is the scenery we experience as we draw closer to God in obedience. Happiness is the byproduct of a pro-God attitude and lifestyle.
Today we are going to begin a new series of messages based on Jesus' revolutionary teaching in Matthew 5 through Matthew 7. In these chapters, commonly referred to as the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addresses our sermon series theme. With unprecedented clarity, he describes the kind of inner life that God blesses. And in the opening verses he shares with us a prescription for happiness that simply cannot be found anywhere else.
Let's take a moment and read the opening part of Matthew 5:1-12 (NIV).
"Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them, saying: 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.' "
There are several things we need to take note of in these verses.
"Be"-attitudes.
These verses are most commonly referred to as the beatitudes. Don't get thrown off by the word beatitudes. Beatitudes are attitudes that are to cut to the very core of our being. They are attitudes that are to be a part of our mental makeup.
You also probably noticed the repetition of the word blessed in the passage above. Again, there is no mystery to this word. To be blessed and to be happy are one and the same thing. Jesus is essentially saying, "Happy are the poor in spirit and happy are the meek." The word blessed in the Greek language means perfect happiness and divine favor. Imagine having both perfect happiness and God's favor! Is that even possible?
Notice also that these beatitudes constitute Jesus' prescription for true happiness. We don't have time to go through all of the verses individually. However, they seem to fit into four easily distinguishable categories which include attitude toward self, attitude toward sin, attitude toward the Lord, and attitude toward the world.
Happiness is not so much a set of circumstances or happenings as it is a certain set of attitudes. The beatitudes describe four basis attitudes that bring happiness.
In attitude, dethrone yourself.
In Matthew 5:3 (NIV) Jesus says, "Blessed (happy)are the poor in spirit." The biggest thing impeding your happiness right now may be spiritual pride. The scriptures affirm that God has carefully designed each of us to be unhappy and discontented whenever we fall out of relationship with him. In Ecclesiastes 3:10-11 (NIV) Solomon says, "I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men." As one man said, God has created every man with a God-shaped void.
The bottom line is that God created us for himself. He created us to be in a right relationship with him. Our physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional makeup, by design, prevents us from experiencing true happiness apart from living a Christ-centered life. We will never find true happiness until God is seated on the throne of our hearts. This is the throne he prepared only for himself.
Now we can try to achieve happiness apart from God, and many have tried. But to do so is like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. It is impossible. In our spirit and heart, God wants us to recognize our poverty and God-shaped void. To arrogantly say with pride, "I don't need God" is to in the same breath declare, "I will spend the rest of my life being restless and unhappy."
Just recently Madonna was asked about happiness. In the interview, she did not miss a beat. She said, "I don't even know anyone who is happy." I think that the reason she is unhappy is because for most of her life, she has been on a hedonistic journey away from God and nothing has been able to fill her God-shaped void.
But forget about Madonna. Are you happy? Is God seated on throne of your heart? Or are you trying to fill his place with someone or something else? In attitude, dethrone yourself and enthrone your creator and begin to experience true happiness.
In attitude, disable the power of sin in your life.
In Matthew 5:4-5 (NIV) Jesus says, "Blessed (happy) are those who mourn." "Blessed (happy) are the meek."
The word mourning refers to grieving over one's sin. The mourning that brings happiness is the mourning over sin. In Psalm 119:136 (NIV) the psalmist says, "Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your law is not obeyed." In Nehemiah 8:9 (NIV) we're told the people "...had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law."
The word meek was used to describe power under control. When I preached at the Isabel Church near Havana, I visited the home of Ted. Ted was a fairly hefty man who raised horses for the purpose of showing them at fairs. One day he was trying to explain to me just how strong his horses really were. He grabbed a bundle of fresh weeds from along the fence line and holding unto the weeds as tightly as he could, he offered them to the horse. The horse effortlessly lifted Ted off the ground as it tried to yank the weeds out of his hands. Despite its enormous power, Ted could lead that horse anywhere with a bit. The horse was a living illustration of power under control.
God wants us to have two attitudes toward sin. First, he wants us to mourn its presence in our lives. He wants us to repent with tears. Second, he wants us to exercise restraint in the face of temptation. He wants us to put our power under the control of his Holy Spirit.
Just as God designed us to be unhappy whenever we fall out of relationship with him, I believe that God designed us to be unhappy in sin. Romans 2:9 (NIV) warns us that, "There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil." As bizarre as it sounds, a lot of us try to find happiness by sinning. The former quarterback Joe Theismann, now a commentator for ESPN, approached his soon-to-be-second-ex-wife and explained why he had had an affair. He said, "God wants Joe Theismann to be happy." However, happiness is never achieved through a life of sin.
Research proves that happiness is never achieved through sexual immorality, adultery, lying, theft, greed, dishonesty, revenge, or hate. Sin brings only one thing. Sin brings trouble and distress into our lives. So why even bother with it? We will only find happiness by disabling the power of sin in our lives. We will only find happiness by mourning sin's presence in our lives and by choosing to put our power in check by God's Spirit.
In attitude, desire God with intensity.
In Matthew 5:6 (NIV) Jesus says, "Blessed (happy) are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness." Instead of making desires our god, we should desire God. In Psalm 42:1-2 (NIV) the psalmist says, "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God." In Psalm 63:1 (NIV) the psalmist says, "O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water."
Not long ag, I was listening to Rush Limbaugh talk about how he lost so much weight. He was asked, "How were you able to do it? What is the secret?" Rush said, "It's simple. A lot of programs tell you what not to eat. They tell you what you should avoid. They tell you to repress your desires." And then he said, "My diet plan harnesses the strength of my desires. It gives me something smarter, healthier, and more deeply satisfying. It satisfies my desires in a way that I don't desire the unhealthy junk I used to crave." Desiring God provides a level of satisfaction that takes the sizzle out of sin. As we train our desires on God and as we hunger and thirst for him, our once powerful appetite for sin trickles away and our inner cravings become satisfied by God himself.
In attitude, develop the counter-culture lifestyle.
In Matthew 5:7-11 (NIV) Jesus says, "Blessed (happy) are the merciful." "Blessed(happy)are the pure in heart. "Blessed (happy)are the peacemakers." "Blessed (happy) are those who are persecuted because of righteousness." In Matthew 5:13-16 Jesus says that we are to be salt and light. The salt can never lose its saltiness. The light can never be covered up and hidden. Happiness comes in developing the kind of salt and light counter-culture lifestyle that Jesus Christ lived.
Happiness is possessed by those who are merciful, not by those who withhold mercy. Happiness is possessed by those who are pure in heart, not by those who corrupt their minds with vile images and unwholesome talk and corrupt thoughts. Happiness is possessed by those who make peace, not by those who are always plotting revenge and trying to even the score. Happiness is possessed by those who live according to principle and who are persecuted because of principle, not by those who sell out to the world and abandon the counter-culture life that God has called them to.
You will never discover true happiness by living the life our culture promotes. Our culture says, "Forget about God and live as you please." Our culture says, "God is make-believe. Set your own rules." Our culture says, "You know what's best. Take no prisoners." Our culture says, "Follow your every desire and you will find happiness." Our culture says, "Sin is just as likely to lead to happiness as obedience to Christ." Our culture says, "Happiness is based on circumstances and happenings, not on getting connected to your creator God."
Is it any wonder that we live in a culture of unhappiness where only one out of every five people are happy? Now is the time for you to experience a dramatic change. Change your attitudes deep down at the core of your being. Dethrone yourself. Disable the power of sin in your life. Desire God with intensity. Develop the counter-culture life God has called you to.
A happy man.
In yesterday's paper there was a memoriam made to one my best friends. His name was Chuck. When I met Chuck he was just kind of coasting. He wasn't close to God. He seemed to avoid church. He was just kind of doing what he wanted to do. He wasn't really taking his sin very seriously. He shrugged off a lot of things. He had no desire for God. To my knowledge, he neither prayed, worshiped, nor read his Bible. He had a minimal interest in spiritual things. Though he was a nice guy, he most certainly was not living the counter-culture life Christ calls us to. Chuck had a lot of anxiety. He wasn't at peace. He wasn't happy. His health was deteriorating. He had several heart attacks.
But a funny thing happened to Chuck. God got hold of his heart and worked a miracle. One night, Chuck woke up to reality and concluded that God has to be part of the picture. He immediately put God on the throne of his life and dethroned himself. He began mourning the sin in his life and he began putting his life under the control of God's Spirit. More than anything else, he began desiring God.
Suddenly this man who had always blown church off, began attending both our worship services. He attended Sunday school and he joined a small group. He began reading his Bible. His wife started catching him praying. In time, Chuck and I would spend hours talking about my upcoming sermons. He would ask questions. He became a spiritual sponge. And then Chuck started living a counter-culture life. He started sharing things. He gave up his personal time to serve God. He shared his faith with his family. He forgave some old acquaintances. He went all out.
In a short time, I saw Chuck morph from this empty, unrepentant man into this gracious, joy-filled saint who became one of the happiest men I have ever known. It wasn't until after he died, a year ago yesterday, that I realized he had become the life of our church and a big part of everyone's life. Looking back, it's clear what happened. He got into a right relationship with Christ.
As I look out among you today, I know so many of you are looking for happiness. Friends, it is all about pursuing Christ. Happiness is the scenery you'll enjoy along the way.