Last week I began the sermon talking about going shopping with my mother. "Mama, I want this truck … no, I want that tractor … no, what I really want …" And my mother would say: "I don’t think you know what you want." She was right. I wanted, but I did not know what I wanted.

This is a good analogy for the way most of us search for happiness. We want it. The Declaration of Independence proclaims the pursuit of happiness is a basic, human right. The question is: "What are we pursuing?" We say we want to be happy. But do we know what happiness is?

Well, of course we do. Don’t we? The cartoon character Charlie Brown told us: "Happiness as a warm puppy." TV commercials tell us happiness is related to having the right breath mint, the right clothes, the right car, the right appliance, the right tool, or the right cruise. Some people describe happiness as being loved by someone. Other people say: "Happiness is loving someone."

What is happiness? Some people define it only in terms of a feeling we have when all in life is sunshine and flowers, hugs and profits. Certainly one type of happiness is what we feel when all the relationships in our lives are going great, all our efforts are being successful, and everything is coming up roses, without thorns. And who of us does not long for this kind of happiness?

But life is not all sunshine, hugs and profits. Sometimes the bush produces thorns without roses. Not all parent-child relationships are wonderful. Some parents abuse their children. And some children break their parent’s hearts. There are times when tragedies seem to be more prevalent than triumphs. Defeat, disease and death are as much a part of life as victory, health and birth.

Can happiness be experienced in bad times? Is there a happiness that is relevant even in times of sadness? When we are confronted by crosses we must bear and crucifixions we must endure, does it make any sense at all to talk about happiness?

Well, obviously not, if the only happiness we know about is the happiness of sunshine, hugs, and profits. The Bible talks about another type of happiness; it is not a cotton candy kind of happiness that the least bit of rain in life can melt, but rather it is like tough, stainless steel that reinforces our backbone and enables us to stand tall and straight regardless of our circumstances. It is not the laughter that disappears when the comedian leaves the stage; it is the quiet, deeper joy and contentment that shapes our attitudes in situations that have caused others to be overcome by resentment, self-pity and bitterness.

The kind of deeper happiness I am talking about is the kind of happiness Jesus was talking about at the beginning of the Sermon On The Mount. In eight brief statements Jesus described the way to a happiness that is beyond what most of us mean when we say the word "happy." It is the happiness we hunger for; it is the happiness that has staying power; it is the happiness that endures even the worst of times. It is the happiness that is perhaps most accurately called "blessed."

A person who is "blessed," has what is needed not only when life brings laughter but also when life brings tears. A person who is "blessed" is a person who can say "yes" to life even while life is painfully saying "no." A person who is "blessed" is one who is fulfilling what it is to be created in the image of God.

Who are these people with this happiness that is able to endure sunshine and storms? "Blessed are the poor in spirit," Jesus said. "Blessed are those who mourn, those who are meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Blessed are the merciful, the pure in heart and the peacemakers. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake."

"Blessed are the poor in spirit because theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Jesus said. Because they are aware of their spiritual poverty, humility shapes the way they live, and they are open to the guidance of God. They are open to what God has to offer. Because they are poor in spirit, they also know life is more than things. Knowing this, they are free from greed and the illusion that accumulation of more and more is what makes life meaningful. They are blessed because they are not possessed by their possessions nor are they envious of what others have. Because the poor in spirit are aware of their spiritual needs and because they are not in bondage to things, they are open to what God has to offer and they are able to receive it. They are able to live now and forever in the presence of God—in the kingdom of heaven—and because of that, they are blessed.

Jesus went on to say that those who mourn are blessed because they shall be comforted. To be comforted is to be given the strength to face what must be faced and the power to move on with living. Persons who have such compassion they are sensitive to the pain of others and they grieve when good is crucified—these persons will be given what they need to live lives of love. Blessed are those who love enough to mourn because of the pain in life, because they will be given the strength to love—they will be comforted.

"Blessed are the meek," said Jesus. To be meek is not to be weak, but rather it is to know our worth and strength are from God and we do not have to pretend to be important. The meek Jesus was talking about are those who live in confident humility because they know their lives already have God-given meaning and purpose. Jesus said, "… they shall inherit the earth;" that is, they have their place in life because they do not live trying to prove themselves, or trying to possess what others have, or pretending to be what they are not. They know their God-given worth and their God-given place in life. It is their inheritance from God.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Righteousness has to do with living in a right relationship with God. Those who yearn to live in a right relationship with God are blessed because they shall be satisfied. These are people who pray: "Thy will be done" and really mean it, and because they do mean it, God’s will is done through them.

Such people are not full of themselves. They live their lives hungry for, longing for, striving toward living as God intends, and because they do they are enabled to be aware God is with them. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for this kind of life because their hunger will be satisfied.

And blessed are the merciful. Jesus said that they shall receive mercy. To be merciful is to care more about the good that is yet possible than about the wrong that has already been done. People who live this way are blessed because they will be set free from living in bondage to all that is bad and wrong in their own lives. Those who are more concerned about enabling those who have hurt them to fulfill their potential than about "getting even" with them are blessed because their own past failures and wrong choices will not be the last word in their lives either. "Blessed are the merciful because they shall receive mercy."

And blessed are the pure in heart. Jesus said that they will see God. To be pure in heart is to seek only what is good. To be pure in heart is to do only that which is good. But it is only by God’s grace that we can be pure in heart. Only by the grace of God are we able wholeheartedly to seek only what is good and earnestly to strive to go it—and not for the sake of escaping hell or earning our way into heaven—but only because doing what is good is the right way to live. Living such a life is possible only by the grace of God. And when we are aware of God’s grace, we are aware of the essence of God. "Blessed are these who are pure in heart," Jesus said, "because they shall see God."

And blessed are the peacemakers. Jesus said that they will be called children of God. The real peacemakers in life are persons who are no longer at war in themselves. By the grace of God, their wounded hearts and souls have been healed, and because they have received healing, they are able to be agents of healing—peacemakers. Having experienced the breaking down of walls within themselves, they are able work on breaking down walls that keep people alienated from one another. They are people who live doing the work of God striving to bring healing and hope to others. They are living in the image of God; therefore it is understandable that they are acknowledged to be children of God—and therefore blessed.

Blessed are those who love God so much they love the world the way God loves the world. Blessed are those who have such a yearning for life to be lived as God intended that they will not settle for the way life is, who care so deeply for other people that they are unwilling to sit quietly while their neighbors are being abused. Blessed are those who continue to work for truth and justice even while others are slandering their motives and attacking their character. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake because, as Jesus said, to them belongs fellowship with others who have paid the price for sharing the cares of God. To them belongs freedom from meaninglessness and the profound joy of participating in the eternal purposes of God. Now and forever, these persons doing the will of God live in the kingdom of heaven.

Our deepest happiness, is the happiness that comes from being the persons God intends us to be. It is not a happiness that melts like cotton candy in the rain; it is a happiness like stainless steel that enables us to stand. It is not merely the happiness expressed in laughter; it is the happiness experienced as profound peace, a peace the world seldom understands. It is a happiness that is blessed.

 

God bless us by enabling us to live the blessed life Jesus was talking about; the kind of life his living demonstrated. Amen.

Pastoral Prayer:

God, it is by your grace at work within us that we desire what you would have us desire. Our wisdom is wise only to the extent that it is shaped by your wisdom. Our deeds are worthy only to the extent they are what you would have us do. Our words speak truth only to the extent that they say what you want us to say.

God, forgive us when we try to turn it all around and have our desires be your desires, when we want you to embrace our wisdom and enable us to do only what we want to do. Forgive us when we want you to endorse what we say rather than us saying what you endorse.

God, it is easy for us to become so consumed by our own agendas and desires we are insensitive to you and your agenda. It is easy for us to become so focused on what we want done, we are blind and even resistant to what you want us to do.

God, turn us around. Face us in the right direction. Create in us a clean heart and renew a right spirit within us so that we will desire what you would have us desire and do what you would have us do.

This we pray, remembering Jesus was teaching us to live when he taught us to pray: "Our Father …"