NOV. 19, 2006 PASTOR SCOTT FULLER
DAN 12:1-3; PS 16; HEB 10:11-25; MK 13:1-8
Prepare our hearts, Lord, to receive your Word. Silence in us any voice but your own that in hearing we believe and in believing we obey your will revealed to us in Jesus Christ. Amen.
Dear friends in Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
I had a strange experience this last week: on two separate occasions, in two different media, two Gloria Dei members on two consecutive days sent me two presentations on the very same topic: how to be happy. Coincidence? Or are they trying to tell me something?
Psalm 105:1 O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name,
make known his deeds among the people.
Our pianist, Marcie Indahl, sent me an article entitled, "Happiness and Your Health: The Surprising Connection" by Sanjay Gupta. In short, the author says that many of our decisions to do things like: purchase something pleasurable, eat a treat, or travel on a trip are fueled by a desire to make ourselves feel happier than we are…and, get this: the decision we’re most likely to make will not deliver the desired result (CNN, November 19).
Psalm 97:12
Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and give thanks to God’s holy name!
The article asserts that our struggle can be traced to an unholy trinity of sorts. First of all we claim constitutionally the inalienable right to pursue happiness. Secondly, we do it with a passion by spending fists of money.
And the third one is the kicker: though our pursuit of happiness is, in a sense, a mandate that we don’t hesitate to fund, we never really know when or if we’ve arrived at our destination.
Psalm 118:28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God, I will extol you.
O, but we’re searching. Says the article, Americans will spend $750 million on self-help books this year and more than $1 billion on motivational speakers. More than 100 colleges now offer classes in positive psychology -- the science of happiness. With all those resources focused on achieving happiness, says the author, we should all be brimming with joy.
So…are we? Are you happy? And, If so, how do you know? I realize that we Lutherans present a problem: we’re such stoics that it’s hard to tell just by looking at us if we’ve won the lottery or stubbed a toe!
Psalm 86:12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
and I will glorify your name forever.
Then, Council member Bob Lane sent me an e-mail slide show of beautiful nature pictures accompanied by a critique of this very conundrum: our passionate but pointless pursuit of pleasure. We say, If only –X–would happen, then I’d be happy. OR As soon as I buy –Y–everything will be wonderful! OR When –Z–gets here, then life will be great!
In a nutshell, the slideshow basically says that we spend so much time, energy and money looking for gold at the end of the rainbow…that we miss the miracle of the rainbow itself. It’s an effort that can only leave us feeling frustrated, forsaken, forlorn. In a Zen sort of wisdom, says the words on one slide, happiness is the journey, not the goal.
Psalm 92:1 It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing praises to your name, O Most High.
As I mentioned in the announcements, today is the Sunday when we focus on Stewardship – how we use our God-given TALENTS, TREASURES and TIME to say THANK YOU to God and put them to work to bless each other and minister to our neighbors in need.
Some have already turned in these Goal for Giving cards, and for that I give you thanks. Today the rest of us get to do the same: set a target (3,5,10%) of our income, to dedicate a portion of what we’ve been given to: help our youth, serve the poor, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Psalm 75:1 We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks;
your name is near. People tell of your wondrous deeds.
So here is the key to being happy. As the author said in the article I read, it’s important to be content with what we have. And I agree with the slide show, too, that the journey is as important as the goal. But I am certain about this fact: We will never know happiness without being thankful to God for what we’ve been given. As I see it, the two are the same!
I read through the Psalms this last week with this topic on my mind. I found very few references to happiness, and a boatload of references to thankfulness…perhaps you’ve heard a few of these verses this morning. If you haven’t, keep listening…
Psalm 86:12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
and I will glorify your name forever.
I want to share you a kind of psalm of thanksgiving from our Gloria Dei member Kris Green, whose husband, Mike Shibe, was killed in the Boy Scout tragedy a year ago. Beautifully she describes a thankfulness that has nothing to do with being happy, and everything to do with being comforted.
Writes Kris, When I think of the sad goodbyes of my yesteryears and the words of scripture “yea though I walk through the valley of death” I thought I understood what that meant.
Every fiber of my being, past, present and future was changed that July 25th with the death of my best friend, my Michael. While standing in this valley of death, I cried out at the unfairness of it all. Only an empty echo returned – I had a different understanding of the valley. The path through this valley appeared endless in loneliness, sighs, and personal fear.
Yet as the path opened before me in the quietness of a surrendered heart, I’ve come to discover another profound truth. It cannot be one’s personal will that takes each painful step. Rather, in the deafening quiet and aloneness, I realized I had to be wholly and completely carried.
I was carried by the Gloria Dei family of faith who sang with strong voice “Silent Night” when I could not; who comforted me in my anguish and tears when God’s grace seemed all but lost to me. It is my family of faith where I do not need to pretend, do not need to be strong, or need to have the right words to comfort those who miss him too.
This is my statement of faith. God has not abandoned me-rather carried me through your kindness, your persistence, and your presence. It is in my brokenness that I discovered that your faith will carry me until I can see the new path for my faith to walk.
Psalm 136:1
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, his steadfast love endures forever.
Amen.