Happiness is more than a warm puppy
Rev. Melody Kimbrel - Cottonwood Falls First United Methodist Church
Friday, March 6, 2009
We have begun the season of Lent for those of us who celebrate the Liturgical calendar in the church. Many Christians do not attend to Lent but for some of us it is very important. Usually it is a time for fasting, for self-reflection and repentance.
This year, I felt it was important to do something very different during Lent. This is a year when people are fearful and worried. They are worried about their retirement funds, about their jobs, about their families. People are fearful about the safety of the country, about the erosion of morality in the country, about health care. So this year it seemed appropriate to me to do a series during Lent on happiness; to talk about what it is and what it is not. To help us understand that God desires for us to be happy, content and fulfilled in life and that our outward circumstances do not have to have a great deal to do with that inward state of happiness.
God desires for us to be happy and contented. Do you think Jesus was unhappy as he walked the face of the earth? His first miracle was at a party! Granted, his mother sort of pushed him into it, but he was already at the party! And he’d been there long enough that they had run out of wine. Jesus liked to have a good time. He was always sitting down to eat with one group of people or another. And the children liked to be with Jesus. Kids don’t just hang around sour-puss people. They like to be with those who are funny and up-beat; with those who genuinely care about them. Kids can always tell.
Happiness is more a process than a place. It is determined more by our state of mind than by our external circumstances. This is why we constantly seek the mind of Christ.
When I was in college to become a speech/language pathologist, they showed us a video of a woman who had been a Thalidomide baby. She was born without arms. She had been willing to demonstrate, on camera, how she was able to dress herself, feed herself, clean vegetables at the kitchen sink, wash dishes, drive a car. She told a story of a neighborhood boy who had been watching her one day and she asked him what he was doing.
He replied, “Just watching for ladies with no arms.”
“Have you seen many?”
“No, just you.”
She had an advanced university degree. I remember that during the interview they asked her how much she thought she might have accomplished without her disability. Her response was that she was afraid that if things had come easily for her she might have been lazy and accomplished far less than she was capable of doing. This woman was upbeat and cheerful. She saw her disability as something that spurred her on to greater heights.
The author of Ecclesiastes says, “I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.” (Ecclesiastes 3:12) Long before Jesus, long before modern psychology, this author knew the truth. Genuine happiness requires a focus outside ourselves. So many people think that trying to be happy means that I am focusing on myself and that is not the “Christian” thing to do. But multiple surveys have shown that unhappy people are more self-focused, and are often socially withdrawn, brooding, and even antagonistic. Happy people, on the other hand, are generally found to be more sociable, flexible, and creative and are better able to tolerate life’s daily frustrations than unhappy people. More importantly they are found to be more loving and forgiving than unhappy people.
This happiness, the kind that stays with us through thick and thin, requires that which Jesus promised to give us. Peace.
Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)
Jesus did not exactly give us world peace. He gives peace of mind and heart. The greater our peace of mind, the greater our ability to enjoy a happy and joyful life. Peace of mind, as it comes from Christ, is rooted in compassion and affection.
The compassion of Christ extended from the little children to the untouchables, the lepers; from the Roman centurion to the woman caught in adultery; from the multitudes to the individual; from the ruler of the synagogue to the blind beggar. And his affection for his disciples and friends is apparent throughout the gospels.
We, too, need to live out of just such compassion and affection. It is not always easy. Sometimes compassion is painful. Sometimes love hurts. But it is the only way to live happy and fulfilled lives; lives that have meaning and purpose that is beyond ourselves; that serve a higher calling.
George Bernard Shaw once said, “This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one.” He recognized what it takes to be fulfilled in life and to be happy and content.
Happiness is not a fluke. It’s not something that some people get and others just don’t. We can increase our happiness by living in harmony with God and neighbor. Practicing gratitude, being at peace, content with what we have and who we are; seeking always to grow in the love and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Sermons in this series can be accessed at www.bazaarumc.com.
F “Sunday Sermon” is a forum for Emporia area ministers to share their sermons, thoughts and observations. This week’s sermon is from the Rev. Melody Kimbrel, pastor of First United Methodist Church in Cottonwood Falls..
StevePM (anonymous) says...
Good thoughts: I especially like the idea of practicing gratitude, and what that means to my daily living this lent.
March 7, 2009 at 10:46 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )