Don't Worry Be Happy

November 2, 2014 All Saints Day Matthew 5:1-12 Don’t Worry Be Happy There seems to be a lot of talk this morning on the news about the spaceship crash on Friday. For $250,000 you can take a personal flight to the moon. And people are signing up, in spite of the accident that happened. I wish them well, me I prefer to keep my feet grounded here on earth. But as I was thinking about the meaning of All Saints Day - the founder of the Virgin company – Richard Branson said something that made me think. He said that we stand on the shoulders of giants, and yet we have failed. I think that we all stand on the shoulders of giants – that is why we are here. There is someone in our life who believed in us, someone who always gave us words of encouragement. Some of the very people that we honor today – made a difference in who we are. There was a rabbi who also said words of wisdom to me this morning and made me think – He said the only direction that God gives us to go is forward. The only thing we can do in life is to go on. There are times when we would like to be able to go back, and yet God does not give us that choice. No matter what we may be dealing with in life – we have to move on, we have to go forward. I think that is why the words of Matthew 5 – stood out to me this All Saints Day. Blessed are those who…. Says the King James version of the bible, and the New revised standard version says happy are those who….. This is the sermon on the mount. Where Jesus goes up to the mountain, the disciples follow him. And he gives them this special message. Be happy when you are hopeless, when your mourn, when you are humble, when you are hungry, when you are harassed for righteous sake. For your reward is in heaven. But how can you be happy, when you are hopeless, or hungry, or grieving, or treated unfairly? That is the question that plagues us all throughout this life. No matter who we are, no matter how long we go to church, no matter how much family we have, no matter how much money we have – there are going to be times when life causes us despair. This is one time when I feel that the later translations of the bible, don’t do justice to the meaning of the text. The first blessing in the NSRV says – Happy are people who are hopeless, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Yet the King James says blessed are the poor in spirit, for your shall inherit the kingdom of God. The difference. The original greek word for poor – tochos – means a person who is dirt poor and has nothing but God to depend on. Who has ever been in a situation in life when you felt that you didn’t have nothing. You could not depend on anything or anyone. And yet it was at that moment that you realized that in the midst of your nothingness – you still had God. And God was all that you needed to get through. Into every life sadness will fall. And Jesus says that it is okay to mourn, to mourn the loss of our people, to mourn the loss of situations in life. But when you believe in God, it is in those times of sadness, when you invite a special kind of joy to come beside you and give you comfort. It is not the joy of getting a something new, or winning the lottery. It is a joy of knowing that in times of sadness that you are not alone. And that the holy spirit will come to you in ways that you did not expect, and give you the strength to move forward. To help us understand that the only direction that we can go is forward. I like this verse for All Saints Day – because as I look at the blessings, the blessings are not just for those who have passed on – they are for all of us. Those in our lives who have gone on before us have had their hard times, but so have we. Those that we honor today have sacrificed so that we can have, but so have we. They are children of God, but so are we. And Jesus says that the now have their reward in heaven. And yet the struggle continues. Life is still hard for us. Jesus says that there will be times when you will be harassed, just because you are a Christian. And yet you are guaranteed comfort in the midst of the struggle. The only way that we can go is forward. Dr. Earl Palmer is a biblical scholar. And he says that Jesus got his inspiration for the sermon on the mount from psalm 1. Psalm 1 starts out by saying blessed are those who do not walk in step with the wicked, or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers. But who delight in the law of the Lord and meditate in his law day and night, they are like a tree planted by streams of water. Like sermon on the mount, Jesus takes a blessing and turns it into a story. He says that the word that Jesus uses for the word blessing is Ashur. Ashur means headed in the right direction, or on the right journey. Remember, the only way for us to go in this life is forward. When we know that we have God in our lives, we are headed in the right direction. The key is – just that – we have to believe that God is with us in the midst of our struggles. Only then can we truly be happy, - when others are stuck in sorrow. Dr. Carlyle Marney once remarked that a person can be understood as being similar to a house. We have our living rooms, where we entertain, and our basements, where we hide the trash. The way to observe All Saints’ Day, he suggested, is to walk out into your front yard and salute the people on your balcony. The balcony people in our lives are those who have gone before us, who have been our encouragers, who have left a legacy. (1) That’s what we do on this Saints’ Day. We salute all the saints who have gone before us, whose faithfulness provided us with the faith we have today. Amen

The Promises of Jesus

February 2, 2014 4th Sunday of Epiphany 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 Matthew 5:1-12 The Promises of Jesus Fill in the blanks When I'm teaching a class, and want to get a discussion going, I often begin with something that's called a sentence stem. I start a sentence and let the participants complete it. This morning, if I were to ask you to complete this sentence, what would you say? "Happy are those who...." What would you use to complete the thought? Happy are those who have lots of money and can go anywhere, do anything, have anything they want? Happy are those who are successful and well acclaimed in their businesses or professions? Happy are those who are healthy, or those who have good marriages, or who have perfect children? What is happiness? The reality is that is happiness in the world’s eyes. Today we are going to talk about happiness in the eyes of God. We are going to look at the text of Jesus’ sermon on the mount. Jesus has gathered his disciples, and in Matthew he takes this opportunity to teach them. A rabbi teaches while sitting down. Scripture says that Jesus went up on the mountain and taught. We cant tell whether he was talking to just the twelve, or if he was talking before a large crowd. But we do know that he was teaching the secrets to a happy life. Jesus came preaching that he might defeat all ignorance, he came teaching that he might defeat all misunderstandings. He came healing that he might defeat all pain. We, too, must proclaim our certainties; we, too, must be ready to explain our faith; we, too, must turn the ideal into action and into deeds. The Sermon on the Mount Now scholars don’t believe actually this was one sermon. It is much too dense. Scholars believe that this was Matthew’s way of summarizing all of the teachings of Jesus. Jesus Christ also once set down eight principles for the measure of a person. His standards stand in stark contrast to the aforementioned. There would appear to be a wide gulf between the popular image of the successful person and what God sees as the successful person. Jesus encourages us to be humble, to hunger for righteousness, to be merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, to endure suffering, to be encouraged when we are down and to give ourselves permission to mourn our losses. If we were to look at each of the beautitudes, each deserve a sermon within themselves. But today I want to talk about happiness. Funny things about that word happiness. The first syllable - hap means to achieve something by luck or by chance. We are happy according to our lot in life, we hang tend to hang our happiness on things that are external, and most of the time are beyond our control. We get attached to them by chance, and it is by chance that we keep them, and it is by chance that they make us happy – and yet we continue to seek this thing called happiness. If you are not happy without it, you wont be happy with it In the movie, Cool Runnings, John Candy played a former American gold medallist who became coach to the Jamaican bobsled team. As the story evolves, the coach's dark history comes out. After his gold medal performance, his competitors discover that he broke the rules by weighting the U.S. sled. By doing so, he brought ppiidisgrace to himself and to his team. One of the Jamaican bobsledders didn't understand why someone who'd already won a medal would cheat, so he asked Candy to explain. The coach said, "I had to win, but I learned something. If you are not happy without a gold medal, you won't be happy with it."2 Markarios Interestingly – Matthew does not use the word happy – he used that word blessed. Personally, I think that the word blessed, is just as misunderstood – but that is a sermon within itself. The word that is used in Matthew is actually – markarios – which literally means the happiness of the Gods. And the point is that the happiness of the world is not the happiness of God. Happiness of the world is based on external things which we have no control over. So the happiness of the Gods must be the joy that we have inside – right? Well actually that is wrong. The happiness of the Gods is not about what you have in your heart. It is about how your heart reacts to God. Jesus is trying to help us to understand that the only true way to be happy is to have a relationship with God. We all go through life, we all have feelings, the things that happen in life affect us all. But do we respond to those things according to how we feel, or according to the word of God? It is not what we want in life, it is what God wants. You can only be happy in your relationship with God The whole point of the sermon on the mount is Jesus is teaching us what it means to believe in the promises of God. What makes you a Christian is how you use these principles – hunger, mercy, peace, humility – in your life. Life is not easy for any of us. We all feel anger, hurt, pain, suffering and struggles. But when we experience those things how do you respond? Do you respond to pain with revenge or mercy? With hatred or peace? With righteousness or with what others deserve? When you respond to life with revenge, anger, and hatred – do you really find happiness – or more pain? Jesus wants us to know that blessed are those who follow the ways of God – even in a difficult situation. Upside down glasses In the 1800’s there was a scientist who invented upside down glasses. When he put them on, everything in the world was upside down. For awhile, whenever he put them on, he was disoriented. But after 5 days, he adjusted and the world made perfect sense upside down. The mind has a way of doing that for us. Of making us comfortable in upside down situations. No one has ever been able to recreate his experiment. The good news is that there was another man who was able to turn our perspective of the world upside down. Jesus reversed the values of the world – he said blessed are those who the world considers unblessed – the poor, the vulnerable, the powerless. It all boils down to the power of mercy. Look at your life, where would you be without the God’s mercy in your life? God’s mercy covers all sins. The message for us is that in an upside down, topsy turvy world we all have a choice. We can seek our happiness in the world or in God. Said the wealthy woman to the disabled young man at the door, sure I will buy your magazine to help you through college. Possibly by education you’ll overcome your condition, although I’m sure it colors everything that you do. Yes maam it does, but I get to choose the color. (Gary Carver). No matter what it is that colors your life – God lets you choose the color. You can chooses to blessed. Let us pray….. Object: An ad in the daily newspaper that offers a reward for return of a pet. Good morning, boys and girls. How many of you have ever received a reward for doing something? (Let them answer.) Was it for something good or was it for doing something bad? (Let them answer.) It was for doing something good. That's interesting. When you do something especially good you receive a reward. You don't get a reward for just doing good, but when it is special, you may get a reward. I have with me this morning a bit of our town's newspaper that talks about a reward for finding a pet. Someone lost their pet and they called the newspaper to have them put this note in that said this, "Reward: Lost dog. German Shepherd, answers to name of Pal, grey and black color. Please call 229-1787." Someone lost a very nice dog and they want their pet back and are willing to give a reward to anyone who finds him and calls them about the dog. If you found the dog and called them, they would give you a reward. It might be money or something else nice that you would really like. People give rewards for helping them or for doing things that they need to have done. I hope that someone finds Pal and calls them at the number in the paper. Jesus talked about rewards also. One day he was preaching to a lot of people, and he told them what it was like to be a Christian and follow him. It wasn't easy. As a matter of fact, he warned the people that to follow him would be very difficult, but he said it was worth it. Jesus told them to follow his teachings and the reward would be given to them in heaven. That meant that it had to be good. The same thing is true for us today. We are also asked to follow Jesus and to do the things that he wants us to do. It may not be easy. It will probably be hard, but it is worth it. Our reward is also in heaven and is part of the promise that Jesus made to us. I know that Jesus will keep his promise and give us our reward, because he has kept all of his other promises. I believe that someone who lost his dog will give me the reward if I find him. If I believe that people will keep promises and give rewards, then I know that God will do the same and even better. The next time that you hear about a reward, I want you to think about the time you heard that Jesus also gives rewards; only the reward that we are going to get is a reward when we live in heaven. Amen. THE LOVE ME NOT Dostoevsky tells the story of a woman who found herself in hell and felt she did not belong there. She could not bear the suffering and cried out in agony for the mercy of God. God listened and was moved with pity and so He said to her: "If you can remember one good deed that you did in your lifetime, I will help you." Wracking her brain, she remembered that once she had given an onion to a starving neighbor. So, God produced the onion complete with stem. The woman grabbed the onion, and God began to pull her up and out of hell. But others, damned with her, began to grab hold of the woman's skirts to be lifted out, too. The stem of the onion held and would have saved them all but the woman began to kick and scream for them to let go. Thrashing about trying to dislodge her friends was too much for the onion and the stem snapped, plunging them all back into the depths of hell. That woman wanted to be saved... she just didn't care whether anybody else was or not. And that was because she was a selfish, self-centered... "Love me not". (From a sermon by Jeff Strite, Love Me Nots, 2/21/2011) Happiness Dr. Viktor Frankl, author of the book "Man's Search for Meaning," was imprisoned by the Nazis in WWII because he was a Jew. His wife, his children, and his parents were all killed in the holocaust. The Gestapo made him strip. He stood there totally naked. As they cut away his wedding band, Viktor said to himself, "You can take my wife, you can take away my children, you can strip me of my clothes and my freedom, but there is one thing no person can ever take away from me -- and that is my freedom to choose how I will react to what happens to me!" Even under the most difficult of circumstances, happiness is a choice which transforms our tragedies into triumph. James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited, Tyndale, 1988, p. 278. Getting Under Someone’s Skin In the original Aramaic which Jesus spoke, the word "merciful" means literally "to get under someone's skin." It means to wear his skin, as it were; to see life from his perspective, to stand in his shoes. It means more than sympathy; it means active empathy or merciful understanding. Let me illustrate. A prominent minister was holding a weekend seminar at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina, several years ago. He kept noticing a man in the front row nodding sleepily. This aggravated the speaker. Preachers don't like for folks to go to sleep on them. We don't have that problem here since we armed the ushers with those 36-foot extendable fishing rods so they can tap any nodding worshipper on the head. The speaker at Junaluska though to himself: Wonder why the man didn't stay home if he couldn't stay awake? During the lunch break, a woman approached the speaker and said, "Sir, let me apologize for my husband's drowsiness. He is undergoing chemotherapy. The doctors have given him a medication to control the side-effects, but it makes him very sleepy. I tried to persuade him to stay home today, but he said, "I must go as long as I'm able. I never know when I will no longer be able to gather with God's people." Suddenly that speaker's attitude toward the drowsy man was transformed. Why? The wife had enabled him to get under the skin of her husband and really understand him. That is the quality of mercy. Bill Bouknight, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com THE DEVIL'S BEATITUDES 1. Blessed are those who are too tired, too busy, too distracted to spend even an hour once a week with their fellow Christians – they are my best workers. 2. Blessed are those Christians who wait to be asked and expect to be thanked -- I can use them. 3. Blessed are the touchy who stop going to church –for they are my missionaries. 4. Blessed are the trouble makers – for they shall be called my children. 5. Blessed are the complainers –for their complaints are music to my ears. 6. Blessed are those who keep a list of the preachers mistakes -- for they get nothing out of his sermons. 7. Blessed is the church member who expects to be invited to his own church – for he is a part of the problem instead of the solution. 8. Blessed are those who gossip -- for they shall cause strife and divisions that please me. 9. Blessed are those who are easily offended -- for they will soon get angry and quit. 10. Blessed are those who do not give an offering to carry on God’s work – for in stealing from God you steal for me. 11. Blessed is he who professes to love God but hates his brother and sister -- for he shall be with me forever. 12. Blessed are you who, when you hear this, think the preacher is talking about someone other than you– for I’ve got you right where I want you. Jesus came preaching that he might defeat all ignorance, he came teaching that he might defeat all misunderstandings. He came healing that he might defeat all pain. We, too, must proclaim our certainties; we, too, must be ready to explain our faith; we, too, must turn the ideal into action and into deeds.