Return to Sermon Index	The Beautiful Rules of Happiness

Micah 6:1-8, 1 Corinthians 1:18-30, Matthew 5:1-12

In our gospel lesson for today we are told that Jesus went up onto a mountainside to teach his disciples. And, you know, when you think about it, a mountain is a good place to teach people. And let me tell you why.

First of all, a mountainside is a lonely place. Most people don't build houses on mountainsides, and farmers don't plant their crops on mountainsides. Little kids don't ride their bicycles or play ball on mountainsides. No, in fact, most of the mountainsides I have ever seen, had very few people on them at all.

And sometimes that's good, especially if you need to go to a place that's quiet and private. A mountainside is a good place to go to, especially if you need a place to think or pray or learn. Jesus knew this. And that's why he took his disciples up onto the mountain. He took them up there so that they would concentrate on everything he had to tell them. For what he had to tell them was news that would turn the world up-side-down.

You know, if Jesus' example of going onto a mountainside says anything to us, it tells us that it is, indeed, important for us to get away once in a while. In fact, we would do well to find a place which is private every day, if we can; a place to get away from the kids, or from anyone else around us, so that we can be alone with God to pray and do Bible study.

Yesterday I was talking with a woman at a church in Flint. She asked me if I knew anything about the Discipleship Bible Study Program. I told her that I'd heard about it and that I looked pretty interesting. My reply wasn't what she was looking for because she said, "Well, I don't like it at all. Anyone who teaches it will certainly be a very unpopular person as far as I'm concerned. I asked her what it was that she didn't like about the Bible study, and she said, "It's the time you have to put into it! At least 20 minutes or more a day! Imagine! And with all the distractions I have around my house! I'm lucky to get 5 minutes alone to do that sort of thing, not to mention 20 minutes."

When I heard her say that I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. For what can be more important than Bible study? And to think that her family couldn't even give her 20 minutes a day to do something like that! She needed to find a place where she could be alone with her thoughts, alone with God, alone in prayer and Bible study. And, so do we.

Each of us would be wise to take the example of Jesus, who knew the importance of being alone. For it was Jesus who, himself, would go off to be alone to pray. Perhaps there were times that his disciples didn't understand his actions. But, nevertheless, Jesus treasured that time he had alone to pray that he guarded it, even telling his disciples, upon occasion, to stay behind so he could go on ahead to be alone.

It was, possibly, upon one of those times that he was alone in prayer that the words of the Beatitudes came to mind. Many of us may know the Beatitudes by heart. Certainly, we've heard the words read enough times: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. . ."

But the marvelous thing about the Beatitudes, as in many of Jesus' teachings, is in the way he turned the world up-side-down. Consider the Beatitudes: The closest we can come to translating the word "blessed" is the word "happy." In other words, a person who is blessed, is made happy. So, look at the first Beatitude! If being poor in spirit means "humble" then a para phrase of the first Beatitude might be, "Happy are the humble, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

In Jesus' day those who were humble were those who knew that they were sinners and felt the pain of that sin upon their souls. In Jesus' day those who were humble were the tax collectors, and the Samaritans, and the lepers, and the publicans. They knew that they weren't worthy of salvation. They knew that if they ever got to heaven it would only be because God is gracious, and nothing more. But, it was about these people, these persons who didn't deserve heaven, and knew it, that Jesus said, "Happy are the humble, for they shall inherit the kingdom of heaven."

Certainly, we Christians should never think that we are any better than these humble sinners who Jesus called "Happy." For it is only in the admission that we are helpless on our own that Christ can save us. It is only those who are humble in their spirit who can know the joy of forgiveness. It would be the meek, the forbearing, the gentle, the long-suffering, the patient, the submissive and the yielding who would know salvation. And this kind of thinking, this teaching of Jesus, turned the world up-side- down.

The second of the Beatitudes is, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." Again, this would sound strange to the typical pious person living in Jesus' day. After all, you see, in Jesus' day most religious persons believed that if a person suffered it was because that person had sinned. If a person lost a loved one, or if a person got sick, or if a person mourned, it was, they believed, because God was punishing them. So, as far as a pious person living in Jesus' day was concerned, why would anyone who mourned deserve to be comforted? After all, if God had sent their trouble to them, they deserved to suffer!

Of course, Jesus rejected this sort of hateful idea concerning those who mourned. He fully believed that God loved those who mourned and would never punish someone by taking away a loved one. Indeed, Jesus saw death as the ultimate enemy which had to be overcome. And, indeed, it would be his death upon a cross which would eventually accomplish this astonishing task. Because of what Jesus did upon the cross, all those who believed in him would know the joy of eternal life. And, now, those who have ever mourned the loss of a loved one are given the promise, because of Jesus, of eventually being rejoined with that loved one again at the throne of God.

To the pious person living at the time of Jesus, this teaching of Jesus would have been astonishing and unbelievable. It was a teaching which turned their religious world up-side-down.

To be sure, the whole world thinks it knows where happiness can be found. The media tries to tell us about happiness. We're told with every passing commercial that happiness is getting a new car, or a Pepsi, or eating at McDonald's. We're told that happiness is a six pack of Bud, or a trip to Las Vegas, or a Carnival Cruise. Indeed, the whole world tries to tell us where happiness is.

An article that I found the other day asks the question: "Where is happiness?" and answers that question with the following statements:

"Not in Unbelief -- Voltaire was an unbeliever to the extreme and wrote, 'I wish I had never been born.'

Not in Pleasure -- Lord Byron lived a life of pleasure if anyone did, and wrote, 'The worm, the canker, and grief are mine, alone.'

Not in Money -- Jay Gould, the American millionaire, had plenty of that. When dying, he said: 'I suppose I am the most miserable man on earth.'

Not in Position and Fame -- Lord Beaconsfield enjoyed more than his share of both. He wrote: 'Youth is a mistake; manhood a struggle; old age a regret.'

Not in Military Glory -- Alexander the Great conquered the known world in his day. Having done so, he wept in his tent because, he said, 'There are no more worlds to conquer.'"

"Where, then, is happiness?" you may ask. The answer is simple: In Christ, alone.

Perhaps most radical of all is the last Beatitude of Jesus: "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."

Indeed, Jesus turns the world up-side-down with this teach ings. But that's good considering the shape the world is in. Amen.