Happiness. We all want it. It has been said that the pursuit of happiness is most often highest on the list of priorities of any individual. Numerous books have been written on the subject. Seminars are being conducted daily with the ultimate goal being happiness. The trouble is, most of these come under titles like, the joy of sex, or the joy of cooking, the joy of becoming rich. There is one area however, that has been vastly undersold in all of this and that is the joy of Christian living. Quite often that kind of happiness is seen as foolish, maybe even prudish. Yet the Bible is convinced that only true happiness can be found in one's Christian commitment. It is there that we find the testimonies of people who have found this real joy. We may have this joy too! And many people do. They too will give the very same testimony. Real joy cannot be found anywhere else!
As you know, the world is in desperate need for happiness. These is an insatiable need for fun, for pleasure. Look at the beer commercials on TV. Did you ever notice that the product is only secondary in those commercials? What is emphasized it is the "pleasurable" life style beer can offer. Many people in our society are bored, so they fall for these ads, and beer drinking soon no longer is something pleasurable, but some sort of stupid status symbol. If you are not carrying a bottle of beer with you wherever you go, you are not part of the crowd. And of course it has to be in one of those little holders that will help keep the drink cool. If you do that, you have found happiness, until of course the Police pull you over for impaired driving. O, I forgot, it is now very fashionable to have a designated driver. The foolishness of happiness.
Back if the mid eighty's a California psychiatrist complained that four out of every ten teenagers and young adults who visited his medical center have a psychological sickness he can do nothing about. "Each of them demands that his world conform to his uncontrolled desires. Society has provided him with so many escape routes that he never has to stand his ground against disappointment, postponement of pleasure and the weight of responsibility -- all forces which shape character." The psychiatrist adds, "If the personality disorder persists far into adulthood there will be a society of pleasure-driven people hopelessly insecure and dependent." What do you think, are we there yet?
"I'm looking for adventure, booze and beautiful women," said the young man to his father as he was leaving home. "And don’t you try to stop me."
"Stop you! Why would I want to that," said the father. "I'm going with you!"
The ironic thing about seeking such pleasures, is how little joy it really brings. I recently mentioned the parable of the Prodigal Son. Today I am reminded of that parable again.
There was a man in the early history of Israel, whose name was Solomon. People may not know too much about him, but most everyone knows about Solomon's riches. If anyone had any reason in the world to be happy, it should have been Solomon. It is Solomon who wrote the Scripture we have just read. Does he sound like a happy man?
Solomon was a man known for his wisdom, and here he defines the foolishness of happiness. He defines it from personal experience. He knows what he is talking about here. "I decided to enjoy myself and find out what happiness is. But I found this is useless...” (Vs 1). He set out to enjoy himself; find the meaning of life. How? By pursuing pleasure. He experimented with anything and everything that he supposed would give him pleasure. The results of it all was that he decided, "laughter is foolish, and that pleasure does you no good" (vs 2). He tried it. In fact he tried many things. He tried to combine wisdom and alcohol, actually thinking that, "this might be the best way people can spend their short lives on earth." Was he pursuing some sort of status symbol too? Isn't this the kind of thing lifestyle Labatts and Molsons offers us? Pleasure's lure is to heighten our senses. Only a person out of touch with the "real" world would be foolish enough not to drink, and give their senses every chance to get caught up in the pleasure that alcohol offers. But even Solomon recognized the fallacy of this. He wrote in Proverbs that, "Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise" (Prov 20:1 NIV). The foolishness of happiness.
Solomon tried to find happiness in large building projects. "I accomplished great things. I built myself houses and planted vineyards" (vs 5). Great monuments to himself, these were, but neither did these provide happiness. He accumulated great amounts of wealth, slaves, livestock, piles of silver and gold. He had his own personal entertainers, and all the women he wanted. Even a thousand wives and concubines was not enough to produce real happiness.
He had fame. Rulers and dignitaries for every country in the world knew him and respected him. But still nothing. . .no happiness. Finally his pleasure seeking experiments were summed up with these sorrowful words. "Then I thought about all I had done, and how hard I had worked doing it, and I realized it didn't mean a thing. It was like chasing the wind-of no use at all" (vs 11).
Solomon came to realize that the pursuit of happiness was nothing more than foolishness. He was not the first person to realize that, nor will he be the last. Christina Onassis, of the famous Onnasis family, once said, "Happiness is not based on money and the greatest proof of that is our family!"
Now let's just for a moment contrast Solomon's outlook with that of his father’s, who of course is David. Listen to his words form Psalm 16. "I am always aware of the Lord’s presence; he is near and nothing can shake me" (vs 8). Solomon tried to hard to find the secret of happiness, and it was right there all the time. All he had to do is follow his father's example, for he had found it. "I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved," is the KJV translation of verse eight. David had living relationship with God. His life was one of faithfulness to God. It was there that he found his happiness, and it was true happiness. David knew that he was a child of God, and that gave him great joy. He wrote in Psalm 68, "Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides upon the clouds; his name is the LORD, exult before him!" Or, "Be glad in his presence," as the GNB has it. David walked in daily fellowship with God. O he was not perfect; far from it. He had sinned before the Lord, but he also experienced, first hand, the wonderful forgiveness of God. And I am convinced that he was fully aware that some day, in God’s own time, a Savior would come, one who would be born a direct descendant of David himself. "You will show me the path that leads to life," he says, again in Psalm 16. "Your presence fills me with joy, and brings me pleasure forever."
Remember the children's hymn? "The joy of the Lord is my strength!" Remember what the angel said to those frightened shepherds in the field? Every Christmas we are reminded of these words. "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people" (Luke 2:10). This tells me that Christian living is based on joy, and that trying to find happiness anywhere else is foolish and futile. And I want to urge you today to let God help you discover the road to happiness. . .true happiness. It's not always easy but it is possible.
Most of us have experienced what happens to motorists when one of those huge graders goes to work on a highway repair job. When the machine is operating on a busy road, traffic is halted and the cars lined up in opposite directions are allowed to proceed alternately. A veteran operator of one of those big machines decided one day to try to relieve the tension that inevitably results from such a traffic backup. Consequently on both the front and rear of his grader a sign now appears, declaring, "The Road to Happiness is Almost Always Under Construction." Yes it is. This church has existed now for well over one hundred years. Along the way there have been trials, tribulations, sad times, but many happy times as well. And do you know what? This can continue. O we may see a shrinking membership, but that is no reason to be unhappy. Perhaps in God's mind, this church is either under construction again, or still under construction. The point is, the pursuit of foolish happiness in one's life is trying to accomplish it without God. That can never work, individually, nor can it work as a Church. . .the Family of God. Remember that the Christian faith is never meant to be anti-pleasure. The Lord desired that His people take Him seriously but that they not take themselves too seriously. He wants them to wipe off their grim looks, put smiles on their faces, and let laughter flow from their lips. In light of this counsel, many of us would do well to ponder these comments from the pen of Helmut Thielicke:
Should we not see that lines of laughter about the eyes are just as much marks of faith as are the line of care and seriousness? Is it only earnestness that is baptized? Is laughter pagan? We have already allowed too much that is good to be lost to the church and cast many pearls before swine. A church is in a bad way when it banishes laughter from the sanctuary and leaves it to the cabaret, the nightclub and the toastmasters.
Solomon could not find happiness no matter how hard he tried. But then, he was looking n a the wrong places. But the gift of joy is right at our doorstep. It’s there for the taking. It grows out of faith in Jesus Christ. The mother of the German philosopher, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, (b. Aug. 28, 1749, d. Mar. 22, 1832), once wrote these lines.
I rejoice in my life because the lamp still glows;
I seek no thorny ways;
I love the small pleasures of life,
If the doors are too low, I bend.
If I can remove a stone from the path, I do so:
If it is too heavy I go around it.
I find something in every day that pleases me.
The cornerstone, my belief in God,
Makes my heart glad, and my face shining. (As Quoted by King Duncan)
Well said, don’t you think? Christian joy comes from a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. We are joint heir with him in the Kingdom of God. There is no other true, permanent happiness. Can we together, over the next number of years make this our pursuit of happiness? AMEN
