Sept. 12.

Psalm 84

¹How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts!

²My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.

³Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God.

⁴Happy are those who live in your house, ever singing your praise.

Selah

⁵Happy are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.

⁶As they go through the valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools.

⁷They go from strength to strength; the God of gods will be seen in Zion.

⁸O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob!

Selah

⁹Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed.

¹⁰For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than live in the tents of wickedness.

¹¹For the LORD God is a sun and shield; he bestows favor and honor. No good thing does the LORD withhold from those who walk uprightly.

¹²O LORD of hosts, happy is everyone who trusts in you.



Happiness!

Are you happy?

What makes us happy?

A recent poll reported on the TV said that as they investigated the question: does money make people happy

They found that people making $75k a year were the happiest!

People below the poverty line were not happy…duh!

But interestingly enough, people who were really rich < 75k were not any happier

In a world that seems to be full of

terrifying events and scary people

suffering and deprivation

struggle and turmoil

…we all want to be happy. (we all would like to make $75k?)

I was inspired to do a sermon series on happy because, while we were on vacation, I picked up a book by the Dalai Lama

The book was called Ethics for the New Millenium which he wrote a few years ago as we turned into the 21^st century.

The Dalai Lama, is if you are not familiar with him, the exiled leader of the Tibetan Buddhists

He was chosen to be the Dalai Lama as a child, by some strang (to us) tradition that described how a random youngster could be so identified

Then he was trained as a Buddhist monk in the ancient traditions of his faith

Now as he in his 80’s he has become a world reknown figure speaking for peace and the reconciliation of adversarial peoples

I read this:

“For may part, meeting innumerable others from all over the world and from every walk of life reminds me of our basic sameness as human beings. Indeed, the more I see of the world, the clearer it becomes that no matter what our situation, whether we are rich or poor, educated or not, of one race, gender, religion or another, we all desire to be happy and to avoid suffering. Our every intended action, in a sense our whole life—how we choose to live it within the context of the limitations imposed by our circumstances—can be seen as our answer to the great question which confronts us all: ‘How am I to be happy?’”

And I thought…yea that works for me

In my own life, I have often struggeled, sometimes with the help of a pychiatrist, with the question: How can I be happy?!

…and so I figured, this must be a question that others might find edifying to ponder.

Having some familiarity with Buddhism from my earlier studies, I know that the basic premise of their faith is that life is suffering.

Those of us who come from Judeo-Xn tradition would not begin at this point…but, in observation of the world and the rest of human experience, certainly come to the question of “why do people suffer” and how do we prevent that?

It seems that the positive approach would be to ask our tradtion: What makes us happy…what is the nature of happiness

So…I started to dig around in the Bible and found three or four answers. These will be the topics for our next few sermons and the basis for the discussion we will have on 9/26

Today the key to happiness comes from what the psalmist sang so long ago: ⁴Happy are those who live in your house, ever singing your praise.

One of the first things that I learned, was reminded of actually, was that the word often translated blessed may also be translated “happy”

So immediately we achieve an awareness that indicates somehow our happiness must be associated with our relationship to God

Now, the Dalai Lama had taken some time to differentiate levels of happiness.

He wanted his readers to understand that what he was trying to describe as happiness was not the emphemeral experience that we often describe as “being happy”

…such experiences that are transient…like eating ice cream or opening a birthday present

for those are momentary…

ice cream tastes good…but the cholesteral and fat remain with us to cause us unhappiness

the birthday present brings joy…but then gets worn out or lost

Happiness that is lasting…that substantiates ones meaningful life…is spiritual in nature

That is true for the Buddhist, the Jew and for the Christian

So our Psalmist is on to something when we read: ⁵Happy are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.

The psalm is a description of a journey

The beginning springs from a desire to be in the presence of the holy

It is a desire that even the creatures of nature share with us

To make our way to the very altars in the house of God

The journey continues through the dry and arid deserts

But the joy in the travel brings refreshment like pools left from the early rains

That give strength to the traveler, refreshement to the pilgrim

The spiritual trek celebrates not only nature, but the political system as well

The pilgrim asking for the protection and blessing of the “annointed”

That is the king who rules over the nation from Jerusalem, the physical destination, the city in which stands the great temple

The pilgrim walks with God providing both

the light of the sun to illuminate the path, and the umbrella to protect the traveler

the pilgrim sings the promise: The Lord God will provide everything that the devoted traveler should need

The final goal: to live in the house of the Lord, to be happy just to be there

The final statement about happiness: ¹²O LORD of hosts, happy is everyone who trusts in you.

The pilgrim, the spiritual traveler, the religious adventurer is motivated, is provisioned and is satisfied…in the trustworthy fullness of relationship to the divine, the transcendent, the Lord God of Hosts

Does this make us happy? The journey by which we are coming into the house of the Lord?

We live in a world in which this approach to happiness…being in worship has become a less popular choice

We too often see that most people choose other ways of being happy

Are we to assume that people so choose because they are not concerned with the long term, deeply satisfying happiness that should be found at the end of such a journey?

Or are we to assume that coming into churches today, people do not find the presence of God?

Or maybe the Psalmist and the Dalai Lama are both wrong: happiness is not a spiritual experience that allows us to over come suffering and live fully engaged lives?

Maybe $75k a year should be our goal…?

Let’s go back a moment and relocate ourselves on the map of our spiritual landscape

Let us reexamine the starting point for our pilgrimage…the desire to be in the house of God

This desire can be obscured and overwhelmed if it is not given the opportunity to be experienced

In our culture we too often load our children

with the “happiness” described by our advertisements of material advantage

Of expectations of success in education and career

And give short shrift to the value of nurturing the spiritual

We begin today our church school program…

We know it is important for our youngest to know the stories of our faith, to enjoy the fellowship of the church family, to feel a part of this community

But how do we convey our own spiritual longings to them as parents, how do we reinforce the values of spiritual exploration at home?

If we are to be happy, if we are to be spiritual pilgrims with a religious goal,

We need to be aware of the desert around us…it dryness and its power to take from us our the refreshment of faith

This week we have seen in a dramatic fashion the power of religious conviction: the mere threat of burning a sacred text began to produce dire consequences across the planet

If religion can be that powerful, it must be based in the willingess to travel through the threatening landscape with the trusting hope that we can end our journey in the presence of the Lord of Hosts

If we are to be happy too, and to find some solution to the challenges of being the “institutional” church, we can not literalize the images of the temple, or the meeting house.

Being in the presence of God is the goal

To be in the lovely dwelling place of a Living God is to find sabbath, that moment when we are contained, surrounded by the cathedral of holiness, that spiritual place of transcendence

This awesome location is deep within us and all around us at the same time

True happiness begins when we are in critical awareness of God’s presence surrounding our daily routine

…and when take the time to focus our attentions, give up our thanksgiving, and express our trust in singing, psalming the praise of the Creator God, the God of Hosts, the Awesome ONE whose presence in human history has brought us to this moment

What make us happy?

Driven by a desire for the holy

Traveling through the desert world

⁴Happy are those who live in your house, ever singing your praise.

Its not just a Sunday thing

It’s a constant journey, a perennial pilgrimage, a life of continual worship

Proverbs 3:13-18

¹³ Happy are those who find wisdom,

and those who get understanding,

¹⁴ for her income is better than silver,

and her revenue better than gold.

¹⁵ She is more precious than jewels,

and nothing you desire can compare with her.

¹⁶ Long life is in her right hand;

in her left hand are riches and honor.

¹⁷ Her ways are ways of pleasantness,

and all her paths are peace.

¹⁸ She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her;

those who hold her fast are called happy.



Last week we started to talk about happiness

And I referenced a report on the tv that indicated that people who make $75k a year were deemed the happiest

At that level stress about money seemed to disappear

People could tune into other social and emotionals issues that brought more satisfaction

This week I found in current issue of Time, the follow up story

It begins by saying that in spite of the old saw: “Money can’t buy you happiness” “perhaps it can for $75k

But then it goes on to say:

“there are actually two types of happiness. There’s your changeable, day to day mood: whether you’re stressed, bummed or exuberant. Then there’s the satisfaction you feel about the path your life is taking…”

On this path, it seems self evaluation is heavily influenced by income!

And people earning more than $75k believe their life is working. (they’re just not as jovial in the morning!)

The article ends with this statement:

“Money’s power over self-esteem, however, never seems to taper off. No matter their income level, peole feel their life is working out better with each and every raise.”

Well, here we go…it seem that in our current culture, even when we go for the bigger kind of happiness, the contentment with our lives, more money equates to ego satisfaction

That raises for me lots of questions

With money comes power, do people who have more money like the power it brings them?

Should we then train our children to seek money for ego satisfaction and the great influence that it surely brings?

Is the highest goal in life, fortune, fame and influence?

If we look at the examples that comes to us through the various media: Bill Gates? Glenn Beck? Lindsay Lohan? Sarah Palin? Warren Buffet? John Kerry? George W. Bush?

All of these make more than $75k a year…but which one would we want our children to grow up to be like?

Our scripture lesson this morning suggests a completely different direction: that there is a value more precious than money, more desireable than gold, silver, jewels and big revenue: wisdom!

Happiness (blessedness) comes to those who find wisdom…

Where do we find wisdom?

Political leaders? Religious Leaders? Educational leaders?

Parents/Grandparents? Friends? Culture?

And how do we know “wisdom” when we find it?

we have to be wise enough to discern its

Our text today tells us that wisdom is of the greatest value.

It brings us all the other stuff that we think we want

Long life and Health

Honor and riches

The revenue from wisdom is pleasantness and peace

Wisdom is the very “tree of life” that produces, it seems, the most desired of outcomes…happiness

All this sounds good, but…we don’t just walk down to the store and get a jug of wisdom

As the wisdom teacher allows in the proverbs, there are 3 components

Understanding

an intellectual capability for analysis

a capability to understand how things work, the iinterelationships and dynamics of real persons, insititutions and experiences

2^nd, there is the capacity of discernment

ability to anticipate consequence, to see how one thing effects another

The competence to view the future as an outcome of past and current decisions within a system of interacting parts

And most important, there is a moral component

Walking upright, being in right relationship, speaking honestly are the moral values that bring real riches to life

Understanding that humans are flawed and vulnerable and are creatures who must ultimately humble themselves before the Creator is key

The critical component of wisdom allows that we have a responsibility to each other that, when engaged, produces a transcendent and eternal value to the human community

So this morning…we must feel somwhat compelled in our search for true happiness, to find the source of wisdom, to find it and immerse ourselves in it

First self reflection: let us ponder: Wisdom happened to me when,

When I could look objectively at “systems” discerning emotion from reason; schooling

Friend observed my behavior…and shared critically

When my children confronted me…

When I understood how I acted within myself through journaling, writing and psycho analysis

People I deemed wise…

Sunday school teacher: connected me to larger world.

Professors… Sunday comes with maddening regularity” Next larger context…

Even my father…at 12, when I found myself in conflict with teachers… his advice was try to understand them…wisdom that is sometimes hard to follow

What was best advice you got? From whom? How has it made you happy?

But here we are in church, talking about happiness

Let’s let the context of Proverbs somewhat guide our discussion

The Proverbs that we read, and could read in the entire collection, are teaching tools

Their usefulness is in teasing the mind to ferret out meaning and insight

They take our effort and intention to produce the desired outcome…wisdom, that most precious commodity

Let’s ask ourselves…how often do we in the church, or in any other institution (school, government, family) , have as our intended goal: wisdom

As the Time article indicates most really successful people gauge themselves by their ability to make money

So can the church be counter cultural enough to challenge such a model…?

As I mentioned in the previous discussion, Wisdom in the Biblical tradition and in the early church was associated with the Christ

Not necessarily the “messiah’ at the human, pollitical level

But the universal creativeness of God that was revealed to us in the person of Jesus

Jesus embodied wisdom

Jesus understood human beings in a most profound way

He could look deep into their hearts and discern their intentions

He could teach them with a gentle confrontation that allowed each person to follow…or not the path of wisdom and peace

Jesus understood the consequences of human interactions

How greed or intolerance or discrimination or lust for power degraded the human community

And how love compassion and consideration created that transcendent community called the Kingdom of God

The wisdom that we seek, now in the 21^st century must be the same wisdom that wisdom tradition offers, that Jesus embodied, the promises us profound happiness

That wisdom if found when as the teacher says

“The beginning of widom is this: GET wisdom, and whatever else you get, get insight.”

Our true happiness is therefore dependent on our seeking and searching for wisdom

The wisdom we find in our ancient traditions

The wisdom that is revealed to us in the person and event of Jesus

The wisdom that God allows us to find that is more precious than the jewelry we buy with $75k a year,

the wisdom that when we hold fast to it, makes us happy

Background:

• Context: These verses are from the last part of Isaiah which some refer to as 3^rd Isaiah. The words seem to be addressed to the “redeemed” community who have bee restored to Jerusalem and are now able to worship freely.

• Keeping the “sabbath” was the outward sign of the covenant relationship. The verses that follow (3-5) indicate that the real relationship with Yahweh does not depend on national origin but on devotion to the covenant.

• “Happy” and “Blessed” are appropriate translations of the same word. ‘esher The Hebrew word for justice is ‘ts^edaòqaòh rightness, justice, rectitude; it is the moral quality of relationship.

The text (key verses: Isaiah 56:1-2 (NRSV)

The points for reflection…

Responses to the text...questions…feelings…words/images?

• How might we respond if we hear someone say “These are the words of the Lord…” Where do we derive a sense of religious authority? Who can speak for God now? Does Isaiah still speak for God? Are we a part of the “redeemed” community?

• Talk about the terms…

Justice

Right

Salvation

Sabbath

Evil

• What does it mean to “keep the sabbath”? …to “profane” it?

• When we say “do what is right,” what do we usually mean? To whom does this apply? How do we know what is right, is “right” always obvious?

• Is “happiness” simply personal…or is it relational?

• How does the church help people “do what is right?” What does the church do when they don’t do what is right?

• Can “doing what is right” political, in the sense that it affects community wide decisions and out comes?

• What is “right” when it comes to…

~ Attending worship… Tithing…church meetings?

~ The use of money (personal economics)…

~ War…

~ Living an ecologically “green” lifestyle…

~ Watching TV

~ Use of our time…

~ Bible study…

~ _________________

• List some things that you have “done right”? How did you feel? Why?

• What is the best way to teach children to do what is right? Where might they learn otherwise?

• The quote in today’s bulletin talks about moving beyond, individual “perfection.” How do we move beyond a culture that puts individual happiness as a prime value.

“”…it is hardly surprising that most of our happiness arises in the context of our relationships with others. Nor is it so remarkable that our greatest joy should come when we are motivated by concern for others. But that is not all We find that not only do altrustic actions bring about happiness, but they also lessen our experience of suffering.” The Dalai Lama, Ethics for the New Millenium)

• If we can maintain justice, can we relieve the suffering in the world? Is the relief of suffering, the underlying source of happiness? How can devotion to religious ritual motivate us to work to relieve the suffering of the world? Is this true “justice”?

• How do we move beyond “moralisms” to lead a truly moral life with a authentic concern for others?

• What is happiness…(your operational defiinition)? You might want to include thoughts about previous themes of worship & wisdom? Personal steps to happiness in this larger sense…?