March Newsletter Article

I wrote this article for the March Newsletter for the West Danville United Methodist Church.  You can find the whole newsletter posted on the church website at www.westdanville.org
 

Meanderings around Lent

Greetings to you all as we near the end of winter, begin the season of sugaring here in Vermont, and the Season of Lent in churches around the world.  Each season has its own flavor - no pun intended, for those of you who know and love the flavor of newly made maple syrup!  The “flavor" of Lent is one of prayer, study, reflection and preparation for the celebration of Easter and the new life that comes to us in the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

You might be wondering how we can even think of the word “celebration” in light of the events of our past several weeks:  the shootings in Arizona, kidnappings and killings by seafaring pirates near Somalia, the bloody suppressing of the uprising in Libya by Colonel Qaddafi, and the struggles for freedom of other peoples, some successful as in Egypt, some not so much.  Add to that the earthquake centered in Christchurch, New Zealand, and we have to wonder how people ever survive, much less thrive and celebrate, in the midst of such suffering.  It is an age-old question, raised each time some new catastrophe strikes somewhere in our world.  Perhaps, in light of this, entering this Season of Lent is a timely thing.  Prayer – study – reflection – preparation – as we try to confront the suffering in the world around us.

I ran across a new website this week, quite by accident.  Someone had posted a pencil drawing on an email I received.  It led me to a site at www.zetousa.com, put together by a man named Tom Anson who lives in Lincoln, NE. If you visit his site (and I would encourage you to visit his site),  you will learn that he is seeking authenticity in Christian life as it is found – or not found- in the church.  He writes of his journey:

“…. every church we've seen effectually quenches the Spirit.  Everything is sacrificed to the need to perpetuate the programming.  That system always seems to swallow up good, sincere people; it looks — and acts — more like the world than the Lord, and never seems to produce mature believers who can function together without the presence of the pastor.  Its members never seem to have the substance of faith in their own hearts, always living vicariously through a religious professional.” 

I wish Tom lived a little closer to West Danville because he might discover that you all function together quite well without the presence of a pastor and have done so numerous times in your history. 

Anyway – back to discovering Tom and his work on the web. On his site he has a number of pencil drawings with scriptural verses on them (they are for sale).  He has given me permission to share one with you.  It is called “Inscribed” and has on the bottom of it this verse from Isaiah 49:15 - "Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands … I will not forget you."

Tom Anson   Zetousa.com

What a stark reminder of the Christian’s cause for celebration.  Eugene H. Peterson translates the very familiar passage from John 3:16-17 this way: 

 “This is how much God loved the world:  He gave his Son, his one and only Son.  And this is why:  so that no one need to be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.  God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it is.  He came to help, to put the world right again.” [The Message]      

And that is why, in a world of suffering, we can celebrate.  Because God loves us THAT MUCH!  So let’s really CELEBRATE during this Season called Lent, Let’s prepare through prayer, study and reflection, and especially through sharing this God News with the people around us as we reach out to a hurting world and people in need of knowing more about God-Who-is-Love and loves us.  We truly are inscribed on the palms of His hands . . .  and He will not forget us!

Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, Part 4: You want me to do what?

February 20, 2011                                                                  

Seventh Sunday after Epiphany, Year A

Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18

Palm 119:33-40       

1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23    

Matthew 5:38-48

I have to admit that I have always been somewhat of a perfectionist.  Generally I like things to be done well and correctly.  I have applied this drive for perfection to some very strange areas of my life.  For example, when we were farming, I was often the one who raked hay.  I loved to rake hay.  What I loved most about it was how neat and even the windrows of hay were as I drove around the field.  There was a problem, though:  we had some pretty strangely shaped fields.  In a perfect world of my design, hay fields would be perfectly square.  Then raking could and would be perfect on the first attempt because you’d just go around that perfectly square field and not have to accommodate for its misshapenness.  But our farm did not have the hay fields of a perfect world, so I would spend much time and planning and going back over the windrows and raking out the corners and stopping to get off the tractor to straighten out a row or to pick up some hay on a turn that I could not get with the rake.  I really didn’t mind because I loved the look of a perfectly raked field.  It made me feel satisfied and happy and proud that I had accomplished such perfection.  I did not stop to think back then at the fuel I must have wasted going back over areas that needed a little spiffing up if they were to be perfect.  Or the extra time it took me to accomplish the task – important especially when Ken was trying to bale or chop the hay to beat a threatened rainstorm or the dew of nightfall.

Another area of my life where my perfectionist tendencies show up is in my towel cupboard. The rest of my house can be an absolute mess, but not my towel cupboard.  I have a particular way I fold the towels and washcloths and place them in the cupboard.  They have to be that way, and if someone messes them up, I have to fix them so they are “right.”  Well, not exactly have to – but close enough!

Am I obsessive-compulsive, or what?  Not really. Well, maybe a little, but only in a few things, though – I guess I’d have to include the bulletin among them, considering that it drives me nuts when it’s not perfect.  Like today’s bulletin that says my Reflections are “Part 3” when they are actually “Part 4.”  (And I'm the one who designs and formats the bulletin!)  But I’m not as bad off as the humorous tee shirt that says, “I have CDO – it’s the same as OCD, but with the letters in the right order as they should be.”  And I’m not as bad off as Lucy in the Peanuts cartoon when she tells Charlie Brown, “I have examined my life and found it to be without flaw.  Therefore, I’m going to hold a ceremony and present myself with a medal.  I will then give a moving acceptance speech.  After that, I’ll greet myself in the receiving line.”  And then she concludes somewhat sadly, “When you’re perfect, you have to do everything yourself.”

I am telling you this about myself because I like to think that I do know first-hand a little something about perfection.  Well, that is, I thought I knew about it until I began to prepare for this week’s Reflections and Part 4 of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  If you thought last week’s gospel lesson  [Matthew 5:21-37] contained some difficult teachings, then, as the saying goes, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”  Today’s reading from Matthew tops them. 

The gospel lesson for today is a continuation of last week’s teachings about our behavior in the kingdom of God - primarily about how we treat others.  Today’s lesson uses the same formula: “You have heard that it was said” followed by “But I say to you.”  Where it differs is in the instruction that follows.  Very difficult instructions that sound very much like commands.  “If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.”  “If anyone demands your coat, give him your cloak as well.”  “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.”  “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”  And the final biggie:  “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  And at that point you might be wanting to respond with a big “You want me to do what?”  “No one can do the things you are telling us to do when someone wrongs us – much less be perfect like God.” 

So, here’s what I ended up focusing on this week – on this question:  what does this “be perfect” thing mean? And especially to be perfect as God is perfect. 

Part of the problem is with how we interpret the word PERFECT.  We think of things being perfect like Lucy does.  Flawless.  I’m not sure where, but I read recently that "in Scripture the word PERFECT has less to do with being “flawless” than it does with being “used for a purpose.”  For example, a spoon is the “perfect” utensil to use for eating soup.  The spoon might be dented, a little bent, and what have you – but in being used to scoop soup – as opposed to being used as a weapon or a garden tool – the spoon is PERFECT." 

I looked up the Greek word for perfect used in this verse. It is teleioi.  According to my Greek Lexicon, that word can mean many things:  brought to completion, fully accomplished, fully developed and specifically as used in Mathew 5:48 it means perfect [in some point of character] or without shortcoming [in respect of a certain standard].  And it has a sense of being progressive in nature – a sense of becoming – becoming perfect, fully developed.1   So basically it means, becoming mature, becoming more like God – God who is Love. 

I also looked up what John Wesley had to say about perfection.   Wesley did not believe in or preach “sinless perfection.”  Rather he taught that a Christian could become “perfect in love.”  This love would mean, first of all, that a believer’s motives, instead of being self-centered, would be guided by the deep desire to please God.  And second, to be made perfect in love also meant that a Christian could live with a primary regard for others and their welfare.  He based this on Christ’s quote that the second great command is “to love your neighbor as you love yourself.”   

In a sermon on Christian Perfection, Wesley wrote:

“Christian perfection, therefore, does not imply . . . an exemption either from ignorance or mistake, or infirmities or temptations. Indeed, it is only another term for holiness. They are two names for the same thing. Thus every one that is perfect is holy, and every one that is holy is, in the Scripture sense, perfect. Yet we may, lastly, observe, that neither in this respect is there any absolute perfection on earth. There is no perfection of degrees, as it is termed; none which does not admit of a continual increase. So that how much soever any man hath attained, or in how high a degree soever he is perfect, he hath still need to “grow in grace,” [2 Pet. 3:18] and daily to advance in the knowledge and love of God his Saviour. [see Phil. 1:9]”2 

Wesley was echoing the words we heard this morning from Leviticus, words spoken to Moses by the LORD: “You shall be holy, for I the LORD am holy. [Leviticus 19:2b]  That’s another scary term:  holy.  You want me to do what?  Be perfect?  Be holy? 

The answer is a resounding “Yes!”  In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is saying,  “That is exactly what I want you to work at becoming.  Holy.  Perfect.  And I have given you many examples of how you can go about choosing to behave in such a way as to become holy and perfect.  And, yes, it will take time to become holy and perfect.  But you have a lifetime to get it right!” 

I like the way Eugene Peterson sums it all up in the last verse of our gospel lesson for today.  Jesus, speaking to his disciples and others in the crowd who had gathered to hear him teach, said:

“In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you." [Matthew 5:48 The Message] 

Let's do that!  Let's work at becoming perfect 

in our love of God and of others.

It is possible, you know.  It's a matter of choice.

So may we choose!

Amen!

EndNotes

---

1 The Analytical Greek Lexicon, Samuel Bagster & Sons Limited: London.

2 The Sermons of John Wesley, Christian Perfection, Sermon 40.  Text from the 1872 edition, Thomas Jackson, editor.   On-line at http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umhistory/wesley/sermons/40/

________________________

Copyright:  Carol J. Borland, Retired, Pastor Emeritus, Interim Pastor, West Danville United Methodist Church,   West Danville, Vermont.  Preached on Epiphany 7, Year A.  February 20, 2011

Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, Part 3: Big ifs and Buts

February 13, 2011                                                                  

Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, Year A

                     Deuteronomy 30:15-20
              Psalm 119:1-8
              1 Corinthians 3:1-9
              Matthew 5:21-37

Two weeks ago we heard Jesus’ Beatitudes.  The focus of these promises about the kingdom of God has to do with our relationship with ourselves — with our own souls.

Last Sunday, we heard Jesus’ metaphors about being salt and light for the world from Matthew 5:13-20.   In psychological terms, Jesus was using positive reinforcement by telling his followers that they already are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.  The focus of this teaching has to do with our relationship with the world.  These were encouraging and uplifting words — well, until we get to verses 17-20.  Then Jesus tells them he has not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.  And that is Matthew’s segue into the portion of Jesus’ teachings that we have before us today.

The passage we heard this morning from Matthew 5:21-37 contains some very tough or strong teachings of Jesus.  They are based on two of the Ten Commandments, murder and adultery, and on the tradition of swearing falsely.   This passage is a difficult passage to read, and an even more difficult one to live.   The focus of this teaching has to do with our relationship with each other and with God.

Jesus' teaching has an interesting construction from a grammatical point of view.  No more affirming statements.  Instead he draws sharp contrasts.  Each teaching begins with a reminder of what everyone listening already knows:  “You have heard that it was said . . .”  And he tells them the law or tradition they have been taught from childhood.  “You shall not murder.”  “You shall not commit adultery.”  “You shall not swear falsely.”  And having quoted the law and the tradition, he then says,  “But I say to you . . .”

Perhaps you are familiar with Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), which is basically the study of how best to say things — even challenging things — without causing waves or making enemies.  If Jesus spoke in NLP words, he would have said, “You have heard it was said”. . .“AND I say to you . .” From a Neuro-Linguistic point of view, using “and” instead of “but” takes away the sharpness of a contrasting statement.  However — Jesus says “BUT.”  Jesus is creating a very sharp contrast indeed - one that had not yet been drawn in the history of their religious teaching.  “But I say to you . . .” and in the use of this one word — BUT — Jesus establishes his authority as the One who has come to be the fulfillment of God’s Law and of the prophets.  “But I say to you...”

And does he ever!  He tells them that murder is way more than the physical killing of another person.  Murder is also our anger, our insults, our name-calling, our ill treatment of our neighbors, and our failure to admit our guilt when and if we have committed some harm to another.

And adultery is more than cheating on your spouse.  It is also looking upon another with lust in your heart.   Do you remember the hot water that former President Jimmy Carter got himself into when he admitted that he had been guilty of the sin of lusting in his heart?  I always thought it was courageous of him to admit that.  But the press and his critics had a field day with it! 

And then there’s the swearing falsely thing.  Peterson summarizes that whole discussion with these words: “When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong.” 1  

So what do we do with this part of Jesus’ teachings?  How do we handle these sharp contrasts between what folks have been taught about what the Law and their tradition says and what Jesus teaches them through the literary method of contrast — using big ifs and buts. 

I read a cute story late this week as I contemplated this question.  Here’s the story:

A mysterious building had been erected on the outskirts of a small town. It was shrouded in mystery. All that was known about it was that it was a chemical laboratory. An old farmer, driving past the place around noontime, and seeing a man in the doorway, called to him:  “What are you doin’ in this place?”

“We are searching for a universal solvent — something that will dissolve all things,” said the chemist.

“What good will thet be?” asked the old farmer.

“Imagine, sir! It will dissolve all things. If we want a solution of iron, glass, gold — anything — all that we have to do is to drop it in this solution.”

“Fine,” said the farmer, “fine! But I have to wonder, what are you goin’ to keep it in?”2

 Common sense.  The old farmer had it; the chemists did not.  And so it finally occurred to me that common sense is a part of what Jesus’ tough teaching is all about.  In this portion of his teachings, Jesus is focusing on our relationship with others.  And to maintain good relationships with others requires the use of what we know as common sense.  It’s common sense to recognize that when we are angry, or insulting, or we demean people in the names we call them, or we mistreat or harm others in some way, we are ruining our relationship with them.  It’s common sense to figure that we’d better reconcile our differences with someone who has a good case against us before it goes to court.  It’s common sense to recognize that if we let ourselves think lustfully, then eventually our lusts will control us — and that this will ultimately get us in big trouble.  Just ask a few of our Congressmen and Senators how that goes.  It’s common sense to say what we mean and to mean what we say.  Then we don’t get all messed up in trying to keep track of our falsehoods.  It’s the use of common sense in how we think about and talk to and about others that keeps our relationships on the right track — that keeps our relationships on solid moral ground.  And beyond that, it is what keeps us right with God. 

EndNotes

---

1 Peterson, Eugene H.  The Message Remix.  NavPress, 2003. Matthew 5:37 on p.1774.

2 From: http://moreillustrations.com/Illustrations/common%20sense.html

Copyright:  Carol J. Borland, Retired pastor, Pastor Emeritus, Interim Pastor, West Danville United Methodist Church, West Danville, Vermont.  Preached on February 13, 2011. Epiphany 6A

Long overdue pictures of our new house

Way back at the beginning of this Blog, I said I'd post some pictures of our new house when it was finished.  We moved in on July 19, 2010, finishing up about an hour before our daughter and her family arrived from Nebraska to spend a week with us.  We didn't finish moving everything from the farm house until November 19, 2010, our due date to be out. Moving after living there for 40 years (and Ken living there his whole life) was quite a task.  "STUFF" - what do you do with it all?  My advice to anyone reading this is, don't collect it to begin with.  I still have my library/office to sort through and organize.  That means tons of books and files and magazines and hobby things.  Once that is done, I can tackle our cold storage room which, for now, is packed full of "STUFF."  I think I feel a YARD SALE coming in the Spring!

I've preached a few Reflections (a.k.a. sermons) on "Stuff."  Such wise advice!  You'd think I would have listened.

Anyway, here some pictures.

This is the back of our house, viewed from up on the hill toward what was our back pasture.  It shows the upper and lower pond.  The smaller upper pond flows into the large one over a rock waterfall.

 This is the front view of our house from Borland Road.

 The small waterfall flowing from the upper pond to the lower pond.

 Waterfall viewed from the other side.

 The rock wall along our driveway.  The lower large pond is to the left.

 A groundhog view of the two ponds! (newly seeded)

 Nixie the Rat Terrier enjoying a Fall outing down by the brook.

That's all for now.  I will have to take some snow scenes since this has been a very snowing winter these past few weeks.  Right now I am not so sure I want to wade or try to wade on snowshoes up the hill to get another picture.  Later.

Reflections . . . Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, Part 2: Salt and Light

February 6, 2011

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, Year A

Isaiah 58:1-12

Psalm 112:1-10

1 Corinthians 2:1-12

Matthew 5:13-20

I have promised to keep the Reflections short today, since we have a church council meeting following the service. I’ll try!

I want to share some reflections with you about what I’m calling Part 2 of Jesus Sermon on the Mount. Last week we heard the Beatitudes - promises of the kingdom of God. They are also descriptions of those who receive the promises - people who have a particular attitude, a particular kind of character. They are people of humility and love and trust and faith and courage. They are not yet perfect people, but they are transformed in their hearts and minds. Their interests and desires are turned in the direction of the kingdom of God.

In this week’s reading from Jesus’ teachings according to Matthew, the focus has to do with the disciples’ relationship to the world. Jesus names his disciples the salt of the earth. That is what they are. And they are the light of the world. The Greek is quite clear that these are statements made in the indicative mood (if you remember your English grammar about moods: imperatives are commands, interrogatives are questions, and indicatives are statements of fact. “You are the salt of the earth,” Jesus said. “You are the light of the world.” Not “you ought to be” or “you might be” or “you will be” or even “Please won’t you be?” Nope. Jesus didn’t say that. Jesus said, “You ARE.”

Psychologists have long emphasized the importance of accenting the positive with children. Studies have shown that if a child is told enough that he or she is bad, or stupid, or irresponsible, or any of those negative things, they will live down to that expectation. Dr. Phil McGraw of TV fame is found of saying that it takes 10 “atta boys” to make up for one put-down.

I think that is true for adults as well. Just this week I had a phone call from our daughter Anne. She was sharing her frustration with her job as a nursing home administrator, which she actually loves - except for the attitude of the owner-boss, who never seems to have anything positive to say, either to her or to any of her employees. She said, “I’m giving it my best, and I know I’m doing a good job, but she never seems to see how well things are going or how happy and well-cared for our residents are or how capable my staff is, or how supportive and complimentary the residents and families are. She just criticizes everybody and everything. And I go home everyday feeling worthless – until I remind myself that I am a good administrator and doing a good job.” Then she told me she had accepted an interview next week for a new administrative position with a different corporation. “Because,” she said, “if I stay there much longer I might begin to believe I am worthless.”

So, how are we to live up to being the salt of the earth and the light of the world? Two stories. The first from Rebecca Pippert, who wrote a book some years ago called Out of the Salt Shaker, Into the World. She makes the point that salt doesn’t do anyone much good if it’s kept on the shelf or just stays in the shaker. To do any good, it has to come out. Salt isn’t meant for the shaker. It’s meant for the world.1

The same is true of light. Halford Luccock, one of the great preachers of all time, tells a story about one Christmas when his two granddaughters were coming to stay with him, and he asked them, “What do you want for Christmas this year?" And both little girls answered, “We want the world!” He said, “You want the world?” And they explained they wanted the world, on a stand, that spins around.” And then he understood that they wanted a globe.

So he went shopping and bought a globe. On Christmas Day, he gave it to the girls. They unwrapped the package, and looked at the globe for a little while, but he sensed they were not very pleased with the gift. He said to them, “I want you to level with me. Is there something wrong with the present I gave you? You said you wanted the world and I gave you one.” They said, “Grandpa, we wanted a lighted world and you gave us a dark world.”

So the next day Dr. Luccock went back to the store and stood in a long line to exchange the globe he’d purchased for a lighted one. The store didn’t have one and gave him a refund. He went from one store to another, trying to find one with a light inside. Finally he found one and bought it and took it home. He gave it to the girls and they were delighted. They loved it!

When he told one of his friends about the incident, the friend said, Well, what did you learn from all that?" And Dr. Luccock said, "I Learned one thing I will never, ever forget. A lighted worlds costs more.2

And so it does. It costs us our total commitment and our total lives. It means we have to get off the shelf and out of ourselves and, as Isaiah wrote, "Break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel debts, share our food with the hungry, invite the homeless poor into our houses, put clothes on the shivering ill-clad, be available to our own families." [Isaiah 58:6-7 The Message] Then we are salt and light for a world that has lost its flavor and is disoriented in its darkness. As Isaiah puts it, "Do this and the lights will go on!" [Isaiah 58:8 The Message]  

Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth.

You are the light of the world." 

You are! Keep at it! 

Amen!

ENDNOTES:

---

1 Anders, Dr. Mickey, “Salt, Light, a City on a Hill.” First Christian Church, Pikeville, Kentucky. 2/7/99

2 Ibid.

_________________________

Copyright:  Carol J. Borland, Pastor Emeritus, Interim Pastor, West Danville United Methodist Church,

West Danville, Vermont. Preached on Epiphany 5A. February 6, 2011.

REFLECTIONS . . . . Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, Part 1: The Beatitudes

Readings for the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany
Micah 6:1-8
Psalm 15
1 Corinthians 1:18-31
Matthew 5:1-12

This Sunday is the first of five Sundays in the Season after Epiphany in Year A in which the gospel lesson is from Matthew’s account of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. This might be a clue for us that the church scholars who put together the lectionary readings firmly believed in the importance of these teachings of Jesus as gathered together by Matthew from several sources. Matthew places the Sermon of the Mount very close to the beginning of Jesus’ preaching and teaching ministry. In chapters 3 and 4, Matthew tells of Jesus’ baptism by John, and of Jesus’ Temptation in the Wilderness, and a few verses on Jesus’ spending some time in Capernaum and calling his disciples, and teaching about God’s kingdom in the synagogues in Galilee and doing some healing. He was already pretty popular with the folks in the vicinity, and great crowds came from around the area to hear him. And Matthew says, “When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them.

Eugene Peterson, in The Message, translates it a little differently ⎯ more clearly, I think. He says: “When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions.”

I’ve had a couple of Sundays off from preaching, thanks to Allan Michaud, our Lay Leader and a lay speaker, and Curtis Larrabee, a lay speaker. During this time I’ve been looking again at the Sermon on the Mount ⎯ and especially this week, the Beatitudes, Jesus’ Introduction to his teachings, directed to his disciples who had “climbed with him.” It was an “Insider’s lesson” ⎯ and then when the crowd caught up, they were included. But that’s for another time!

What gave me pause for much thought was an illustration that Curtis used in his Reflections last week. He told of an interview that appeared on Oprah with a woman who admitted to having an affair with a married man. She said she was a Christian, and her rationale for making the whole “affair” OK with her Christian faith was that she believes that God wants us to be happy, and if having an affair with this man makes her happy, then it’s OK with God. That’s a second-hand quote from what I scribbled down as Curtis spoke. But I think it covers it. It seems to me ⎯ and hopefully to you ⎯ that she’s playing way out on the edge with both scriptures and Christian teachings!

Well, the reason this story struck me is because the Common English Bible New Testament we ordered had arrived the week before, and I was excited to read it and see how those many biblical scholars had translated and worded things. So I read Matthew 5. And even before I heard Curtis’s illustration last Sunday, I was surprised that the translators had chosen to use the word “happy” instead of “blessed.” My first thought was it was a bad choice of words because our society or culture does not understand “happy” in the biblical sense of “blessed.” “Happy” is what the woman on Oprah was all about ⎯ and what we are all about when we seek happiness in any place other than in God. You and I know those other places – money, possessions, prestige, worldly passions ⎯ “stuff” (to use my favorite term)! The word “happiness” is used so frequently, in so many different contexts, for so many different reasons, that it’s lost all definite meaning. Everyone wants to be happy, and this desire has been used to promote everything from products to politics to religious beliefs. This is sad, and more than a bit confusing. No wonder many people have trouble deciding if they are happy or not.

But it drove me to do some biblical translation research. First I discovered that of the 15 English translations of the Bible I could access on-line at Bible Gateway, only 3 of them used the word “happy.” The other 12 used “blessed are those . . .” or “God blesses those . . .” Bible Gateway did not have one of my favorite “modern” translations from back in 1958, The New Testament in Modern English by a man named J.B. Phillips. I bought it in the 60s when I was in seminary. It was quite controversial back then, but I loved his work. I’ve put a copy of his translation/paraphrase in your bulletin. (DON’T read it now, but study it later and compare it to Peterson’s Message and to the New Revised Standard Version) It seems to me that Phillip’s use of the word “happy” seems appropriate because of the way he paraphrases the rest of the context.

This problem we have with the words “happy” or “happiness” also drove me to do some research in that area ⎯ trying to answer the question What is true happiness? John Wesley was noted for his emphasis on strong belief in Christian happiness. Wesleyan scholar, Rebekah Miles writes:

"The elderly John Wesley, just a few months shy of his eighty-sixth birthday, asked a crowd of Irish Methodists gathered in Dublin a classic question from an unlikely source - the Calvinist Westminster Confession: “For what end did God create man?” One simple answer, Wesley insisted, should be “inculcated upon every human creature: “You are made to be happy in God.” . . ."Wesley then tendered advice to parents. Even when a child first begins to speak or to run alone, a good parent follows behind saying, many times each day, “He made you; and he made you to be happy in him; and nothing else can make you happy.”

"What is the happiness for which humans were made? Wesley insisted that just “as there is one God, so there is one religion and one happiness.” This one human happiness and true religion is the love of God and the love of neighbor. It is, “in two words, gratitude and benevolence; gratitude to our Creator and supreme Benefactor, and benevolence to our fellow creatures.” The active benevolence toward others that is born of our gratitude to God is for Christians the wellspring of the moral life and of human happiness. Happiness is impossible without this grateful love of God and benevolent, active love toward others. And the moral life is one with this happiness."1

Wesley makes a striking comment at the very beginning of his Explanatory Notes on the Sermon of the Mount. In Matthew 5:1-2 the translation Wesley uses reads, “And seeing the multitudes, he went up into the mountain: and when he was sat down his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them…” Here is Wesley’s comment on the phrase “and taught them:”

"To bless men, to make men happy, was the great business for which our Lord came into the world. And accordingly He here pronounces eight blessings together, annexing them to so many steps in Christianity. Knowing that happiness is our common aim, and that an innate instinct continually urges us to the pursuit of it, He in the kindest manner applies to that instinct, and directs it to its proper object.Though all men desire, yet few attain, happiness because they seek it where it is not to be found. Our Lord therefore begins His divine institution, which is the complete art of happiness, by laying down, before all that have ears to hear, the true, and only true,method of acquiring it."2

Wesley seems to be arguing that Jesus gives the Beatitudes in order to map out for us the way to happiness. Wesley’s understanding here is so relevant to today. Many people are seeking happiness. . . Wesley invites us to read the words of Christ in Scripture as a model and a guide to finding happiness. He writes, “Though all men desire, yet few attain, happiness, because they seek it where it is not to be found.”3

In response to Wesley’s words, I would define happiness as “Joy that comes from deep in the soul.” It’s what allows us to sing with honesty, the old hymn, “It is well with my soul.” A poet by the name of Sri Chinmoy desribes it very well in these words:

The mind chases happiness.
The heart creates happiness.
The soul is happiness
And it spreads happiness
All-where.
~Sri Chinmoy

I love his word "All-where."

Retired newscaster, Hugh Downs, says, “A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes.”

A Sunday School teacher asked her young scholars if anyone could tell the class what the Beatitudes are. While the rest of the class thought about the possible answer, little Suzy raised her hand excitedly, fairly bursting with the answer. "Oh, teacher, I know, I know, I know! The Beatitudes are the attitudes we ought to be at!"4

Amen! So may we be at them!

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ENDNOTES:

1 Miles, Rebekah L. “Happiness, holiness, and the moral life in John Wesley.” The Cambridge Companion to John Wesley. Eds. Randy L. Maddox and Jason E. Vickers. Cambridge University Press, 2009. Cambridge. Collections Online. Cambridge University Press. 29 January 2011 DOI:10.1017/CCOL9780521886536.013

2 Watson, Kevin, "The Sermon on the Mount as the Key to Happiness." Posted on August 1, 2008 on-line. htp://deeplycommitted.com/2008/08/13-the-sermon-on-the-mount-as-the-key-to-happiness/

3 IBID

4 Galvan, Silverius F.,"Inner Peace," in "Preach!" On-line. Retrieved on 1/29/2011.

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Copyright: Carol J. Borland, Interim Pastor, Pastor Emeritus, West Danville United Methodist Church,

West Danville, VT. Epiphany 4, Year A. January 30, 2011