“The Mysterious Source of Happiness”

Sermon Delivered By Rev. Dick Stetler – December 13, 2020

Centenary United Methodist Church

    Psalm 126; Isaiah 61:1-11

 

Third Sunday Of Advent

 

    Have you ever noticed that not everyone responds equally to cartoons that people have emailed to us about COVID-19, the lock down, the signs that we are aging, or bloopers in church bulletins? Humor, laughter, happiness, and joy are wonderful responses.  What is mysterious is what inspires lightheartedness in some of us and not in others!  Today we will explore this mystery.

    Many years ago, before television had developed a variety of programs, radio was the vehicle of choice that allowed people to escape into audio programming. 

    Listening is a medium that uses a different part of the brain that differs from the visual programs found on television.  We can watch a program and by morning, most of it is gone from our memory.  However, years ago when people listened to episodes of The Shadow Knows or The Lone Ranger, they can still recall some of what they heard in 2020. 

    When I was growing up, there was a broadcast of a comedy series called The Bickersons, that featured the voices of Don Ameche who played John and Frances Langford who played Blanche. The broadcast lasted from 1946 to 1951.  John and Blanche were known everywhere as a married couple who mouth- battled constantly.

    Their insults were classic.  They spent the show engaging in destroying the other's character by constant insults and verbal games of one-upmanship. They fought over everything and yet more and more listeners tuned in to listen to them. There was a mysterious quality about the broadcasts that made their exchanges extremely funny. 

    People wrote to the newspaper to declare how their afternoons were transformed because of the verbal fighting between John and Blanche.  No one could define what was happening. How could something so mean-spirited lift everyone's spirits?

    Some of you may remember similar exchanges between Winston Churchill and Lady Astor. Here are several exchanges that are also classics between the pair:  Lady Astor: "Winston, if I were your wife, I would poison you."   Churchill responded: "If you were my wife, I would gladly drink it."  Lady Astor, "Winston you are drunk!"  Churchill responded, "Yes I am, but in the morning, I will be sober and you will still be ugly."

    There is no context to reference where or when these exchanges took place other than that they were spoken in very public social circles.  Such exchanges were expected by the people who were sitting around them. The pair made the evening delightful. These were moments just like the Bickersons.  After all, the two chose to sit near each other so it had to be fun for both of them.  There were many exchanges like this that made other guests laugh. 

    What is the source of happiness that makes people have a good experience?  We could ask the same question about anything that makes people happy.  When we find ourselves having a good time and feeling good about life, what is the source that produces endorphins in our brains that lifts our spirits? 

    In our Old Testament lesson today, the Psalmist wrote:  "When the Lord brought us back to Jerusalem, it was like a dream.  How we laughed and we sang with joy!" (Psalm 126:1) When we turn to the lesson from Isaiah, we read:

The Lord has sent me to bring joy and gladness instead of grief, a song of praise instead of sorrow.  People will become like trees that the Lord has planted.  People will live their lives in remembrance of what God has given them. (Isaiah 61:3f)

    The United Methodist Women were invited in October for a meal at Valerie's new home to celebrate Canada's Thanksgiving.  It brought joy and happiness to everyone who attended. Valerie was glowing with delight as were all of us.  We sat around the table and enjoyed a remarkable meal.  I had what may be my final taste of Valerie's paw-paw dish which was outrageously delicious as always.

    Where did such joy come from? The answer for this occasion came from remembering how blessed all of us are that God's love is so wonderful that it is spread equally on everyone.  Valerie was initially pained to leave the house that she dearly loved for many years, but she had to let go of it in order to be led to the promised land of a new home. We shared a moment when all of us blessed her new home.

    Yes, we will have moments when rapid change appears to deeply affect us. Yes, we will experience losses that momentarily affect the quality of our spirits.  My family could have focused only on the recent premature death of my sister's husband, Skip Casey, but we chose instead to remember all the wonderful moments that he gave to us.

    Our happiness and joy depend on where our spirits are anchored and not on the dips, curves, and blind alleys that we occasionally visit.  Jesus trained his followers to let go of such moments and concentrate on what we too often take for granted.  In fact, frequently we let go of our role in the world by filling our minds with issues found only in the physical world.  Jesus taught us that nothing in this world has permanent value to the spirit by which we live. (Matthew 6:19-21) That is a truth that is a challenge to understand and master.

    When we understand that God is the giver of all wonderful things, we can rise above the frayed edges of the material world and trust everything that comes as a blessing.  Our lives are frequently molded by an unexpected change that we did not see coming.  We can call such an event a coincidence, an opportunity, or an act that appears to have a divine origin written all over it.

    It was a chance meeting of a college freshman and a sophomore working in a college campus dining room that led to their marriage.  It was an unexpected call from a couple who wanted a real-estate agent to list their home for sale when another couple was prepared to buy their home while sitting in her office at the time. It was an out-of-the-blue call from a District Superintendent who asked, "Would you and Lois be interested in taking a church in Bermuda?"  Now, it is ten years later and we are about to enter uncharted water again.

    What we call such moments does not matter.  But the last description saves us a lot of speculating about the source of a lasting happiness – an act that appears to have a divine origin written all over it. There is another wonderful quote that suggests, "If you want to make God laugh, tell God your plans." 

    Is God really involved in blessing some people and not others?  Suppose we are the ones who have drawn that conclusion when a more realistic answer escapes us.  There is another quote that is equally intriguing. "When the student is ready, the teacher will come."  Is that a more appropriate answer?  Perhaps all that we need to do is float merrily down the stream to see what happens around the next bend in the stream's flow.

    Not everyone wants to give up control over their lives.  People plan and research endlessly about their next move in their future. They do not like being surprised by being terminated by a company, forced to sell their home, divorcing their spouse, or being turned down repeatedly by publishers that refuse to print the book they had written.

    It is fascinating that Jesus wrote nothing and there is no record of his asking anyone to take notes on what he was teaching.  He was not motivated by the thought that he wanted to offer guidance to people two thousand years in the future.  He knew that it is best to allow what will happen up to invisible hands over which no one has control.

    As we have discussed before, we have no idea about the full extent of our human potential.  What will people accomplish a thousand years from now?  Jesus knew exactly what he was teaching when he told his disciples, "You will accomplish even greater things than what you have seen me do." (John 14:12-14)

    The mysterious source of sustained happiness and joy comes from within each of us when we let go of our plans and trust that the stream of life is taking us to some unknown place.  Such confidence comes from our absence of fear as we embrace uncertainty with a passion.  It comes from a recognition that we were endowed at birth with undiscovered inner resources that give life its meaning by blooming where we are planted. 

    Such qualities of life originate from our imaginations, our abilities at problem solving, and our loving zest and passion to reach for the stars.  We become the visionaries that are thrilled by being in unchartered waters.  Many discoveries are made when our curiosity is unafraid and we become more than ready to take the next steps.

    Many people will fall by the wayside because they never developed the confidence to trust themselves.  Instead of awakening to the fact that they were created with everything that they need to fulfill their destiny, they want opportunity to come to them. Thus, those who sow sparingly, will reap sparingly.  The world and everyone living in it are perfect for what each was designed to do.  All that can be missing is a spirit that is equal for dealing with the tasks that present themselves. God allows each of us to find our own way.  Joy comes automatically to the risk-takers who have realized that all they need to do is bloom, bloom, and bloom some more.  They are happy and contented to allow an invisible divine presence to have free reign to take them into what remains unknown until they get there.  It is not the setting that makes them happy.  What makes them happy is the knowledge of the invisible divine presence that knows where they are needed.

CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER

Loving God, thank you for creating us with the ability to experience joy when we express generosity from our hearts, minds, and spirits.  We have learned that optimism and hope spread more joy than gloomy reports about our future.  We have learned that faith is contagious when we stand strong amidst other people who are more committed to the things of this world.  Help us to let go of qualities that may prevent us from being instruments through which your music plays. At the beginning and the ending of each day, we find ourselves filled with gratitude and happiness because we sense your presence every moment.  Amen.

 

PASTORAL PRAYER                              

Loving God our days continue to pass so rapidly and we find ourselves in our place of worship once again as we continue our journey through Advent.  We have learned that just as a candle can illuminate a large room, so the life of Jesus has ignited a burning desire in the hearts of billions of people over thousands of years to make his message of loving our neighbors visible all over the world.  Inspire us to remember that in every circumstance we have within us the power not only to survive but also to thrive.

From you we have learned that not all strength appears as we choose to define it.  We have learned that not all love comes in a form that we recognize.  We have learned that some of our greatest sorrows need not block your spirit from lighting our path. We have learned that sometimes we need to accept life as it comes because, in our poverty of understanding, we do not know where our life-experiences may be leading us.

We thank you that while our minds and hearts are still maturing, you still send guidance.  Even though our lives are not lived-in harmony with you, you still send music to which we can dance. During this season of joy, enable us to discover how to become better instruments for communicating compassion.   Help each of us to become the message we want others to receive. We pray these thoughts through the spirit of Jesus, the Christ, who taught us to say when we pray . . .