Monday, August 24, 2009

HAPPINESS IS MORE THAN A STATE OF MIND

--- Mark 1:29-38
Muhammed Ali is the unprecedented three-time world heavyweight boxing champion. His picture has appeared on the cover of SPORTS ILLUSTRATED more times than any other athlete – including the likes of Tiger Woods and A-Rod. At the height of his popularity he "floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee." Everywhere he went reporters, trainers and his staff followed him. A number of years after he quit boxing, sportswriter Gary Smith, interviewed Ali about his life after boxing.
As they were visiting, Ali showed the sportswriter his gym, masquerading as the barn next to his farmhouse. In there, on the floor leaning against the walls, were pictures and framed newspaper articles from his prime. There were photos of the champ punching and dancing. There was one picture where his fist was punching the air. There was also a picture of Ali holding his championship belt high in triumph. A framed poster read "The Thrilla in Manilla".
     As the sportswriter looked at the pictures he couldn't help but notice they were covered with white streaks - bird droppings. Just then the champ looked into the rafters at the pigeons who had made his gym their home. Then perhaps as a statement of despair, Ali walked over to the row of pictures and one by one turned them over. Then he walked to the door and stared out at the countryside. He mumbled something so low the sportswriter had to ask him what he said. "I had the world," Muhammed Ali repeated, "and it wasn't nothin'. Look now."
What would it take to make you happy?
            Wealth?
                Fame?
                Popularity?
     More times than not, the teachings of Jesus run counter to the messages the world gives us about happiness. But Jesus' teachings were consistent. From the beginning of his ministry, crowds surrounded him everywhere he went. His disciples thought it was great. They couldn't understand why Jesus didn't share their excitement. According to worldly standards Jesus was a smashing success, an overnight sensation, a hit. His picture was on the cover of the Rolling Stone, as they say. The disciples were trapped into thinking that more was better. They thought this was what Jesus wanted. There were times they just didn't understand Jesus at all. If wealth and fame and acceptance don't bring happiness, where is it to be found? Some say happiness is just a state of mind, you know – “don’t worry, be happy.” But let me offer you another perspectiveA Biblical Perspective. 
Happiness begins with a touch
     In Mark 1:29-38 Jesus was visiting in the home of Simon Peter. Simon's mother-in-law was sick in bed with a high fever. Without anyone saying a word about her illness Jesus went over to her, touched her, and lifted her up. Immediately she was healed. Notice that Jesus never said a word; he just touched her. We are not told how long she was sick in bed, or her condition. All we are told is that Jesus touched her and made her well. It was a miracle.
     Notice what happened next. She immediately got up and began serving Jesus and his disciples. How many of the women today can identify with that picture? Having been sick in bed she was probably weak, but when Jesus touched her she felt a new strength she had never felt before. She got out of bed and began serving him. This was her way of saying thanks. It was her response, but it began with the Master's touch. Happiness is not simply an option we exercise. People who buy self-help books on how to be happy are going to be disappointed. True happiness, lasting happiness begins with a touch - a touch of the Master's hand.     W. E. Sangster was once asked if he would find time to cheer up a young man who was recuperating from a nervous breakdown. Sangster promised to do his best. He sought the young man out and began to try to help him, but it was hard work. "This is a gray world," the young man said. "I see no purpose in it. It is dull, meaningless and evil. Its pleasures soon pass. Its pains endure. I seriously ask myself the question: 'Is life worth living?'"
     Sangster saw him once or twice a week for nearly two months. Every conversation was the same - nothing seemed to improve. Then something happened to that young man. He fell in love. Head over heels in love! On the day his engagement was announced he came to see Sangster and began the conversation with words something like this: "This is a lovely world. Come out into the garden and listen to that little bird singing fit to burst its heart. Isn't it a glorious morning? How good it is to be alive!"
     That young man did not will himself to that change of attitude. It was not a choice he made. Something happened within him. He fell in love.
     So it is when we experience Christ's presence in our lives. The world seems to change. But it isn't the world at all. We are changed by the Master’s touch. 
Happiness comes when we discover the power of prayer.
     An unwritten motto in our culture is that the busier we are, the happier we are. So we strive to be busy. It's a mistake. Consider Jesus' approach.
     By night fall word had spread throughout the town that Jesus was there and that he had the power to heal people. By dusk Mark says the whole city was at Simon's house looking for Jesus. They brought their sick, "with various diseases," hoping that he would be able to heal them. The disciples had never seen such a crowd. With all those people Jesus must have been exhausted. It was probably late when they all left. Yet early the next morning, before anyone in the house woke up, Jesus left in search of a lonely place, a place where the crowds would be unable to find him, so he could be alone to pray.
     Jesus, who had given so much of himself to others, needed some time alone with the Father. He who had given all that he humanly had to give, also needed His Master’s touch.
     That's true of us also. Some people really don’t understand prayer. Listen to this story:

"Hey, Father," said a man talking to a priest. "You got it all wrong about this God stuff. He doesn't exist. I oughta know.""Why's that, my son?" asked the priest."Well," the man said, "when I was ice-fishing in the Arctic far from the nearest village, a blizzard blew up with wind and blinding snow. I   was a goner. So I got down on my knees and prayed real hard, begging God for help.""And did He help you?" asked the priest."Heck no," said the man. "God didn't lift a finger. Some Eskimo appeared out of nowhere and showed me the way."
     Prayer is a potent force in the life of the believer. It is where we each make ourselves available to experience the Master’s touch. He doesn’t just reach out to us once or twice. He touches us over and over in response to our honest and humble need.
     Recently my burden was lifted from me through prayer. Sylvia hinted at it last week, so let me share it with you.
     At Boeing where I work, reductions have been announced… up to 10,000 employees. Well, my work group will cease to exist next week. That means that everyone in that work group, including me, needs to find someplace else within Boeing. This is at a time of budget cuts when other work groups are reducing their head count. I have been fearful of losing not only my job, but the income that came with it. I could not get past my whining “What am I going to do?” I’ve been having a real pity party for myself the past couple of months.
     As some of you know, on Friday’s I go to McNeil Island and assist the Chaplain with what ever he has for me to do. Usually this means ministering to the men as well as running errands. But this past Friday, he asked me to pray. He specifically requested that I pray against the strongholds that are within the prison system. After instructing me, he left and I went into the sanctuary and obediently started praying.
     I prayed for over two hours. God touched me during that time. He told me not to worry; He is in control. These are words that I know in my head, but God made them real in my soul. He also directed my path in a very specific direction. He asked me to do three things:
• Assist the institutional chaplains transition inmates from prison to the community.
• Support and prepare community leaders so that they can, in turn, support the men as they adjust from incarceration to community.
• And finally, God told me to be an encourager and witness to the ex-offenders.
     I shared this with Sylvia and together we are developing an action plan for me to transition into full-time ministry, specifically to work with male offenders in the process of re-entry.
     Since that dedicated time of prayer, where I made myself available for the Master’s touch, my burdens have been lifted. My excitement and joy have returned. I don’t know all the details yet. I don’t need to. God is in Control.
     Happiness is experiencing the Master's touch. Happiness happens when we run out of us and call out to Him. 
Finally, happiness is getting our priorities in order.
     We need to take inventory of our lives to determine what's important and what is not. Jesus did.
     That next morning when Simon and the other disciples awoke, they discovered that Jesus was nowhere to be found. Perhaps they panicked a bit. They actively searched until they chased him down. They interrupted his prayer time. "Everyone is searching for you," Simon told him. To this Jesus answered, "Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do." Jesus would not be side-tracked by the adulation of the crowds. He knew where he was headed. He may not have been consciously aware of every detail, but in prayer his energy was restored and he knew what direction to go. Nothing else mattered.
     Gorman Williams spent most of his life as a missionary to India. In 1945 he purchased tickets for a long-awaited vacation back to the United States. He had counted down the months and days until he would be home. A few days before he was to leave he heard about some Jews who had escaped the wrath of the Nazis. They had traveled by boat to India seeking refuge. Since it was a time of global war, the Indian government denied their request to immigrate. They were granted permission to stay for a short time in the lofts of the buildings near the dock. Their living conditions were wretched. But it was better than being sent to a concentration camp in Germany.
     It was Christmas Eve when Gorman Williams heard about the plight of these Jews. Immediately he went to the dock, entered the first building and called out, "Merry Christmas! What would you like for Christmas?" The response was slow. "We're Jewish," someone called out. "I know," Williams said, "but what would you like for Christmas?" The weary Jews, fearful for their very lives, replied, "We would like some German pastries."
     At that point Gorman Williams sold his ticket to the United States and purchased more German pastries than anyone had ever seen. He brought lots and lots of them and carried them in large baskets.
     Later he told this story to a group of students. One brash, judgmental young man reprimanded him. "You shouldn't have done that," he said, "they were not even Christians."
     "No they weren't," the wise missionary quietly replied, "but I am." Gorman Williams, having been touched by the Master, had his priorities in order. He knew what direction he was to go. 
What would it take to make you happy? Every study I have seen on the subject indicates that people who are actively engaged in serving God are far happier than the general population. That does not surprise me. Happiness is more that a state of mind. Happiness is birthed in the touch of the Master's hand. Happiness becomes a possibility when we open ourselves to God through honest and humble prayer. Happiness is having our priorities in order. We are headed in the direction God has chosen for our lives, and nothing else is quite as important as that journey.
....................................---www.devotions.net

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