Pastor's Corner
March, 2002
Looking back at the series of preaching on the Beatitude, I can understand why the “world” in general is having a difficult time understanding the teachings of the Bible. The reason is because Jesus taught that happiness (blessed) is free! People in this country spend billions of dollars each year on the obsessive pursuit of happiness—on houses to live in, cars to drive, gourmet food to enjoy, clothes to wear, and cosmetic to hide defects (men and women alike -- sorry guys). People are hopelessly addicted to advertising hype that makes them feel left out if they don’t buy a particular product. Companies that are paying millions of dollars for 30 seconds of commercial during Super Bowl game aren’t doing it for entertainment; they want you to feel “good” having their products in your hand! What a great technique!
In the midst of chasing happiness, the phrase, “Are we having fun yet?” keeps ringing in our ears. If toys, no matter how you define it, can make us happy, Americans, especially us who are living in the Bay Areas, would be deliriously happy . . . but are we? One statistic shows that one out of three Americans wake up depressed every morning. This is somewhat odd, because we do happy things and we have happy times. There is even “happy hour” for bars, but we are not happy people. Life experience shows that it’s full of disappointments. So often, it doesn’t work out as we had hoped for. Like a child traveling long distant always asked, “Are we there yet?” we operate under the delusion that happiness is just around the corner. “When I . . . then I’ll be happy.” At each happening, we ask the same question, “Is this it?” The smell of the leather seat in a new car sure smells great, but how long does the smell last? Whatever you are looking for, when you get it, it might give you an instant thrill, yet in a brink of an eye, you would fall back to ask the same question over again.
One day we all must realize that happiness is not a destination where we eventually arrive but a journey we take. We are happy because we are on a journey to the Promised Land. Once you recognize that you’re on this journey, you would have a different outlook in life. The Beatitude (Matt. 5:3-12) shows us the prescription for happiness: en-route to the kingdom of heaven, be comforted, be filled, shown mercy, see God, approved by God, and will receive great rewards. If we look carefully at these promises, we would be able to see that happiness is the result of God’s involvement in our lives. Only through Him can we find true and lasting happiness.
Before I sign off, I wish all of you find Jesus as your Savior. If you haven’t and would like to inquire how to do it, please contact us. If you have, I pray that you continue to grow in His grace and be connected with Christians’ fellowship.
Pastor Larry
