“The pursuit of happiness” is a well known phrase from the Declaration of Independence.   It is actually a phrase that evolved out of another phrase from Europe in the 17th century, which was “the pursuit of property.” It seems timely for us to explore this phrase today as we take full possession of this church property after paying off our debts to the RCA classis of Muskegon.

There is a collection of people here today that were present in 1978 when the church moved from the old sanctuary, which is now the parlour, into our current sanctuary.  Thank you to all who were part of that evolution, and today we celebrate this property, as well as the next step in our evolution, as we fashion a progressive ministry in this space that is relevant to our context. 

This is a celebration of independence. We are free spirits. No one is watching over me, telling me what to say, and I am not watching over you, telling you what to think or say.  There is no particular orthodoxy that anyone has to sign up for or agree to in order to participate in the life of this community.  No one can tell us what the principles or core values of our church should be. We do that as we continue the evolution of the community.

So we celebrate all of these things, but above all my hope is that this is a place where you can be free to pursue happiness, in your life, in your relationships, in your work, and in your play. With no guarantees that you are going to attain it, and without too closely defining what it will look like if you get it, my hope is that this community will be a place where we inspire each other to pursue happiness, and offer each other life and liberty as a gift.

A Lottery Ticket or a Set of Water Skis?

Imagine this scenario:  You have your choice, on one hand, of a lottery ticket, and on the other hand, a set of water-skis.  Which of those options do you think you would take?  On the one hand, if you took the lottery ticket and won, you could buy all the water-skis you would ever want.  You could travel around the world, following summer, and ski in every lake and river in the world.  On the other hand, if you didn’t win the lottery you would be left with nothing.

So you may be better off taking the water-skis.  If nothing else you will get to take one good ride on your new skis.

However, research suggests that one year after winning the lottery, people are no happier than they were before they won.  So maybe the lottery ticket is not the better choice. 

On the other hand, if you go out on the water-skis, you could suffer a terrible accident and tragically become a paraplegic, so maybe the lottery ticket would be the safer bet.

But again, research suggests that one year after becoming a paraplegic, people are no more or less happy than they were before the event.

So, one year later, people that either won the lottery or became a paraplegic have the same level of happiness as they had before those events.

We've been deluded in our culture to think that events make us happy or unhappy. We have been convinced that if we get possessions and property that we will be happier. Research shows this to be untrue. Studies have shown that when someone moves from being at a subsistence level of living, where only their basic needs are being met, then going to having a roof over their head and a small income the increase in happiness is huge. But beyond about $12,000 per year, happiness levels begins to plateau.

The difference between earning $50,000 and 50 million dollars a year, according to research, does not equate to greater happiness. It's a myth. Happiness does not come from great wealth or possessions. Money might make misery easier to live with, as Twain said, but it cant buy happiness.

The Worst Day of Your Life? We’ll See

Think about another scenario: Imagine being left at the wedding altar. Imagine standing where I stand now, on your wedding day, and having your partner flee from the church. Imagine how you'd feel if that happened to you. Would you not say that was the worst day of your life? Anyone who is honest would say this is the worst day of their life. And yet, studies have shown that one year later many people who've been left at the altar claim that was the best thing that could have ever happened to them!

We have a tendency to magnify the significance of events, when in reality, three months beyond any given event, they are unlikely to be giving us any more or less happiness than expected. We magnify, overestimate, and underestimate the significance of events.

There's a story that I told once before and I want to tell again because it’s a most brilliant story. In fact, I believe if the Bible was being put together today, this story should be in it. This is a story that's called “We’ll See” and it's a story about a farmer who is completely dependent upon one horse for his livelihood. The horse eventually dies, and his neighbors get together and they say to the farmer “you are so unfortunate.” And the farmer’s reply to them is, “We’ll see.”

Sure enough, a few days later, one of his neighbors has great compassion on the farmer, and buys him a new horse. The neighbors all say, “you are so fortunate.” And the farmer’s reply to them is, “We’ll see.”

Then, a few days later the horse runs away, and the neighbors say, “you unfortunate man.” And the farmer’s reply to them is, “We’ll see.”

Sure enough, two days later the horse comes back, and this time it comes back with a friend, another horse, and for the first time in his life the farmer has two horses. All the neighbors say, “you fortunate man.” And the farmer’s reply to them is, “We’ll see.”

Then, the next day the farmer takes his son riding for the very first time now that they two horses and the son falls off and breaks his leg. All the neighbors say, “you unfortunate man.” And the farmer’s reply to them is, “We’ll see.”

Sure enough, two weeks later the military comes to the town to gather together all the young men in the town for war and they leave behind the farmer’s son because of his broken leg. The neighbors say, “you fortunate man.” And the farmer’s reply to them is, “We’ll see.”

If only we could take more of a “we’ll see” approach to life. We would find ourselves in a lot less misery. No event is an end point. No event is the last word on life and fortune. One of the ways we can pursue happiness is to allow life to ebb and flow all around us, and not grab onto it too tightly. This event is not the end of the story. There's always more. There are always twists and turns that we cannot predict. This is the beauty of mystery, and the calm of not knowing.

The Secret to Happiness

I have heard it said that the secret to happiness is low expectations.  But I would amend that to say that the secret to happiness is broad expectations.  The secret to happiness is the ability to roll with the punches. The secret to happiness is to respond in each context in an appropriate way. The secret to happiness is to expect change, to know that everything changes. The secret to happiness is to understand the dynamic tensions of opposites in life- joy and sorrow held together. The secret to happiness is to believe in the evolution of events and people and processes.  All things are intimately connected.  If only we could embrace that thought, we would be on the path to happiness.

So what is happiness? Happiness can be defined at least two different ways. The first is that happiness is a very immediate, emotional response. If I say to you right now, “Are you happy or are you unhappy?” you have an immediate reaction. It's the very first response we have at any given moment.

That’s one type of happiness and it's a nice one to have, but there's another type of happiness that goes a lot deeper. It’s best described through a survey taken in 2003.  It was a “world values survey” where every nation in the world was surveyed according to their level of happiness.

There were two surveys.  The first asked the question, “Are you happy right now?”  And the nation that came up as the happiest was Nigeria. Stop and think about that for a moment- tragic levels of poverty, corruption and suffering in Nigeria, and yet the people there were the happiest in the world.

That's the first survey.  The second went a little deeper and asked two questions. The first question was the same, but the second was, “All things considered, are you satisfied in life?” It's a broader question, and in this survey Nigeria came well down on the list. Puerto Rico is the most content nation in the world. Mexico came in second on both surveys. America was about 15th in both lists, and you will be glad to know that America was higher than Australia. A bunch of miserable blighters Aussies are! But Aussies will be glad to know that we were higher than New Zealand in both. Americans might not understand this, but it's very important to Australians to beat New Zealand in any way possible.

That gives us a clue about another test of what happiness is. All things considered, taking a broad view of life, are you satisfied, or are you content?

The second question gets closer to what Jesus was speaking about when he gave the beatitudes to his disciples.

Oh The Bliss

I will take a journey now through the beatitudes keeping in mind these two definitions of happiness.  First of all, you need to notice that Jesus sat down.  It was customary for rabbis and teachers to stand up and walk around while teaching, but the fact that Jesus sat down in front of his disciples let them know that he was about to tell them something very significant, and they were about to get a real gem.

So they gathered around Jesus and he began to teach them by using a poem. Most of you will recognize the phrase as “Blessed are the poor in spirit” but I have taken some liberty in saying, “Happy are the poor in spirit.”  That's a fair translation because the word in Greek is MAKARIOS, which is a word used to describe the bliss of the gods, who were not affected by the chances and changes of life. Maybe the most accurate translation in the beatitudes would be, “Oh the unbending bliss of the poor in spirit.”

We need to understand that this is not speaking about an immediate emotion, this is not talking about a first reaction or feeling we might have, rather this is contentment that comes from the broadest perspective of all things considered.

So Jesus says that when all things are considered, the poor in spirit are content, because they know what it is to come within an inch of having their hope taken away from them. They know what it is to come within an inch of spiritual devastation. And because they know what that's like, they only hold loosely to things and perspectives and people because they've been to the pit of hell and they know that life is a journey and that hell is not a final destination. Satisfied are those people because they know that what goes around, comes around.

And Jesus goes on and says that happy are those who mourn. Oh the bliss of those who mourn, because they go deep within themselves to embrace sadness. It's because they've embraced sadness they know what it is to embrace gladness. Oh the bliss of those who mourn. They too know that life goes around and comes around, and they hold only lightly to the times that seem good or bad because they know that life ebbs and flows.

Happy are the meek. Oh, the bliss of those who understand their place in the cosmic scheme of things. Oh, the bliss of knowing your minute place in this gigantic, unthinkably large Kosmos that we're part of. Oh, the bliss of knowing how minute you are and yet how significant you are at the same time.

Happy are the meek who know their place in relation to others and happy are those who know what their mission in life is. Happy are those who have a vision for justice. Happy are those who know that when someone else suffers they suffer too. Content are those who know the when someone else is being oppressed they themselves are being oppressed. Happy are those with a mission of justice in life and happy are those who will not be stopped from their mission no matter what criticism comes their way.

Happy are those who have a strong sense of identity, such a strong sense of authentic calling in life, that no amount of persecution could stop them from pursuing that vision, a vision of justice and peace. And that's what the word righteousness means. It means a thorough and comprehensive seeking of justice and peace for all people.

So that gives you some insight into the way Jesus was teaching the beatitudes. I'm wondering if you're thinking right now what's all this got to do with Independence Day? July 1st, coming up on July 4th, a day when we celebrate our independence?

American Pursuit of Happiness

Let’s go back very briefly to a little bit of history. At the time this country was founded, a new movement was emerging in Europe. That movement was called libertarianism, which is related to the word liberty. The important thing about libertarianism is that it's a movement that seeks each person's right to self-determination, a person's right to think the way they want to think. Libertarianism is part of an argument against censorship.

Libertarianism needs to be understood in the context of Europe and the 17th century as a shift away from theocracy, a shift away from believing that God has a chosen people and the chosen people are the ones whom God will favor, and bring happiness. The 17th century movement was radical, as it was now saying that all people have the right by virtue of their humanity to self-determination. Not because they're chosen by God or because God sends them happiness, but because of their humanity, they have right to self-determination.

That's the first movement that our founding fathers took their philosophy from. But it must also be balanced with another philosophical movement called utilitarianism, which means seeking the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people. This is where priorities are established.

So when you mix libertarianism with utilitarianism you get to the essence of the statement that our founding fathers created. The pursuit of the greatest happiness, life and liberty for the greatest number.

Libertarianism and utilitarianism are not to be confused with “frisbeetarianism,” which means that when you die your soul is taken up onto the roof and gets stuck in the gutters. That’s a philosophy for another day altogether.

This country was founded with a mighty vision, a vision of life and liberty for all. It has had many false starts over the last couple of hundred years. There have been many groups in this country that have not had that right and who still are not given that completely- life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. This is a process that we're part of, and the words of the beatitudes are ringing in my ears still- happy are those who seek peace and justice for all people, no matter what criticism comes their way.

Sounds like the M.O. for a progressive church; it's what it's all about.

I want to finish by making three points. The first is personal, the second regards the state of the nation, and the third is a message to this community particularly:

Life is Broken Humanity

First, a personal point about the pursuit of happiness, which is best summed up with a story. A spiritual teacher was once questioned by his students who asked, “Why are you so happy? You are surrounded by suffering and loss, so why are you so happy?”

And he picked up a crystal glass and said, “I love this glass.. I love the way it sounds when I touch it. I love the way it glistens in the sun. And yet one day, no doubt, my elbow will knock it off of the table and it will break. I love this glass because I know that it's already broken.”

Our lives are like broken glass. Your humanity glistens in the sun and tinkles with the sound of love shared, and yet it's in the broken places of your life that Jesus suggested that you seek happiness. That's a different message to the one we’re given in mainstream culture today. Jesus said that within the broken places of your humanity, that's where the gold will be found. That’s where the gems will be extracted around which you will pursue happiness. It's when you understand your brokenness that you don't grab life; you let it come and go around you without trying to put it in a bottle, without trying to capture those wonderful moments or experiences, and without trying to magnify those difficult experiences. We let life come and go around us without grabbing it.

America Ideals

The state of the nation- I’ve made no secret about my criticism of the current leadership of the country since I’ve lived here.  Many of you would share my concerns. The important thing that I've discovered in the last three years is that whatever the criticisms I have of the current leadership of the country it's because it's moved so far away from the founding fathers principles. It’s moved so far away from life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all.

It seems to me that if there is hope for this nation, it is to come back to those wonderful guiding principles, so that the American dream would not become a nightmare of consumerism and liberty for some over and against others. That is not the way to happiness. It's been tried and it has failed again and again.

The pursuit of happiness, whatever it looks like, and wherever it takes you, is about affirming life and humanity in its brokenness, affirming liberty for all people and affirming the pursuit of happiness.

All Things Considered

A final word for us as a community:  we have a wonderful heritage. We have people who many years ago were working hard at moving this community towards independence. Today, we celebrate you. Today we celebrate also those who are not here, who played a part in this exciting, evolving movement. We have this heritage and now we have a wonderful opportunity. We have an opportunity to be the type of community where all people are nurtured and encouraged to pursue happiness in their own way, whatever it looks like when they get there.

We simply stand with each other, broken glasses on the shelf of life. We stand alongside each other and we take one step after the other toward greater life, greater liberty, and greater happiness. And the words of Jesus ring in my ears:

“All things considered, are you content?