Happy Hearts

sermon by Torin Eikler
Matthew 5:21-37        Deuteronomy 30:15-20

I have been thinking a lot about happiness lately.  I’m talking about deep happiness.  Not small moments of contentment or laughter, but the profound sense of joy and fulfillment that the Psalmist are always talking about when they say, “happy are those who … walk in the law of the Lord … who seek him with their whole heart.”  Those little moments are – I think of them as echoes – but I have been thinking about how they are different, and I have been wondering about it … wondering and reaching for the deeper joy.

I don’t always do that, sadly.  Usually, I think, I just move through my days taking care of business – getting things done and making sure my children get things done.  I certainly experience contentment and laughter … often, but … in the past couple of weeks, many of the voices that make up my conversation partners have been pushing me to go farther.

 

In my newest Netflix show of interest, one of the characters made the startling claim that we all have to choose between a happy life and a meaningful one.  To live meaningfully, he said, one must be constantly aware of the past and envisioning the future as we navigate the present.  To be truly happy, though, one must live entirely in the present without dwelling on the past or imagining the future at all.

That seems a bit extreme to someone who likes to look for a third way between the absolutes, and I tried to dismiss the thought.  I tried and failed because his words held seeds of truth.  As I thought about it I realized that I am not really happy … maybe cannot be happy … when I am thinking of the past or living in the future.  For me, at least, happiness is linked to the present, and I am not very good at living only in the moment.

 

A few days later, I heard an interview with a man who is conducting a study on happiness.  I would never have thought that “happiness” could be studied empirically, but it seems that scientists are making headway on that front.)  What I heard surprised me.  I was expecting more discoveries about the brain chemistry that is involved with happiness and other emotions since that kind of information has become more and more common in the past few years.  Instead, I the scientist began talking about tests that had been done using twitter and text messaging.  Those experiments seem to be pointing to exactly the same truth – the more our attention is focused on the present … on what we are doing at any given moment, the more likely we are to be happy.

My heart sank when I heard that confirmation of my struggle, but fortunately the conversation went on into more philosophical areas.  As the interview continued, the scientist began to talk about other wisdom that has been discovered and embraced by people seeking happiness throughout the ages.  Among the things he mentioned were the mindfulness of the Buddhist monks, the dancing of the Sufi dervishes, and, eventually, Jesus’ call to treat others as we would like to be treated. 

These (or similar) principles, he said, come up again and again across religions and cultures throughout history, and he was careful to note that they are also important parts of the happiness equation because simply living in the present moment does not seem to be enough.  We need to be doing something or working toward a goal that we believe is worthwhile if we want to find happiness, contentment, or joy.  You can’t just follow rule or even your heart.  Your heart has to be in the right place.

 

That seems like a more complete picture to me.  It fits with the words of the Psalmist and the wisdom of many Christians down through the centuries.  If we follow the guidance of God and the teachings of Christ, we will find a deep sense of joy and fulfillment welling up within us to fill each of our moments with light and life.

 

It sounds wonderful, doesn’t it?  … Just take a moment to imagine it.  Imagine it and enjoy the feeling of lightness and hope …

 

because Jesus’ words in these verses of Matthew are probably going to bring you back to earth.

 

“You have heard that it was said …, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’  ²²But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment…. 

²⁷You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ²⁸But I say to you that everyone who looks at [another] with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  ²⁹

³³Again, you have heard that it was said …, ‘You shall not swear falsely, ….’  ³⁴But I say to you, Do not swear at all…. ³⁷Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.”

 

But he doesn’t leave it there.  In his typical fashion, Jesus pushes us beyond the gentile vagaries of general moral teachings and into the challenges of real life….

 

“If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.  ³⁰And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell….”

That’s enough to bring anyone down.

 

It may be that Jesus spoke those words as an exaggeration.  Or it may be that Jesus did not say those exact words since the story was shared orally for many years before it was written down.  But I think there is a truth in those words that we can’t avoid no matter how much we try to wriggle past it – a truth about the nature of our struggle to follow in Jesus’ way – a truth about our natures and the nature of sin. 

We are vulnerable – prone to sin, and it can grow from even the smallest seeds in our hearts.  I’m not sure that we can get away from that no matter how hard we try.  And even though Jesus sets a pretty high standard, I am pretty certain that if we try to ignore it, we will make things worse.

 

 

As I was considering this passage and feeling weighed down as I tried to figure out how to share the word that we shouldn’t sin (which, by the way, we shouldn’t.  That’s a very important point.  Don’t sin.)… as I was pondering that challenge, another voice came back to me.  I remembered a conversation that I had years ago about exactly these words.

It began with the question, “Do you think Jesus’ really expected people to cut off their hands or poke out their eyes?  That doesn’t seem like something he would say.”  As you may have guessed, the conversation took place at seminary where people spend a lot of their time asking questions like that.

It’s a good question.  Do you think Jesus’ really expected people to cut off their hands or poke out their eyes?  Does that sound like Jesus to you?

 

I don’t think so.  I think taking those words literally would be a big … and painful … mistake. 

 

Does your hand cause you to sin?  Do your eyes?

Of course not.  Your eyes only provide information, and your hands only do what you tell them to.  Jesus knew that as well as you and I do.  I think he was trying to get people to think about that – to recognize that the motivation behind our actions … the reason why we do something is at least as important as what we actually do.

 

It’s all about the heart.  Sin starts with a seed in your heart – a seed that begins to choke off the wellspring of our happiness and our joy – a seed that grows into a tangle that separates us from God.

I realize that that doesn’t exactly make things easier.  Instead of having something concrete to do (however horrific), we have the challenge of keeping our hearts clear and open to God, and that is a challenge that people have all been struggling with for all of history.

This is where something my professor called “God’s Holy Heart Transplant” comes in.  He brought it up when our discussion reached this point, and it is helpful.  It’s one of those ideas that comes from taking words and ideas from all over the Bible and fitting them together into a nice neat package, and rather than walking you through all those verses, I’ll just summarize…. (If you want a cheat sheet, you can look at verse two of “Here I am, Lord” in your hymnal).

 

God has a deep desire to draw us close and be one with us, and God wants that to be our choice as well.  Because of her love for us, though, she does not turn away and abandon us when we choose a different path.  Instead, she waits with us, ready to reach out, break apart the stoniness of our hearts, and remake them into loving, compassionate hearts.  God is willing to clear away the debris and the wreckage of our bad choices and rewrite the new covenant there so that we can feel her love and joy welling up again and sense her guidance more clearly.

 

That takes some of the pressure off.  It’s not just about me … about us struggling to find our own path or striving to keep ourselves in line with God’s greater vision for our lives.  God is there to offer us guidance and more.  If we open ourselves us to it, God will even help us change our hearts so that the journey becomes easier … becomes natural … becomes the source of our joy.

But it still has to start with us.

It still has to start within us. 

 

As we look toward the season of Lent and repentance, let us prepare the way for joy and happiness by first sharing the Psalmist’s prayer, “Create in me a clean heart …” so that we may sing our praises in pure delight.

May it be so.