A Spirit Of Humility Series

PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS: SPIRIT OF HUMILITY

A. Ecclesiastes 2:1 (READ). (Good News Translation: “I decided to enjoy myself and find out what

HAPPINESS is…”)

1. What will it take to make you happy?

a. That’s the question Psychology Today asked 52,000 Americans.

COMMENT:

And their answers in rank order included: Friends. A good job. Being in love. Recognition or success. Sex. Personal growth. A good house or apartment. Being attractive or beautiful. Good health. The city that I live in. My religion. Recreation and exercise. Being a parent. And,

ironically, the last one was: My partner’s happiness.

b. Do you know what’s INTERESTING about that LIST?

COMMENT:

Virtually everything that is LISTED is an EXTERNAL THING or an EXTERNAL SITUATION. In other words, the popular idea of HAPPINESS is that I’ll have it if I can ever

LINEUP the RIGHT CIRCUMSTANCES.

VIDEO ILLUSTRATION:

In 2006 Will Smith and his son Jaden starred in a movie titled “The Pursuit of Happyness.” It’s based on the life of Chris Gardner and his son who were HOMELESS for 1½ years on the streets of New York City before he finally became a successful STOCKBROKER on Wall Street.

In the scene coming up Chris Gardner, played by Will Smith, is finally told after working a year in an UNPAID INTERNSHIP that they want to HIRE him for the JOB. (SHOW VIDEO)

COMMENT:

I liked this MOVIE, but Gardner’s “PURSUIT of HAPPINESS” is not the HAPPINESS Jesus described in Matthew 5:3-12. Being HOMELESS and finally getting a GOOD-PAYING JOB can certainly make one HAPPY, but such HAPPINESS is only TEMPORARY based solely upon GOOD THINGS HAPPENING.

2. Of course, this is not a NEW idea.

a. Our English word HAPPINESS is from the same root word as our English word HAPPENING.

b. So, if I can just get enough POSITIVE HAPPENINGS in my life, then I’ll be HAPPY! It’s

“WHEN AND THEN” thinking.

ILLUSTRATION:

WHEN I get out of school THEN I’ll be happy. WHEN I get a job THEN I’ll be happy. WHEN I get rich THEN I’ll be happy. WHEN I get married THEN I’ll be happy. WHEN I have children THEN I’ll be happy. WHEN all the children leave home THEN I’ll be happy.

B. We’ve all had the “WHEN and THEN” thinking.

1. That is what Solomon’s Ecclesiastes is all about. If you want to save yourself a lot of HEARTACHE

in your PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS, read and re-read Ecclesiastes 2.

COMMENT:

Solomon was by far the most POWERFUL man in the WORLD in his day and likely the RICHEST man who ever walked the face of the earth (including Elon Musk who is currently the RICHEST man in the world with a net worth of 222 billion dollars – I don’t even know how many zeros that is). Yet, Solomon wanted desperately to find HAPPINESS.

2. In Solomon’s PURSUIT of HAPPINESS, he discovered THREE DEAD ENDS:

a. The first DEAD END was “Accumulating Things”- vv. 7-8 (READ and COMMENT) (If it was

AVAILABLE, Solomon had it.)

b. The second DEAD END was “Experiencing Pleasure”- vv. 3, 10a (READ and COMMENT).

c. And the third DEAD END was “Achieving Success”- vv. 4, 9a (READ and COMMENT)

COMMENT:

Solomon tried to find HAPPINESS in MATERIAL POSSESSIONS, WORLDLY PLEASURE, and SUCCESS. And 3,000 years later, those are still the things we think will bring us HAPPINESS.

Did they make Solomon HAPPY? In v. 17 he says, “So I HATED LIFE . . . All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” Solomon, like countless others after him, realized that true HAPPINESS is not found in THINGS at all.

C. Turn to Matthew 5 and we’ll see what Jesus says about HAPPINESS.

1. I find it INTERESTING that of all the subjects that Jesus could have picked to start the greatest, most

famous sermon of all time?The Sermon on the Mount?He chose to speak on, “How to Be Happy.”

COMMENT:

Why would Jesus do that? Because He knew what it is that everybody WANTS and so few people FIND. So, Jesus began His SERMON with a LIST of what it takes to find TRUE HAPPINESS. And His LIST is vastly different from Solomon’s. Solomon’s LIST depended upon

OUTWARD CIRCUMSTANCES, whereas Jesus’ LIST depends upon one’s ATTITUDE.

In other words, “My happiness is not determined by what’s HAPPENING TO ME, but what’s HAPPENING IN ME.” Jesus wants us to understand that HAPPINESS is a CHOICE.

2. Matthew 5:3-12 (READ)

COMMENT:

The word “BLESSED” actually means HAPPINESS. And, yet, it seems that Jesus’ LIST will produce MISERY not HAPPINESS. That’s the PARADOX. It was Solomon’s LIST that

produced MISERY. Jesus’ LIST, if intensely APPLIED, will produce LASTING HAPPINESS.

MESSAGE:

I. FIRST ATTITUDE OF OBTAINING TRUE HAPPINESS IS BEING “POOR IN SPIRIT”- v. 3

A. Can you imagine what the people must have thought when they came to hear Jesus preach on the