Everyone wants to be happy.  Yet, the gauge for happiness differs from person to person each person has his or her own definition of happiness.  Many people tend to think that money is a quick path to happiness.  An American magazine called DebtSmart once ran a poll among American people.  The poll asked, “If you had more money, would you be happy?”  Of those who responded, 75% said “yes.”  But does more money equal greater happiness?

​Compared to Chinese People, Japanese people, on average, tend to be 9 times wealthier.  Yet, Chinese people are much more satisfied with their lives than Japanese people.  Compared to our past, today we are wealthier in terms of things we own that is, we have the means to lead more comfortable and luxurious life styles.  Despite this rapid growth of materialistic culture, we are perhaps not as happy as we were in the past.  In the US alone--compared to 40 years ago--the rate of divorce doubled, the rate of suicide among teens tripled, and the number of cases of clinical depression increased tenfold.

 What does this fact tell us?  Does it not tell us that happiness is not necessarily tied to external things, the material wealth we consider so important?  Happiness depends on our hearts, the state of our minds and not some things that we own.  One can buy a nice house and a nice bed with money, but one cannot buy happiness.  One can buy great many things with money, but one cannot buy a peaceful heart, that is, tranquility of heart.

 Many people boast that in a capitalist society, money renders all things possible.  Yet, if we take a look around us, there are so many things that money cannot accomplish.  Attaining happiness is one of them.  True happiness comes from our hearts and without that change in our hearts, we cannot feel true happiness, no matter how much money and fame we have.

Martin E. P. Seligman, a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, recently wrote a book called Authentic Happiness.  In his book, Seligman reminds us that in order for people to be truly happy, they must first turn their eyes to their occupations.  Seligman says that when people work whether they work for themselves or someone else they develop three ‘work orientation,’ or attitudes about their work.

 First, some people regard their occupation as a ‘job.’  Those who see their occupation as a ‘job’ expect nothing more from their work than to be paid for the work they perform.  They work because they have to work to make a living and for no other reason.

Second, some people regard their occupation as a ‘career.’  Whether they work for themselves or someone else, they see the work they do as a life-long occupation.  Those who consider their work as careers tend to invest more time and effort into their work.  They also feel greater satisfaction from their occupation than those who consider their work as a ‘job’ do.

 Third, some people regard their occupation as a ‘calling.’  For these people, the amount of money they earn doing their work is not really important; they work for the sake of working.  They believe that God called them to do their work.

 Seligman stresses that finding this ‘calling’ is a true key to happiness.  True happiness comes from finding this life-long calling, the work that people believe God put them on this earth to perform.  White-collar or blue-collar work, hard or easy work, or high-paying or low-paying work, it is important to find the work that one can truly enjoy.

 I agree completely with Seligman’s point of view.  People who do not see their work as a ‘calling’ cannot be truly happy.  There is no easy work, or easy job, in this world.  There is no work that one can be 100% satisfied with.  For all of you, have the belief that the work you do today, the jobs that you have, are the callings from God.  You are doing the work that God called for you to do.  When you have that belief, you will find true happiness.

 John Bisagno was one of the many pastors who served at the First Baptist Church in Houston.  When he was 20, and not long before his graduation from college, he was invited to his fiancee’s house for dinner.  Paul Beck, his future father-in-law, was a life-long pastor.  Paul Beck said the following to his future son-in-law:  “Of 10 people who start out as pastors at age 21, on average, only 1 remain a pastor by age 65.” 

 Bisagno could not believe what Beck said.  When he returned home that night, he made a list of his contemporaries who he thought would make great pastors in the future.  He came up with 24 names.  But do you know what happened 23 years after that day?  Of the 24 people Bisagno thought would make great pastors, only 3 remained as pastors. 

 Why is this so?  It is because people do not consider service in the ministry as a ‘calling.’  People who consider service in the ministry as a ‘job’ or a ‘career’ are bound to quit along the way.  There are great hardships for ministers.  Small pay, personality conflict with people, and many other problems may cause many pastors to give up their ‘calling.’  Why so?  Because they do not feel, or believe, that the work they do is indeed a calling from God.

 It is true.  Not only is it true for pastors, but for all people of this world as well.  Those who believe their work to be a calling are happy.  But those who think that their work is a mere job, a means to earn a living, are doomed to be unhappy.  Happiness comes from our hearts.  Specifically, true happiness stems from our relationship with God.  We cannot enjoy true happiness without believing that God is with us in everything we do!

 Today’s scripture is words of blessing that Moses gave to the people of Israel before his death.  It is dying words, as well as words of prophecy, from Moses, the peerless leader of Israelites.  He left these last words as he looked across the River Jordan into the plains of Canaan, atop Mount Nebo.  For 120 years he led the people of Israel through most difficult and turbulent times, through thick and thin.  Therefore, these words were truly important words, the words that summarized the lifelong faith of Moses.  After blessing the 12 tribes of Israel in turn, Moses proclaims the faith of the people of Israel through words of verse 29. 

 “Happy are you, O Israel!  Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord, the shield of your help and the sword of your majesty!  Your enemies shall submit to you, and you shall tread down their high places.”  “Happy are you, O Israel!  Who is like you?”  What great words!  Who is happier in this world than the people of Israel?  No one is happier in this world than the people of Israel.  For they are the people who live with the living God.  They will remain great, as long as they have the belief and trust in their calling that God presides over everything they do!  They are indeed happy!

 The people of Israel are the happiest people in this world, in three ways.

 First, they are happy because they are the people saved by the Lord.  They are happy because God has rescued Israel from sins and death.  From Exodus to the death of Moses, they ran into countless dangers, perils, and tribulations; yet, each time, God saved them. 

Those who believe in God today are ‘spiritual Israelites.’  Therefore, we, as Christians, are happy.  Why?  Through Jesus Christ, God saved us from sins and death.  You must believe the fact that you are happy because God saved each and every one of you!

Second, they are happy because God is the shield that protects Israel.  A shield is a weapon of defense, one that protects the warrior from his enemy’s swords, spears, and arrows.  The people of Israel experienced great pains and difficulties after escaping from Egypt.  They experienced every crisis imaginable.  But each time they ran into danger, God protected them like His own eyes.

 I believe that God will be our shield, the shield for the spiritual Israelites, I mean for us Christians.  He will protect us.  God will protect us from the countless sins of this world and the attacks from Satan.  All of you are happy.  Why?  Because God is the shield that protects you.

Third, they are happy because God is the sword of the triumph of Israel.  If shield is a defensive weapon, then a sword is an offensive weapon.  If the shield is a defensive weapon that protects us from all the sins of this world and the attacks from Satan, then the sword is a weapon of attack that destroys our enemies.  Israel is happy.  God is their sword of glory, one that destroys all their enemies now and forever.  God destroyed the mighty armies of Egypt to protect Israel.  He helped Israel defeat the armies of Amorites and the six native tribes of Canaan.

 Today, we, as Christians and the ‘spiritual Israelites,’ are also happy.  God, who is our glorious sword, helps us become victorious.  I believe that God will defeat each and every evil powers and beings that torment us.  He will always help us become spiritually victorious.

 What happens to the people of Israel, the people saved by God, protected by the shield called God, and chosen people whose glorious sword is God?  Look at the last part of verse 29.

  “Your enemies shall submit to you, and you shall tread down their high places.”  What does this mean?  In short, it means that absolute victory will be given to the chosen people of Israel.  When the people of Israel enter Canaan, all enemies of Israel will be completely defeated and destroyed like this.

 It is true.  The ultimate victory will be given to us, the spiritual people of Israel.  Depression, inferiority complex, despair, defeat, pain, and all such evils that torment us will kneel before us in the name of God.  We will become spiritually happy people!

 I’m sure all of you know Peanuts, the famous cartoon strip in almost all daily newspapers.  Peanuts, as you all know, was drawn by Charles M. Schulz (1922-2000), who died two years ago.   The main characters are Snoopy, the cute dog; a boy named Charlie Brown; and a little girl named Lucy.

 In one of the episodes, Charlie Brown and Lucy have the following conversation.  Lucy asks Charlie Brown, “Why do you think we’re put on earth, Charlie Brown?”  Charlie answers, “To make others happy.”

 Then Lucy replies, “I don’t think I’m making anyone happy…Of course, nobody’s making me very happy, either.”  And the last frame of the episode has Lucy screaming out loud, “SOMEBOY IS NOT DOING HIS JOB!”

 This episode of Peanuts gives us a lot to think about.  Both Lucy and Charlie Brown think that they work to make others happy.  But in reality, not only are they not happy themselves, they do not make others happy.  That is because we are all mere human beings.  Then who is the one that can truly make others happy?  It is God.  Happiness from other people does not last long.  It is not true happiness.  Only God is the source of true happiness!

 Saint Augustine confessed the following in the first chapter of his Confessions.  “God, because You created us to live facing You, our hearts are not content until we rest within You.”  It is true.  Humans are spiritual creations of God; therefore, we cannot attain true happiness without God.  Only in God will we find true happiness!

 I hope that each one of us experience the living God today.  I hope that each one of us fully enjoy the true happiness, the everlasting happiness that comes from God.  Amen.