Good Morning Friends,
I can tell you what makes people happy. Its dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin. The best ways to produce those hormones and neurotransmitters is to exercise, eat a healthy diet with lots of different plants, pray, have purpose, do things that help other people and be in a community where you see people helping others. To produce them we need healthy relationships, preferably in family, including affection like hugs and intimacy. We can also stimulate those same happy pathways by eating comfort food like carbohydrates and chocolate and thinking about things for which we are grateful, and going for a walk in the sunshine, or even liking things on Facebook. And of course, you can get similar feelings by viewing sites that perversely mimic healthy relational behavior, and by taking drugs that mimic the function of these natural feel-good chemicals, but those paths tend to be very addictive and destructive. We can get attached to these earthly things and ways, but scripture suggest that this is not a good thing for they will all rust or turn to dust. Even our places of worship will change. And that brings us to today’s question about what will happen if things change in ways we do not anticipate, or God forbid, things get worse. So, Will The Replacement Of What We Have Become Accustomed Make Us Happy?
Scripture: When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.” They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them. “When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.
Luke 21:5-11 (NRSV)
Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like the Son of Man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand! Another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to the one who sat on the cloud, “Use your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is fully ripe. “So the one who sat on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped. Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. Then another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over fire, and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the vintage of the earth, and he threw it into the great wine press of the wrath of God.
Revelation 14:14-19 (NRSV)
Message: A few years ago, on Christ the King Sunday, the lectionary scripture, prompted me to write that we were headed for a brick wall and that not all was serene optimism. I had just retired. My kids had just gotten married and started planning a family. Then what happened next was that the Pandemic hit, a divisive election followed, and now today we are still recovering from Hurricane Ian. So, in a way I was right about the brick wall, but it was more like the one in the Harry Potter movies at the train station, where you push through them into a different reality. So, friends, I do not think I can go back to the way it was. The whole world has changed, and we are in the cone of uncertainty for lots of things. Sure, I love the idea of taking a vacation and enjoy singing in the choir again, but the thing is that I was relatively happy even during the Pandemic. The Pandemic confronted us all with a little fear and the uncertainty that arises from slap up the side of the head to wake us up. And even though we have had some successes in confronting the current challenge, what looms ahead looks a lot like the conservation of problems, where every problem solved creates an unexpected new problem. I sympathize with those who claim we are headed for the evilest of days if only to bring a little optimism into their lives. One hundred years ago people wondered if the fierce battles of World War One represented the Apocalyptic Armageddon. Then came World War Two and the industrialization of war. Now we are in another century with new failures and conquests and an unleashing of terror where we least expect it. We think that maybe the end is near, but Jesus tells us in a reassuring voice that the timing is up to the Father. Yes, sometimes the world seems to be falling apart and somehow God pulls it back together again. Some things last and others do not. It depends on internal integrity more so than outward appearances. We need to be optimistic but honest about the future. We need to be tending the Temple in each of us. Interestingly today’s Gospel text comes right after the story of the Widow’s mite. The picture is of the corruption of the Temple from the inside out. And forty years from its first telling most of Jerusalem would be destroyed. So, Jesus paints a picture of what his disciples would have to face, and it is not a pretty picture. So too we today are to be obedient to Jesus’ instruction.
And So, we have been given the opportunity to name our experiences and so are not to be anxious about them. We are not to look for quick fixes. We are not to become defensive. We are to be ready to witness with our words and actions and life to what God has done and who we believe Jesus to be. We are to lay a firm foundation of our faith in our belief that Jesus is who he says he is…the love of God to save the world…the King of Creation. So, it is natural to wish to go back to the way things were before the Pandemic and maybe even before we met Jesus. But once you interrogate that idea it is an impossibility. We have pushed through that brick wall. We have experienced and continue to experience this reality in slow motion only to discover that it is really part of a revolution that could lead to a more equitable society, or, perhaps as some fear, a rise in authoritarianism and violent upheaval. We are all in the cone of uncertainty and need to prepare. But one reason I can never be a true pessimist about humans is the humans themselves who reflect the light of Christ. People, especially when pushed to extreme situations on the brink, have ways of surprising us and doing things that seem impossible. People figure out ways to go up against powers and trends and systemic realities and natural disasters in a way that changes history. So, I place my hope in the unshakable resolve of those fighting the good fight and in the one who brings victory in Jesus and this in the face of it all brings me joy and the understanding that nothing makes us happy unless we choose to be happy. Friends, nothing outside of us ever makes us happy. Don’t be deluded.
Pray we take heed of Jesus’ directives in preparation for difficult times even though we hope for the best. Pray we stand in the promise of God’s love no matter what the world has laid before us. Pray we are not led astray by false promises. Pray we are not terrified in the face of difficulties. Pray we prepare our defense in advance. Pray we believe in the sovereignty of God and not be fooled by false Messiahs. Pray we are not terrified even though the future is not always bright. Pray we have words of wisdom when facing difficult times. Pray we realize that it is not always easy being a Christian. Pray we risk improving the lot of others. Pray we realize that vengeance belongs to the Lord. Pray we take hope in the joy of Christ. Pray we are prepared for the coming of Jesus. Pray we choose the hope of Christ in all our situations. Pray we realize that this is the day the Lord has made, and we are to rejoice and be glad in it.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 