The Geography of Happiness

Perhaps one of the greatest of the Bible preachers and teachers of the past generation, Vance Havner, once said, "The business of a doctor is not to make sick people happy , but to make them well. When they are well, they should be happy.

Christ came to earth not primarily to make everybody happy, but to save us from our sins. When we have been healed , we shall be happy. Moreover, getting sick people to act as if they were well does not cure them of their infirmity. We must deal with the trouble (sin) itself."

This philosophy of life is hard to find and even harder to place into practice in our day and time. We seem to feel that happiness is the great pursuit of mankind. But are somewhat like the dog chasing his tail in our perpetual quest for it. We seem to spin around in endless circles seeking it. I often think of this when I observe the things people are involved in and the places they seem to go in search of happiness.

Have you ever noticed that those who live in the mountains or outback seem to think happiness lies along the coast and beaches of this great land? Or that those who live along the beautiful coast line seem to feel that happiness must lie over the horizon in the mountains or outback? Or that those who live in the north seem to think the geography of happiness lies southward and those in the east think it lies westward and vice versa? And that during holidays all these people meet each other on congested highways in a frantic scramble to squeeze the last ounce of happiness out of each precious moment? Or is it that everyone feels that variety is truly the only spice of life?

But Biblical philosophers such as Vance Havner are not the only ones who see the truth that the geography of happiness has a vertical rather than a horizontal dimension. Most psychologists and counsellors of any note and worth now seem to agree that the best therapy man can receive is to experience freedom from guilt (sin) and a sense of oneness and rightness with His Creator.

The fountain of happiness does not flow from some mystical and magical garden to be found at the end of a ceaseless earthly quest, but from the very throne of God in the garden of God. In spite of all those who would deride and decry the quaint idea, the paradise lost in the garden must truly be found by each individual before happiness can flow in life, both in the here and now and the then and there. This idea is not just someone's wistful vision of pie in the sky by and by, but the only basis for true and lasting happiness. And all those who say they are not looking for that pie in the  sky by and by, but will grab theirs right now, seem to be doomed to continue their sad, senseless and ceaseless quest.   - Pastor John White

Three Wise Men

Why has the story of the wise men who travelled far and brought gifts to Jesus come to represent real wisdom throughout the ages? It’s unlikely these wise men were university graduates with Ph.D.’s. We have no record of their academic pedigree, yet we know they were wise men. Their wisdom is not necessarily reflected by the enormity of their intellect or accumulative knowledge, but by their simple act of seeking to know and worship Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

So it is today. Many in our world are seeking many things. Some seek riches, and upon accumulating them, find the need to accumulate more an all consuming passion. They finally conclude that there are not enough riches in the whole universe to satisfy man’s desire for more affluence.

Inevitably, at the end of life’s way, they find the acquisition of riches has no eternal value or significance.  The words of our Saviour about the temporal nature of riches are all too apt. No matter how much a man may accumulate, when he leaves this world he leaves it all behind. As someone said,  “Have you ever seen a hearse pulling a trailer?” Those seeking fortune always find it cannot buy the simplest joy or real happiness.

Some seek fame, and upon achieving it, find the fleeting fragility of fame and fortune. Just a surface survey of the tragic stories of some recent and contemporary politicians, entertainers and entrepreneurs, will easily confirm the illusory nature of imagined fulfilment through fame and fortune.

How many spend their last days amid the ashes of decaying memories of fleeting moments spent in the fading spotlight of public adulation and popularity? It is sometimes sad to see how the mighty have fallen as a result of man’s cruel propensity to cut down the tall poppies.  Some seek power as the ultimate high of human experience. Only those who have experienced power over the lives of others can really know how seducing this temptress can be. As it is said, “Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts, absolutely.” But one only has to consider the end of some of the most powerful men of history to realise the futility of such seeking. Nebuchadnezzar, the Ceasers, Hitler and more recently, the tyrants of the totalitarian communist world, vividly demonstrate the vanity of the quest for ultimate power.  But others, real wise men such as these, seek Christ. Real wise men seek Him as the eternal God of eternal spiritual salvation. After all, it was the Christmas angel that said, “They shall call His name, Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sin.” When real wise men bow their knee before Him in true repentance and faith, they discover eternal and abundant life in all its fullness and eternal significance. Why not be wise and seek Him with all your heart during this Christmas Season?

Have A Good Christmas!

"Have a good Christmas," the shop keeper said. I responded in kind as I turned away with my first Christmas purchase safely in hand. But I could not help wondering, "How many people using that expression this season really know what makes a good Christmas?"

Just what is involved in a good Christmas? Store aisles crowded with eager shoppers making the registers ring with the shrill sounds of shopping success? Bank accounts and credit card limits stretched to the breaking point? Post offices overflowing with those anxious to send that late card or package to family or friends in faraway lands? Bus and train stations, airports and highways congested with record crowds? Christmas parties resounding with ribald humour and reeking with fumes of an alcoholic revelry? A table groaning with a load of culinary delights and Christmas goodies guaranteed to break any diet or exhaust any medicinal remedy? An annual visit to a Christmas pageant or carol sing?

A good Christmas must mean much more than any of this. It must be a Christmas centred upon Jesus Christ, the person whose birth is being celebrated. A Christmas focused upon the greatest of all gifts; God's gift of His Son to a lost and dying world. A Christmas magnifying the meaning of the mission of God incarnate to planet earth. A mission made crystal clear by the angel's announcement to Joseph, "They shall call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins." And later clearly defined by Christ when he said, "The Son of man has come to seek and to save those who are lost."

A good Christmas must be one that has room for Jesus. The pathos involved in the paradox of a simple inn keeper turning away the Eternal Son of God has ever intrigued those who read the Christmas story. But how sad that our sophisticated contemporary culture still seems to have no room for Jesus in the homes or affairs of a nation.

A good Christmas must be one bringing real joy and peace to the world. Not the pseudo-peace or jocular joy that so often characterises earthly relationships and celebrations. But the spiritual joy expressed by the angels on the night of a Saviour's birth and the spiritual peace personally experienced by those who have been justified by faith in Christ.

A good Christmas finds its fruition in the human heart. The Saviour that was born into the world some two thousand years ago stands outside the heart's door during this season graciously seeking admittance. The Father said, "But as many as receive Him, to them He gives to power to become the sons of God, even to those who believe on His name. "Those who would have a good Christmas are those who would receive the Christ of Christmas into their hearts and homes the whole year through - and eternally. My sincere wish for you is that you will have a blessed and holy Christmas.

- Pastor John White