“God also wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from him, and when they touched the sick they were healed, and the evil spirits departed from them” (Act 19:11-12).
Pastor Kevin Berry tells of his recent trip to the island nation of Cuba, where people brought the clothing of those who were sick, that he might pray over them and that they might then take the articles back to their children, and they would be healed. He recounts how hungry the people were for spiritual things, traveling great distances by foot or in the back of dump trucks to hear the word of God. How on Sunday for church services, there not being enough room in the building for the masses, they stood outside in the sweltering heat to worship God.
This hunger for God is not seen in America—not often, anyway. Berry shared how one person did not come to church on Sunday because it was raining. How Mt. Hope’s attendance went down when during the renovation of the main sanctuary people had to sit on plastic chairs in the event center (converted gym). Quite the contrast.
Our Constitution speaks of the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and I believe God wants us happy. In fact, Scripture speaks of His giving us all things richly to enjoy. But more that this He wants us saved, and I think personal happiness has gotten in the way. I think it may have become our god.
Jesus tells the parable of a certain rich man, who land had been very productive, “and he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ The he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’”
And then our Lord gives us the moral of the story: “So is the man who stores up treasures for himself, and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:16-21).
Pastor Berry also told of the pastors they visited in Cuba, the home of which he described as being but three rooms with dirt floors. It makes me think of how I’ve been planning to replace the carpet in our family room because its 15 years old. Better than dirt!
The point is we are all so caught up with our comforts. Our collective goal in life is happiness, peace, and contentment. All this while just on the other side of the big lake people face terrorism, war, homelessness, political upheaval, Sheriah Law, horrible natural disasters, disease, and extreme poverty. Berry told us the other night that the average wage in Cuba is $9 per month. For a doctor its $25 a month.
I wonder at Jesus’ statement about storing up treasures for ourselves, if in our day this looks like investments in stocks, bonds, precious metals, and the like. The goal for most men like me is to be retired with a healthy nest egg so that they can live happily ever after without any need. I don’t decry such things, as many of my friends and associates are retired—several on the church board are retired. But if that is the goal, and if pensions are the security, and if personal happiness is what we serve, is it not evil? Might God show up one day and say, “You fool! This night your soul is required of you!”?
My goodness! I want to be happy. My wife is happy. But I testify to the truth of God that nothing makes me happy; the only thing that makes me happy is experiencing the Lord and His word. Its knowing, really knowing, God’s love and God’s presence. That makes me happy. Its being used of God to impart into someone else’s life something of the Lord; that makes me happy. Its giving, that makes me happy.
I want to be content, but I want it to be like Paul’s contentment, whether I’ve enough or not enough — “I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”
Of course, I desire nice things, and God has blessed Barb and me with a beautiful home in a wonderful neighborhood. We’re well fed and have nice clothes, and really can have most things we want. But these things are like dung compared to the nearness of God, to intimacy with God, to hearing His voice and experiencing His presence. I’d rather give than having what funds I have tied up in a second mortgage or paying on debts for toys that can never satisfy. We’ve been praying about a place on a lake, how we’d love to be able to get away for rest, for peace and quiet, for me to write. But to do this would eat up the extra monies we have for being generous, and I don’t want this.
The Lord Jesus prefaced the parable above with this remark, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions” (verse 15).
Solomon’s book Ecclesiastes tells of how man’s pursuit of happiness through things is “vanity and striving after wind.” He concludes his treatise by saying, “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.”