immigrants

Recipe For Happiness

Posted on by Betsy

I met with a frustrated spouse last week who outlined a list of grievances that she is experiencing in her marriage and ended with, “I’m just not happy.” She and her husband are starting marriage counseling, so I feel hopeful that the issues will be discussed and resolved. But the conversation made me ponder the subject of happiness. I believe she was honest in what she said, but it made me concerned for folks who pin all their happiness on one relationship with another person. Are there things we can do apart from our relationships that would bring happiness into our lives so that when those relationships go through rough patches, we can still find joy?

What does the Bible say about happiness?

Then I stumbled upon this nugget from Isaiah. The Old Testament prophet spent his career warning Israel about apostasy and their standing as God’s people. But did you know he also offers a recipe for happiness?

Isaiah 56 (Common English Bible)

The Lord says:
    Act justly and do what is righteous,
    because my salvation is coming soon,
    and my righteousness will be revealed.
2 Happy is the one who does this,
    the person who holds it fast,
    who keeps the Sabbath, not making it impure,
    and avoids doing any evil.

Act justly. Do what is righteous. Anticipate the coming salvation. Hold fast to God’s promises. Keep the Sabbath holy. Avoid doing evil. If you meditate on that list of ingredients, you can see how happiness would follow. And God goes on to ensure that his listeners understood that this recipe is not just restricted to the Jews but is available to anyone.

3 Don’t let the immigrant who has joined with the Lord say,
    “The Lord will exclude me from the people.”
    And don’t let the eunuch say,
        “I’m just a dry tree.”
4 The Lord says:
    To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths,
    choose what I desire,
    and remain loyal to my covenant.

We get a foretaste of the New Covenant in these verses regarding immigrants and eunuchs. These people certainly represented those outcast from Jewish society. Eunuchs were denied full participation in the temple rituals, according to Leviticus 21:17-20. God is saying very clearly that while society may deny them inclusion, all are welcome in God’s temple and courts. God is also saying that while you may feel outcast, the word of God is higher and stronger than your feelings.

Indeed when Jesus arrived, he opened up his ministry to the outcasts first.
5     In my temple and courts, I will give them
    a monument and a name better than sons and daughters.
    I will give to them an enduring name
    that won’t be removed.

Isaiah’s prophecy of a time when all would be welcome at the temple found its home in Jesus. He ate with sinners, healed the Gentiles, fed the poor and marginalized, and died for us all. His Temple is for the world.

Have you ever felt outcast in your community? Have you ever been shunned by family, neighbors, or the church? Are you lacking happiness in your life? Check the recipe again and see if you can spot a missing ingredient, starting with keeping the Sabbath.

May we open the doors wide for all to come in and taste and see that the Lord is good.

Happiness Pancakes by Mary Anne Mong

For Your Own Good

Posted on by Betsy

A very smart four-year-old I know recently told me that there are more stars in the sky than grains of sand on the beach. (Okay, full disclosure … it was my grandson.) Skeptics are welcome to go here. Naturally I believed him since he has known the word “paleontologist” since he was three and can identify about twenty different dinosaurs, including his favorite, the Mosasaurus. Have you ever heard of a Mosasaurus? Me neither.

So, when you read things in the Old Testament that talk about the number of stars in the sky, you know you are talking about a really big number. A really, really big number.

This passage ends with a reference to stars, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet. The writer begins with the startling question, “What does the Lord your God ask of you?” Have you ever thought about that? Do you even want to know? Maybe it’s too much …

Deuteronomy 10 (Common English Bible)

12 Now in light of all that, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you? Only this: to revere the Lord your God by walking in all his ways, by loving him, by serving the Lord your God with all your heart and being, 13 and by keeping the Lord’s commandments and his regulations that I’m commanding you right now. It’s for your own good!

Well, so far, so good. Revere God: check. Walk in all his ways: check. Love and serve him: check. Keep his commandments and regulation: daily effort, but we do the best we can. Check.

14 Clearly, the Lord owns the sky, the highest heavens, the earth, and everything in it. 15 But the Lord adored your ancestors, loving them and choosing the descendants that followed them—you!—from all other people. That’s how things still stand now. 16 So circumcise your hearts and stop being so stubborn, 17 because the Lord your God is the God of all gods and Lord of all lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God who doesn’t play favorites and doesn’t take bribes. 

“Circumcise your heart” is a hard teaching. The writer is suggesting we “cut away” anything extraneous thing that might prevent us from revering, loving, serving, and keeping the commandments. What would that mean in your life? Less screen time? Less arguing? Less bashing your ex on social media? Less spending money on frivolous things while people go hungry? Less self-indulgence?

And now for the challenging part.

18 He enacts justice for orphans and widows, and he loves immigrants, giving them food and clothing. 19 That means you must also love immigrants because you were immigrants in Egypt. 

I realize that immigration is a scalding hot political issue. It is complex and there are no easy solutions. But what exactly do you think verses 18 and 19 are saying to us? How can we care for the widows, orphans, and immigrants in our community?

20 Revere the Lord your God, serve him, cling to him, swear by his name alone! 21 He is your praise, and he is your God—the one who performed these great and awesome acts that you witnessed with your very own eyes. 22 Your ancestors went down to Egypt with a total of seventy people, but now look! The Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the nighttime sky!

God requires a lot from his people, but he gives even more. What does that mean to you today?

Tonight, look up at the stars and ask God to show you places where you might revere him more, love him deeper, serve him better, and follow his commandments with greater integrity. Remember what it says in verse 13; it’s for your own good! We have been made more numerous as the stars in the sky. We are his people! May we witness to the world what that means.

Grains of Sand by Michelle Robertson