The Happiness Scale- Anyone been to the ER or Hospital? If so, you’ve probably been exposed to the pain scale. The doctor or nurse asked you, on a scale of 0 to 10, how bad is the pain? The scale looks something like this:
This is considered a universal tool to measure pain. The funny thing is, if you’re lying on a stretcher in the ER, and someone just asks you how much it hurts, it’s hard to be objective! It’s your wrist (or whatever) and if it wasn’t a 9 or 10, you wouldn’t be in the ER, right?
So, a 0 is pretty obvious. A 10 is the greatest pain you can imagine. All of us have a different tolerance to and understanding of pain.
Working in hospitals, I’ve seen people answer 10 when asked what their current pain level is, and they’re playing games on their cell phone, or asking if they can go outside for a smoke, etc…Sometimes we’re not too good at assessing ourselves. We think if we tell everyone it’s a 10 maybe we’ll get more attention or faster service or whatever.
My worst pain moment (for physical pain) was some years back when we were out of town visiting my family in Santa Rosa. It was after midnight; I couldn’t sleep and was aware of increasing pain in my chest. It kept getting worse and then it got so bad it was hard to breathe and I broke out into a cold sweat. I was pacing the floor and could not get comfortable. Robyn woke up and asked how I was doing. She almost immediately said we’re taking you to the hospital.
I remember checking in, and telling them I was having severe chest pain, and of course I was told to have a seat. It must have been a slow night because I remember being the only one in the waiting room waiting to be seen. After pacing the waiting room for what seemed like forever- probably 10 or 15 minutes, I knocked at the reception window and said, I doubt this is a heart attack, but if it is, shouldn’t I be getting checked out? They immediately took me back and started hooking up monitors, etc…
For me, the pain was a 10- because I couldn’t imagine being in any more pain and still being conscious. After the EKG and chest x-ray, they said it wasn’t my heart. I had experienced severe pain before with ulcers, so I knew it wasn’t that. Eventually we figured out it was a gallbladder attack.
A morphine injection got me relaxed. I just remember laying on the ER bed and resting until the pain kicked in again. Then they would ask me how much pain I was in, and when it was in the 7-10 range, it was followed by more morphine. This was repeated for most of the night. Robyn could probably say how long this was, but I had no concept of time. Finally the pain decreased to the tolerable level (0 to 3) and I was sent home with instructions to follow up with a surgeon back home.
The Pain scale is a useful tool for comparing the current pain level with some measurable standard. We all have different tolerances to pain, but having the scale is especially helpful when the patient is objective about their pain. My 7 might be your 5. It’s just a reference point!
The important thing for the doctor to know, is whether the treatment is making you better or not!
OK, let’s make the connection-
I propose that we could easily flip the ‘Pain Scale’ into a ‘Happiness Scale’. Rather than measuring physical pain, we would measure ‘Happiness’.
The Be-attitudes: A Happiness Scale
- No issues! 10- I can’t take it anymore!
Keeping with the comparison, What’s your current level? Are you feeling pretty good about things in general?
Everyone desires Happiness!
Last week we said that the world offers Happiness but it falls short of delivering. It doesn’t take much of a look into the news, or People Magazine, or TMZ or whatever, to see that people that we would call successful in the world’s eyes are often very unhappy! I like to joke when I hear of some poor miserable millionaire and say “God bless me with the problem of how to deal with fame and riches.” That’s kind of what some stories and movies have sprung from- The Prince and the Pauper, where they trade places for awhile.
But more importantly, as Christ followers, we are promised an ‘Abundant Life’.
Jesus teachings, when applied to our life will bring satisfaction, fullness, joy- Happiness! Nothing can crush feelings of depression and anxiety like the promises of God!
In this series which I’ve called “Happy” we will be talking about real happiness and how to not only be happy, but how to live happy!
If we’re currently a 3 perhaps there are some things we can do to bump it up to a 5,7 or even a 10!
So again, we are to live in community (or Kingdom!), seeking the presence of God and looking to the permanent happiness that will reach its maximum fulfillment when we put aside our mortal bodies and enter our eternal home!
Since we’re here in the temporary Earthly life, we aren’t left to ourselves to just hang out and survive, we are given instruction and encouragement through Jesus. Last week we overviewed the ‘Be-Attitudes’ and saw that there were nine different pairings of right attitudes with companion promises.
The Beatitudes that Jesus teaches are ‘Kingdom Principles’.
More than just rules, they are ‘attitudes to be’! Notice also that these are not directed to unbelievers, but to the children of the kingdom. They are also instructions on how to do life the way Jesus intended- as a family working out life together!
When Jesus taught the Beatitudes, I believe He meant for them to be taken as a whole. All nine are evidence of a Happy, God centered, Kingdom focused life. You could read it like this:
Happy People are poor in the things of the World but have recognized their need for God and live in His Kingdom!
The Big Idea- Using the Beatitudes as a ‘Happiness Scale, How Happy are we?
Rather than looking at the Beatitudes as something we should strive to be, I think an objective review of our current state will reveal our current spiritual happiness.
The solution if we come up short isn’t to try harder! Any more than trying not to feel pain will improve your pain score when you break your ankle!
Psalm 16:11 (ESV)
11 You will show me the way of life,
granting me the joy of your presence
and the pleasures of living with you forever.
Anyone here use a GPS, or a GPS App on your phone? You can set a course, but then its up to you to follow it!
When you go off course, the little voice says ‘recalculating route’! That’s a bit like the Holy Spirit when we get off course! Set your internal GPS for the Kingdom of God!
Happiness, peace, joy, love, essentially all the fruits of the spirit are evident in this ‘Happy’ life! We don’t get them by striving hard for godliness, we aren’t rewarded with them because we’ve been especially good this week! They are given by God! We are ‘shown’ the way of life, and if we just follow this simple way, the Happiness, the Blessings as Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount are ours!
The Be-attitudes
3 “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him,* for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
Happy People are poor in the things of the World but have recognized their need for God. His kingdom is their kingdom!
4 God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Happy people can mourn, but know that sorrows are temporary- Eternal joys awaits!
5 God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth.
Happy people are humble people! As children of the Father, everything is already theirs!
6 God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice,* for they will be satisfied.
Happy people are fair people! It’s hard to be happy in the face of injustice.
(Slide)
7 God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Happy people have experienced God’s mercy, so they understand the value of compassion!
8 God blesses those whose hearts are pure,
for they will see God.
A happy heart is a pure heart! They see through lenses unclouded by the pollutions of this world. They see with Kingdom eyes!
9 God blesses those who work for peace,
for they will be called the children of God.
Happy people pursue peace- their nature is to find resolution to conflicts that lead to misery.
10 God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
Happy people go against the grain of this world. (Jesus confessed to Pilate that His Kingdom was not ‘of this World’.
11 “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you* and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. 12 Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven.
The first and the last Beatitude each state “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The fact that both the first and the last in this series contain the same phrase is the mark of a literary device known as “inclusio,” and indicates that the kingdom is the subject of each item in the series. Thus each beatitude is making some statement about life in the kingdom of heaven.
So, what’s your current ‘Happiness level’? (or, your Kingdom level?)
Let’s be determined to set our GPS’s on the Kingdom of Heaven, Amen?
