I struggled to find a message to convey at this special time of year. An event I read about in USA Today gave rise to this post. Last Friday the UN declared the first ever International Day of Happiness. Isn’t that too coincidental that within a week of the commemoration of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (the most sober time of our year) the UN focuses on the pursuit of happiness?
I’ve always thought it was rather odd wishing someone a “happy” Easter. It appears an unsuitable word to use for such a holy occasion. The “pursuit of happiness” is quite contrary to the message of Easter—happiness being defined by our culture in a self-oriented way: I am happy when things go well for me.
Do you know that the promise of happiness was Satan’s lie? “Eat the fruit; and you will live happily ever after.” (People are still eating the fruit of self-attained fulfillment.) There is a clear example of this in the Gospels. When Jesus gave the 5,000 a free lunch, they were happy. But shortly thereafter, when Jesus explained that His feeding had been an illustration of the greater truth, “you shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God…and unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life,” many stopped following Him.
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying God doesn’t want us to be happy; or that we should not wish people well on Easter. I’m saying we must be careful not to trivialize this Holy Day commemorating Christ’s death and resurrection with the world’s idea of happiness. The hard truth is Christ didn’t die to make us happy. In fact, He promised that if we follow Him, we will experience persecution and suffering. And in this we would find ‘happiness’ (blessedness)—not exactly in sync with the world’s notion of bliss. “Happy are the people whose God is the Lord!” (Ps 144:15). So, now that we've defined biblical happiness, dare I say "Happy Easter"?
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