‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’ Matthew 5:3
How can we, how can you, be happy? It’s basically the question which we spend our whole life working on. Which job should I take, so that I will be happy. Whom shall I date, whom shall I marry, so that I will be happy? Where shall I live, which house, which area, will make me most happy. Faced with decisions, especially the major ones, we ask this most fundamental of questions: how can I be happy?
Today, we celebrate the Feast of All Saints, and to many, perhaps, the reason why we celebrate this feast is somewhat lost. Why bother celebrating a load of people who are no longer with us, especially since we most likely did not know any of them? But take a step back, and this feast enables us to think most clearly about our fundamental question. This feast forces us to examine Jesus’ answer to this question which will not go away. How can we be happy? A French Christian, Leon Bloy, once wrote, “The only real sadness, the only real failure, the only great tragedy in life, is not to become a saint.” The truth is this: God made us, and He made us to love Him. That is, we are most ourselves, we are most happy, when we love God. And so if we would be truly happy, truly content, truly satisfied in this life, then we need to love God; and in loving God become the people we were made to be. There is the definition of a saint! A person who loves God—as seen in Jesus Christ—and as a result is slowly becoming the person they were made to be. The problem—of course—is that we keep chasing after other things, other things which promise to make us happy. Things like possessions, pleasure or power. And because these things are not God, they always, always let us down. If we love either possessions, or pleasure, or power more than God we will never be happy. All of these substitutes for God will pass away, and consequently we will be left unhappy. Only that for which our heart was made for—God Himself—will make us truly happy, and will make us truly happy for eternity. For only God will never pass away.
There is a danger in celebrating the saints, it is that we might be intimidated by them rather than encouraged to follow their example. If “The only real sadness, […] in life, is not to become a saint” and we look at all the amazing saints, all the amazing Christians, who have gone before us, the danger is, we may be tempted to think ‘Wow, I can’t do that’. Much like when we watch professional sport, when we watch a world cup—whether rugby or football or whatever—and we’re tempted to think ‘Wow, I can’t do that’. However, if we fall into that trap, well, we have everything upside down. For in fact, what do we find at times of great world cups? Participation in those sports actually goes up. People are inspired to love the game and to actually give it a go! In fact, it doesn't matter if we will never be as good as the professionals, we learn to love the game and to go and play it. And the same ought to be true of this Feast of All Saints, or indeed anytime we think of a saint or see a godly Christian in action. ‘Wow, being a Christian, loving God, trying to live His way, makes them happy… maybe I’ll give it a go too!’ The saints are there not to be superheroes whom we could never follow, but rather to be our inspiration, who make us see that living life God’s way is actually possible. The saints would want us to see, if they can do it then so can we!
Every saint is unique—every saint is different to every other—but what each saint has in common is the love of God, which is outlined in our reading from Matthew 5. Jesus is preaching at the very beginning of His ministry. He has just called His disciples together, and chosen the key twelve, and all of them, both the twelve and the rest of His disciples are gathered around Him. And it is there—on the top of a hill—that Jesus sets out what God’s kingdom is all about. It should be no surprise that in doing that, Jesus tells us what it looks like to be a Christian, what it looks like to be a saint, and in doing that answers our most basic question ‘How can I be happy?’
The word in our bible translated ‘Blessed’ just means ‘happy’. Look at what Jesus says: ‘His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them. He said: ‘Blessed/Happy are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’ In other words, happy are those who do not love possessions. If you look for happiness in possessions, in material goods or money, you will never be blessed, never be happy for you will never love the only thing which will truly make you happy: God Himself. Happiness is not found in possessions, but only in God. Next: ’Blessed/Happy are those who mourn, for they will be comforted’. In other words, happy are those who do not love pleasure so much that the live for it. If you chase after pleasure, if you look for happiness there, you will never be blessed, for the path to happiness—that is to love God—will take you through times of difficulty and hardship. Happiness is not found in pleasure, but only in God. Finally: ‘Blessed/Happy are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven.’ In other words, happy are those who do not love power and fame. If you chase after power, if you chase after popularity and the love of other people you will never be happy, you will never be blessed, for you will never love the only thing which will make you happy: God Himself. Possessions will not make you happy. Pleasure will not make you happy. Power will not make you happy. Only loving God will make us happy! For only in loving God will we become the people we were made to be, will we become saints. This is the secret which every saint, every godly Christian has found. This is the secret which turns every ordinary person into a saint, and—in the process—makes the person happy; both now and for eternity. Here is the secret to happiness, and the secret is to love God.
CS Lewis, the author of the Narnia stories, said: “Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.” That is love God, and you will get to enjoy all the good things in this world as well. The person who loves God wholeheartedly, will love their partner better, will love their friends better, will be better at their job, Why? For they are becoming the person they were always made to be. In fact love God, and you will be able to love everyone, for when you love God you will become more like Him, your life will mirror His! Look at our divided world, where in the U.S. Republican hates Democrat and Democrat hates Republican. Where in Europe Ukrainians hate Russians and Russians hate Ukrainians. In this country—all of the time actually—but especially since the budget, those on the left hate those on the right, and vice versa. In all of these examples, and so many more, we see the results of loving possessions, pleasure, and power. Loving things other than God leads us to hate, division, and abuse. However, if we love God then, and only then, will we truly be able to love every other person, whether friend or enemy. And so loving God not only gives us the title of saint, it starts helping us to live like one too. “Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in.”
Here is the challenge of the Feast of All Saints, and here is the answer to our most pressing question. If the only sadness is not being a saint, then our greatest happiness lies in becoming a saint, in loving God before everything else. And, in loving God, we find that we not only inherit the world in the next life, but get life and love, and happiness thrown in now. If the only sadness is not being a saint, then on this great Feast day of All Saints, let the saints who have gone before us, and the saints who are all around us, encourage us—encourage you—to love God before all things. And in loving God before all things, you will find that you are happy, for you will be a saint. Don’t miss the opportunity, turn to God in prayer now, and ask Him to make you a saint. You won’t ever regret it. Amen (from Fr Mike).