Ella smiled turning the head of Mark. He was smitten with her at first sight and pursued her tirelessly. She loved the attention, attention that she had never received from the opposite gender. When Mark proposed she said "yes" primarily because she loved Mark for loving her and she was in love with the idea of marriage. After the "I do’s" Mark became a different person. He had won the prize and he no longer cared to pursue Ella. He neglected her physically and emotionally. Whenever he did show her physical affection it was to get what he wanted. Whenever he spoke with her it was to demand from her or demean her. Ella, having mothered three children by Mark, poured herself into the lives of the children and it was in her relationship with them that her loneliness was curtailed. That is until Steve came along. She met Steve through her oldest son’s soccer team. Steve and Ella’s sons played on the same team. Steve would make an attempt to speak with Ella at every practice and the two families would get together for pizza after every game. Steve was everything Mark was not. He listened to Ella. She felt like she mattered when Steve spoke with her. He complimented Ella. He told her she was pretty. He told her he liked her taste in clothes. He told her she was a great mother. Mark never said anything similar. When Ella first committed adultery with Steve it was not a decision she struggled over but something that was natural to her. Of course she would give herself physically to the man she loved. When Ella told her mother about the affair she justified it using words she had heard on talk shows and read in women’s magazines. Steve made her happy and she had a right to be happy. Instead of rebuking her daughter for breaking God’s commandment Ella’s mother actually encouraged her relating that although the children will not want a broken home they will eventually understand that the most important thing is that their mother is happy.

This story is fictitious and that means that I made up the characters of Ella, Mark and Steve but the story itself is not fictitious for it is similarly repeated in every suburb in America. And the underlining premise when similar adulteress affairs occur is that we all have a right to be happy.

This series of sermons was started with confronting the idol of subjectivism, followed by individualism. Today we detour from using "isms" and examine the idol of happiness. Although we detour from using "isms" happiness is still an idea. It is an idea that the ultimate goal in life is happiness and happiness is deserved to be experienced by everyone and thus it is understandable that each of us would do whatever is necessary to be happy in this life.

Challenging happiness could be like stepping into a hornet’s nest. Surely there can be nothing inherently wrong with being happy? The preacher can be the ultimate killjoy if he convinces his people that it is sadness God wants, not happiness. You will be calmed to hear that it will not be told to you that happiness is inherently wrong. Happiness is wrong only when it becomes an idol. As an idol happiness can be pursued in spite of God’s commandments. When the pursuit of happiness causes us to sin it is no longer something we experience but something we worship. And, when anything comes before our worship of God alone it must be cast down.

By now you may have anticipated that what will be preached here this morning will be in conflict with the so called "health and wealth gospel" that is preached on most Christian television productions. It will not be presented that God does not want us happy and yet it must be asked, from where did we get the idea that happiness was ever promised to us in this life? In the life to come it most certainly has been promised, but in this life no such promise can be found in Scripture. Objections to that statement can refer to promises of God regarding faith in Jesus Christ bringing into our lives love, joy, peace etc. and if you are defining happiness in that sense than you have a strong case. Such is an inner happiness independent of outer circumstances. What most, however, are referring to when defining happiness is a set of circumstances in life that allow for pleasure and it is in pleasure that people find happiness. It is that understanding of happiness that will be dispelled today.

The story of Ahab, Naboth and Naboth’s vineyard would be a comical lesson on the idol of happiness if it did not result in the death of Naboth. The scene open’s with Ahab, King of Israel, enjoying a comfortable life. Ahab had health and he had wealth. This fact should trouble the ilk of the "health and wealth gospel" for Ahab had health and wealth and yet he was not satisfied. Those who preach that the victory of Jesus upon the cross enables all who believe in him to experience health and wealth in this life have overvalued the satisfaction health and wealth bring. For Ahab it was not enough. He wanted more. He wanted what he did not need and what he could not have. Like Adam and Eve who could have all the fruit on every tree but one, and he wanted that one. Like King David before him who could have all the women he wanted but one that was married, Ahab wanted the one vineyard that was owned by someone else. Within Ahab’s heart is the sin of covetousness and he succumbs to the temptation to covet because he has placed happiness before him as an idol. He is convinced that Naboth’s vineyard would make him happy.

Naboth refuses Ahab’s offer for biblical reasons. When Israel entered the Promised Land each tribe and families within each tribe were given spots of land to live on and cultivate. These spots of land represented the inheritance that God had promised Abraham and his descendents. The land represents our heavenly hope. It is tide into the covenant God has with his people. For Naboth to sell his inherited land would be akin to you or me selling the heavenly promise we have through Christ. Naboth refuses based on biblical principle.

The reaction of Ahab is humorous. The King of Israel who has more than he needs sulks in his bed because he cannot get what he wants. Ahab is sullen. Ahab is unhappy. Ahab believes that Naboth’s vineyard would make him happy and because he does not have it he pouts. What Ahab needs is a spanking.

Instead of a spanking, Jezebel, Ahab’s wife, chooses pandering. She bows to the idol of happiness as well and believes her husband deserves to be happy. Thus Jezebel sets a plan in motion to kill Naboth. The two scoundrels in her plan were necessary to serve as two witnesses to testify that they heard Naboth curse God. Here is a great irony in the story for Jezebel, a woman who profanes the name of God in both word and deed, has a man put to death for profaning the name of God. This proves the axiom that sinful men will use the name of God only when it benefits them. The story also explains how the idol of happiness will convince us that it is to be served above the commandments of God. This bowing to happiness is what causes people like Ella to justify the sin of adultery and some even do so in God’s name. "After all," a person might justify, "God would want me to be happy wouldn’t he?" And what do we say in response? We may stammer in response because we agree with the statement, but from where does such a sentiment come? In Ella’s scenario desire has replaced duty as a virtue. When cornered we have to admit that if we believe that God is most concerned about our happiness we have no biblical evidence to support that belief. It is actually what we hope God would want rather than what he has actually said.

It was curious a few years ago, when the movie "Castaway" starring Tom Hanks came out. Critics applauded Hanks acting in the movie but maligned the ending. After Bobbi and I saw the movie we both had the same reaction. We were encouraged by the ending. The story begins with a man engaged who is going on a business trip. His plane goes down in an exciting scene and the Hank’s character ends up being the only survivor. The bulk of the movie shows how the man survives on a deserted Island for a number of years. Near the end of the movie he is rescued and reintroduced to society. When he is cleaned up he is reunited with his fiancé whom he discovers is now married to another and has children. At the end of the movie he visits her in her home. They talk and he soon leaves. She sees him pull out of her driveway and she decides to run out to him. When this happens the audience thinks she is going to give up everything because of her love for him. They passionately kiss in the car but then both come to the conclusion that their love for one another, their happiness with one another is less important than duty, than what is right to do. The scene ends with her exiting the car and going back to her family. Such an ending is rare in Hollywood and should be commended when produced.

Such an ending is not what we read in 1 Kings chapter 21. After Naboth was killed Ahab got what he wanted. He got Naboth’s vineyard.

The Lord intervenes and he is gracious to do so for he could have easily left Ahab to wallow in the false happiness and security of his newly acquired land. Elijah is sent to confront Ahab and pronounce God’s judgment. The judgment is harsh. Dogs are considered an unclean animal and for them to be licking up a person’s blood is a sign of a cursed life. When Elijah confronts Ahab, Ahab refers to the prophet of God as his enemy. Anyone with a contrary word to Ahab’s desires is his enemy. In fact, Naboth was Ahab’s enemy as well for those who bow to the idol of happiness believe that anyone who would interfere with their happiness is their enemy. Those who have been blinded by a false idea of happiness and a false way to attain that same happiness conjure up these enemies of happiness.

Elijah was far from being Ahab’s enemy for Elijah was commissioned of God to speak words Ahab needed to hear. He needed to hear them for the sake of his soul. Too often the devil tempts us to reject words of those who say what we need to hear for reasons such as manners and tone. Such reasons for rejection are to our detriment. When Elijah pronounced God’s judgment in its gory detail Ahab surprises us. He is contrite. He is humbled. He is remorseful and he repents. Perhaps one of the reasons Ahab is repentant is that he is confronted with how his present happiness with Naboth’s vineyard has a negative effect upon his future and the future of his family. This is another cause of bowing to the idol of happiness for it calls us to concern ourselves with what makes us happy now rather than what would make us eternally happy. From this vantage we can see how the idols of subjectivism and individualism are involved for Ahab has a subjective definition of happiness, the ownership of Naboth’s vineyard, and he thinks only of his individual happiness at the expense of others closest to him.

It is understandable that God’s judgment toward Ahab would make him unhappy. He pursued happiness and he reaped unhappiness. And so will all who pursue the idol of happiness instead of the kingdom of God.

The blessed attitudes spoken by Jesus in Luke’s gospel combined with some statements in this sermon might cause one to conclude that the Christian faith is supposed to be void of happiness in this life. Blessed are those who weep, Jesus said. In the times I have wept I have not felt blessed. Blessed are you when men hate you, Jesus said. I have been hated by my share of men and women and I have not felt blessed. Despite how we feel we are told to rejoice, to be happy in such days because our reward is in heaven. That statement is the point that makes the difference. It is our heavenly destination that matters most. Times of happiness in this life are to be appreciated and thoroughly enjoyed. They are a gift of God. A gift is something not required but given freely. When we are privileged to enjoy moments of happiness let us be thankful. When they do not come or do not come as often as you would like, do not become bitter. Do no pursue happiness in this life as if it is the end all of life’s experiences.

Stories like Ella’s are difficult because we don’t want to see people unhappy. We do not want to be unhappy and we do not want to see others unhappy. Ella’s happiness is not the problem. She thinks it is but as we know from Scripture she is trying to place a Band-aid on a bloody stump. Unhappy marriages or any unhappy situation in life are caused by many factors that cannot be quickly cured or replaced by ignoring God’s law. If it were so we would be trading happiness in this life or unhappiness in the hereafter. Not much of a trade. The inner happiness mentioned earlier is what we are to pursue for such is the Kingdom of God. There is no formula for achieving such happiness. There is not step-by-step approach. It does start and end with having faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in every life situation. We are to have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in a good marriage and in a bad marriage, in a good job and in a bad job, in good health and in bad health. Remember what Jesus told his disciples when they claimed to have given up everything to follow him, which was like saying they had given up everything that made them happy? Jesus said to them they would be rewarded multiple times over in the life to come. Those words are for us as well.