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October
19, 2003
Sermon: "The HappyLite Switch"
Scripture: Job 38:1-7
Reverend Larry Gerber
This is
National Mental Health Month. I continue today, where I left off last week.
Is the glass half empty, or is it half full? We are always searching for an
answer to our many woes in life. Continuing to search for a reason, or at least
an explanation to our lot in life, when the going gets tough. I think it was
Teddy Roosevelt who said: "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."
Life is a series of ups and downs. It seems that when we are up, we are happy,
and let people know how we feel, and usually give ourselves credit for our happiness.
On the other hand, like Job, when the going gets tough, we wonder why God "did
this to me"; " what have I done to deserve this?"
Lucy, in that infamous comic strip Charlie Brown is seen one day conversing
with Charlie, the psychiatrist. Lucy screams that she doesn't want any downs.
"Why can't I have ups and ups and more ups. Why do I have to have downs?!?"
Charlie Brown's words of wisdom are simple: "Well Lucy, life does have
its ups and downs." end of session...
Researchers have discovered that a blast of brightness can make a difference
to sufferers of Seasonal Affective Disorder, which raises the possibility that
each of us — like the long-suffering Job — can use more light in our
lives.
It was a dark day for Job. So black, in fact, that this unhappy old man sat
right down on a heap of dung — a mound of manure. Job's losses were painful
and depressing. His entire family was lost, and all his animals, all his tents,
all his wealth and worldly goods, even his health, were lost — all gone.
He was caught unaccountably, unexpectedly, in a snare of despair, despondency
and desolation. We've all been there, to some degree. We've felt a similar loneliness,
a comparable isolation and a certain lack of motivation. And we ask the same
question that Job asked — "Why me?" There are no doubt times
when we, too, feel as though the bulb of happiness has burnt out. When this
happens, people who know about such things tell us to exercise more, out-of-doors
if possible, indoors if necessary. We should also allow more light into our
lives at work and at home, we're told. Open the windows and doors, pull back
the curtains, raise the shades. In classrooms, restaurants, at home or the office,
sit facing or near bright windows. But if that doesn't work, turn on your HappyLite.
The HappyLite is a full-spectrum fluorescent lamp in a box that provides balanced,
glare-free bright light. Sitting, reading, knitting or working, with its rays
entering your eyes for a half-hour each day throughout the dark months, will
really make you happier. This light will banish your blues. Flick the switch
and feel well. It's that simple. Or not. If only all our troubles and hard times
were so simply solved, by the flip of a switch. It would have been easier —
much, much easier — for Job if he'd had one of these little lights to turn
on.......and you would not need a preacher, doctor, psychiatrist, or "happy
pills". We are all faced with anxieties, questions, and suffering, to one
degree or another. We sometimes feel like Job. If only we had a HappyLite......Our
pain is real, our fears are real, our anxieties are real. So often, we hear,
"It's only in your head"....well, ya, but it is real. Take a happy
pill, or "get a life" trivializes Jobs suffering — and ours.
His losses were real and painful. There was no HappyLite for him, and ultimately
a HappyLite, while providing palpable relief for thousands for mild depression,
doesn't deal with the deep and profound issues of suffering. What is especially
vexing is the problem of innocent suffering. Self-inflicted wounds we can live
with. But when we suffer for no apparent reason, the first question is understandably
"Why?" or "Why me?" Such questions betray an understandable
egocentric notion about suffering — that it's all about me. It's all about
us. If Job learned anything in this experience, he learned that suffering wasn't
about him, it was about God. Suffering tends to turn us inward, it becomes a
mirror in which we see only ourselves and wonder why such disfigurement has
come our way. Kathleen Norris argues that we "should drop the mirror and
look for God."
Have you ever seen the reactions of a depressed person when he/she gets up in
the morning. The first thing that person does is look in the mirror, and begins
to grumble about how bad they look. Their hair is a mess, eyes are baggy and
bloodshot....."Look at me, I am a mess".
On the other hand, watch a person who feels pretty good about themselves. They
avoid the mirror syndrom! They go about their business of getting ready for
the day, and look in the mirror when need be to comb their hair, or put on make
up, etc.
Basically we all are a frightful picture upon awaking, but there is a time to
look in the mirror, and a time to drop the mirror, and look at God. Indeed,
the question in suffering, as God points out to Job, should not be "Why?"
but "Where?" Where is God in all of this? Job may not have known where
God was, but God knew where God was. He asks Job: Where were you when I laid
the foundation of the earth?. Where were you when I determined its measurements?
Where were you when I stretched the line upon it? Where were you when I shut
in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb? Where were you when I
made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band? Where were
you when I prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors? Where were you
when I said, "Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your
proud waves be stopped"? The issue for Job was not whether he had his HappyLite
on. It wasn't a test to see if he could be joyful in suffering. It was a question
of whether he could continue to trust a God when everything that was happening
in his life seemed to argue against a God who could be trusted! We have to admit
it — there are times when the evidence is against God, or at least our
popular conception of God. If we're not willing to admit that, we're not being
honest. • Yes, the loss of his oxen and sheep counted against the notion
of a providential and loving God. • Yes, the loss of his servants counted
... • Yes, the loss of his camels counted ... • Yes, the loss of his
sons and daughters counted ... Only his wife remained, and there came a point
where Job considered that to be an exacerbation, not relief, of his troubles:
"You are talking like a foolish woman," he said once in exasperation.
"Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble? (2:10 NIV). In his suffering,
Job had an opportunity to encounter God. It was a powerful experience in which
he learned more about God than he did about himself. Job learned to look at
God, not in the mirror. In the film Forrest Gump, there is a scene in which
Lt. Dan, Forrest's good friend, rails against God. Lt. Dan had been sent to
Vietnam. There his legs were blown out from under him. His life as he knew it
was over. He fell into an awful funk of despair that led to abuse of alcohol
and drugs. He lost all desire to live. When Dan and Forrest meet up again on
Forrest's shrimp boat, a storm comes up. Dan climbs up the netting to the top
mast, and there, swaying and swinging in the gale, he vents his anger at God.
The words stream out in a fury. He challenges God to appear, to show up like
a man. He ridicules the God who has taken away his legs, his livelihood, his
pride, his manhood. "You call this a storm?" he shouts into the wind.
Then there's this "Boom!" and a blaze of lightning and a crash of
thunder. God was there — no doubt about it. In the end, Lt. Dan, with the
help of prosthetic technology, walks again, discovers love and finds his humanity
reclaimed. Suffering is not about us. It's about being able to see God in the
presence of the storm — and know that God is there. The Jerry Lewis Telethon
is about "his kids" and their plight in life. His job is to raise
money for research and a cure. His closing song is about God: "When you
walk through a storm, lift your head up high........ Assurance that God is there,
in the midst of your storm God told Job to stand up, be a man. Gird up your
loins, man! I haven't abandoned you. I've made everything ... including you!
(Job 38:3) Even in hard times, God never abandons us. In the end, God restored
to Job all that he lost. And through Christ, God can restore to us — not
necessarily what we have lost, but perhaps what we did not know we needed and
what we did not know we lacked. No HappyLite here. But the Light of God living
in us can lead us through any valley of the shadow of darkness. The Light of
God living in us is the hope in the midst of despair, joy in the midst of sadness.
If we find ourselves sitting atop a dung heap in life ... if we find ourselves
sad, or depressed ... if we find ourselves in hard times of any kind ... God
will be there with us, being the Light for us, so we don't lose our way.
Next week, Susan Greg-Schroeder will be our guest preacher. She is dynamic.
She has a real life story, hers, that can match Job's. She will share how she
weathered the storms of her life, and why she is coping with it today. She will
share in a 3 hour workshop beginning at 11am next Sunday. You won't want to
miss this. It is will be a powerful, heart warming workshop on the issue of
mental illness. She has learned how to walk "In the Shadows of God's Wing"
a book that she has written, based on her life experiences, and one that is
used across the country as a workbook on depression. I encourage you to sign
up for this workshop. It is only 3 hours, including a light lunch, but it is
3 hours that can change your life.
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Sources: Atlanta Light Bulbs Web Site, atlantalightbulbs.com/happy.html. Retrieved
April 2, 2003. "Depression, Seasonal Affective Disorder," National
Mental Health Association Web Site, nmha.org/infoctr/factsheets/27.cfm. Retrieved
April 2, 2003. "SAD information sheet," Outside In Web Site, outsidein.co.uk/sadinfo.htm.
Retrieved April 2, 2003. "Seasonal affective disorder," Family Doctor
Web Site, familydoctor.org/handouts/267.html. Retrieved April 2, 2003.
Let me know what you think. The church Email is: SLUMC@att.net, Phone: 480.895.8766