Pastor Steve's Recent Weekly Letter
Pastor Steve's Weekly Letter for Thursday, April 15, 2021
Happiness often eludes us. At least it seems fleeting. We experience it for a bit, but then it leaves us. Today I want to tell you a story about happiness. I am drawn to this story because it reveals the source of true happiness—not a cheap imitation of it. The story I am sharing is a love story, and its source is Kavin Rowe, a New Testament professor at Duke Divinity School.
On Kavin’s first day of college, he saw a beautiful girl sitting behind a table. She was passing out name tags. Kavin pointed her out to his friends and said, “You see that girl? I’m going to marry her!” According to Kavin, it took some time for the young woman to agree with him. But eventually she agreed, and they got married. They were so happy to be together, even though finances were tight while they were in graduate school. They had a son, and the happiness continued. Then life took a troubling turn.
Kavin’s wife got sick, and the diagnosis was not encouraging. Her disease was extremely rare, chronic, and untreatable. It would advance slowly until at some point she would die—due to exhaustion or a virus. As you can imagine, the young couple was stunned and scared. They began walking down a road Kavin has described as long, cruel, and hard. It has been filled with disability, medication, and profound isolation. Twelve years have elapsed since the diagnosis, and Kavin said recently he and his wife are at the end of the road. His wife is in hospice, and they are filled with grief.
It might be surprising, then, to hear Kavin say the two of them have come to know a love and a happiness that is deeper and richer than anything they could have imagined. Kavin describes it as exquisite. In fact, he says their happiness is something they could not have experienced without going down the road of withering and decline.
What, then, is the source of this happiness? Kavin says the source is hope. Their happiness is connected to hope. He says, “Our love story is part of a much grander story of hope—the pattern of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. We have discovered in an unsentimental way that the pattern of Jesus’ death and resurrection turns out to be the pattern of our happiness.” Kavin is referring here to what the Apostle Paul writes in Philippians 3:10-11: I want to know Christ-- yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
Hope, then, is the key to happiness. This does not mean happy people never experience grief. Kavin is quick to point out death brings grief, and followers of Christ will experience death as they participate in Christ’s sufferings. Yet, the sure and certain hope of resurrection brings happiness. Kavin and his wife have learned their experience of happiness has been the work of a lifetime. What they have needed is a constant reminder of their hope. Kavin says that thanks to the gospel, their “last words are not death and defeat and absence, but life and victory and reunion.” He and his wife firmly believe that in Christ they are part of a love story that continues on past death. Kavin says, “All imitations of happiness will flee when real suffering and death arrive. What’s needed is a happiness that is stronger.”
May God enlighten the eyes of our heart so we may know the hope to which he has called us (Ephesians 1:18). As Kavin points out, “Christianity is an alternative way of life built on hope.” And Christian hope is the source of true happiness—regardless of the circumstances.
This Sunday, April 18, we will continue our sermon series on The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13. Pastor Rick will preach Matthew 6:9b, “hallowed be your name.” The title of his sermon is “The Father’s Reputation.” Finally, my grandson Madden (4) took a small pack of Oreos and a small pack of Veggie Straws to preschool a couple of days ago for his snack. He ate the Oreos, but not all of the Veggie Straws. So, his preschool teacher told him he could throw the rest of the Veggie Straws away. According to this teacher, Madden replied: “No, I can’t throw them away because they cost too much money!” Let’s hope Madden continues to learn the value of a dollar. Thanks for reading. Grace and peace to you all!