On this Fourth of July I want to focus on two puzzling statements, one in the Declaration of Independence and one in Hebrews 12:2. The puzzling phrase, at least to me, in the Declaration of Independence is found in the philosophical heart of that document: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
The phrase that puzzled me is: "the pursuit of happiness." It could easily be understood as hedonistic, self-centered and focused on personal pleasure. Surely that is not what Jefferson meant. But what did he mean? I came to understand it when I learned the educational and philosophical context in which it was written.
The Declaration of Independence was written and signed by men who had been highly influenced by the Scottish Enlightenment. In fact, fully one third of the signers were of Scottish or Ulster Scott extraction. They were all familiar with and had been influenced by the teaching of Francis Hutcheson of Glasgow who was known as the father of the Scottish Enlightenment.
Hutcheson believed that every one's ultimate goal in life is happiness, but for him this meant not the gratification of physical desires but making others happy. The highest form of happiness for anyone is making others happy. "That action is best," he said, "which procures the greatest happiness."
A scientific experiment at the University of Oregon a few years ago and reported in the Eugene Register Guard supports this idea. A number of people were given money and the opportunity to give it away or to keep it. Their brains were monitored and it was discovered that voluntarily giving to help others produced a response in the part of the brain that registers pleasure. I guess you could say that God created us this way.
Haven't you found it to be true that when you did something that made someone else happy that it produced happiness in you also? Like seeing your child open a gift, or seeing a young person blossom as a result of your teaching. Doesn't it make you happy to see slides by a missionary you have supported of people being baptized in Kenya, or children singing enthusiastically in a Ukrainian church camp? On the other hand, the more self centered, the more we try to make ourselves happy by hoarding or spending on ourselves, the more miserable we are.
Jimmy Durante's gravelly voice in Sleepless in Seattle said it in song, "Make someone happy, make just one someone happy, and you will be happy too."
This helps us understand the puzzling statement about Jesus in Hebrews 12:2 which says, "... for the joy set before him he endured the cross ...". It seems strange to put joy and enduring the cross together in the same sentence but its true that when Jesus went to the cross he was in "the pursuit of happiness" -- yours and mine. the happiness of forgiven sin, of cleansing and renewal. The happiness of reconciliation and hope. All of this he secured for us on the cross. Thus, it was "for the joy set before him that he endured the cross." We experience again that joy now as we join him at His table.
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