I recently came across an article online that asked a blunt question: ‘How do you measure up as a man?’ It listed five specific standards the world uses to decide if you’re ‘winning’ at life. While it was written for men, I think we can all feel the pressure of these today:
1.How much money you make—and how much you can keep.
2.What you drive: the price, the style, and how new your car is.
3.Your job title and how far you’ve climbed the corporate ladder.
4. Your retirement package.
5. This is my Favorite. Your hair. How much of it is still on your head.
We look at this list and realize: the world has a very specific ‘app’ for measuring our worth.
I know it doesn’t seem to make much sense to us and it might vary across cultures, but it is still how many people in the secular world generally measure a person, both men and women.
Ask any first-century Jewish people who the blessed people were in their community and they would have shared with you the conventional wisdom of the day.
His answer would be like these: “Blessed are the wealthy, for they have lots of stuff.” “Blessed are the Romans, for they have power.” “Blessed are the powerful, for they get what they want.” Or “Cursed are the gentiles, for we’re not like them.”
But in today’s Gospel story, Jesus stands on a mountainside and offers a completely different yardstick. He lays out a set of principles that redefine the meaning of success and happiness in the eyes of God. And his standards stand in stark contrast to the standard of the world.
This is what he declared. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
We can see there’s a wide gulf between the popular image of the successful and happy person and what God sees as the successful and happy person.
This gap between the world’s standards and God’s heart creates a constant tug-of-war inside us. Every believer feels it—that tension between the visible world we see and the invisible Kingdom we serve. Sometimes, we try to keep a foot in both worlds, sitting on the fence to avoid choosing. But this ‘double-life’ only leads to a sense of spiritual vertigo, leaving us dizzy and disoriented.
To find our balance, I’d like to break down some of the differences between the world’s concept of happiness and God’s concept of happiness.
Secular success is visible; it’s measurable. It’s the high-paying job and the social status that brings instant validation. But Jesus points us to an invisible culture—one built on meekness, mercy, and a pure heart.
And the tension arises when we try to have it both ways. We end up ‘chasing two rabbits’ and catching neither as God’s children living on earth. We find ourselves in that exhausting cycle where we are ‘winning’ by the world’s standards but ‘losing’ by God’s kingdom standards. This isn’t just a struggle; it’s a recipe for burnout that eventually weakens our identity as God’s children.
The Good News is that God has given us a divine invitation into His Kingdom life through His Son, Jesus Christ. When we accept the invitation by following Chris, we are granted permanent residency in His Kingdom. Yet, because the reality of our daily lives happens right here on earth, we often get confused and forget who we are—even though we are forever God’s children. It’s like we’re living in God’s Kingdom on a temporary visa instead of as full citizens. This creates a frustrating ‘Catch-22’ where we feel like we don’t fully belong to the world, yet we aren’t fully living in God’s Kingdom.
The Gospel today tells us that true happiness belongs to the humble and the spiritually poor. But to many of us, ‘meekness’ sounds like ‘weakness.’ We often hesitate to go all-in on Jesus’ way because we’re afraid of the consequences.
We don’t want to be the ‘doormat’ at the office or the person who is overlooked by society. We worry that while God’s way is good for the soul, it might not be practical enough to maintain a comfortable life in a country like Australia. pay the mortgage or provide for our families.
We proudly attend worship and praise God’s name joyfully on the outside. But on the inside, we fear that God’s Kingdom way won’t pay the mortgage or provide for our families. However, what we often forget is that the world’s way of success and happiness often costs us our faith.
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The problem is that the world’s measure of success is a moving target. Think back to when you bought your first humble two-bedroom unit or that secondhand car that ran just well enough. At the time, you were satisfied. But as the years passed, that feeling faded.
The world then gave you a new target for happiness. You worked harder, saved more, and finally upgraded to that three-bedroom house and a brand-new car. But ten years later, what happened? The excitement of the bigger home and the ‘new car smell’ disappeared. You found yourself unhappy again. No matter how hard you work or how much you save to reach the world’s material standards, the happiness never lasts. It’s like chasing a horizon you can never actually reach.
“The bigger issue is that time is running out. We spend our years gathering baggage that is far too heavy for the journey ahead. When we finally stand before God, we’ll realize we can’t take any of it with us; it’s just too much weight for an eternal soul.”
“It reminds us of the rich man who spent his life building bigger and better barns to store his massive harvest. He thought he was set for life, but that very night, God took his soul away. And in an instant, all that ‘stuff’ he had gathered stayed behind, while he stepped into eternity empty-handed, and maybe with empty soul.
Our Christian journey on earth is supposed to be a hard one. Why? Because the world keeps telling us to HAVE MORE, but Jesus in his sermon this morning tells us to BE MORE.
Today, I invite you to delete the world’s app for success. Stop measuring your worth by the ‘likes’ on your life, the balance in your bank account, or how your career compares to your neighbour’s.
If you feel spiritually poor —if you are starving for something deeper than this material world can provide—don’t mistake that for failure. That hunger is actually your soul waking up. You aren’t falling behind; you are standing exactly where God’s blessing begins.
Jesus still declares his Kingdom happiness rules to each one of you. Listen to him again.
Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor; the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them!
Happy are those who mourn; God will comfort them!
Happy are those who are humble; they will receive what God has promised! Amen.
