Rev. Dr. Bary R. Fleet - Pastor
March 30, 2008 – 2nd Sunday of Easter
Acts 2:14a, 22-32      
1st Peter 1:3-9   
John 20:19-31

The Easy Button

Do any of you watch “The Office?”  I don’t really watch anything much that doesn’t have a ball or a puck, but I understand that STAPLES is one of the major sponsors and STAPLES big marketing gimmick is a big red button that says “EASY.”  All the employees in “the office” have one of these buttons on their respective desks, and anytime a problem arises, all they have to do is to hit the button and STAPLES will supply whatever is needed to remedy the problem.

It’ just so … easy!  Actually, STAPLES has won several awards for their advertising campaign with the “easy” button. 

Think of all the life situations where we could use an “easy” button:  getting the kids to bed … strep throat … bigger bills than income … getting the house clean, laundry done … finishing that never-ending repair project at home.

I thought it might be nice to have one of those buttons on MY desk:  sermon preparation … finding volunteers … balancing the budget. 

            STAPLES has an “easy” button … Life does not!

            STAPES says “That was easy.”  Jesus says, “This might hurt.”

That’s not a message we want to hear, but it is a message that Paul was clear about.  “In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith – being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”  (1st Peter 1:6-7)

Clearly, there are elements in life that are hard.  And, if we are honest, what we want is for God to make things easy for us.  We have this mentality that is sort of like a “genie in the bottle” with prayer.  We pray (rub the God bottle) and magically God comes out and takes care of whatever the problem is for us, grants our wish.  But we know that life isn’t like that …and God isn’t like that.

What Paul is wanting us to know is that there is meaning in our suffering … there is meaning in the hard experiences, the painful experiences of life.  We may not know what it is at the moment, it may well be that all we experience on a conscious level is that pain, the difficulty … but in every experience the potential is there for our souls to be purified, for our lives to be enriched in godly ways.

That is what we need to be looking for:  how it is that Christ can make us better people because of the difficulty we are going through.

I know this won’t make me popular, but I firmly believe that God is more interested in our spiritual growth, God is more interested in our becoming more godly than God is interested in our happiness.

I read an article by Glen MacDonald, in which the following is told:  For several years an earnest and energetic woman has been attempting to make August 8 a national holiday in the United States. She'd like to call it, "National Admit You're Happy Day." She has canvassed the governors of all fifty states, personally requesting their support. At least fifteen governors have responded positively. A good many others have been less happy with the idea -- including George Pataki, the governor of New York, who has said, "The state of New York has no official position on happiness." 

Well, maybe God doesn’t have an official position on happiness either, but God will be the first to admit that when the world was created there was no “easy” button … and as our lives unfold, there is no “easy” button.

There are, however, two constants:  the first is God’s presence.  No matter how hard the life experience we are going through, God is always present.  The second constant is that in the midst of every life experience there is the opportunity to become more godly … so, as I heard in a sermon last week, what do we have to complain about?

SERMON IN A SACK:  A newspaper.  A story that is too good to be true:  No school again forever!  You’ve just won a gazillion dollars! 

            The disciples had news for Thomas … too good to be true.  Jesus came to visit them. 

That’s what we celebrate every Sunday … the “anniversary” of the resurrection:  news that is too good to be true:  Jesus is alive and we can live forever with him.