TEXT:
                                                             Luke 24:33-40.

                                                         EASTER SUNDAY

                             THEME: “Christ has given us freedom to pursue happiness.”
 

INTRODUCTION
 

Everybody wants to be happy. I think the pursuit of happiness is a good idea. Well, who
doesn’t want to be happy ? For Christians, Easter is the happiest time, because we believe
Christ defeated death when He was resurrected. His resurrection tells us that we have one less
certainty in life. Death is not as certain as it looks. Even though it is a reality of our lives, from
God's perspective and those of us who believe, death is given a different meaning.

There is an interesting cartoon that shows this point with humor. When the report came to them,
two Roman soldiers went out to investigate the empty tomb of Christ. They saw the large stone
removed from the entrance to the grave. One asked the other, “Well, how should we report to
our supervisor?" The other said, "We must report that there is one less certain thing in our lives.
It leaves only taxes as being certain." Whether God is real in your life or not, you know you have
to pay taxes this week.

Everybody wants to be happy, and I believe happiness is within our reach. Death could not
destroy Christ and His message of God’s love for you and me. Even suffering and pain can
serve as instruments to help us find happiness and satisfaction. It may take hard work, but we
can do it. All things are possible with Christ. Not one or two things. But all things are possible,
the Bible says. Think about what you can accomplish in your life. Christ has won the victory. He
has proclaimed, "This life is good and life beyond is even better. Don't be afraid." Happiness is
achievable. And do you know that the happier you become, the more positive contributions you
can make to the world around you. I got a new thought for you today, which I am borrowing
someone else: "Happiness is a moral obligation."

                            WHAT IT MEANS

At a counseling session, a woman was sharing her difficulty with her husband. She said, “I wish
my husband had come with me to talk to you. He is the most unhappy person in my family. As
much as I love him, it’s not easy being married to an unhappy husband.” The counselor thought
she was right. Her husband should have been there with her. The counselor realized that her
husband had a moral obligation to his wife and to his family to be as happy as he could be. You
see, happiness is not merely a personal matter. It involves everyone around you. Thus it is a
moral obligation for you to be happy.

Last week, I must confess that I was grumbling a lot to my wife and children. My wife said to
me, “Nothing can make you happy today.” My 8-year-old boy told his mom, “Daddy is
unhappy today. He’s too negative.” My son and my wife agreed that I was a very miserable
man that day, so they decided to spend their day as if I was not there. That made me even more
miserable. Then I understood the wisdom: Happiness is a moral obligation. I owe my happiness
to everyone. Happiness is a moral obligation for me. This does not mean that I act as if I’m
happy when I'm sad or hurt. I should not hide my honest feeling from those whom I love and
care about. We don’t have to pretend about our feelings. But it is true that we don’t enjoy being
around unhappy people. As Dennis Prager (Happiness is a Serious Problem. New York:
RegalBooks, 1998) says, “…we owe it to others to work on our happiness” (page. 4).

If you ask your child what it’s like to grow up with parents who are usually unhappy, what will
the child say? Ask parents what pain they bear if they have an unhappy child. Ask your
employees to find out how hard it is to work for unhappy employers. Ask any employer if it is
difficult to manage unhappy employees.

Everyone wants you to be happy. You should want everyone to be happy for your own sake.
And God wants us to be happy children of His kingdom. You may say religion does not make
you happy; there are too many shoulds and should-nots; you don’t want to be tied up with those
rules. You say that if you’re free, you’re happy, so let’s not get too serious about religion. But
what if faith in Christ is more than what we call organized religion? What if faith in Christ is the
way, the truth, and the life that leads us to eternal bliss and the depth of God's love we so
desire?

                     A CASE OF UNHAPPY RELIGION

A man was setting out to find a way or ways to become happy. On his way, he met a very
religious man. Thinking religious purity must be the way to happiness for him, the man asked him
a question, “Do you consider yourself a truly pious person?” He responded immediately, “While
I aspire to be one, I feel that I fall short in two areas. One of those areas is I don’t consider
myself happy enough to be truly pious.”

He got the point: “…unhappy religious people reflect poorly on their religion or their Creator (or
their belief)” (Prager: p. 4). There is a problem. If their faith is so wonderful, why aren’t they
happy? There are two possible reasons.

1.They are making mistakes in the way they practice their faith. It’s a double standard. They
believe in one thing, but they do something else. Someone asked me: “Christianity is supposed
to be a religion of love, but if you look at the history of the church they killed and tortured
others, why is that?” Point well taken. I appreciate them. But I tell them that even though
Christians did evil in the name of Christ because of their imperfection, that’s not all they did. I
know their evil deeds should not be justified. But remember other Christians who have done
more good than any other people in the world. Look at Albert Schweitzer, a medical missionary
to Africa. How about Mother Teresa who gave hope for the dying. Don’t you know the works
of World Vision, or Christian International Solidarity, which helps redeeming hundreds of lives
of Christians who are being sold as slaves in Sudan today?

2. Here is the second reason for their unhappiness. Maybe they are not making mistakes at all.
They are doing it right. They practice what they believe, and yet they are not happy. The
problem is that their religion is not at all conducive to happiness.

Before I became a believer in Christ, I thought Christians were very unhappy people. They were
too serious. They were narrow-minded. Basically they were unhappy. Unhappiness was their
trademark, I thought. Why did I become a Christian then? Well, I understood that my first
impressions were wrong. Christianity makes people happy, and its happiness is authentic.

                    CARING ENOUGH TO CONFRONT

Have you ever realized that in some cases unhappiness may be an easy way out so that we
don’t have to face difficulties and shortcomings in our own lives? Just like a movie “Grumpy Old
Men,” we constantly choose to be unhappy and grumble about different things. Sometimes we
play a game with our loved ones: “I am a miserable and unhappy man or woman in the world.
You should love me and care about me.”

From my pastoral counseling, I figured that some people never wanted to be told, “Shape up
and live!” Rather they want to be comforted and encouraged. Comforting the client is a part of
what a pastor does, but if I fail to tell them they’ve got a decision to make and they have to
stand firm on their decision, I’m doing a disservice to them.

Some time ago, a woman came to me and said, “Nobuo, you are not caring!” Oops! What did I
do wrong? It upset me. Her comment completely wiped out the little confidence I had in myself.
It was a discouraging experience which put me into a state of depression for just a day or two.
Then I thought about what she said, and reflected on what sort of advice I’d given her. I realized
that she was playing a game with me. I needed to show pastoral care to her in the way she
wanted it. Every time she came and talked to me she wanted to be pitied and embraced with
acceptance, but never wanted to be confronted with real issues. I realized that what she really
needed was to be told of her bad attitudes and selfish thoughts that were making others
unhappy. So I said that. She didn’t like it. She was happy as long as she was treated as a victim,
as if she was never wrong. She didn’t accept the fact that she was the offender, the problem. As
much as she wanted to be loved and cared for, she never desired to be challenged for her
shortcomings. Since she refused to be loved authentically, she could not love others truthfully.
Rather she chose to be unhappy.

                  HAPPINESS IS MORE THAN A CHOICE

You see happiness is a choice. But it is more than a choice. Happiness is hard work, while
unhappiness may be an easy way out. Stop blaming. Sometimes we have to admit that we’ve
done wrong and made mistakes. We must accept that we are not as we think we are, but it’s a
courageous act if we choose to embrace our stupidity and foolishness and forgive ourselves.
Without courage, efforts, and some pain, we can never really appreciate how wonderful it is to
be free and to be happy.

                             RESURRECTION

When Jesus was taken away from them, the disciples shut the entrance to the house and hid
themselves. The windows were closed tight. They refused to allow the sun to shed its light into
their room. They were afraid of others who might capture them and put them into prison
because they followed Jesus of Nazareth. He was crucified just a few days before. When they
were with Jesus, they believed all things were possible to them, and there was nothing they could
not do. But now they had lost their leader whom they believed to be the Son of God and the
Messiah. Their spirits were crashed, their dreams shattered. They were discouraged and
disappointed. They had every reason to run away and hide themselves in misery and stay there
for the rest of their lives.

But the Risen Lord did not permit them to be left in fear. In some mysterious way, He came and
stood in the midst of them. Every one of them was amazed, more in the sense of confusion, and
they were speechless. A few days before they had seen the agony and pain and suffering of the
Lord on the cross. They saw Him placed in the tomb and the huge stone rolled against the
tomb’s entrance. They saw their faith being destroyed. They believed that Jesus was finished.
Every one believed that He was finished.

But they now see the Lord coming back from the dead, standing in the midst of them, showing
His hands and feet to them. And He said, “I am alive! So are you!”

Do you know what that meant to them? Bliss! Wow! We are happy! We are blessed! Fear is
gone but freedom rules. He can do the same for you today. If you accept Christ who is risen
from the dead, He will come into your heart and shed His healing light to your fears. Do you
consider yourself as a defeat or a success? Do you shrink from learning something new? Are
you hesitant to do something that is greater than you are? Are you scared of tensions and
conflicts? Don’t worry. Christ has been there once. He understands you. So in the light of
Easter, decide for yourself by faith to grow out of your fear. Experience the bliss of eternal joy,
which Jesus the Nazareth has won for you.

                                  STEPS

1. Identify your fear(s). Don't turn away from your fear. Identify what it is that's making your life
miserable and others' lives miserable. You owe it to others to do it.

2. In prayer, surrender your fears to the Risen Christ. He will shed His healing light on you.

3. Believe that just as Christ is alive, you are alive today. Hallelujah! Amen!
 
 
 

Original Site:       http://www.west.net/~artlars/apr1298.htm