Sermon: "TREASURES AND TRIALS"   

Acts 2:14a, 22-23; 1 Peter 1:3-9; John 20:19-31 

 

St. Peter proclaims: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead...”  Peter then adds, “In this you greatly rejoice though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.”

 

Some of you may have read the book Treasure Island written by Robert Lewis Stevenson for his step son.  If not, many of you might have seen one of the several versions of it as it has been adapted for the big Screen.  The most recent movies I’ve watched based upon this novel have included actor Charlton Heston and still

another brought the Muppets to the high seas.                

 

In Treasure Island, fortune seekers and cut-throat pirates will do just about anything... risking all dangers... to get the treasure.  In other words, there is tremendous energy on the part of all to get the treasure.

 

What’s the treasure that you seek?  What are you willing to put tremendous energy into and even take great risks in order to reach that certain goal?  Is there ANYTHING that you value... that you treasure... or is your whole life just a ride on a raft drifting through sunshine days and stormy nights where you do little more but watch and experience life?

 

Those who simply drift usually don’t care much where they end up, just as long as they can enjoy the scenery along the way.  Yes, it’s true, the stream caries them to a deadly end, but they just put that out of their mind.  People are dying in the water along the way, but its no concern to those drifting down the stream so long as their trip is not disturbed.

 

In the classic science fiction book called The Time Machine by H. G. Wells, Wells imagines two future societies.  One lives below the ground as deformed, cannibalistic engineers.  The other society lives above ground... docile... uncaring... all their needs met by the dark, lurking, feeding underground society.

 

At one point a woman of the above ground society falls into deep water and begins to drown.  Her screams for help catch the attention of those nearby, but they just yawn, continuing to enjoy the sunny day along the waters edge.

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