No Magic Wand (Or Aleeve Does Not Relieve)

NO MAGIC WAND

(or "Aleeve does not relieve")

Matthew 11:28-29

INTRO.- ILL.- A fellow who owned a pizza place was audited by the IRS. The agent said, "I want to know about all of your travel expenses. For example, you have expenses for six trips to Rome just this year. How do you justify that?"

"Justify nothing!" the man said, "DON’T YOU KNOW? WE DELIVER!"

Isn’t home delivery great? Except we can’t get it where we live! Not at Brian Drive. But fast is good. Instant is better.

We live in a fast, instant kind of society. We want what we want and right now! Not tomorrow. Right now!

This is why we have microwaves, drive-though fast food, pizza delivery, drive-up banking, drive-through car washes, e-mail and "instant messaging" for faster communication with people.

We do have a lot of modern conveniences that people in other societies don’t have. What should we think of them or make of them? WE SHOULD BE GRATEFUL AND THANKFUL.

If it’s something good, we must be thankful to God. Of course, we must focus more on the Giver than the gift.

Beyond being thankful, what else should we make of all these modern conveniences? We must realize that they are not "quick fixes" to our problems in life. There are no "quick fixes" to life’s problems.

ILL.- Last Thursday afternoon my car died. Not completely. Just a partial death. I had parked my car outside the building in my usual spot. I went outside to go calling, put my key in the ignition and nothing. No headlights. No radio. No ding, ding, ding. No nothing.

I called Al Walters, the handyman and asked if he had jumper cables. Since Al the handyman was not so handy he called Elmer the French man Banet, and he was Johnny on the spot with his jumper cables. He hooked them up, said "let there be spark and there was spark."

I drove my car down to 15th street to the battery specialist and he hooked up his meter to my battery and gave it the last rights. He said, "Yep, it’s your battery. It’s blown a weld." (I figured he would surely say that the problem was the nut behind the wheel.) Within minutes I had a new battery at a cost of $53.07. The whole deal didn’t take more than 30 minutes. No mess. No fuss. No time, to speak of.

Brothers and sisters, don’t you wish all things could be cured /fixed/repaired so quickly, so easily, so painlessly, so cheaply? But we know that it doesn’t happen this way. Not with most problems that we encounter.

There are no quickie cures. No magic cures. There is no magic wand. No "luck of the Irish" even though it is St. Patrick’s Day. And "Aleeve" does not relieve. "Aleeve" may well relieve some pain, some physical pain, but not the deep soul pain that life often hands to us. There is no pill in a bottle that is a quickie, miracle cure.

ILL.- Someone has suggested that TV commercials teach a child three interesting things. The first is that all problems are solvable. The second is that all problems are solvable fast. And the third is that all problems are solvable fast through the agency of some technology. It may be a detergent.

It may be an airplane or some piece of machinery, like an automobile or computer.

Brothers and Sisters, we know that this isn’t so! Most problems in life are solvable, but most are not solved quickly. And they are not definitely solved with money, material things or machinery.

There is no magic wand, ah, but there is a miraculous wonder! His name is Jesus!

Matthew 11:28-29 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."

Don’t these words sound good? To me, Jesus is saying, "I am here for you. I am gentle. I will be gentle with you. I understand what you are going through. I understand your pain. I want to help you, soothe you, and make it better. Come to me. Lean on me. Trust me with your life, your problems and your pain. I can ease the pain. I can forgive the sin. I can make things better."

Jesus was, is and always will be the answer to life’s pain and problems!

PROP.- Let’s consider two different looks at life and how they help or hinder.

1- Looking back - beholding pain

2- Looking ahead - making progress

I. LOOKING BACK - BEHOLDING PAIN

ILL.- A husband heard his wife drop a hint about being 8 again. So, on her birthday, he told her, "dress up in your jeans, tea-shirt and jogging shoes, we’re going out." And off they went to the amusement park where they went on some fun rides, had ice cream, cotton candy, and funnel cakes. After that it was more rides and more fun food.