Sermon Cloud

“Welcome to my Thistle Patch”                       John 20:24-29                 3/23/08

Introduction: Remember when we were kids and we wanted to watch cartoons?  We had to wait until Saturday morning.  No Cartoon Network.  Want to watch Charlie Brown wait till Halloween or whenever.  Kids today don’t know how good they’ve got it, do they?  I also remember watching Winnie the Pooh when used to come on TV.  Since I knew I was doing this series I sat and thought about those days and what each character made me feel like.  I remember Rabbit who always had a list and a schedule to keep – he made me tired.  Kanga was like Mom who was nurturing and caring.  She was always was watching over me and keeping me from getting into trouble.  Roo I thought would’ve been fun to play with and get into trouble with.  Owl was like some wise old man who lived down the street who you’d visit and he start talking about something that you had no idea what it was about so you just act interested.  After a while he’d be half talking out loud to himself.  I loved Tigger.  He was great.  I wanted Tigger to come to my house.  I felt sorry for Piglet.  He was just chicken.   Pooh – he always saw the bright side.  No matter how difficult or gloomy a situation Pooh could always find the silver lining.  He was the eternal optimist.  Then of course we come to the Eeyore.  As a child I remember being frustrated with Eeyore.  I remember wanting say, “Be quiet, don’t talk.  Why can’t you just be happy?!”   

Transition: He frustrated the life out of me and I’ll bet there are times when your Eeyore’s do the same to you, don’t they?  All of us have, at least, one Eeyore in our lives.  Some of your Eeyores are family members (spouse, child, in-law, parent, sibling), for some it’s an employee, co-worker, or even your boss.  I know you’ll find this hard to believe, but you’ll even find Eeyore in church.  In fact, I think you might even find him in the Easter story.  Let’s read this passage and then we’ll start uncovering some background about Eeyore as our message is entitled, “Welcome to my Thistle Patch.”  

Read John 20-24-29

Body: The first thing I’d say to you is if you’re hoping I’m going to give you some wonderful advice on how to change your Eeyore, how to make them act and think more positively you’re probably going to be very disappointed.  Rather, what I hope to shed light on is the reality that Eeyore is in your life for a reason.  God has allowed this personality to be here at this time for a cause and a reason so let’s learn how to deal with the continually negative people in our lives.     

[Show slide: eeyore.rain] The original Eeyore lived in a thistle patch in a quiet corner of The Hundred Acre Wood.  He didn’t often leave the thistle patch.  He sighed a lot.  Much of Winnie the Pooh’s energy often went into trying to cheer him up and into understanding this puzzling creature.   How many of us have been there.  Trying to speak words of encouragement and affirmation to the ever pessimistic person.  Attempting to point out the positives and show the upside of things only to have this type of response.

If you’re anything like me you just want to throw up your hands and walk away.  I think, however, that’s not what God would want us to do.  I’m convinced that God radically loves Eeyore, because if he didn’t he wouldn’t have made so many of them.  Now some of you are going, “Well, I’m glad God loves Eeyore, but please don’t tell me that I have to.”  Well, yeah…actually you do.  In fact, what Eeyore really needs to see is the power of true friendship and acceptance regardless of their gloomy disposition. 

ILL: “Thank you, Pooh,” answered Eeyore. “You're a real friend,” said he. “Not Like Some,” he said. 

I’m not suggesting you spend all your waking moments with your Eeyore, but remember he’s there for a reason.  While Eeyore isn’t the life of the party he could be a reason to throw the party.  Here’s why.  Your Eeyore provides you with an opportunity to be stretched, to grow, and to mature spiritually far beyond anything you ever though possible.  “You’ve got to be kidding,” you say.  “No, not on your life.”  “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation” (Rom 5:3-4).  God uses everything that comes into our lives…even Eeyore.

If you have an Eeyore in your life it’s only reasonable to assume that God has a good purpose for allowing that person to be there and chances are good that God will use that person to help mature your spiritual life…if you’ll let him.  “We know that God is always at work for the good of everyone who loves him” (Rom 8:28a CEV).  God is always at work and he’s always going to do whatever it takes to see you reach maturity in Christ.  Because seeing people grow up in Christ is God’s goal it’s also the Apostle Paul’s as well.  “So we continue to preach Christ to each person, using all wisdom to warn and to teach everyone, in order to bring each one into God's presence as a mature person in Christ” (Col 1:28 NCV).  If God has graced your life with a personal Eeyore take heart it’s not a curse, it probably a test to see how you’ll handle this growth opportunity he’s brought your way.

As it relates to Easter, I can’t help, but see the disciple Thomas through the lens of Eeyore.  There are some moments in his life that could be interpreted as particularly Eeyoreish.  Only God knows Thomas’ heart and whether he actually was feeling like Eeyore at that moment when he came back to the Upper Room and everyone was all excited and jacked up about seeing Jesus alive or whether he was simply doubting, but what can’t be missed is this.  Something has happened to the people in the room.  The gloom is gone, the clouds have parted, and the atmosphere in the room is simply electric for those that are there.  Well, almost everyone.

“One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” (Jn 20:24-25a).  [ILL: Thomas – C’mon guys, knock it off.  I know what you’re trying to do.]  Can you imagine what it must have been like trying to convince Thomas that Jesus really was alive?  Here are 11 guys and a handful of women who’re all saying one thing, but Thomas simply refuses to believe. 

I want to believe someone in the room wanted to look at Thomas and say, “Tom, stop acting like an Eeyore.  We’ve all told you he’s alive.  What’s your problem?  Now snap out of it!”  “But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side” (Jn 20:25b).  I’m not so sure he really meant that as a true statement or whether it was his way of saying, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”  I wonder how much frustration that brought on to the 11 disciples who did see Jesus.  Did they allow this one skeptic Eeyore to cast a shadow on the greatest event in human history?  Question: Will you?  Surely you know someone one who doesn’t believe this whole Easter, Resurrection, the dead coming back to life idea, right?  Will you let their doubt, their pessimism, their negativity to quench the joy, excitement, and honest life change that Christ has brought into your life?  I think this was a test for the disciples and yours is coming too.  OK, here’s the human side of me.  I wonder if anyone just wanted to kick him in the seat of the pants. 

There’s going to come a time in your life when you’re going to want strangle Eeyore, but don’t do it.  Here’s why that’s a bad idea: In that moment God is attempting to do something in your life.  God never wastes anything, right?  What if God was trying to see how persistent and faithful the 11 would be in the face of skepticism?  [Repeat] Rather than throw them out to the rest of the world who didn’t believe anyway what if God is seeing if they’d stand fast and be true to what they knew they’d experienced when one of their one (a family member) didn’t believe.  Ever experienced that?  When you invert the story and look at it from that angle it says God was trying to do something in the disciple’s lives (as well as Thomas’) and the same Resurrected Christ is trying to do something in your life as well. 

In the moments of life when you’re Eeyore questions, drags their heels, argues incessantly, refuses to catch the vision, can’t see the forest for all the trees, and wants to debate unimportant details ad nausium you’ve got to hang to onto to something so hang onto this: all things are under the powerful hand of Almighty God including the energy sapping negativity of Eeyore.  “I am the Lord, and there is no other.  I create the light and make the darkness.  I send good times and bad times.  I, the Lord, am the one who does these things” (Is 45:6-7).  In other words, all things (both good and bad) are ultimately under the control of God and he’ll use everything (one way or the other) that to comes into your life for good.  How?  I don’t know.  If I knew the answer to that question I’d be a rich man or I’d be God and since I’m neither I’m content with mystery that God power is absolute. 

Paul says, “For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.” (2 Tim 1:9).  God’s intentions from the beginning of time for your life entail the following: saving you from sin, empowering you to live a holy life, and showing you the undeserved love of God through Christ.  Here’s the rub: God will use any means necessary to do that even the negative people in your life.  

God knew what was happening in the disciple’s lives and Thomas’ absence hadn’t escaped his attention.  Jesus knew he wasn’t there.  [ILL: Oh no, What am I going to do?”] Here’s the point:  There is nothing in life that is unknown to God.  He knows about your financial struggles, your family problems, the issue with your boss, your illness, your depression, your excitement of your new church, he knows whose going to come next week (and the next and next), he knows whose going to come back, he knows who won’t, your addictions, your loneliness, your silent desire to find your purpose for being here, and yes, God even knows about your secret sins that no one knows about.  You can’t hide anything from God.  “And the very hairs on your head are all numbered” (Mt 10:30).  In the midst of the struggles you have and the difficulty that Eeyore can be in your life you need to realize that if you’re a follower of the Resurrected Christ then nothing can push you away from God’s love.  That’s what Paul said.  “I'm absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us” (Rom 8:39 Msg).  Someone here today needs to hear the fact that despite your circumstances you’re embraced by God.

Can you imagine having to hang around Thomas for the next eight days?  That must have been shear torture.  [ILL: “Well, I kinda figured Jesus would’ve come back by now.”  Look, Tom, we saw him.]  When you’re talking with Eeyore they don’t necessarily perceives their observations about life, family, work, church, etc, as negative or complaining.  To them it’s just a normal conversation, but to those of us who’re listening and are hardwired with a more positive outlook, their words can feel like a heavy burden.  It’s like the sun being repeatedly eclipsed.  I’ll bet Thomas didn’t think he was being negative at all, but you know some of the others were like this: “If he complains one more time about not being there and missing out I’m gonna tell him that the reason Jesus came back when you weren’t they is because Jesus doesn’t love you Tom!”

[Show slide: doubting thomas] As we all know the story doesn’t end with Thomas the Eeyore whining about missing out.  “Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”  “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed. Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me” (Jn 20:26-29).

Maybe the message to Thomas is just as applicable to our lives as well.  “Don’t be faithless any longer.  Believe!!” Believe that Almighty God has a plan for your life, your job, your family, your church, your finances, your children, your marriage, your community, and he might even be using your Eeyore to fulfill that Divine plan.  Some of you might even need to believe that we along with Eeyore need to encounter the Jesus Christ and have our world turned upside down.  That’s Thomas’ story and it can be yours too.   

Conclusion: Life without an Eeyore might appear to you to be a good thing, but I think life would be duller without him around.  While he primarily sees the world in shades of gray its this somber tone that can make the colors of life even more vivid and welcoming.  The skepticism, negativity, and pessimistic attitude of Eeyore even in the face of the Resurrection shouldn’t prevent us from rejoicing and believing even if we’ve never seen the Resurrected Christ.  Eeyore has a purpose and God may be using him to grow your spiritual life like you’ve never experienced before.  Perhaps the best piece of advice you could hear today (especially as it relates to your Eeyores) is what Jesus said, “Don’t be faithless any longer.  Believe!”