April 26, 2009
Preached for the Third Sunday of Easter
Threatened with Resurrection
Reproached and rewritten from May 3, 1998 (there are other versions)
Revelation 7:9-17
Luke 24:36-48
For year B
It’s been what – 4 years now and I am still a Grey’s anatomy fan. It is my dream to one day write my sermons that way Shondra Rhymes writes her episodes. She always starts out with a theme in every day life, something that all of the characters are dealing with. They start their days off dealing with this issue, and then on to the hospital to see if come full blast. And at the end of the episode – there is always some resolution to the situation, but the issue still there. There is some comment about the issue and the introduction of some cool song – that everyone will go out and buy to think more about how that issue plays out in our lives.
The first episode this Thursday was a rerun – on how Izzy, one of the original medical students was recovering from an operation to remove a brain tumor - the whole cast – most of whom were her classmates stood around the operating room to see if she would be alright. The theme for the night was trauma – Trauma in our lives always leaves a scar no matter how much we heal – it follows us around in our lives. But the good thing is that it moves us forward. It edges us to go on, to move forward to something deeper in our lives.
That is the theme of my sermon this morning – trauma- and how it affects us and gets us going. That is the theme of Easter – the Sunday’s after Easter – dealing with the trauma of death, and betrayal, and misunderstanding. And yet still witnessing the beauty of God’s presence - and creating a beautiful life in the midst of it.
I am always amazed at how the writer of Grey’s anatomy is able to put all of life’s issues into one concise word – and then she says one or two sentences about that issue – and she has said all that needs to be said. How does she do that?
I am not there yet – I still have to preach a whole sermon to get my point across. But believe me I am working on it. But I also don’t have the luxury of thousands of actors to tell my story for me.
But anyway – back to the theme of trauma – and Easter. In the Luke passage for today – The disciples are devastated at the death of Jesus. They don’t know what they are going to do – until he appears to them and brings them peace and then sends them out into the world to witness to what they know about God. After the resurrection, there are several stories of Jesus appearance. They are so caught up in grief, they don’t recognize Jesus. But he doesn’t come to continue life as it has been, but to shake them up to realize this things have changed. Resurrection is the beauty of life, after the scars of trauma. Resurrection is the message that it is time to move forward.
The power of God came to earth- through the life of Jesus, but it was after the resurrection that power was let out into the world – to make an appearance at any time in any situation.
The Buddhist have reincarnation – which says that it it doesn’t matter if you die – because you will come back again to correct all of the mistakes that you made in this life. The Hindu’s have rebirth – which says that when you die, you will come back in another form based on the way that you lived your life. The Jews have stories of rescitation – there are even plenty of stories of people who have died, whom Jesus himself bought back to life – Resurrection the concept of experiencing death and decay – and then completely coming back to life as the person you always were - is a concept that is unique to Christianity . It is a special concept – because it stresses that we are all special and unique people to God. That life is precious and intended for a purpose. We only get one chance at life, and it is important for us to make the most of that one chance.
There is a human part of us and there is a divine part of us. There is a part of us that disappears when we die, and there is a part of us that lives on.
Resurrection acknowledges the trauma of life – and the push forward for us to heal and move on.
One of my most powerful examples of the definition of resurrection, and the power that it has for our lives – comes from a book that we had to read in seminary called - Threatened with Resurrection.
That seems like a strange title - threatened with resurrection. Threatened – resurrection is a promise not a threat. It is what Jesus promises us if we are good and we behave nicely. At the end of the world – we too will be resurrected like him.
Actually resurrection is not a promise of the future - but it is a promise of now. Of dealing with the trauma that we experience in our lives.
Threatened with Resurrection is a poem written by Julia Esquivel from Guatamala. In the 1950’s Guatamala was a country which was very oppressive and apparently very paranoid. They killed hundreds of thousands of their own people – because they thought they were conspiring against them. Soldiers would go through whole neighborhoods and ill everybody – even 3 month old babies. For many years – people were afraid of speaking out of this injustice.
Why do I tell you that story for Easter – because these people have one of the most powerful Easter faiths that have ever heard of. They realized that the soldiers and this dire situation had just threatened them with resurrection. They realized that no matter how many of them were killed that the soldiers could not kill the spirit of the community. They realized that no matter how much devastation that they had to face, that they would not become resentful. They would continue to love peace, to love God, and to love their enemies. They truly came to represent what it means to be resurrected. It means that you cannot destroy their soul – which was never a part of this world. What the world did not give them, the world could not take away. They came to realize that they were children of God – who would always prevail.
I tell you that story because there are still many communities which are being devastated in much that same way – every day. And we never hear about it, it we hear romantic stories about it. We hear the stories of pirates in Somalia – because it is romantic for Americans to hear that our Navy are protecting people from the bad guys – but we never hear that their country Somalia has been lawless and without proper government for years. We never hear about all of the people in Darfur who are still being persecuted, or that the Congo and Liberia have been in a civil war for years.
Even the missionary Janet Lehr Lewis talks of the Palestinians who are depending on their faith in an oppressive situation. There are many times when she will send an email to tell us the real story behind what we hear about in the news. There are many times when she will say in her email – that it is not safe for her to tell the truth about what she is going through - because she is not safe yet.
I tell you that story – because I am grateful to groups like the United Methodist Women – who are willing to uncover the truth about the world that we live in. Every year, they provide studies for us to look at a country or situation in a new and different way. The School of Christian Mission has been a profound part of my faith development. This year they are doing a study on Darfur – to tell people what it really going on. They tell us what we can do to help and to pray even when we are far removed from the situation. I had someone from another denomination, say that the United Methodist Women are the best kept secret of the denomination. If people were aware of what they were doing, they would definitely listen.
I tell you that story - because if they can be threatened with resurrection in such dire circumstance – that surely we too can become awakened to realize the role that resurrection plays in our lives.
A man went to a psychologist to complain about his brother in law who thought he was a chicken. The psychologist said it should be no problem to cure the brother in law of his delusion. The man refused, said no I don’t think I will be bringing him in – we really need the eggs.
There is a story that the disciple Peter was able to heal a man of his blindness. After being healed, the man gouged his eyes out-he had been making a lot of money as a blind man, and he wanted to continue to play his game.
In life, Jesus realized that many of us are just like that. The resurrection shows us that there is a better way of doing things, a healthier way to live. And want to go back to the old way of doing things. It makes sense to us. And in a lot of ways – we were so glad to have the eggs- they pay off – that we were no willing to think differently. Resurrection is truly a threat to us.
Things can change – things will change- things are intended to change. We have to accept it- but we also have to have faith that God will give us the strength to adapt to new ways. In spite of our resistance. We can give up bad habits, we can think about the future.
It is usually our fear of death that keeps us locked in our lives before resurrection. It is the fear of death that forces others to be oppressive and to kill others, it is fear of death that keeps us thinking about scarcity instead of abundance.
Jesus made a point to come to us to show us that death does indeed happen, but so does resurrection. Always. So there is nothing that we have to be afraid of.
The poem threatened with resurrection is a very long poem – not suitable for reading the whole thing in worship. But I wanted to read some lines of it.
There is something here within us, which doesn’t let us sleep, which doesn’t let us rest, which doesn’t stop pounding deep inside, it is the silent, warm weeping Indian woman without her husband, it is the sad gaze of the children, fixed there beyond memory, in the very pupil of our eyes which during sleep, though closed, keep watch, with each contraction of the heart in every wakening, what keeps us from sleeping is they have threatened us with resurrection. Because at each nightfall, though exhausted from the endless inventory of killings since 1954, yet we continue to love life, and do not accept death. Because in this marathon of hope, there is always others to relieve us, in bearing the courage necessary to arrive at the goal which lies beyond death.. Accompany us then on this vigil and you will know what it is to dream. You will then know how marvelous it is to live threatened with resurrection, to dream awake, to keep watch asleep, to live while dying, and to already know oneself resurrected. (reread the last paragraph)
None of us probably will ever know the feeling of living as persecuted people. That is not the point. That all of us should know the significance of living as resurrected people. People with the power to go on and move forward. People with the power to heal and to be healed. People with the power to know that life will always go on in any circumstance.
Trauma – trauma always leaves a scar on us- But it is that scar that can either hold us down – or move us forward. Depending on what we believe about the resurrection. God’s power to overcome it all.
Finally the quatamalan have a national bird – the quetzal – it looks like a small parrot. When caged – it dies. But when allowed to be free it lives for a very long time. But he is special, because even in the toughest of circumstances – it rises above and recreated itself and flies away to a new life.
What will the power of resurrection do for us?
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
I Believe in Jesus - Women's Day at Mandell United Methodist Church
Turn in your hymnals to #881 – as we say the apostles creed together.
The apostle’s creed is the official faith statement of the Christian church. It is what we all agree on, what we believe to be true about the man we call Jesus the Christ. It is our theology – what you have to believe about jesus in order to consider yourself to be a true Christian.
And it is a blocking stone for many who are not able to accept the Christian story as truth.
Why would any of us be willing to believe in things which we know to be impossible in the every day world. We all know that a virgin cannot give birth, we all know that once you are dead that you cant come back to life, and who would be arrogant to consider themselves a blood relative of God?
Yes the apostles creed, the Christian faith statement is a blockage for many to the Christian faith.
Lew Wallace was the governor of New Mexico when he decided that he wanted to write a book disproving the existence of Jesus. He was encouraged by his other agnostic friends to write this book, because the world really needed to now the truth. He set out to find the facts around this ficticius man – and he found that there really was a women Miriyam – which is closer to the name Miriam then to Mary, who gave birth to Yshua – which is closer to Joshua than Jesus. He really did recruit twelve disciples, and he was really crucified in the cross.
In the midst of his fact finding – he found something else – the real Jesus came to him one night and introduced himself. Lew Wallace immediately fell to his knees and started to pray. Surely this man must be the son of God he thought.
Eventually he became a fervent Christian, something that his Methodist wife had been praying for every since he decided to prove that Jesus was not real.
Jesus is indeed a real person, Jesus indeed made a signigificant influence on history. Even the muslims uphold Jesus as an important prophet. They even have scriptures in the Koran supporting the virgin birth.
Carl Sagan was another famous scientist – who did not believe in the existence of God. He did not understand why people clung to their beliefs about God, based on the testimony of people who have been dead for 200 years. He once asked a pastor – why do you believe in a Jesus that you have never seen? The pastor replied – why do you believe in black holes which you have never seen? Carl Sagan went to his death – refusing to believe in Jesus. His wife commented that there was no deathbed conversion, no appeals to be saved, no hope for the afterlife, as he lay dying there was no acknowledgement that this was the last time that he would ever see his loved ones. After he passed away – someone asked his wife – didn’t he want to believe in Christ- didn’t he want to believe that there was more to life. She commented that he didn’t want to believe in Jesus – he wanted to know Jesus.
That is the good news – that in order to believe in Jesus – you have to know Jesus. Belief in Jesus in not just in the facts about his life, it is not just in the stories that you hear in church – but it is in the way Jesus comes to you in your life – and speaks to your heart and soul. In order to believe in Jesus you always have to have a personal story to tell. A story of how Jesus came to you and ministered to just you and just your situation.
Jesus comes to each of us in a special way. The book of acts records the fact that Jesus came to Saul, another agnostic on the road to Damascus. And changed his life forever.
Jesus has come to me at many points in my life. As a matter of fact, there was never a time when Jesus did not come to me. As a child, would ask him why he had to talk to loudly in the thunder – I could hear him clearly. He would explain that I did not have to be afraid of the thunder. As a teenager, I was the victim of a crime – and I told Jesus that if he loved me he would not have allowed that to happen. And he explained that he loved me even though that happen, and that it was his love that would help me heal from the incident. As a young adult I spent 9 months living in a homeless shelter, looking for some grounding to get my life together. Things Got better, but I have never forgot the faith lesson from that experience. And even today, when I am discouraged, he lifts me up. When I think that I am at the end of my rope, he supports me. When I am crying and saying that I am lost and I don’t know what I am doing – he explains that is why he has called me to this situation, because he know that I am the one to make a difference.
Jesus is alive – and at work throughout the world. I don’t have to tell the story of Jesus to others – because in my experience Jesus always speaks for himself. I don’t have to think about what would Jesus do in this situation, because in my experience Jesus has a mind of his own. He acts as he sees fit to show others the will of God. All I have to do is witness to how I see Jesus at work in my own life.
Charles Templeton was a friend of Billy Graham’s in the 40’s. He was a preacher too, until one day he decided that it was all too much. He left the ministry and became a news reporter. At 83, he was interviewed and asked why he left – he commented that he saw suffering in the world and nothing seemed to be helping. If God was real – he would not allow all of these things to happen he said.
He was then asked what he thought of Jesus. He said he was the greatest human who ever lived. He was wise and had a deep moral conscious. He was a genius. He is the most important part of my life. Everything that I know about life, I learned it from Jesus. Everything right, pure, and loving Jesus taught me. And if I had to admit it – I really miss him. His eyes filled with tears, he cried, and he refused to go on with the interview.
I don’t know your story - I don’t know your relationship with Jesus. I don’t know how you know Jesus – But I know that you do. Somehow, someway you know Jesus. And that Jesus knows you and your story well.
I know Jesus. I know Jesus as a friend, I know Jesus as a savior, I know Jesus as my Lord. I believe in Jesus, because Jesus is an intrical part of my life story.
You now all religions acknowledge the importance of moral ethics. All religions strive for us to be a more loving world.
But Christianity is the only religion which offers salvation. Salvation is healing and well being in the midst of the suffering of the world. Salvation is the knowledge that you have been set aside because God has a greater purpose for you.
Do you believe in Jesus? Do you know Jesus to be your Lord and Savior?
The apostle creed is more than just a faith statement, it is more than a creed of what we should believe about Jesus?
It is a reminder, and affirmation of the power of Christ at work in the world today. When Jesus walked the earth – that power was unleashed in the world. When he was resurrected – that power was free to roam the earth – making itself known everywhere, at any time for anyone.
When you believe in Jesus, and know Jesus and live Jesus - then the world become the holy place – that God created for us all.
You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can it saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. You are a light to the world, a city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lamp stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works, and give glory to your father in heaven.
Be a witness to what God has done for you – wherever you go. Amen.
The apostle’s creed is the official faith statement of the Christian church. It is what we all agree on, what we believe to be true about the man we call Jesus the Christ. It is our theology – what you have to believe about jesus in order to consider yourself to be a true Christian.
And it is a blocking stone for many who are not able to accept the Christian story as truth.
Why would any of us be willing to believe in things which we know to be impossible in the every day world. We all know that a virgin cannot give birth, we all know that once you are dead that you cant come back to life, and who would be arrogant to consider themselves a blood relative of God?
Yes the apostles creed, the Christian faith statement is a blockage for many to the Christian faith.
Lew Wallace was the governor of New Mexico when he decided that he wanted to write a book disproving the existence of Jesus. He was encouraged by his other agnostic friends to write this book, because the world really needed to now the truth. He set out to find the facts around this ficticius man – and he found that there really was a women Miriyam – which is closer to the name Miriam then to Mary, who gave birth to Yshua – which is closer to Joshua than Jesus. He really did recruit twelve disciples, and he was really crucified in the cross.
In the midst of his fact finding – he found something else – the real Jesus came to him one night and introduced himself. Lew Wallace immediately fell to his knees and started to pray. Surely this man must be the son of God he thought.
Eventually he became a fervent Christian, something that his Methodist wife had been praying for every since he decided to prove that Jesus was not real.
Jesus is indeed a real person, Jesus indeed made a signigificant influence on history. Even the muslims uphold Jesus as an important prophet. They even have scriptures in the Koran supporting the virgin birth.
Carl Sagan was another famous scientist – who did not believe in the existence of God. He did not understand why people clung to their beliefs about God, based on the testimony of people who have been dead for 200 years. He once asked a pastor – why do you believe in a Jesus that you have never seen? The pastor replied – why do you believe in black holes which you have never seen? Carl Sagan went to his death – refusing to believe in Jesus. His wife commented that there was no deathbed conversion, no appeals to be saved, no hope for the afterlife, as he lay dying there was no acknowledgement that this was the last time that he would ever see his loved ones. After he passed away – someone asked his wife – didn’t he want to believe in Christ- didn’t he want to believe that there was more to life. She commented that he didn’t want to believe in Jesus – he wanted to know Jesus.
That is the good news – that in order to believe in Jesus – you have to know Jesus. Belief in Jesus in not just in the facts about his life, it is not just in the stories that you hear in church – but it is in the way Jesus comes to you in your life – and speaks to your heart and soul. In order to believe in Jesus you always have to have a personal story to tell. A story of how Jesus came to you and ministered to just you and just your situation.
Jesus comes to each of us in a special way. The book of acts records the fact that Jesus came to Saul, another agnostic on the road to Damascus. And changed his life forever.
Jesus has come to me at many points in my life. As a matter of fact, there was never a time when Jesus did not come to me. As a child, would ask him why he had to talk to loudly in the thunder – I could hear him clearly. He would explain that I did not have to be afraid of the thunder. As a teenager, I was the victim of a crime – and I told Jesus that if he loved me he would not have allowed that to happen. And he explained that he loved me even though that happen, and that it was his love that would help me heal from the incident. As a young adult I spent 9 months living in a homeless shelter, looking for some grounding to get my life together. Things Got better, but I have never forgot the faith lesson from that experience. And even today, when I am discouraged, he lifts me up. When I think that I am at the end of my rope, he supports me. When I am crying and saying that I am lost and I don’t know what I am doing – he explains that is why he has called me to this situation, because he know that I am the one to make a difference.
Jesus is alive – and at work throughout the world. I don’t have to tell the story of Jesus to others – because in my experience Jesus always speaks for himself. I don’t have to think about what would Jesus do in this situation, because in my experience Jesus has a mind of his own. He acts as he sees fit to show others the will of God. All I have to do is witness to how I see Jesus at work in my own life.
Charles Templeton was a friend of Billy Graham’s in the 40’s. He was a preacher too, until one day he decided that it was all too much. He left the ministry and became a news reporter. At 83, he was interviewed and asked why he left – he commented that he saw suffering in the world and nothing seemed to be helping. If God was real – he would not allow all of these things to happen he said.
He was then asked what he thought of Jesus. He said he was the greatest human who ever lived. He was wise and had a deep moral conscious. He was a genius. He is the most important part of my life. Everything that I know about life, I learned it from Jesus. Everything right, pure, and loving Jesus taught me. And if I had to admit it – I really miss him. His eyes filled with tears, he cried, and he refused to go on with the interview.
I don’t know your story - I don’t know your relationship with Jesus. I don’t know how you know Jesus – But I know that you do. Somehow, someway you know Jesus. And that Jesus knows you and your story well.
I know Jesus. I know Jesus as a friend, I know Jesus as a savior, I know Jesus as my Lord. I believe in Jesus, because Jesus is an intrical part of my life story.
You now all religions acknowledge the importance of moral ethics. All religions strive for us to be a more loving world.
But Christianity is the only religion which offers salvation. Salvation is healing and well being in the midst of the suffering of the world. Salvation is the knowledge that you have been set aside because God has a greater purpose for you.
Do you believe in Jesus? Do you know Jesus to be your Lord and Savior?
The apostle creed is more than just a faith statement, it is more than a creed of what we should believe about Jesus?
It is a reminder, and affirmation of the power of Christ at work in the world today. When Jesus walked the earth – that power was unleashed in the world. When he was resurrected – that power was free to roam the earth – making itself known everywhere, at any time for anyone.
When you believe in Jesus, and know Jesus and live Jesus - then the world become the holy place – that God created for us all.
You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can it saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. You are a light to the world, a city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lamp stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works, and give glory to your father in heaven.
Be a witness to what God has done for you – wherever you go. Amen.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Mountain Climbing
April 19, 2009
Mountain Climbing
Hebrews 12: 14-25
Repreached from March 13, 2002
Used for the Second Sunday of Easter
Introduction
One thing that an Associate Pastor has plenty of – are sermons for the second Sunday of Easter. There are two things that you can be certain about in life, no Sr. Pastor is ever going to let anyone else preach on Easter. ( I have lots of Christmas Eve sermons). And the Sr. Pastor is always going to take the Sunday after Easter off.
In looking back at my repertoire of sermons, I must really like to preach on resurrection. Those are some of my most memorable sermons. I have gone for two years now, preaching an old sermon only once. It is not that I have not wanted to preach old sermons, its just that when I wanted to preach – I could never find it. I was able to find enough of my favorite sermons, that the theme for the Sunday’s of Easter will be resurrection. I think that sometime we have a lot of misconceptions about why that is an important theme.
Those sermons will be interspersed with some other special Sundays.
The Story of the Young Lion
One of the things that I treasure the most about college was the stories. Stories used to help us think about our college experience and the impact it would have on our families.
When we first arrived on campus, one of our advisors told us the African tale of the young lion - learning to be king of the jungle.
While he was at home, it seemed that everywhere that he went – the jungle inhabitants showed him respect. He was so sure of himself, that he seemed to have confidence wherever he went. But that was before he had to go through his rite of passage ceremony to become a man. You see his people were from the valley, they knew nothing about the mountains. The rite of passage meant that a young lion had to go up into the mountains for one night and learn to survive. Many of the confident you lions came back from the experienced, changed, much more mature. So when the young lion did not return from his mountain trip the next, day, no one thought anything of it. When he was ready, he would return. Soon another day passed, and another, and another – and no triumphant return.
Finally, they sent an expedition out to find the young lion. And they found him frozen to death at the top of the lion. In a strange place – he had no idea of how to survive.
Our advisors told us that story to remind us to hold on to our roots in a new environment. Like the young lion, at home we were king of the jungle – we knew it all. But going off to college meant encountering many strange things. If we were not careful, we could end up like the young lion stranded – without the proper survival skills.
Mountain Climbing
I think that this is a fitting story also for as Christians, as we enter into the Easter season. A time of transformation and new beginnings for us too. Our spiritual journey is a lot like mountain climbing. During lent, we are climbing the mountain in anticipation of an encounter with God. Easter is our time at the top of the mountain. And post Easter is the time to come down off of the mountain. Mountains pay an important part, not only in rites of passage, but also in spiritual encounters with God. In the bible, the prophet Elijah comes in contact with God by passing God by on the mountain. Moses goes up to the mountain for 40 days in order to talk with God and to get the ten commandments. Martin Luther King, a modern day prophet , preaches his last sermon on going to the mountaintop to see God’s will for our nation in the future. He says that he gets the chance to see the promised land. Mountain are an important part of our faith, so my sermon for today is about instructions for climbing a mountain.
First let me ask, if any of you have ever been on a mountain climbing expedition. Most of us have probably not.
I was fascinated as I did a little research on mountain climbing. You probably realize that mountain climbing is very dangerous – but not for the reasons that you would think. You have to be well trained in order to climb a mountain, and there is a discipline that you have to follow very stringently. The consequence for not following the discipline is death.
The text for today come from the book of Hebrews. Hebrews 12:14-25. The major themes of the book of Hebrews are the understanding that we have a complete picture of who God is in the life of Christ, the teachings of Jesus Christ are all that we need to live by, that faith in confident trust in God, and that we grow in our faith through the tribulations of life. Chapter 12 is on the subject of faith. Our scripture teaches us to live right. And to not take the rules that we have been given on how to treat others lightly. The scripture reminds us that encountering God is never something to be taken lightly. The people were afraid of God, which is why they sent Moses to the mountain to talk on their behalf. It is a reminder that mountain climbing is dangerous, and it too should not be take lightly. The text says that you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire…but you have come to mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem.
I chose this text, because many of us may not take the time to climb physical mountains, but all of us know about climbing spiritual mountains. All of us here have some mountain in our life to climb. It may be a mountain of fear, of lonliness, of need, or even of despair. All of us have a mountain to climb, and all of us need some instructions on the process.
The Dangers of Mountain Climbing
The real danger of mountain climbing is not from slipping and falling. The real danger of mountain climbing comes from the change in the atmosphere the higher you go up. I bet you also didn’t know that your goal in mountain climbing is not reaching the top of the mountain. You mountain climb is not complete until you get back down safely.
Every day – mountain climbers are given a certain course to follow. You are given strict instructions to follow that course, no matter how physically fit you are, and no matter how determined you are to complete your journey. You are to stop at a designated spot, and to wait until further instructions. The air gets thinner the higher you go up, and there is more stress put on your body. As you go up, if your body has not adjusted to those changes, you won’t realize it, but you are destroying your body internally. So you have to take the proper time to give you body a chance to adjust to those changes before you climb higher.
That is why the goal of mountain climbing is not to get to the top of the mountain. It is getting down the other side safely, and having the strength to climb again.
There are many stories who, just like the young lion got to the summit of the mountain – and never made it down. They did not realize that the closer you get to the top, the thinner the air gets, the less oxygen that gets to the brain, the narrower your vision becomes. It is as if the closer you get to your goal, all you see is that goal. You lose sight of the fact that making it to the top is only a small part of a much larger goal. Your real goal is to live to tell about the experience, not the experience.
That is a good lesson for us this Easter Season. We have come to Easter, but now we are called to move on to something different. During the Lenten season we took a journey to the cross. And yet the cross means nothing with the resurrection. Resurrection means nothing without transformation. If we cant take that transformation into our everyday lives, then Easter means nothing. If we don’t live as witnesses to Christ, then why are we Christians? There is a saying, that today is the first day of the rest of your life. Easter is the first day of the rest of our lives.
The story of the Three People in the Throne Room of God
I learned another story in college, I was told that it was from the jewish tradition. But Paul also uses this story in his teachings. It’s the story of three people who went up to the throne room of God. The first went to the throne room to see God, and was dazzled by all that he saw. He wanted to stay with God for the rest of his life, but God reminded him that his life was not over and that he had to return home. When he got home he was never quite the same. He couldn’t function, because nothing in life compared to his experience with God. He was depressed for the rest of his life.
The second person had all of these expectations of what God would do and what would change in his life as a result of seeing God. When he got to the throne room he was disappointed – he told God that God was not real. Because God was so different from his expectations. He lived out his life as a very bitter, critical disappointed man. He told people that there was no God. The third man was totally elated by his time with God, it was amazing and he savored every moment that he spent with God. Like the other two men, God told him that it was time for his to return to his normal life, because his life was not over yet. He always treasured his time with God, but he also loved his life, his work, his family. When he lived his life he adjusted well- and he went on in total service to the will of God.
We all have a mountain to climb. But our goal in life is not to get to the top of the mountain – it is to get back down in a healthy state of mind, with the strength to go climbing again.
What was the difference between these three people? They all had the same experience, but a very different mind set. The first person was like our young lion, over focused on a goal and couldn’t see anything else, the second was disillusioned when he met that goal.
The third man was just an ordinary person in partnership with an extraordinary God. That man had a clear sense of what it means to be human and what it means to be divine.
He knew that the same God that was with him at the top of the mountain is the same God with him in the valley. He knew that the same God who whispered in his ear and gave him the strength to climb, was the same God who led him along the journey, was the same God who helped hi reach to top of the mountain, was the same God who gave him the peace of mind to get back down the mountain and to resume his everyday task.
The importance of our Faith in our journey
Mountain climbing is a discipline. Just as in mountain climbing, you are given strict instructions before you start on your journey, and you know that your life depends on following those instructions, no matter what you encounter while you are up there. We too, as Christians must follow a strict discipline on our spiritual journey.
We have to read the scriptures to make sure that we live our lives according to what it tells us, we have to listen to God in our prayer life, we have to see God no only our friends, but in the face of all people.
It is important that we not get to Easter Sunday with our new clothes on, the ham in the oven, hunting for Easter eggs, and not know how we got there. Hebrews 12 says “You have come to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to Jesus the mediator. We have to remember that the point is not who we are on Easter Sunday – but who we are on Easter Monday. If we believe that the summit of our faith is Easter, we end up frozen on top of the mountain life the young lion. There are a lot of people in the world frozen at a certain point in time, unable to just get over it and move on. But as the Easter people. We have to remember that God has given us a safety rope to get through the rest of our lives. That is our faith.
We can be sure that Christ is the complete revelation of God. As long as we have Christ on our journey – we have all that we need. Christ always intercede with fate on our behalf. If we believe in Christ, our sins are forgiven, the door has been opened for our transformation. If we truly have faith that Christ will transform our lives, our lives will be transformed. Faith is confident trust that Jesus is working it all out- and that it all will be worked out. Finally, life is a challenge. Whether you climb to top of the mountain, or you walk down the block. Tribulations are going to meet you. Tribulations are in ever life. But if you have faith, then tribulations are not our enemies, but your chance to see the face of God. A chance to grow in faith, a challenge to endure to the end. A chance for us as ordinary people to be in partnership with an extraordinary God.
What about you? Where are you on your journey this Easter season? Are you focused on your goal, or are you are you focused on God? Are you trying to make it to the top, or are you getting back down to the reality of life? All questions for us to ponder this Easter season. Amen.
Mountain Climbing
Hebrews 12: 14-25
Repreached from March 13, 2002
Used for the Second Sunday of Easter
Introduction
One thing that an Associate Pastor has plenty of – are sermons for the second Sunday of Easter. There are two things that you can be certain about in life, no Sr. Pastor is ever going to let anyone else preach on Easter. ( I have lots of Christmas Eve sermons). And the Sr. Pastor is always going to take the Sunday after Easter off.
In looking back at my repertoire of sermons, I must really like to preach on resurrection. Those are some of my most memorable sermons. I have gone for two years now, preaching an old sermon only once. It is not that I have not wanted to preach old sermons, its just that when I wanted to preach – I could never find it. I was able to find enough of my favorite sermons, that the theme for the Sunday’s of Easter will be resurrection. I think that sometime we have a lot of misconceptions about why that is an important theme.
Those sermons will be interspersed with some other special Sundays.
The Story of the Young Lion
One of the things that I treasure the most about college was the stories. Stories used to help us think about our college experience and the impact it would have on our families.
When we first arrived on campus, one of our advisors told us the African tale of the young lion - learning to be king of the jungle.
While he was at home, it seemed that everywhere that he went – the jungle inhabitants showed him respect. He was so sure of himself, that he seemed to have confidence wherever he went. But that was before he had to go through his rite of passage ceremony to become a man. You see his people were from the valley, they knew nothing about the mountains. The rite of passage meant that a young lion had to go up into the mountains for one night and learn to survive. Many of the confident you lions came back from the experienced, changed, much more mature. So when the young lion did not return from his mountain trip the next, day, no one thought anything of it. When he was ready, he would return. Soon another day passed, and another, and another – and no triumphant return.
Finally, they sent an expedition out to find the young lion. And they found him frozen to death at the top of the lion. In a strange place – he had no idea of how to survive.
Our advisors told us that story to remind us to hold on to our roots in a new environment. Like the young lion, at home we were king of the jungle – we knew it all. But going off to college meant encountering many strange things. If we were not careful, we could end up like the young lion stranded – without the proper survival skills.
Mountain Climbing
I think that this is a fitting story also for as Christians, as we enter into the Easter season. A time of transformation and new beginnings for us too. Our spiritual journey is a lot like mountain climbing. During lent, we are climbing the mountain in anticipation of an encounter with God. Easter is our time at the top of the mountain. And post Easter is the time to come down off of the mountain. Mountains pay an important part, not only in rites of passage, but also in spiritual encounters with God. In the bible, the prophet Elijah comes in contact with God by passing God by on the mountain. Moses goes up to the mountain for 40 days in order to talk with God and to get the ten commandments. Martin Luther King, a modern day prophet , preaches his last sermon on going to the mountaintop to see God’s will for our nation in the future. He says that he gets the chance to see the promised land. Mountain are an important part of our faith, so my sermon for today is about instructions for climbing a mountain.
First let me ask, if any of you have ever been on a mountain climbing expedition. Most of us have probably not.
I was fascinated as I did a little research on mountain climbing. You probably realize that mountain climbing is very dangerous – but not for the reasons that you would think. You have to be well trained in order to climb a mountain, and there is a discipline that you have to follow very stringently. The consequence for not following the discipline is death.
The text for today come from the book of Hebrews. Hebrews 12:14-25. The major themes of the book of Hebrews are the understanding that we have a complete picture of who God is in the life of Christ, the teachings of Jesus Christ are all that we need to live by, that faith in confident trust in God, and that we grow in our faith through the tribulations of life. Chapter 12 is on the subject of faith. Our scripture teaches us to live right. And to not take the rules that we have been given on how to treat others lightly. The scripture reminds us that encountering God is never something to be taken lightly. The people were afraid of God, which is why they sent Moses to the mountain to talk on their behalf. It is a reminder that mountain climbing is dangerous, and it too should not be take lightly. The text says that you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire…but you have come to mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem.
I chose this text, because many of us may not take the time to climb physical mountains, but all of us know about climbing spiritual mountains. All of us here have some mountain in our life to climb. It may be a mountain of fear, of lonliness, of need, or even of despair. All of us have a mountain to climb, and all of us need some instructions on the process.
The Dangers of Mountain Climbing
The real danger of mountain climbing is not from slipping and falling. The real danger of mountain climbing comes from the change in the atmosphere the higher you go up. I bet you also didn’t know that your goal in mountain climbing is not reaching the top of the mountain. You mountain climb is not complete until you get back down safely.
Every day – mountain climbers are given a certain course to follow. You are given strict instructions to follow that course, no matter how physically fit you are, and no matter how determined you are to complete your journey. You are to stop at a designated spot, and to wait until further instructions. The air gets thinner the higher you go up, and there is more stress put on your body. As you go up, if your body has not adjusted to those changes, you won’t realize it, but you are destroying your body internally. So you have to take the proper time to give you body a chance to adjust to those changes before you climb higher.
That is why the goal of mountain climbing is not to get to the top of the mountain. It is getting down the other side safely, and having the strength to climb again.
There are many stories who, just like the young lion got to the summit of the mountain – and never made it down. They did not realize that the closer you get to the top, the thinner the air gets, the less oxygen that gets to the brain, the narrower your vision becomes. It is as if the closer you get to your goal, all you see is that goal. You lose sight of the fact that making it to the top is only a small part of a much larger goal. Your real goal is to live to tell about the experience, not the experience.
That is a good lesson for us this Easter Season. We have come to Easter, but now we are called to move on to something different. During the Lenten season we took a journey to the cross. And yet the cross means nothing with the resurrection. Resurrection means nothing without transformation. If we cant take that transformation into our everyday lives, then Easter means nothing. If we don’t live as witnesses to Christ, then why are we Christians? There is a saying, that today is the first day of the rest of your life. Easter is the first day of the rest of our lives.
The story of the Three People in the Throne Room of God
I learned another story in college, I was told that it was from the jewish tradition. But Paul also uses this story in his teachings. It’s the story of three people who went up to the throne room of God. The first went to the throne room to see God, and was dazzled by all that he saw. He wanted to stay with God for the rest of his life, but God reminded him that his life was not over and that he had to return home. When he got home he was never quite the same. He couldn’t function, because nothing in life compared to his experience with God. He was depressed for the rest of his life.
The second person had all of these expectations of what God would do and what would change in his life as a result of seeing God. When he got to the throne room he was disappointed – he told God that God was not real. Because God was so different from his expectations. He lived out his life as a very bitter, critical disappointed man. He told people that there was no God. The third man was totally elated by his time with God, it was amazing and he savored every moment that he spent with God. Like the other two men, God told him that it was time for his to return to his normal life, because his life was not over yet. He always treasured his time with God, but he also loved his life, his work, his family. When he lived his life he adjusted well- and he went on in total service to the will of God.
We all have a mountain to climb. But our goal in life is not to get to the top of the mountain – it is to get back down in a healthy state of mind, with the strength to go climbing again.
What was the difference between these three people? They all had the same experience, but a very different mind set. The first person was like our young lion, over focused on a goal and couldn’t see anything else, the second was disillusioned when he met that goal.
The third man was just an ordinary person in partnership with an extraordinary God. That man had a clear sense of what it means to be human and what it means to be divine.
He knew that the same God that was with him at the top of the mountain is the same God with him in the valley. He knew that the same God who whispered in his ear and gave him the strength to climb, was the same God who led him along the journey, was the same God who helped hi reach to top of the mountain, was the same God who gave him the peace of mind to get back down the mountain and to resume his everyday task.
The importance of our Faith in our journey
Mountain climbing is a discipline. Just as in mountain climbing, you are given strict instructions before you start on your journey, and you know that your life depends on following those instructions, no matter what you encounter while you are up there. We too, as Christians must follow a strict discipline on our spiritual journey.
We have to read the scriptures to make sure that we live our lives according to what it tells us, we have to listen to God in our prayer life, we have to see God no only our friends, but in the face of all people.
It is important that we not get to Easter Sunday with our new clothes on, the ham in the oven, hunting for Easter eggs, and not know how we got there. Hebrews 12 says “You have come to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to Jesus the mediator. We have to remember that the point is not who we are on Easter Sunday – but who we are on Easter Monday. If we believe that the summit of our faith is Easter, we end up frozen on top of the mountain life the young lion. There are a lot of people in the world frozen at a certain point in time, unable to just get over it and move on. But as the Easter people. We have to remember that God has given us a safety rope to get through the rest of our lives. That is our faith.
We can be sure that Christ is the complete revelation of God. As long as we have Christ on our journey – we have all that we need. Christ always intercede with fate on our behalf. If we believe in Christ, our sins are forgiven, the door has been opened for our transformation. If we truly have faith that Christ will transform our lives, our lives will be transformed. Faith is confident trust that Jesus is working it all out- and that it all will be worked out. Finally, life is a challenge. Whether you climb to top of the mountain, or you walk down the block. Tribulations are going to meet you. Tribulations are in ever life. But if you have faith, then tribulations are not our enemies, but your chance to see the face of God. A chance to grow in faith, a challenge to endure to the end. A chance for us as ordinary people to be in partnership with an extraordinary God.
What about you? Where are you on your journey this Easter season? Are you focused on your goal, or are you are you focused on God? Are you trying to make it to the top, or are you getting back down to the reality of life? All questions for us to ponder this Easter season. Amen.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Jesus Christ, My Lord and Savior - April 12, 2009 - Easter
Introduction
Many years ago now, there was a young boy who loved Mister Rogers and Captain Kangaroo. He faithfully watched both shows every day. One day they announced that Mister Rogers would be visiting the Captain Kangaroo show. Oh my God, this had to be the perfect moment in time – the two things he loved the most in one place. He told the whole family about the upcoming event. He asked every day if this was the day for the show. Finally the day came. The whole family gathered around the tv set with him. The show came on for one minute – and then he walked out of the room. He father followed him thinking something was wrong. The little boy was overcome with emotion – this is just too much. I can’t take it any more. It is just too much goodness in one place I just cant take it all in.
Easter for me
That is how I feel about Easter Sunday. It is just too much to take in. Serving as the Associate for nine years, I have always had to prepare a sunrise service sermon, but that is nothing like having to do the big Easter Sermon. What can I possibly say in this sermon that is so much more special than my other sermons.
My favorite part of Easter is the Easter vigil the night before. Staying up all night, making sure everything is just perfect for Easter morning. Usually I am up all night making sure that all of my easter baskets are complete, making sure everything is ready when the kids come in the morning, making sure breakfast is complete when the sunrise service is over with. And somewhere in the middle of the night I have to get my sermon done. I am nervous that I am not going to have enough time to get everything done.
This year, Holy Week in general was pretty lame. There was no real pressure at all. I did not have to prepare any services during the week, just show up. My sermon was done before sundown on Saturday (that will never happen again, I can assure you), I emailed, Cari, the tenant ahead of time to make sure that I could use her drive way so that I didn’t get a ticket this year for parking overnight, I even picked up the flowers way before the greenhouse was about the close. It appears that Easter will be a pretty normal day this year. Long, but not stressful.
The Resurrection Story
But you know I think that is the Easter message for us in this modern times. We are so accustomed to television dramas – so we think that in order to be special, there has to be stress, there has to be some problem solved, some deep questioned answered. There has to be some earth shattering event that shakes us up and makes us pay attention.
And yet that is not the resurrection story that you find the gospel of Mark. Mark’s story is a very subdued story. A story about a group of women, who came to a friends tomb, actually after the sun had already come up. Preparing to say goodbye and to make sure that he was prepared to his journey into eternity.
A large boulder stood between them and their task of love. Some say that the boulder was so big because it protected the body within. Others say that the boulder was so big because it protected the living from what was inside. The living and the dead had to be kept separate. There had to be some kind of boundary between them. I often what boulders stand between us and Jesus today? What stands in the way of us hearing the resurrection story. What is our boulder of separation between who we are today – and who Jesus is asking us to become. And what angel is going to come along and roll away the stone for us?
What the women found
Ironically the women came that morning looking for Jesus and they found – absolutely nothing. No body, no burial cloth, no resurrection appearance, no voice from beyond. Just an angel explaining that what you came to see it not here. So you might as well just move on, tell your friends that if you want to see Jesus, you need to move on. Go on the galilee and you will find what you are looking for there.
It is interesting that the first witnesses went to the tomb looking for Jesus, and found nothing. And yet Paul, intentionally ran away from Jesus and he saw everything. The verses in first Corinthians is a creed of what Paul came to believe. A belief that changed his whole life, that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, rose and appeared to those who believe in him.
Both stories teach a valuable lesson for us today about witnessing the easter story. When we come to the tomb looking for Jesus, what do we see – everything or nothing. It all depends on what we are looking for. The resurrection is not an event that can be explained. It can only be lived. We can never tell what happened on Easter, the truth is we don’t know. We can only tell what we saw in our lives when we came to that event, that Easter morning , for us here at the church sitting together in faith.
Reconcilartion, blessing, forgiveness, healing, life, love, renewal, salvation, joy, peace, grace, hope, good news, holy, resurrection, transformation, new – these are just some of the words of the Easter season.
These are just some of the ways that the resurrection story makes a difference in our lives. Walter Brugeeman says that Easter is not a day – it is a verb – it is what we do to show God’s love in our lives.
Modern Witnesses
Most people, when they are testing a microphone, they say one two three- or some other meaningless words. Billy Graham always recites the scripture For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. He says that he does it because if no one gets his message, at least the sound technician will get something. Rachel and Bill work every day jobs, but they look forward to going out on the weekends and participating in RAK - random acts of kindness, they make a point to leave quarters in the landromat, gift cards in the grocery store, water on the bike trail. Anything to help others learn the love of God. Another couple lost their son in a car accident, and now have a website to help other parents with loss, a group of teenagers started a blog to tell other teens the importance of living a spiritual life. What do we do in our lives to witness to the Easter story.
When we live like that as the Easter people, people don’t have to believe in the resurrection of Christ, because they can live it for themselves. The gospel of mark wants us to understand that Easter is not an event – it is a verb It is not something to believe in, it is something to live by. It is not a special day, when we became witnesses to an extraordinary truth. The truth that peace transforms violence. When forgiveness transforms broken relationships, where life, transforms boredom, where confidence transforms fear, when the ordinary becomes holy.
The Messianic Secret
Not by what happened, but by what didn’t happen. Not by what we saw, but by what we didn’t see, not by what we understand, but by what remains a mystery.
We have been studying the book of Mark all year, and I told you that Mark is the story of the messianic secret. Jesus doesn’t want anyone to know who he really is and what he is doing. Mark ends with a bit of mystery in this story. As a matter of fact, Mark ends the resurrection story in without even finishing the sentence. Mark ends by saying that the women fled the tomb and said nothing to no one because they were afraid. He never tells us whether they made it to Jerusalem, whether they say Jesus, or how their lives were transformed. This morning we read the longer version of Mark, which is believed to have been added by a later writer – where Jesus appears and tells them to make disciples of others, and the world is able to hear the message.
Yet Mark intended to end the story in mystery, he left us hanging on purpose. The story is not over until we get out of our seats and become witnesses to the resurrection. Until we realize that this is not all that there is for us. Jesus has gone on ahead of us- and the best is yet to come.
Who Holds the Future
A professor once had to give a speech at a conference on the future. And others have all kinds of speeches on their predictions for the future. What the economy was going to be like, what kind of technology would be developed, what kind of relationships we would have with others. In the midst of all of these predictions, his speech was that he had no idea of what was going to happen in the future. All he knew was that God was already there in the future and in complete control of whatever happened. Just as Jesus is ahead of us in the days to come to show us the power of transformation – if we are willing to be witnesses – but anyway I digress. Ten years later, the professor retired and was looking at all of those predictions – he laughed, because he was the only one who was right about what would happen.
That is the beauty of Mark – he ends his story by saying they were afraid for – for what – no one really knows.
What this means for us
We really don’t know what happened the night – between Jesus death and resurrection, we will never know how it happened – did Jesus just wake up, or did the angels revive him – who knows. But we do know why it happened –
So that we could have the experience of an empty tomb. And have a choice to either be witnesses to nothing – or something. To live in life believing that Jesus is ahead of us – working out our transformation – or not. To become a part of the never ending story – or do nothing at all.
In the coming weeks, during the season of Easter – I will be preaching about the power of resurrection and transformation. The point of Easter is to invite each of us to tell our own stories. Live on in peace! Amen.
Many years ago now, there was a young boy who loved Mister Rogers and Captain Kangaroo. He faithfully watched both shows every day. One day they announced that Mister Rogers would be visiting the Captain Kangaroo show. Oh my God, this had to be the perfect moment in time – the two things he loved the most in one place. He told the whole family about the upcoming event. He asked every day if this was the day for the show. Finally the day came. The whole family gathered around the tv set with him. The show came on for one minute – and then he walked out of the room. He father followed him thinking something was wrong. The little boy was overcome with emotion – this is just too much. I can’t take it any more. It is just too much goodness in one place I just cant take it all in.
Easter for me
That is how I feel about Easter Sunday. It is just too much to take in. Serving as the Associate for nine years, I have always had to prepare a sunrise service sermon, but that is nothing like having to do the big Easter Sermon. What can I possibly say in this sermon that is so much more special than my other sermons.
My favorite part of Easter is the Easter vigil the night before. Staying up all night, making sure everything is just perfect for Easter morning. Usually I am up all night making sure that all of my easter baskets are complete, making sure everything is ready when the kids come in the morning, making sure breakfast is complete when the sunrise service is over with. And somewhere in the middle of the night I have to get my sermon done. I am nervous that I am not going to have enough time to get everything done.
This year, Holy Week in general was pretty lame. There was no real pressure at all. I did not have to prepare any services during the week, just show up. My sermon was done before sundown on Saturday (that will never happen again, I can assure you), I emailed, Cari, the tenant ahead of time to make sure that I could use her drive way so that I didn’t get a ticket this year for parking overnight, I even picked up the flowers way before the greenhouse was about the close. It appears that Easter will be a pretty normal day this year. Long, but not stressful.
The Resurrection Story
But you know I think that is the Easter message for us in this modern times. We are so accustomed to television dramas – so we think that in order to be special, there has to be stress, there has to be some problem solved, some deep questioned answered. There has to be some earth shattering event that shakes us up and makes us pay attention.
And yet that is not the resurrection story that you find the gospel of Mark. Mark’s story is a very subdued story. A story about a group of women, who came to a friends tomb, actually after the sun had already come up. Preparing to say goodbye and to make sure that he was prepared to his journey into eternity.
A large boulder stood between them and their task of love. Some say that the boulder was so big because it protected the body within. Others say that the boulder was so big because it protected the living from what was inside. The living and the dead had to be kept separate. There had to be some kind of boundary between them. I often what boulders stand between us and Jesus today? What stands in the way of us hearing the resurrection story. What is our boulder of separation between who we are today – and who Jesus is asking us to become. And what angel is going to come along and roll away the stone for us?
What the women found
Ironically the women came that morning looking for Jesus and they found – absolutely nothing. No body, no burial cloth, no resurrection appearance, no voice from beyond. Just an angel explaining that what you came to see it not here. So you might as well just move on, tell your friends that if you want to see Jesus, you need to move on. Go on the galilee and you will find what you are looking for there.
It is interesting that the first witnesses went to the tomb looking for Jesus, and found nothing. And yet Paul, intentionally ran away from Jesus and he saw everything. The verses in first Corinthians is a creed of what Paul came to believe. A belief that changed his whole life, that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, rose and appeared to those who believe in him.
Both stories teach a valuable lesson for us today about witnessing the easter story. When we come to the tomb looking for Jesus, what do we see – everything or nothing. It all depends on what we are looking for. The resurrection is not an event that can be explained. It can only be lived. We can never tell what happened on Easter, the truth is we don’t know. We can only tell what we saw in our lives when we came to that event, that Easter morning , for us here at the church sitting together in faith.
Reconcilartion, blessing, forgiveness, healing, life, love, renewal, salvation, joy, peace, grace, hope, good news, holy, resurrection, transformation, new – these are just some of the words of the Easter season.
These are just some of the ways that the resurrection story makes a difference in our lives. Walter Brugeeman says that Easter is not a day – it is a verb – it is what we do to show God’s love in our lives.
Modern Witnesses
Most people, when they are testing a microphone, they say one two three- or some other meaningless words. Billy Graham always recites the scripture For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. He says that he does it because if no one gets his message, at least the sound technician will get something. Rachel and Bill work every day jobs, but they look forward to going out on the weekends and participating in RAK - random acts of kindness, they make a point to leave quarters in the landromat, gift cards in the grocery store, water on the bike trail. Anything to help others learn the love of God. Another couple lost their son in a car accident, and now have a website to help other parents with loss, a group of teenagers started a blog to tell other teens the importance of living a spiritual life. What do we do in our lives to witness to the Easter story.
When we live like that as the Easter people, people don’t have to believe in the resurrection of Christ, because they can live it for themselves. The gospel of mark wants us to understand that Easter is not an event – it is a verb It is not something to believe in, it is something to live by. It is not a special day, when we became witnesses to an extraordinary truth. The truth that peace transforms violence. When forgiveness transforms broken relationships, where life, transforms boredom, where confidence transforms fear, when the ordinary becomes holy.
The Messianic Secret
Not by what happened, but by what didn’t happen. Not by what we saw, but by what we didn’t see, not by what we understand, but by what remains a mystery.
We have been studying the book of Mark all year, and I told you that Mark is the story of the messianic secret. Jesus doesn’t want anyone to know who he really is and what he is doing. Mark ends with a bit of mystery in this story. As a matter of fact, Mark ends the resurrection story in without even finishing the sentence. Mark ends by saying that the women fled the tomb and said nothing to no one because they were afraid. He never tells us whether they made it to Jerusalem, whether they say Jesus, or how their lives were transformed. This morning we read the longer version of Mark, which is believed to have been added by a later writer – where Jesus appears and tells them to make disciples of others, and the world is able to hear the message.
Yet Mark intended to end the story in mystery, he left us hanging on purpose. The story is not over until we get out of our seats and become witnesses to the resurrection. Until we realize that this is not all that there is for us. Jesus has gone on ahead of us- and the best is yet to come.
Who Holds the Future
A professor once had to give a speech at a conference on the future. And others have all kinds of speeches on their predictions for the future. What the economy was going to be like, what kind of technology would be developed, what kind of relationships we would have with others. In the midst of all of these predictions, his speech was that he had no idea of what was going to happen in the future. All he knew was that God was already there in the future and in complete control of whatever happened. Just as Jesus is ahead of us in the days to come to show us the power of transformation – if we are willing to be witnesses – but anyway I digress. Ten years later, the professor retired and was looking at all of those predictions – he laughed, because he was the only one who was right about what would happen.
That is the beauty of Mark – he ends his story by saying they were afraid for – for what – no one really knows.
What this means for us
We really don’t know what happened the night – between Jesus death and resurrection, we will never know how it happened – did Jesus just wake up, or did the angels revive him – who knows. But we do know why it happened –
So that we could have the experience of an empty tomb. And have a choice to either be witnesses to nothing – or something. To live in life believing that Jesus is ahead of us – working out our transformation – or not. To become a part of the never ending story – or do nothing at all.
In the coming weeks, during the season of Easter – I will be preaching about the power of resurrection and transformation. The point of Easter is to invite each of us to tell our own stories. Live on in peace! Amen.
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