Climbing Back Down the Mountain - repreach 031302 - mountain climbing

April 28 , 2019 John 20:19-31 Climbing back down the mountain Year C 2nd Sunday of Easter Repreach of 031302 Children’s Sermon….. Object: a yo-yo (might want to get a young person with yo-yo skills to help with this demonstration) Lesson: Good morning, boys and girls. Have you ever played with a yo-yo? They're a lot of fun once you learn how to play with them. You can do all kinds of tricks with a yo-yo, but first you've got to learn the most basic move: getting the yo-yo to go up and down. That's the first and most important move for the yo-yo, just going up and down. That's what a yo-yo was made to do. Did you know that sometimes our faith can be like a yo-yo? When our faith is up, we believe that God is in control, and we trust God to lead us and guide us. But when our faith is down, we don't believe in God, and we get scared and worried, and we start complaining a lot. Our Bible story today is about a man with a yo-yo faith. His name was Thomas. Thomas was one of the men who followed Jesus. Thomas had a really strong faith while Jesus was alive. But after Jesus' death, Thomas' faith went way down. He just didn't believe that God was still in control. When Jesus came alive again, Thomas didn't believe it at first. His faith was way, way down. But then, when Thomas actually saw Jesus with his own eyes, his faith went way up. He believed again! And Thomas' faith stayed way up for the rest of his life. He never doubted Jesus again. God doesn't want us to have a yo-yo faith, one that goes up and down all the time. He wants us to believe at all times that He loves us and He's in control of our lives. We can trust Him; our faith can always be up. Let's pray and ask God to give us a faith that is always up on Him. Dynamic Preaching, Collected Sermons, by King Duncan John 20:19-31 Common English Bible (CEB) Jesus appears to the disciples 19 It was still the first day of the week. That evening, while the disciples were behind closed doors because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities, Jesus came and stood among them. He said, “Peace be with you.” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they were filled with joy. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I am sending you.”22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; if you don’t forgive them, they aren’t forgiven.” Jesus appears to Thomas and the disciples 24 Thomas, the one called Didymus,[a] one of the Twelve, wasn’t with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples told him, “We’ve seen the Lord!” But he replied, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, put my finger in the wounds left by the nails, and put my hand into his side, I won’t believe.” 26 After eight days his disciples were again in a house and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were locked, Jesus entered and stood among them. He said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here. Look at my hands. Put your hand into my side. No more disbelief. Believe!” 28 Thomas responded to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus replied, “Do you believe because you see me? Happy are those who don’t see and yet believe.” 30 Then Jesus did many other miraculous signs in his disciples’ presence, signs that aren’t recorded in this scroll. 31 But these things are written so that you will believe that Jesus is the Christ, God’s Son, and that believing, you will have life in his name. Footnotes: a. John 20:24 Or the twin Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible Speaking of an up and down faith. If last Sunday was the highpoint of the year, today is the lowpoint of the year. Not as many people, not as much music, not a festive time – the good thing about this Sunday is that the restaurants wont be as crowded. And we can celebrate that it is still easter Sunday. It is the second easter Sunday. Easter will last for about five more weeks. How do you know this is a special time, because our gospel lesson for the next five weeks comes from the book of John. John is the festival gospel. Every second Sunday of Easter we hear the story of Thomas. It is still Easter evening, and all of the disciples are hiding together. They say that this is the story of doubting Thomas, but I really think that Thomas teaches us a much bigger lesson about our yoyo faith. A faith where sometimes we are up, and sometimes we are down. Sometimes we are up on a mountain, and sometimes we are down in the valley. And yet wherever we are- Christ shows up and offers us a peace beyond understanding. So this Sunday my sermon is about mountain climbing - life is like a mountain. The Story of the Young Lion When I was a freshman at Northwestern, the university went through great lengths to provide a support system for African American students. So I was part of a summer program, where we got to know one another, and went to classes, and gathered at the African American student union. In one of our first sessions together, the director of African American studies gathered us together and told us an African tale of a young lion. He was preparing to be king of the jungle, so he was sent out on a mission at the top of the mountain. 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. If you tour some of the ancient sites, or even older churches, you will have to climb some pretty significant stairs in order to get up to the sight. 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. I have been reading this book called Three Cups of Tea – it is a true story of a mountaineer, who went on several expeditions. While in Afghanistan and Pakistan he realized that the children who lived on the mountain had to climb down in order to go to school. The book is about his mission to build schools in those towns, so that the children would not have to travel. To set the tone for the book, he tells of the toll that mountain climbing took on his health, and all of his friends who never made it off of the mountain. 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. 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 of people who like the author’s friends and , 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. For the last six months we have had one festival season after another. We have been prepping for this, and planning for that. We have shopped, and prepared special dinners, and entertained guest and family. We have come to Easter, all of that is over with, 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. 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. 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. There are 4 simple rules to mountain climbing to keep in mind. First – what goes up, must always come down. – the same with our faith. Second follow the instructions – read your bible. And third always make sure that you have a guide – Christ is our top spiritual advisor in all things. And finally – trust in the power of the holy spirit to transform life – that is the power of the resurrection. 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. 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. During the next five weeks, the gospel lesson will be a story of how Jesus appeared to his followers and gave them an important lesson in faith, a faith that led them to believe in the resurrection. Today, Jesus comes to Thomas. I really don’t think this is really a story about doubt, but about an up and down faith. In order for us to be up and active, sometimes we have to be down and out. It is those times when we are afraid, when we are uncertain, when we are discouraged that we see Christ clearly. Those mountaintop festivals exist in order to give us perspective, some strength, something to strive for. Our savior is not perfect, he is not even a spirit, but a wounded son of God. who understands pain and suffering, and who came to the earth to help us to see that there is so much more beyond it – there is a whole season of Easter Sundays. Tribulations are in every 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. Easter in Us The Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote an ambitious poem entitled 'The Wreck of the Deutschland.' It commemorates the death of five Franciscan nuns drowned on the German ship Deutschland at the mouth of the Thames in the winter of 1875. One half-line especially intrigues me: 'Let him Easter in us.' Let Christ 'Easter' in us. A rare verb indeed, but it suits this sacred season, ... How does Christ Easter in us? In three wondrous ways: (1) By a faith that rises above doubt. (2) By a hope that conquers despair. (3) By a love that does justice. Walter J. Burghardt, Let Christ Easter in Us, Dare to Be Christ: Homilies for the Nineties (Mahwah, NJ.: Paulist Press, 1991), 51.