A Second Chance for Lazarus

Lent 5 April 6, 2025 John 12: 1-8 Year C A Second Chance for Lazarus “Connection” Lent Five Prelude Greeting Over the Threshold Leader: Persian mystic Rumi is one of the most often quoted mystics in our day, transcending religious lines. He said this: “Do not feel lonely, the entire universe is inside you. Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion. Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames.” Sing Open the Eyes of My Heart - See insert Lent is often considered a solitary journey as we traditionally use it as a time to examine ourselves and engage in practices that bring us closer to God. While this is a part of the spiritual journey, we also know that human beings were made for relationship. This is why it is so vitally important that we experience collective awe. As we continue to explore what it means to be “purveyors of awe,” we learn of the powerful benefits of togetherness. In a time when we have been through one of the most isolating times in human history, we remember and are grateful for a renewed ability to seek connection. Sing Open the Eyes of My Heart – see insert Awe is a gateway to connection. As we have experiences that give us a sense of being part of something larger than “just us,” our penchant for self-preservation and obsession with the competitive default-self gives way to a renewed commitment to the greater whole. We need moments of “collective effervescence” that increase hope and joy at being part of the human family. Let us rise in body and/or spirit and pray: Awe-inspiring God, we come together this day because we need to be reminded to see through the lens of connection. It is too easy to have everything we need without seeking out relationship or connection to another human being. Open us to perceive anew. Inspire us to receive our surroundings with awe. Forgive us when we hold back unnecessarily from wholehearted participation and dedication to eradicating loneliness. Be with us on this journey as we seek again to marvel at your works. Sing Open the Eyes of My Heart - see insert God does not sever connection. Ever. God forgives us. Jesus embraces us. The Spirit enlivens us. We are whole. With awe, we accept this belovedness. And all God’s people say, “Amen.” Opening Hymn/Song When I Survey the Wondrous Cross UMH 299 In Awe of Children A husband is kidnapped and the kidnapper calls the wife and demands a ransom of 100,000. She tells the kidnapper that is much more than she is willing to pay to get him back. She will give him 30,000 and that is about it. When the husband returns, he asks why she was not willing to pay the full ransom for him. He felt that he was worth so much more. How much are you worth? It depends on who you ask. But to God we are all priceless. In this story, a friends spends a lot on a gift for Jesus. She too is criticiczed. People say that she could have used that money on better things. Giving a gift from the heart is always priceless. Jesus really appreciated the gift. More importantly, Jesus explained that a gift given to God is never too much. In church, we used to sing a song – you can’t beat God giving. Whatever you give – God gives so much more to you. And he is able to feed the poor and those in need. PRAYER OF CONFESSION Like Judas, God of new things, we like to complain about your generous ways, rather than living in your grace. The poor are always with us, we believe, which justifies our ignoring them. In our memories, we focus on a perceived golden past, and so we ignore the new things you do in our midst. We are so enamored with our achievements that we are not willing to throw them away in order to follow Jesus. Forgive us, Restoring God, and help us to notice the kingdom springing forth in our midst. By your grace, may our fears turn to faith, our seeds of grief produce a bumper crop of joy, and our tears turn into torrents of tenderness as we journey with Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, to Jerusalem. Silence is kept. Assurance of Pardon Making a way through all the foolishness and mistakes of our lives, God leads us into new life, where we are restored to grace, to hope, and to peace. Do we notice what God has done for us, what God is doing in us? This is good news for everyone. Thanks be to God, we are forgiven! Amen. Adapted from Thom Shuman, posted at https://pilgrimwr.unitingchurch.org.au/?p=2008. The Peace The peace of Christ be with you. And also with you. I invite you to share the peace of Christ with those around you, [remembering to greet those online with a wave to the camera]. Contemporary Reading Reader: Our first reading is a contemporary one–an excerpt from an article by researcher Brené Brown entitled, “Why Experiencing Joy and Pain in a Group Is So Powerful:" “Experiences [of collective effervescence] contribute to a life filled with less loneliness and greater meaning, positive emotions, and social connection… Collective assembly meets the primal human yearnings for shared social experiences. A collective assembly can start to heal the wounds of a traumatized community. When we come together to share authentic joy, hope, and pain, we melt the pervasive cynicism that often cloaks our better human nature.” Ancient Reading John 12:1-8 In Awe of Music In Awe of the Word A Second Chance for Lazurus Human beings live most of our lives through sight. We depend on our vision for most things in life. But our sense of smell is connected to our memories and our feelings. Scents trigger something deep inside of us. Scents can transport us back in time to scenes long ago. One of my greatest memories – was driving to grandma’s house. We would get there late at night. She would put me to bed, and I would wake up in the morning to the smell of bacon and eggs and hot biscuits for breakfast. That smell was magical. They say that the best way to get people to join your church is to cook or bake something. When people come in the door and smell that fresh bread, or spaghetti sauce – they swear that they have found their church home. Smells can trigger happy memories. But smells can also trigger tragic memories. I was in high school standing at the bus stop, when all of a sudden a car barrelled around the corner and hit a little girl right in front of me. I remember that day as if it was yesterday, because the smell of burn rubber from the car slamming on the brakes is still in my nose. John the gospel writer was able to recall the day of Jesus crucifixion with such detail, because he remembers the smell of perfume. The smell of that perfume triggered some happy memories and some tragic memories – it lingered in his head for days. The Power of Fragrance Isn’t it amazing that John could remember this fragrance so many years after Christ’s ascension? That, when his mind drifted back to that last week of Christ’s life, it was the fragrance of Mary’s offering that framed his memory. What once was an oasis for Jesus, that helped comfort him so he could go forward, was now an oasis in John’s memory that helped him deal with the rigors of his trials. Still today, two thousand years later, Mary’s gift brings fragrance to our lives and while Mary was condemned by the apostle’s that day for her extravagance, she provided a gift that has been remembered for thousands of years. Her fragrance still fills our lives with the presence of Christ. Jerry Goebel, The House Was Filled With the Fragrance of the Perfume According to John 6, it was six days before the crucifixion. Jesus friend Lazarus invites Jesus and the disciples to a meal. You have heard of the last supper, well this was the supper before the last supper. The characters present: Lazarus, Jesus, his sister Martha, his sister Mary, Jesus, Judas and the other disciples. Lazarus is celebrating a second chance at life. He was brought back from the dead. Jesus is literally enjoying the last seconds before his death. Martha takes this chance to be of service to her Lord. Mary pours a heavy scented oil over Jesus feet. Not knowing that she is preparing him for death. Judas, the treasurer for Jesus ministry, always conscious of spending scolds Mary for wasting such an extravagant gift. That money could have been used for the poor. A friend used to tell me – things are not always how they look. In spite of being brought back to life, one day Lazarus will die just any other person. Jesus will dies – but will open the doors of eternal life for all of us. Mary will move from scolded one to the star of the story. She will become an example of discipleship and devotion to Christ. Whereas Judas doesn’t really care about the poor. He is just gaining confidence to betray Jesus. A Simple Answer Could that have been Judas' greatest downfall, the inability to see himself as a sinner and hence receive God's forgiveness? For without that sense of forgiveness, life holds little joy and the future is hopeless. Someone once said that the person who knows himself or herself to be a sinner and does not know God's forgiveness is like an overweight person who fears stepping on a scale. I once read about a very bitter man who was sick in soul, mind, and body. He was in the hospital in wretched condition, not because his body had been invaded by a virus or infected with some germ, but because his anger and contempt had poisoned his soul. One day, when he was at his lowest, he said to his nurse, "Won't you give me something to end it all?" Much to the man's surprise, the nurse said, "All right. I will." She went to the nightstand and pulled out the Gideon Bible and began to read, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life." When she finished she said, "There, if you will believe that, it will end it all. God loves you, forgives you and accepts you as his child." Such a simple answer. But it worked for that man. He realized after much soul-searching that she had spoken truly. And over a period of some time, he came to believe and accept God's love for him. There is a way to God. Jesus died to provide it. We may not be Mary or that "woman of the city," but there are sins that weigh upon our hearts. There are scars and cuts that we have inflicted on others. There is a darkness within each of us that no one knows of but God. But that same One, our loving God, sees all and forgives all and calls us to God. Remember, the one who is forgiven little loves little. But the one who is forgiven much loves with all the heart! May that be true of us. In Jesus' name. Amen. Lee Griess, Taking the Risk out of Dying, CSS Publishing Company. _______________________________________________ Meanwhile Mary teaches us the greatest lesson of the story – how to give from the heart. Gratitude Pastor Victor Shepherd tells the story of a missionary surgeon he met who was rather gruff and to the point. On one occasion the surgeon was speaking to a small group of university students about his work in the Gaza Strip. He was telling us that we North American "fat cats" knew nothing about gratitude. Nothing! On one occasion he had stopped a peasant hovel to see a woman on whom he had performed surgery. She and her husband were dirt poor. Their livestock supply consisted of one Angora rabbit and two chickens. For income the woman combed the hair out of the rabbit, spun the hair into yarn and sold it. For food she and her husband ate the eggs from the chickens. The woman insisted that the missionary surgeon stay for lunch. He accepted the invitation and said he would be back for lunch after he had gone down the road to see another postoperative patient. An hour and a half later he was back. He peeked into the cooking pot to see what he was going to eat. He saw one rabbit and two chickens. The woman had given up her entire livestock supply--her income, her food, everything. He concluded his story by reminding us that we knew nothing of gratitude. He wept unashamedly. The incident will stay with me forever. There is another incident concerning gratitude that will never be forgotten. It's about a woman who poured costly perfume over our Lord as she wiped his feet with her hair. Make no mistake--the perfume was expensive, three hundred denarii, a year's income for a laborer in Palestine. Enough to keep a family alive for twelve months. Victor Shepherd, Preacher's Annual 1992, Nashville: Abingdon p. 122. Intentional Acts of True Devotion IATDs - that's what this passage is all about. People were becoming more and more devoted to Jesus and they were expressing it openly in ever increasing ways. They even started doing IATDs - Intentional Acts of True Devotion. Jesus called Lazarus out of the grave and he came out struggling in the bondage of his grave clothing. But he came out, he had new life! Jesus had power even over death! The result was IATDs! People started following Jesus. Not only did they start following him, they become devoted to him, and their devotion was radical! Those who saw this resurrection put their faith in Jesus. The sense of the Greek in verse 45 is that people without reservation, without growing into it, at this one miracle put all their faith in him. And it showed in IATDs. At one time the Jews had been devoted to the Pharisees and the law. Now in wholesale crowds they were turning to Jesus, becoming devoted to him, radically devoted to him with the kind of devotion that is dangerous: "He'll upset the applecart! We can't have that around here! We'll lose our place and our power!" That was the thinking of the Pharisees, so they plotted to take Jesus life. We often think it was Jesus who got himself in trouble with the Pharisees, but the Pharisees wouldn't have cared a bit if he didn't have these followers with their IATDs. Their IATDs got him in trouble, too. Intentional Acts of True Devotion - they're powerful, they're dangerous, and they mark the lives of those who put their faith in Jesus. Bill Versteeg, Intentional Acts of True Devotion ______________________ As Mary anointed Jesus for the tragic events coming ahead. Mary was preparing her heart to become a disciple and to carry on in Jesus footsteps. She was preparing to step up and to be in ministry. In 7 days from today – we celebrate the triumphant entry of Jesus. In 12 days we remember Good Friday. In 14 days we experience new life of resurrection. Acts of kindness humility and forgiveness prepare our hearts for the days to come. Let us Pray….. Song O How I Love Jesus UMH 170 Approaching an Awesome God [Prayers] Holy and Living God, we approach this time of prayer with a desire to connect with your world. With all our senses, we open to you. Give us lenses of awe with which to perceive and love others as you perceive and love us. We imagine in our mind’s eye now the people in our lives, the people of our communities, and the people of our world. Each of them is beloved by you, and this alone creates awe in us. We especially lift up those who need our prayers in this moment… [continue with prayers of thanksgiving and care for people]. For all these people and those we name in our hearts, Hear our prayer, Awesome God. Give us lenses of awe with which to perceive and love your creation as you perceive and love it. Each thawing path under the warmth of the sun reminds us that all things are interconnected. You are making all things new all around us. Help us to care for the nature around us. This week, we name… [continue with prayers about specific entities of nature in your area]. For all these places, creatures, and lifeforms, and those we name in our hearts, Hear our prayer, Awesome God. Give us lenses of awe with which to perceive and love life as you perceive and love the life you have given us. Open us to the awe of sharing our joy and our pain with others. Slow us down in this season of Lent so that we might savor anew the gift of life. We pause in this silence, setting intentions of awe for the week ahead. [pause in silence] For all these intentions, Hear our prayer, Awesome God. Let us pray the prayer Jesus taught us… [Lord’s Prayer]. Responding with Awe Stewardship Moment In John’s Gospel we hear how Martha served, Lazarus kept Jesus company at the table, and Mary poured out a pound of costly nard on Jesus’ feet, in an act of compassion and care. Each of these siblings offered a fine gift to their dinner guest, Jesus. I wonder what I would offer, if Jesus were to come to my home for dinner? Would I cook a fabulous meal? Would I provide a calm atmosphere and listen to what Jesus said? Would I express my love in some extravagant way, seeking to help Jesus relax and find refreshment after a long day of teaching and healing? What about you? If Jesus were to come to your home, what would you give? What about if Jesus were to show up here? Week by week we have an opportunity to share our gifts with this part of the Body of Christ which we know as _______________ Church. May the gifts we bring demonstrate our desire to share our finest and best with the One who understood his life was coming to a close. Let us share our gifts, our tithes and our offerings now. Offering/Offertory [as is your custom] Doxology [Tune: Old 100th] Prayer of Thanksgiving Ever-giving God, You created our world–filled it with air, water, food, and all we need for life. You sent Jesus to show us your ways of love and compassion, teaching us we are all sisters and brothers of every living being. So receive these gifts which we offer as a portion of what you’ve first given us. Help us use each gift (money, time, talent) to help share the Good News we have been given in Jesus, the Christ. AMEN (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) [Communion] We Go Forth with Awe Closing Prayer for Facebook Benedictions are blessings. And blessings are all around us. So for this season, instead of bowing your head as I offer a Benediction blessing, I invite you to open your palms in a position of receiving, and hold your head high, imagining a radiant stream of light from above shining upon you and everything else around you. And this week when you need to be reminded of the gift of community all around you, take this stance again. Open your palms to receive, look around to perceive, and notice one small thing that can light up your heart for a moment. And now may you go forth remembering Rumi’s words: “Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames.” Be a purveyor of awe this week. Seek out connection with others whose life and love can be multiplied because you are together to help light up the world. Invite renewed connections to live and breathe new life in you. Be a “purveyor of awe,” curating a life of spiritual depth that inspires others to join you on the journey. May the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of Awe, the Holy One-in-Three, be with you now and throughout these days, Amen. Community Time (Joys and Concerns) Benediction May you go out from this place in the blessing of God, who turns your weeping into laughter and your laughter into joy that plants seeds of restoration, justice, and abundance for all of God’s creation. Amen. Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, September 2024. Postlude Worship Notes Contemporary reading excerpted from the following source: Brown, B. (2019, January 6). Why experiencing joy and pain in a group is so powerful. Greater Good Magazine. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_experiencing_joy_and_pain_in_a_group_is_so_powerful ______________________ I Love Mankind The musical Hair has within it a most provocative song called "Easy to Be Hard." The gist of the song is that it is easy to "care about the bleeding crowd" while yet totally ignoring "a needy friend." A little joke you may have heard makes the same point: "I love mankind ... it is people I can't stand!" Jesus does not set himself apart from the poor. He simply points out that he himself, as one of the specific poor, has needs - and that Mary has been sensitive to those needs. By contrast, Judas pretends to be concerned for the poor (in general) but is actually only concerned about himself. Carl L. Jech, Channeling Grace, CSS Publishing Company _______________________________________________________ How Much to Spend on The Poor? What happened at Jesus’ anointing in Bethany has plagued the followers of Jesus from then until now. How much do we spend on ourselves and how much do we give to missions? Couldn't we do more good by giving all this money to the poor instead of spending it on, say, a new building? In partial response to this question, my mind goes back to an experience of William Willimon, chaplain at Duke University. Willimon tells of the time the faculty of Duke was discussing a proposal to renovate the seminary chapel. They had received a modest proposal from the architect. But, would the chapel be renovated? No. "With all the poverty and hunger in the world," said one faculty member, "how can we as Christians justify spending $50,000 to pretty-up our chapel?" Of course, this person failed to offer similar objections when faculty salaries were raised each year, (a figure that collectively exceeds $50,000) nor does he question the morality of the luxurious faculty lounge. Obviously the man was posturing, just as Judas was posturing. Even so, the problem is tough. How much should we give to others and how much should we reserve for ourselves? Richard Meyer, Break a Vase ____________________ Acts of Humility and Love Patricia Long, pastor at First United Church of Christ, Berkley, California said it best. "Performing acts like the one Mary did are acts of extravagant caring that remind us we are called to be in equal partnership with each other, and that we all ought to be humbled as we come together before God." She says "acts of humility and love are empowering! They remind us that though power, control and domination are the ways of the world, there are some places where simple gestures of kindness and caring still count, still make a difference." Rev. Long says that Mary’s act of anointing Jesus was not unlike Rosa Park’s act of moving from the back of the bus to the front. Whenever a person stands up for love, the world notices. It can also be changed for the better as the oppressed are liberated or the presence of God becomes more visible. Keith Wagner, The Supremacy of Love _____________________ Aroma: Bringing Back an Emotion Taste is 95 percent smell. What happens when you get a cold? Can't taste anything? In talking with others about their smells, what I have discovered is that there are regional differences to our favorite smells that often depend either on our food habits or on our outdoor customs. East Coast people prefer floral scents and Northerners the smell of the seasons. Southerners seem to prefer hearty snorts of pine. Midwesterners like the whiff of hay and farm animals. Westerners like the aroma of barbecuing meat. Whatever our pet smell, huge histories of time are relived within the microseconds of a sniff. Nothing can bring back a time, a place, or an emotion better than an aroma. Leonard Sweet, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com A Sense of Gratitude On a recent religious talk show the hostess was interviewing a young woman who had just recently come to know Christ and had been received into the church. Until her recent conversion, she had lived on the wrong side of the tracks, lived in the fast lane, and teetered on the brink of destruction. So overwhelming was the sense of forgiveness that this young woman practically gushed with joy as she spoke. "I can't express," she said, "the sense of gratitude that I feel that God has changed my life." The talk show hostess knew where she was coming from -- for she, too, had walked on life's wild side before coming to Jesus. She said, "I know what you mean. Every day I thank God for saving me!" And then she added a very profound statement: "You know what I've noticed though? People who have always been in the church, people who always do what they ought, who have never really gotten into trouble, always been prim and proper, don't have the same sense of gratitude that I do. In fact, I've noticed that for most church people, it's not so much what God had done for them, but what they still want God to do!" If you can identify with that statement, perhaps we can appreciate the story in today's Gospel reading from John 12. It's an unusual story -- this story of the anointing of Jesus' feet with oil. Lee Griess, Taking The Risk Out Of Dying, CSS Publishing Company __________________________________________ The Women Become the Model If perhaps not its original setting, now the story belongs in the last days of Jesus. The woman’s response stands in contrast to that of Judas, but also of Peter and the disciples. Both in Mark and in John, as in the common tradition which feeds them directly and indirectly, Jesus is pictured as abandoned by his inner circle of disciples. In the end it will be a few women who are left standing near Golgotha and who will venture to the tomb. The unlikely ones in Mark and John’s world, the women, become the models. This is deliberately subversive and reflects so much of the experience of Jesus’ ministry. Others were so good, so devout, and so busy being so, that they missed the point. This is grindingly obvious, when a woman like this inarticulately breaks the perfume container open and spreads the contents over Jesus’ feet. Mark even suggests that Jesus predicted how memorable her act would be. Let the memory live! William Loader, First Thoughts on Year C Gospel Passages from the Lectionary ____________________

Have You Seen the Gardener?

April 20, 2025 John 20:1-18 Have you seen the gardener Easter Sunday Year C Prelude Greeting Prayers at the Easter Garden Leader: Alleluia. Christ is risen. All He is risen indeed. Alleluia. Leader: Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away. John 20:15 All: He is Risen Indeed. Alleluia Leader: Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. To you be glory now and for ever. In your great mercy you have given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. By your blessing, may we who have prepared this garden in celebration of his victory be strengthened in faith, know the power of his presence, and rejoice in the hope of eternal glory. Blessed be God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All Blessed be God for ever. Leader: Risen Lord Jesus, as Mary Magdalene met you in the garden on the morning of your resurrection, so may we meet you today and every day: speak to us as you spoke to her; reveal yourself as the living Lord; renew our hope and kindle our joy; and send us to share the good news with others. All Amen. Leader: Alleluia. Christ is risen. All He is risen indeed. Alleluia. The Lighting of Candles The minister Lighting the Christ Candle says The light of Christ. All Thanks be to God. Acclamation Alleluia. Christ is risen. All He is risen indeed. Alleluia. Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: All he has given us new life and hope by raising Jesus from the dead. [God has claimed us as his own: All he has made us light to the world.] Alleluia. Christ is risen. All He is risen indeed. Alleluia. Once the congregation’s candles have been lit a minister leads the following Acclamation Listen to Easter Prayer When everything was dark and it seemed that the sun would never shine again, your love broke through. Your love was too strong, too wide, too deep for death to hold. The sparks cast by your love dance and spread and burst forth with resurrection light. Gracious God, We praise you for the light of new life made possible through Jesus. We praise you for the light of new life that shone on the first witnesses of resurrection. We praise you for the light of new life that continues to shine in our hearts today. We pray that the Easter light of life, hope and joy, will live in us each day; and that we will be bearers of that light into the lives of others. Amen. This video was produced by United Methodist Communications in Nashville, Tennessee. Media contact is Joe Iovino, jiovino@umocm.org. This video was first posted on March 14, 2017. Extinguish your candle one the light comes Song Christ the Lord is Risen Today UMH 302 A Sermon for all Ages Children’s Sermon Theme: Hope Unlocked. Jesus comes to us even when we are locked in fear behind closed doors. Introduction: Instructions: Designed to be pre-recorded, but can be modified for livestreaming needs. NEED: A set of keys Good Morning everyone, and Happy Easter! I’m so glad to get to share with you all on this amazing Sunday, even though we’re far away. Now, when I say ‘Christ is Risen’ I want you to say ‘Christ is Risen indeed’. Okay, ready? Christ is Risen! [ pause ] One more time! Christ is Risen! [ pause ]. Good. Bible Story: [John 20:1-20]- This morning, we are going to talk about something very special that happened on Easter Sunday. Jesus’s friend Mary Magdalene was going to visit his tomb when she saw that the stone, which meant to keep Jesus locked inside, had been rolled away. Mary was so excited that she ran to meet another of Jesus’ friends, Simon Peter, to tell him what happened. But, unlike Mary who also saw Jesus and talked to him in the garden outside of Jesus’ tomb, Simon Peter and the other disciples did not see Jesus there and went home, locking themselves inside out of fear. Object Lesson: Now, these are my keys. [Take a moment to explain what a few of the keys on your keyring do- car keys, house keys, etc ]. I’m sure your grownups all have keys that do some pretty similar things. A lot of the times, we use keys to protect ourselves and our belongings by making sure that nobody can get inside. Jesus’ disciples probably used keys like these to lock themselves indoors after Jesus’ death. We’ve probably heard people around us say that they feel like they’re locked inside too, right? Have you ever felt that way – like everything in you is squeezed tight? Like there are really big feelings trapped inside of you, locked up in your heart? And sometimes, those big feelings inside of us keep us from being friends with other people, too. They keep us locked away from others. Just like the Disciples, we feel afraid of something that feels like it is out of our control. Jesus, though, does something amazing when we are locked inside our fear. Jesus appeared to those disciples who were locked inside out of fear and said “Peace be with you!”, and they were amazed. Peace means all that wound tight stuff inside us lets go. It means we can rest and feel calm. It means we can reach out and be friends agin.Jesus didn’t have a magic key to open the door and walk inside – he IS the magic key! He simply appeared, and gave them peace. He unlocked all those big, tight, wound-up feelings inside them and made them call and joyful again. Conclusion: Because He was resurrected, we, just like the Disciples, know that we have no reason to be afraid. So don’t be afraid, and don’t feel alone. Christ is risen [ pause ] and He will appear to us(come to us), even when we’re locked behind closed doors and give us peace too. Close with prayer Jesus, thank you for coming into even our scary, locked up places. Help us to look for you when we are afraid or upset. Give us peace inside, and peace with each other. Amen. (Western Pennsylvania United Methodist Church) Scripture John 20:1-18 Sermon Have You Seen the Gardener What is so Good about Good Friday? I think that one of the main points of Good Friday is that it forces us to get in touch with the heart of our faith? Reliving the passion story forces us to ask some serious questions about our faith and to acknowledge our doubts as real. This year, here we watched the movie The Two thieves and. Were able to have an honest conversation about faith and doubt, and God’s grace. When we left on Friday, we all had a lot of questions, but I am not sure that we got a lot of answers. Things have not gotten any clearer this morning. Easter is a mystery within itself. When you think about it, Easter raises more questions than it answers. All we know is that the tomb is empty. Christ should be in there, but he is not. Growing up, I always loved to participate in Easter, but it never really made any sense to me. I loved getting new clothes, getting a new hairdo, dying eggs, looking for Easter baskets, even going to church one time a year was fun – it gave me a chance to put my best foot forward. Even as a church – we go through the ritual of renewal – putting out flowers, preparing special music, making sure the church is a little cleaner, acting on our best behavior for the visitors. We all know the routine, but we are never quite sure of what Easter is really all about, what actually happened. We are all familiar with the Easter bunny, but no one really knows quite what bunnies have to do with Christ dying and being resurrected. Easter is such a mystery, that we don’t even know what date it will be celebrated next year. (April 5th by the way.) Easter is this big question mark in our heads, and yet Easter is the defining moment of our faith. Easter has been shrouded in mystery and misunderstanding from the very beginning of the story. No wonder we are so confused about our faith, and have so many doubts. John 20 is a very familiar story, we hear it every year in some form. We know the part about the women in his life sticking with Jesus all throughout his ordeal. They were the ones who got up early in the morning to make sure that he was properly anointed. They were the first witnesses of the resurrection. John 20 features Mary Magdalene, coming to look for Jesus only to find two angels in the tomb. The gardener asks her why is she crying. I hear this story every year – but it was only this year that I realized that Jesus was present all along – Jesus was the gardener – Mary just didn’t realize it. Mary is so preoccupied with grief, that the miracle that she was looking for was right there in front of her in plain sight, and plain clothes, doing a plain job. How many times in my life, am I stuck in my grief, crying about being alone. Convinced that God is not answering my prayers. God is silent in my life. Caught up in my circumstances, when all along the gardener is present in plain clothes, working harder than ever, I just don’t recognize him or her as God. A colleague tells the story of being at a point in her life when everything was dark. She had lost her job, she was going through a divorce, she had not idea of how she was going to get by in life. She felt that her prayers were unanswered, she started to doubt whether God really cared about her. She started to ask questions about where was this Jesus? If Jesus us the messiah, who doesn’t he come and save her? Is it that he can’t or wont help her out of the situation. (These were the same questions that were asked on Good Friday by the way). Jesus didn’t say anything now, and he often does not say anything now. In the midst of her faith crisis, she started to experience grace in small unexpected ways- friends who bought her food and helped her with her rent. Unexpected checks that came in the mail, opportunities that started to arise. As a person of faith, she realized that the gardener was there in her life taking care of her all along. She just didn’t recognize that it was Jesus. In our minds eye we are expecting Jesus to be the bright spiritual figure dressed in white, and instead he has dirty fingernails and work overalls. He is working miracles, showing grace shedding light while hidden in plain sight. It makes a lot of sense that Jesus would appear in resurrection as the gardener, and that the tomb would be placed in a garden. Jesus is a gardener, like Adam. The story of our faith begins in the Garden of Eden. Before sin took over our lives, God placed Adam in the garden to tend to life. So now Jesus comes to tend to new life and resurrection. Sin drove us out of the garden and away from our purpose. Jesus died for our sins and in resurrection opens the gates for us to return. The world can be a dark dreary lonely place to be. Just living in the world can sometime cloud our vision and distort our expectations. All along the gardener is working to bring us grace. This Easter Sunday I thought it was important for us to spend some time in the garden – looking for the gardener in our life. More Hope than We Can Handle Earlier this week, an old couple received a phone call from their son who lives far away. The son said he was sorry, but he wouldn’t be able to come for a visit over the holidays after all. "The grandkids say hello." They assured him that they understood, but when they hung up the phone they didn’t dare look at each other. Earlier this week, a woman was called into her supervisor’s office to hear that times are hard for the company and they had to let her go. "So sorry." She cleaned out her desk, packed away her hopes for getting ahead, and wondered what she would tell her kids. Earlier this week, someone received terrible news from a physician. Someone else heard the words, "I don't love you anymore." Earlier this week, someone’s hope was crucified. And the darkness is overwhelming. No one is ever ready to encounter Easter until he or she has spent time in the dark place where hope cannot be seen. Easter is the last thing we are expecting. And that is why it terrifies us. This day is not about bunnies, springtime and girls in cute new dresses. It’s about more hope than we can handle. Craig Barnes, Savior at Large, article in The Christian Century, March 13-20, 2002 p. 16. Let us pray…… Song Up From the Grave He Arose UMH 322 Prayer of the Day On this Easter, as on that first day long ago, you come, Steadfast Love, continuing to walk with us on this strange pilgrimage of worry, fear, and loss, showing us the good news of the empty tomb, calling us to run and tell everyone of the new life which is ours. On this Easter morning, as on that early first morning, you wait and watch, Gardener of the seeds of love, hope, and grace you planted deep within us, as we stand amazed at the harvest of hope and life which is handed to us this day as you call us by our names. In those early morning moments, Spirit of the broken hearted friends, you whispered of that love which cannot be held behind the stones of our fears and doubts, of that hope which puts grave clothes into bandages for the hurting, of that grace which turns cartwheels in the gardens of our hearts, even as you whisper them to us. On this Easter, as on every day, your grace, your peace, your love gives us new life and hope, God in Community, Holy in One, and so we pray as we are taught, saying, (Thom Shuman, Lectionary Liturgies) Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment (You don’t have to print this) An Offering of New Life Resolutions This can include, or not, any passing of plates or announcements about monetary offering. Friends, you received a cup on your way in today. Those of you who are visitors, this is not just one of those “give a visitor a mug” things… this is new for everyone here. If you consider yourself a Christmas Eve and Easter church-goer, you might be interested to know that Easter isn’t just one day. It is a “week of weeks” and so we will celebrate Easter until the Day of Pentecost, which is another seven weeks! I’m kind of kidding you about being an Easter church-goer, but I do want to invite you to think about traveling on this journey into new life, which we all know takes a bit more than one day to accomplish. We might not consider Easter the beginning of a “new year,” but in many ways, it is a symbolic moment to consider starting with a clean slate. What would you like to move forward away from and into a new lease on life? If you could leave something behind, what would it be? We aren’t going to answer that question right now, but I just want to invite you to consider it this week. Resurrection is not just a story about Jesus; it is a rejuvenation that can happen within us, anytime. Today we are going to bring forward the flowers that are in your cups/mugs and place them on our flowering cross, filling it with more signs of beauty and life and love and fresh beginnings. Song Thine Be the Glory UMH 308 Sending Forth We could just return to our homes, slipping back into pandemic mode, but we will go to rebuild communities, to care for those who are still so lonely. We could stand looking around, wondering if Jesus has left us on our own, but we will turn and, seeing our neighbors, we will call them by name and embrace them with hope. We could keep our lips sealed, not telling anyone of what we have heard and seen, but we will run to tell others, grabbing them by the hands to go and meet the Gardener of grace. (Thom M. Shuman, Lectionary Liturgies) Additional Illustrations My Soul Is Rested Martin Luther King used to tell the story of Sister Pollard, a seventy-year-old African American woman who lived in Montgomery, Alabama during the now famous bus boycott. One day, after walking significant distances daily for several months, Sister Pollard was asked if she wanted a ride. When she answered, “No,” the person responded, “But aren’t you tired?” To which Sister Pollard answered, “My feets is tired, but my soul is rested.” Resurrection living, moving beyond our fears and trusting that God is fashioning a way out of no way, celebrating the promise that a new world is unfolding — this leads us to affirm as well that our souls are rested. We will continue to face all kinds of challenges and struggles along the way; “our feets will be tired,” but our spirits will be strengthened through the presence of the risen Christ. This is the good news we celebrate this Easter morning: There is no tragedy that God cannot redeem, no dream — even the elusive dream of peace on earth — that the God who raised Jesus from the dead cannot energize and advance. Christ is risen. Christ is risen indeed! Joel D. Kline, Frightened Out of Our Wits ___________________________________ Yes, There Is Hope In the early part of World War II, a Navy submarine was stuck on the bottom of the harbor in New York City. It seemed that all was lost. There was no electricity and the oxygen was quickly running out. In one last attempt to rescue the sailors from the steel coffin, the U.S. Navy sent a ship equipped with Navy divers to the spot on the surface, directly above the wounded submarine. A Navy diver went over the side of the ship to the dangerous depths in one last rescue attempt. The trapped sailors heard the metal boots of the diver land on the exterior surface, and they moved to where they thought the rescuer would be. In the darkness they tapped in Morse code, "Is there any hope?" The diver on the outside, recognizing the message, signaled by tapping on the exterior of the sub, "Yes, there is hope." This is the picture of our dilemma as we worship this glad Easter Day. Humankind is trapped in a dreadful situation. All around we are running low on hope, and we look for a word from beyond offering it to us. This world in which we live is plagued with war and famine, mounting debt and continual destruction. The more we try to rescue ourselves the more we seem to fall behind. We wonder: Is there any hope? Bill Self, Is There Any Hope? _________________________________ The Easter Formula In April 2002, the well-respected Oxford University philosophy professor Richard Swineburne defended the truth of the Resurrection at a high-profile gathering of philosophy professors at Yale University. Swineburne used Bayes Theorem, a broadly accepted mathematical probability theory and tool to defend the truth of Christ's resurrection. In a New York Times interview, Swineburne said, "For someone dead for 36 hours to come to life again is, according to the laws of nature, extremely improbable. But if there is a God of the traditional kind, natural laws only operate because he makes them operate." Swineburne used the Bayes Theorem to assign values to things like the probability that God is real, Jesus' behavior during his lifetime, and the quality of witness testimony after his death. Then he plugged the numbers into a probability formula and added everything up. The results? There's a 97 percent probability that the resurrection really happened. That's nice to know. It's one more tool in the tool kit of ministry. But the truth is that you and I don't really need that. The church doesn't really need that information. Because we have our own formula. It's the Easter Formula: R+ET+F=LE. The Resurrection plus the Empty Tomb plus Faith equal Life Eternal. That's the Easter Formula. Billy D. Strayhorn, From the Pulpit, CSS Publishing Company, Inc. ____________________________ Graveyard Wreaths If you had been living in the Roman Empire in the first century, you would have noticed a strange custom practiced by the Christians. They would go out to their graveyards with laurel wreaths, the wreaths that had been used in Greek and Roman culture to crown the victors of athletic contests. They would take those laurel wreaths and place them on the graves. If you had asked them why, they would say, "Because we believe that in Jesus Christ we have received victory over the power of death." Mark Trotter, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com I Want to See Your Resurrection Father Basil Pennington, a Roman Catholic monk, tells of an encounter he once had with a teacher of Zen. Pennington was at a retreat. As part of the retreat, each person met privately with this Zen teacher. Pennington says that at his meeting the Zen teacher sat there before him smiling from ear to ear and rocking gleefully back and forth. Finally the teacher said: “I like Christianity. But I would not like Christianity without the resurrection. I want to see your resurrection!” Pennington notes that, “With his directness, the teacher was saying what everyone else implicitly says to Christians: You are a Christian. You are risen with Christ. Show me (what this means for you in your life) and I will believe.” That is how people know if the resurrection is true or not. Does it affect how we live? King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com ____________________________________ We Believe You I ran across a beautiful story recently about a woman named Rosemary who works in the Alzheimer’s Unit of a nursing home. Rosemary and a colleague named Arlene brought the residents of the home together one Good Friday afternoon to view Franco Zeffirelli’s acclaimed production Jesus of Nazareth. They wondered whether these elderly Alzheimer’s patients would even know what was going on, but they thought it might be worth the effort. When they finally succeeded in getting everyone into position, they started the video. Rosemary was pleasantly surprised at the quiet attention being paid to the screen. At last came the scene where Mary Magdalene comes upon the empty tomb and sees Jesus’ body not there. An unknown man, in reality the risen Christ, asks Mary why she is looking for the living among the dead. Mary runs as fast as she can back to the disciples and tells Peter and the rest with breathless excitement, “He’s alive! I saw Him, I tell you! He’s alive.” The doubt in their eyes causes Mary to pull back. “You don’t believe me . . . You don’t believe me!” From somewhere in the crowd of Alzheimer’s patients came the clear, resolute voice of Esther, one of the patients. “WE BELIEVE YOU,” she said, “WE BELIEVE YOU!” Well, Esther, I believe it too. The evidence is overwhelming, and life makes no sense without it. Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Rosemary Kadrmas in Jeff Cavins, et.al, Amazing Grace for the Catholic Heart (West Chester, PA: Ascension Press, LLC, 2003), pp. 211-212., adapted by King Duncan ___________________________ Famous Because It Is Empty! If Easter says anything at all to us it is that Jesus will always be with us. The pyramids of Egypt are famous because they contained the mummified bodies of ancient Egyptian kings. Westminster Abbey in London is renowned, because in it rests the bodies of English nobles and notables. Mohammed's tomb is noted for the stone coffin and the bones it contains. Arlington cemetery in Washington, D.C., is revered, for it is the honored resting place of many outstanding Americans. The Garden Tomb of Jesus is famous because it is empty! Don Emmitte ____________________