April 20 2014 Easter Sunday New Life –I Have Seen
the Lord *John 20.1-18 Pastor Jacqueline Hines
“A father
took his little boy to a pet shop to pick out a puppy for his birthday present.
For half an hour he looked at the assortment in the window. "Decided which
one you want?" asked his Daddy. "Yes," the little fellow
replied, pointing to one which was enthusiastically wagging his tail. "I
want the one with the happy ending." (John H Brokhoff) Today is the day we
remember that Easter is our happy ending.
“A lady named Carol was the organist at her
church. She was an outstanding musician, but she did something no organist
should ever do. She overslept on Easter morning and missed the sunrise service.
She was so embarrassed. Of course, the minister
and the church forgave her. They teased her about it a little, but it was done
lovingly and in good fun. However, the next Easter, her phone rang at 5:00 in
the morning. Jolted awake by the loud ringing, she scrambled to answer it. It
was the minister, and he said, "Carol, it's Easter morning! The Lord is
risen! ... And I suggest you do the same!" (sermons.com.)
Oh! What a morning,
that first Easter 2000 years ago. Even before dawn, a panic started. The body
of Jesus was missing. Now, that is something to weep about. (We know what the
families of the missing Malaysian plane are going through.) It is one thing to
live for three days knowing that Jesus was no longer with them; it was a whole
other reality, not knowing where his body was. That was just too much to bear
without tears; and not those silent tears, but deep down from the gut of the
belly tears; the get- away -from -me – this- is- between- me- and –my- God
tears.
Weeping turned out to
be a good thing for Mary. Through her tears she could see things that others
could not see. She saw something that brought her relief and comfort. Through
her tears she saw that the empty tomb was not really empty. There were angels
there, two of them. Have you ever seen an angel or something that brought you
comfort? Scriptures say every church has an angel. In fact, we are ALL SURROUNDED by angels who are constantly praising God, perfecting
God’s work, protecting God’s will, and preserving God’s Word.
“Why are you weeping?”
the angels asked Mary. She explained. I don’t know where the body is. Isn’t
that why we all weep? After every loss there are things we do not know and things
we cannot see. Oh! What a morning - filled with panic that first Easter was.
Mary could probably
feel that there was someone standing behind her, or maybe she saw the angels
bowing down and wondered to whom they were bowing. She turned around and saw
Jesus; He repeated the same question the angels asked her. It must be a very
important question on which to reflect in a time of sadness. “Why are you
weeping?”
The gospels of
Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell the Easter story in a more spectacular way. The lightning
is flashing, (slide #1 of lightening flashing) the
earth is quaking, a stone that takes two grown men to move has been rolled from
the door or the tomb (slide # 2 rolling stone) and
angels are slide # 3 two angels at the empty
tomb) saying that well-known line, ‘Why do you come to a cemetery looking
for Jesus. He is not dead. He’s alive. He is risen.’
I like the way the
gospel of John tells the story because he focuses on the one -on -one
relationship. “Why are you weeping?” (slide #4 Jesus
and Mary at the tomb) Jesus asked her and all of us? What is it that you
have lost? What is it that you long for? Then Jesus called her name, “Mary.”
She immediately recognized him. For, he had called her name before. No doubt, because
of her less than stellar behavior through the years, she had grown accustomed
to a lot of NAME-CALLING, a few UNKIND LABELS, and some BLAMING.
When Jesus called her
name, she heard the words, but moreover she heard in his tone that she was
forgiven (slide #5 of forgiving hug) - for
everything (slide #6 of Mother Theresa on love).
She heard him offering and promising compassion and understanding for her life.
She heard the hope of gentle treatment for her wounds. When he called her name
she knew it was the voice of one who looked beyond her faults and saw her needs
– EVERY ONE OF THEM. Mary had learned all about that voice during
the opportunities she had to sit and listen at the feet of Jesus. When she recognized
the voice, she said “Rabbouni“–which means teacher.
She was the student,
he was the teacher. Jesus gave her several directions that morning which she
followed carefully. She was directed not to hold on to him because he had not
yet ascended to heaven. He did not come to stay. He had a mission to complete,
and if he did not go and complete it, the benefits would have been lost. She
was directed to go to the disciples and tell them Jesus’ plan. She gave the disciples
her eyewitness account, saying, “I
have seen the Lord.”
Young people
anxiously look forward to that rite of passage to adulthood, getting their
driver’s license. (slide # 7 anxious kid driving)They
know they have to pass three tests - the driving test, the written test, and
the vision test – in that order (slide #8 vision test). You would think that the VISION test would be the first test. (slide
# 9 thumbs up with license)
What we can see in
this life is amazing. From thirty miles away, we can see a candle burning (slide # 10 candle burning) if enough light is
absorbed by our retina. The eye is an extraordinary piece of biological
equipment and a perfect camera. Still, eyewitness reports can vary just like the
four gospel accounts of the Resurrection or the three blind men describing an
elephant. One touching the trunk said an elephant is like a rope. The one
touching the side said the elephant is like a great wall. The one touching the
legs said the elephant is like a tree. What we see depends on our perspective
which we get from our experiences and our expectations. We can see a glass as
half empty or half full. Likewise, we can see Jesus as for us or against us,
with us or without us, we can see the resurrection as natural an event like the
birth of a baby or rising of the sun.
Former atheist, now
theologian, Alister McGrath while laughing at the irrationality of the gospel,
heard a still small voice questioning his questions. He was soon converted. In
a recent article in Christianity Today
he describes Jesus’ resurrection as the bridge between two worlds - the
physical world we know and the spiritual world we are still learning about. He
says, “The resurrection of Christ is the [guarantee] that these hopes of heaven
are not the pathetic delusions of wistful human hearts. No. These are realities
that are secured, disclosed, and illuminated through the gospel….”
Spiritual realities
and resurrections have a way of coming into our lives whether we invite them or
not. There was once a man who insisted he did not believe in the resurrection.
He was completely against Christianity, but a little afraid of it too. So the
man had a huge stone slab put over his grave so he would not have to be raised
from the dead in case there is a resurrection from the dead. He had insignias
put all over the slab saying, "I do not want to be raised from the dead. I
don't believe in it." Evidently, when he was buried, an acorn must have
fallen into the grave. So a hundred years later the acorn had grown up through
the grave and split that slab. It was now a tall towering oak tree. (Tim Keller
PreachingToday.com)
Despite our efforts to
keep him out, God intrudes even where there are stony barriers to keep God out.
(slide #11 tree growing from a rock) God is just that determined to love
us.
Jesus sacrificed his
life, even though they betrayed Jesus with a kiss and denied him with a curse.
The Jews and the Romans did not kill Jesus; he GAVE his life for us. The sin of the world could not be ignored.
Just as we need to be satisfied when someone offends us, God needs to be
satisfied when we offend God. We have in mind a price that is to be paid to
make up for an offense. Jesus paid the price with his life so that we can have
a right relationship with God. No matter what we do, the price is paid and we
have a right to the kingdom of God; we will never be rejected.
It seems impossible
that the sins of the whole world could be wiped away by one sacrifice, yet, Jesus’
entire life is bracketed by two impossibilities: a virgin's womb on one end and
an empty tomb on the other. He entered our world through a door marked "No
Entrance" and left through a door marked "No Exit." (John
Larson).
The more we bask in
the sonshine of God’s love, the more we will see the light of the
Resurrection. The more we content
ourselves to sit at the feet of Jesus, the more we quickly obey the prompting
of the Holiest Spirit leading us to our own resurrection.
“Father Basil
Pennington, a Roman Catholic monk, tells of an encounter he once had with a [Buddhist]
teacher of Zen [meditation]. 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 [breaking the silence] 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?” (Sermons.com)
Yes! We live as Easter
people who know what it is to witness the comfort and power of the resurrection
in our lives, especially in our times of pain and suffering. We have obeyed the
scriptures and endured patiently our times of suffering, and we have found that
strength comes as promised. We have looked up faithfully to God as our help for
our holy goals and the times we bore a terrible cross. We have seen for
ourselves that a loving God is our source for all we need to be bright lights
for the world to see their way.
We are here today,
waiting for God to bless us with a Christian preschool to help little ones to
excel academically and see the love of God clearly. We are here seeking God for
an elevator so no one will be excluded from worshipping here. Since 1844 Bethel
has been a beacon of love. God answers our prayers and we are giving our all,
even sacrificing because we are made in the image of God. Yes. Anyone can see
that we are a resurrection people. It matters that we can say to those who need
faith, “I have seen the Lord.” It matters that God sees us. (slide
# 12 God looks at us in love) and
he sees us through the eyes of LOVE (slide #13 child with a scope). Amen.
