April 20 Easter Sunday New Life - I Have Seen the Lord

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.