Easter - An Out of Body Experience

March 27, 2016 EASTER Luke 24. 1-12 “An Out of Body Experience” Pastor Jacqueline Hines

They went to the tomb at dawn, but they did not find the body. They did hear, however, the most powerful words in the universe: “He is not here, but has risen.” [ slide # 1 empty tomb ]They did not find the body because the resurrection is not about Jesus’ physical body. The resurrection is about an out of body experience. The resurrection is about the body of Christ. We are the body of Christ. The resurrection is about what we do when we are joined together as a body of believers.

We are all connected  - from generation to generation. We are all connected  - from family to family, from Church to Church and committee to committee. [ slide # 2 serving around a church ]In the church, as that children’s song goes: the head bone is connected to the shoulder bone and the knee bone is connected to the leg bone. Hear the Word of the Lord.

The resurrection is about us connecting to the love of the one who lived his life for you and for me. He gave his whole life, holding nothing back. It feels good when someone gives us their all, doesn’t it? [slide # 3 give it all…jumping]

When the ladies arrived at the tomb they were just like every other human being. They wanted to stay connected. They wanted to show their love for one with whom they felt attached and with whom they had made a covenant and commitment. We all have the privilege of having somebody to love. We all need others who love us. Their mind was on the love of their savior, the one who had given them their all, the one for whom they had great devotion. [slide # 4 gold background – how they love…]

It was that simple. The last thing they had on their mind was something as complicated and mystifying as a resurrection. They planned to keep it simple. Little did they know that they were about to see how love explodes and sends waves of power around the world. Terrorists have nothing on the power of our love. The power of our love is bigger than a bomb, better than a bullet.

Love is the most powerful thing in this world. [slide # 5 love is powerful] We have a love that resurrects. We have a love that renews and rejuvenates. Our love reconstructs after destruction, recovers after loss. Love always has a reason to rejoice.

For 171 years we have been serious about what we do as a body of believers. We are doing the work of the body of Christ. We can only do this because the Holy Spirit is in you. The Holy Spirit is working good things in and through you. [slide # 6 walk in the Spirit] The idea of the Holy Spirit working in you is a spiritual law as certain as the law of gravity that keeps us in our seats instead of floating up to the ceiling.

We want everyone who sincerely seeks love and healing and help and hope to find it among this body of believers, the body of Christ. As Christians, we hope everyone whose lives we touch will have an out of the body of Christ experience.

Everyone you meet should have an out of the body of Christ experience. Everyone you meet should find in you a light that leads to love. Everyone you meet should find, in some measure, healing of their minds, bodies, souls (which is their will) and their spirit (which is their indestructible connection to God). You are a member of the body of Christ. God’s hands are your hands. What you do makes good things happen. God’s feet are your feet. Where you go makes good things happen.

It may not seem like one Church or one person or one family or one generation can make a difference, but when we give love all we’ve got, love explodes and powerful things happen. This is a great day to decide to give love all you’ve got, to listen to God’s call to be a blessing in ways that will blow your mind.

There is only one catch. You can decide, but you are powerless to make it happen. You must get help from the Holy Spirit that is within you!

The world we live in is so unpredictable. From one minute to the next we have no guarantees. From one mile to the next, things can change in the blink of an eye. The only assurance we have is in the presence of God. The only comfort we can cling to is in the savior of the world who loved us with all he had. He loves us with a love that defies the cacophony of catastrophe and the dirge of death. Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal. [slide # 7 trust in his presence]

We are human. We are not perfect so there may have been days that we held back, that we did not give our all. There may have been days when God is working on us, shaping us and molding us into what we should be. We understand we are a work in progress.

A dedicated Christian tells the story of when he was having a rough patch. He was seeing a therapist week after week to get things off his mind and to work out sensible solutions. One week when things were particularly hectic, he left the therapist’s office, walked into the parking lot and quickly noticed that his tire was flat.

He got out the spare and began to undo the nuts and bolts, highly annoyed. By this time the therapist came out on the way to his car, walked up to this man and said, “Would you like me to help you with your language?”

In one area or another we all wear the sign in our hearts that reads, “Be patient with me, God is not through with me yet!”

No matter what shape we are in, God can still use us as we are. And, if we stand together and help each other, knowing that we are on this journey of love together, we can do even greater things than we can imagine. [slide # 8 Body of Christ better together]

Who would have imagined that we could hear the voice of God telling us to install an elevator? It was clear that we wanted to bless those who could not easily climb the steps. It is a supernatural event to listen and to hear, to comprehend what God is saying, and to seek God for all the needed resources. It is a miracle to actually do it!

Do not think that it is a small thing that we put our hands to the plow for the last three years to work on getting an elevator. It takes a wise and spiritual people to pledge back to God the resources that come from God. We are doing what we believe God is asking us to do. We are not doubting the will of God for our lives, we are not delaying acting on the will of God for our lives; we are giving it our all. [slide # 9 people around a cross]

We are living the resurrection power of Easter every day of the year. God has a purpose and a plan that is for the good of everyone. It is a plan that is bigger than any one of us. It is about all of us together as the body of Christ, united as One, out of which God can does great things.

One of my favorite ideas about the out of the body of Christ experience is the way we help each other stay physically healthy. Our soups are out of sight. Our dinners are delightful. We have great cooks. On every occasion, there are bountiful servings of love and care. On many occasions I have had a fully natural, even organic meal.

We do well, as a body of believers, to learn all we can about staying healthy in an age of chemical warfare. There are chemicals that invade our hormone system and throw us off balance. In the last few weeks I have heard doctors say things like most adults have about 380 chemicals and heavy metals in their bodies from exposure in our modern world. Children are said to be born with about a hundred foreign chemicals.

The United Methodist Women’s reading group read a book about how certain lipsticks and beauty creams adversely affect those in their child-bearing years. I heard a tomato a day can keep prostate cancer away because of the lutein, and 3 tablespoons of olive oil can prevent some heart disease and 4 tablespoons can reverse some heart disease, and a vitamin d level around 70 can reduce inflammation that causes disease and cure essential high blood pressure.

As Christians, it is a good thing to be a part of conversations that help us explore ways to stay as healthy as we possibly can. [slide # 10 wellness] We won’t live forever, our bodies will definitely have its share of aches and pains and disease and distress, but if we give it all we’ve got, we will at least have a fighting chance to finish what God has for us to do on this earth. [slide # 11 give it all we’ve got]

We want to do God’s will, not only for our sake, but for the sake of the children who walk in our footsteps. Our children desperately need us to lead the way. They need us to lead in Easter Festivals like we had yesterday, and the Bethel Christian Preschool we have every day of the week, and the Christian camps like Camp Innabah three miles or so from here, and the Sunday School classes we staff every Sunday, and the Vacation Bible School we are planning on July 11th, and Junior Church which we struggle to have for every service. Though, Junior Church is less of a struggle when one family member of every household gets their Safe Sanctuary Clearances and serves at least one Sunday in the year. Our children need us to lead the way. They need us to value, and visualize, and verbalize the gospel, so they can learn to avoid being Satan’s victims. This is what we do!

If we give it all we’ve got to lead our children in being a part of the body of Christ, if we lead them in doing their share that the world can have wonderful experiences that come out of the body of Christ,   then their chances of being led and trained by spirits that are godless and evil will decrease. We are either for God or against God; there is no in between.

God has a purpose and a plan. [slide # 12 dunking basketball] We are the body of Christ, and this is the day to give love all we’ve got. Amen. [slide # 13 He is risen]