|
Cape Elizabeth Church of the Nazarene |
|
|
|
Texts:
Romans
8:31-39, John 20:1-18
Well, it’s been released again. It’s proven to be one of the most
popular stories of all time. People have sung praises to its author since it was
first written and released. And yet, it has never won an academy award. And now,
because of its popularity, you can see it in all kinds of odd places: the
grocery store, bookstores, the video stores, and in the most unlikely homes.
People talk about all the time. It’s
the story that goes like this . . . . . .
Once upon a time, an extraterrestrial visited our planet. He lived among
the people and He watched them with great fascination. He befriended the common
people. And it seemed to be the children, more than the adults, who understood
this extraterrestrial. And we understand that, because, in a child’s eyes,
even the most wondrous is somehow believable.
This extraterrestrial possessed unusual hands. They were healing hands.
With the touch of one finger, pain and hurt simply disappeared.
Even though they tried to keep it a secret, it wasn’t long before the
news of this strange visitor reached the authorities. They sought to capture him
and confine him. They didn’t understand his mission, his purpose or his
peaceful spirit. And in their hands, the extraterrestrial gasped and died.
Those who knew him, those who had spent time with him wept. But he
wasn’t finished yet. Somehow, through some incredible miracle, the
extraterrestrial sprang back to life. People could scarcely believe their eyes
or the stories that the witnesses had told.
The extraterrestrial stayed with his friends for just a short time after
that before returning to the heavens. But
before he left, he turned to his friends and he whispered, "I'll be
right here." And then they
watched him ascend into the heavens.
Wasn’t that a strange thing to say? But then, that’s how the story
ends, at least as it’s told in the Gospel of Matthew. "Lo, I am with
you always, even to the end of the age."
And yet, that’s not really the end of the story. Because even though
it’s nearly 2000 years later, people still gather to hear the fascinating
story, not of E.T., but of Jesus, the Son of God, who died for our sins and was
raised from the dead. People keep coming, like little children, to hear it again
and again like a favorite bedtime story.
Those who know and love the story best; those who believe it and have
faith in its main character and its Author are given the assurance that they too
shall conquer death.
That’s what this day is all about. Resurrection. You see, today E.T.
doesn’t stand for some weird little Extraterrestrial created out of the mind
of Hollywood. Today E.T. stands for
Empty Tomb. That Empty Tomb is what
brings us here today.1
In a world where one’s genetic code can be interpreted, in a world
where DNA research can solve nearly every crime, in a world where certainty is
expected, the empty tomb makes no sense. Today’s
reading from the gospel of John recording the story of the empty tomb finds Mary
at the empty tomb shocked and dismayed. And
2000 years later we read the text and say things like, “Why was she so
distraught? Didn’t Mary
understand all Jesus’ words? Didn’t
Mary understand Jesus’ mission and purpose?
Didn’t she get it?”
John, in his gospel, records story after story, encounter after encounter
of Jesus dealing with people who just didn’t understand him.
First, there is Nicodemus. Nicodemus
affirms that Jesus is a teacher from God. Jesus
responds by telling Nicodemus that he must be born anew; born again; born from
above. Nicodemus doesn’t
understand Jesus and asks “how can I enter again into my mother’s womb?”
Nicodemus just didn’t get it!
Then there is the Samaritan woman at the well.
Jesus asks her for a drink. She
replies that he shouldn’t ask her for water.
Jesus says, “If you knew who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink’
you would ask and he would give you living water.”
The woman of Samaria just didn’t understand!
Then there is the multitude of 5000 where Jesus takes five loaves and two
fish, blesses them and feeds the entire group.
Jesus says, “I am the bread of life.
Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will
never be thirsty” (John 6:35). Some
of them, in response, said, “Isn’t this Jesus the Son of Joseph and Mary?”
They just didn’t understand!
Jesus raises his friend Lazarus and says, “I am the resurrection and
the life. Those who believe in me,
even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will
never die” (John 11:25-26).
Yet, they just didn’t get it! They
went on living there lives as usual.
In chapter 15 Jesus says, “This is my commandment, that you love one
another as I have loved you. No one
has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends”
(John 15:12-13). Jesus would talk about his death but they just didn’t
understand!
The key to “understanding” John’s gospel -- the key to
“unlocking” the words of Jesus -- is to see them through the lens of the
cross. Only through the lens of the
cross and the Easter resurrection do these words of Jesus make any sense.
Commentators call this the Johannine misunderstanding -- throughout the
his gospel John records Jesus speaking at one level (higher) and people
understanding him at another level (lower).
Time and again God, in Christ, speaks to our most profound need yet we
tend to keep him at the periphery of our lives.
Yet we just don’t get it! We
don’t understand why God would send his Son to die for us!
The Good News this day is that the empty tomb denotes power; power over
death. This empty tomb is the
reason for Paul’s letter. And as
we have been walking through Romans we have been confronted time and again with
the image of Christ -- holy, blameless, perfect.
In being confronted with this holy love of God we have been forced to
look at ourselves. And that’s the
problem. When I compare myself with
people like Osama bin Laden I look pretty good.
However, the standard against which we are compared is Jesus -- holy,
blameless, perfect. And we all fall
short of this standard even with all our charitable contributions and random
acts of kindness.
Paul, writing to the church at Rome, says that this empty tomb; this
raising of Jesus from the dead is the catalyst behind these Roman Christians
becoming conformed to the image of Christ.
In the verses preceding today’s reading Paul tells us that their
destiny (and our destiny) -- that the destiny of all creation -- is to reflect
the holy love of God. (This is why Christ came.
This is why Christ died. This
was his holy mission and purpose!)
And being conformed, being shaped and molded to reflect the holy love of
God isn’t something you and I do. Rather,
it’s a work that God accomplishes himself through the death and resurrection
of Jesus the Christ. And because it
is God’s work nothing we do can separate us from his hounding love.
He seeks us out. He finds
us. He comes after us.
That’s what love does -- love pursues!
God, in Christ, comes after us! God,
in Christ, saves us! God, in
Christ, raises us to new and unending life in him!
This free gift of God is an eternal mystery!
Paul writes that “nothing -- not even death -- can separate us from the
love of God in Christ Jesus” (Romans
8:39). That is the Good News of Easter.
That is the Story of the Empty Tomb.
Indeed, the Story of the Empty Tomb will never will an academy award.
Yet. . . it is only this Story that has the power to change your life
forever! That’s the power of
Easter! That’s resurrection
power!
“May
the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back
from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, equip you with
everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to
him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever.
Amen” (Hebrews 13:20-21). Go
forth in the resurrection power of Jesus Christ! 1 Illustration drawn from sermon entitled "Something From Nothing" by Rev. Billy D. Strayhorn. --back--
|
|
© 2001-07 Cape Elizabeth Church of the Nazarene |