The Beginning of the Story

April 9, 2023 – Easter
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois

Matthew 28:1-10[1]

It was just another morning as they went to see the tomb
with deep and aching sorrow as the day shook off the gloom.
Magdalene and Mary had been there, now two days past
as their Lord prayed, “Why forsaken?” cried out loud, and breathed his last.

The story which had ended, sealed away inside the grave, 
had made a tomb around their hearts; there was no hope left to save.
We’ve been there, if we’re honest, having lost our faith and trust.
When all the plans we’ve made, all our accomplishments, are dust.

The world we know is not unlike that ancient Galilee
When every day the news comes in of loss and tragedy.
Hope’s in constant danger, might makes right, and riches rule.
The suffering of the poor and sick seems endless, cold, and cruel.

Just like them we need to know that someone out there cares.
So often we’ve been shaken by this fragile life we share
They threw their hopes upon this man who seemed to them so bold
He’ll make our nation strong again if he can be controlled.

That Jesus was arrested, even killed, is no surprise;
he knew the risk, the violence and betrayal in their eyes.
He’d been arguing for days with the chief priests and the scribes.
He called them out for arrogance, injustices, and lies.

Then the Roman power whipped him, and in a spectacle of pain
hung him up there on the cross, the symbol of their reign.
Crucifixion was a warning: peace through violence was the way;
keeping people in their place, no rebellion here today.

The disciples all had scattered; even Peter failed the test;
only Joseph took the body wrapped in cloth and laid to rest.
The Marys never saw it coming. For all they knew they were alone.
Then the angel flashed like lightning, shook the earth, and moved the stone.

He is not here; he has been raised! Their hearts could beat once more.
New life and joy flowed through them shining light through every pore.
An empty tomb, a risen Lord, a message they must share:
He’s gone ahead to Galilee; go and tell them he’ll be there.

How we want to celebrate, to sing a triumph song
The Romans did their worst to him, and Life still carries on.
The evil-doer has been crushed, the bad guy’s on the run.
We want to cry out “Victory!” The wrath of God was done.

But they didn’t rally to the cry, take up the sword and kill.
That’s not who we are called to be, that’s not what Jesus willed.
When tempted in the wilderness Jesus did not take the crown.
Rebellion in Jerusalem would only burn the city down.

Yes, death was overcome this day, the grave did not hold sway;
but marching on in majesty was not the apostles’ way.
The forces that had crucified would still seek out the rest.
Three hundred years of savagery would put them to the test.

Now, some would turn against the Jews, saying they had made him die.
Only Pilate, and the Empire, could execute, could crucify.
When pilgrims came for Passover to celebrate their freedom,
the brutal Roman governor used terror to demean them.

If we would honor Jesus in the way we live our lives
We cannot harbor hatred, using violence and lies.
How should we treat our enemies, our neighbors, and ourselves?
The way, the truth, the life is LOVE that builds no boundary walls.

We’re all immigrants and slaves-set-free, refugees and tribes.
As Christians, Muslims, Jews and all we’re meant to be alive.
No one can win when others must be crushed so we can rise.
We must seek the face of God each time we look another in the eyes.

I believe that Jesus rose that day, but I’m not willing to pretend
that evil was defeated, and I’ll never sin again.
There are times we all still struggle, we’re all broken now and then;
but new life can rise within us, set us free to start again.

I believe that Jesus rose that day, though no one saw the deed;
and I believe that there is proof, but it’s not inerrancy. 
The proof is in the lives transformed, the people who were changed;
the resurrection witnesses did not remain the same.

This group of scared disciples who did not dare to see him die
found the courage to tell all the world they’d seen Jesus alive.
Some would go to prison, even death for saying so.
Now they could taste and see the life God wants us all to know.

The power of this moment doesn’t come from strength of arms.
Instead, it comes despite the risk that we might come to harm.
To stand with the oppressed, the poor, the sinners, and the lost
is the reason Jesus walked this road and chose to pay the cost.

This was the moment that changed the world, and today we still can see
the resurrection world is not the one that used to be.

Before when something threatened power, like mercy, justice, peace,
the world could just kill it and it would be gone; but with Jesus that cannot be.

 

The new life of Jesus is planted in us, the new life that God has restored.
Mercy and justice cannot be dismissed with a cross or even a sword.
When people of faith stand together as one, we move mountains and vanquish our fear.
We have a dream, we open our hands, we say, “You’re welcome here.”

No longer afraid, we know that now we’ll never walk alone.
We’re ready to say, “Here am I, send me.” When you’re ready, call me home.
Tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me again.
Jesus gathers the scattered sheep back where the story began.

 

In ministry he had healed the sick, and called the children blessed,
had compassion for the suffering, and offered the weary rest,
taught the crowds in parables, and fed them with two fish.
The story is not over. It begins again with this:

The powers of evil did their worst. The light of the world still shines.
“I am with you always, to the end,” he said, “fear not, for you are mine.”
The ministry that he once did belongs to you, my friends.
The story begins with the love we share, and I pray it never ends.

Amen.

___________________

Resources who influenced my writing:

Eduard Schweizer, “Resurrection” in Donald W. Musser and Joseph L. Price, Editors, New and Enlarged Handbook of Christian Theology (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003), p. 425.

Nadia Bolz Weber, “Sermon on Empty Tombs and the Suddenness of Dawn.” Online: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/nadiabolzweber/2014/04/sermon-on-empty-tombs-and-the-suddenness-of-dawn/

Rachel Held Evans, “Hearts of Flesh.” Online: http://rachelheldevans.com/blog/hearts-of-flesh

Alex Joyner, “The Empty Tomb.” Online: http://www.ministrymatters.com/all/article/entry/4913/the-empty-tomb?utm_campaign=eNews10Apr2014&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_content=The%20Empty%20Tomb

Pascal Deng, “The Incredible Need for Emptiness.”

The Rev. Geoffrey A. Black and The Rev. Sharon E. Watkins, “UCC, Disciples leaders offer prayers, consolation following Kansas shooting.” Online: http://www.ucc.org/news/kansas-shooting-statement-04152014.html?utm_source=kyp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=kyp041514%22

Kathryn Matthews Huey, Reflection on John 20:1-18 for Sermon Seeds. http://www.ucc.org/worship/samuel/april-20-2014.html.

Roger Wolsey, “A Kinder, Gentler, more Grown-up Easter.” http://www.patheos.com/blogs/rogerwolsey/2014/04/a-kinder-gentler-more-grown-up-easter-2/

The Rev. Dr. Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, “Is Easter Happy?” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-dr-susan-brooks-thistlethwaite/is-easter-happy_b_5174128.html

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[1] The scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.

Appearances

April 17, 2022 – Easter Sunday
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois

Isaiah 65:17-25; Luke 23:55 - 24:12[1]

He appeared. He had been arrested in the garden of Gethsemane, and some of them had even seen him crucified. At early dawn, on the third day, the women found the stone had been rolled away. There was no body in the tomb. It seemed an idle tale to the apostles.

And then the most amazing, unexpected, incredible thing happened. He appeared. He appeared to Peter, “The Rock,” one of the closest companions of Jesus. Though Peter had denied knowing him in the courtyard of the high priest, Jesus appeared.

He appeared on the road, as two of them traveled to Emmaus. At first their eyes were kept from recognizing him, and they told their story to one they thought a stranger. For them, it was at the table, when he took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. He appeared.

He appeared to the eleven. They were the ones who had followed him, learned from him, and served beside him, and yes, those who had fled at his arrest. He appeared to more than five hundred people at one time.

And, most amazingly, especially to Paul, he appeared to Paul! Paul, who, before his conversion, had tried to destroy the early Christian community, and who considered himself unfit to be called an apostle. Even so, Jesus appeared to Paul.

He appeared to Mary Magdalene in the garden, and called her by name. He appeared to Thomas, who doubted, and had to be convinced. He appeared to many others, throughout the centuries, and he is appearing still.

These days, when people say Jesus appeared to them, most of us scoff, or say under our breath, “this ought to be good.” I mean, really? Where was he this time? The image of Jesus has appeared in some strange places. He has appeared on a cheese pizza, in a water stain on some drywall, in ketchup on the side of a plastic bottle. These appearances can be amusing, and it is easy to explain how our brains form patterns out of chaos. But these are not what I’m talking about when I say Jesus appeared.

When Jesus appeared to Mary, Paul, Peter, and Thomas, it was not a face appearing on a loaf of bread. When Jesus appeared, it was a presence. What Mary experienced was no abstract image. Quite the contrary, the moment shared between the two of them was tangible, emotional, and deeply personal. He called her by name, “Mary,” and the sound of her name spoken by him rushed through her, touched all of her senses, and brought to life her broken, aching heart. Something within her shifted, and she was transformed by the experience.

This is how we all want to experience God. Like Mary, we long to be known by God. We want to be loved and cared for, to be held in the gaze of the one who knows us best. We want to be known in the deepest, most intimate corners of our hearts, our bodies, our past and present and future, in all that we hope for and all that we have lost. We want to experience the Living God as real and grounded, as a presence that touches all our senses.

I have heard my name spoken in this way. In the midst of an amazing worship experience, surrounded by cherished friends, I walked up to take communion. As I took the bread, I heard my name, and looked into the eyes of love, and Christ appeared. In my mind I know that it was just my friend Scott, offering me the cup of grape juice. But someplace beyond my mind’s power to know, I was touched in a way that I can still feel.

Perhaps you have also heard your name spoken and felt the world shift into place. Perhaps your world has been shattered, and in your confusion and loss you have experienced the presence of arms that held you and would not let go. Perhaps you have been overflowing with guilt and shame for what you have done, and in that moment when the bottom fell out you were lifted, and the pain fell away, and you breathed the fresh scent of a new day.

God appears. Not as often as we would like, not as obviously as we would like, but God appears. We may have to step outside of our daily experiences and embrace the mystery of what cannot be explained. We may have to walk in the garden at daybreak. We may have to climb a mountain. We may have to sail beyond the sight of land. But that is not the only way to become aware of the presence of God.

As people of faith, we are called to the mystery, but we are also called to live in the day-to-day, ordinary world. We must attend to our inner, spiritual lives, and strengthen our intellect, but we are also called to attend to our senses and our physical being. Jesus appears in ways that can be seen, touched, heard, smelled, and tasted, and it is important for us to hone these senses as well.

In the community of faith, as the gathered church, we experience Christ physically, emotionally, and communally. Christ can be known in the light shining through the windows, in the scent of the lilies, in the heft of the hymnal, or the thin pages of the Bible sitting heavy in our laps. Christ can be known in the taste of the bread and wine, or the sound of music that moves us deep within.

You didn’t come to church this morning simply to hear me talk about how Jesus loves you and wants you to share that love with the world. You are here because your bodies, all of your senses, need to be reminded that God lives. You came to have the unconscious and the ordinary stirred up within you and given new energy, new hope, and a renewed purpose. You are here because the life that could not be destroyed on the cross is ready to stage a resurrection in you.

The stone has been removed. A familiar voice is calling. May Christ appear to you this day, and every day. Amen.

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[1] The scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.

Words Can Never Capture It

April 4, 2021 – Easter Sunday
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois

1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Mark 16:1-8[1]

If there is one event that is crucial to the Christian faith, it is the Resurrection of Jesus. Yet the four texts which tell the story do not agree on the details. Fear not, however, for the truth is much greater than the words that tell the tale.

The four Gospels were each composed at a different time and place. Mark was written first, probably in the late 60s, the zero-sixties, that is. Luke and Matthew were written within a year or two of each other near the end of the first century. Each of them contains material from Mark’s Gospel and a second common source called the Q-source, yet each has original material not found elsewhere. John was written last, and in a very different style.

If we were to read these stories, one after the other, we would easily notice the differences. Who went to the tomb at dawn on the first day of the week? Mark says it was Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. Luke tells us it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who had come with Jesus from Galilee. He also tells us that Peter took a look in the empty tomb as well. Matthew mentions Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. And John simply says that Mary Magdalene came to the tomb while it was still dark. Her report sent Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, racing for the tomb to look inside.

Whom did the women meet at the tomb? Mark says the herald of the resurrection was a young man, dressed in a white robe. Luke says it was two men in dazzling clothes. Matthew tells of a great earthquake and an angel of the Lord whose appearance was like lightning and whose clothing was white as snow. And, on the way to tell the disciples, the women were greeted by Jesus himself! And John has no one waiting at the tomb at first. Only after Simon Peter and the other disciple have come and gone does Mary Magdalene see two angels in white sitting in the tomb, and Jesus, whom she mistook for a gardener.

Where did the risen Christ appear to the disciples? Mark does not record an appearance, but says only that he has gone ahead to Galilee. In Luke, Jesus first appears on the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus, though Cleopas and Simon don’t recognize him until he breaks the bread and gives it to them. Then, back in Jerusalem, he appears to all the disciples. He leads them to Bethany, where he ascends into heaven. Matthew has Jesus appear to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary as they run to tell the disciples. Then the eleven gather to worship Jesus on a mountain in Galilee. In John, Mary Magdalene finds him standing near the tomb. That evening he appears to the disciples in a house, presumably in Jerusalem, and again a week later when the doubting Thomas sees him and believes. Finally, Jesus shows himself again by the Sea of Tiberias in Galilee.

Now, I haven’t told you all of these things in order to shake your faith or to make you doubt the resurrection. Indeed, there is no question that something happened that morning which had incredible power. As Episcopal bishop John Shelby Spong writes, “Its power was sufficient to reconstitute a scattered and demoralized band of disciples. Its reality was profound enough to turn a denying Peter into a witnessing and martyred Peter, and to turn disciples who fled for their lives into heroes willing to die for their Lord.”[2] I want you to consider that the words we read can only point to the experience, but can never capture it.

The words came later. A life-altering experience takes time to process. Mark tells us that the women said nothing to anyone, at least at first. How can you put such an epiphany into human speech? Maybe that’s why the first writings about Jesus came many years later. Imagine trying to put into words the most amazing experience of your life, all that led up to it, and all that it means and might mean.

Bishop Spong writes that the words used to describe the resurrection are inadequate. “The power of Easter is both real and eternal, but the words used by human beings to narrate truth can themselves only point to that truth. They can never capture it.”[3] Words, however imperfect, are our best means of sharing the truth of the resurrection, “a truth that is never captured in mere words but a truth that is real, a truth that when experienced erupts within us in expanding ways, calling us simultaneously, deeper and deeper into life and, not coincidentally, deeper and deeper into God.”[4]

And so, we read and hear the scriptures, however limited and imperfect, however distant from us in time and culture, because they point to Easter. The words written in the Gospels are the gateway though which we enter the experience of Mary and Peter and all the others, the experience of knowing God in the life of a human being, the experience of burying Jesus and seeing him alive again, the experience that lies at the heart of Christian faith and life.

What do the words tell us? Early in the morning, the women went to the tomb. The stone had been rolled back. Mary stood weeping. Someone spoke. Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified, has been raised. The words of the women seemed an idle tale, yet Mary was firm, “I have seen the Lord.”[5] Thomas doubted, but saw, and believed, “My Lord and my God!”[6]

As the words were found and spoken, as the story began to be told, the power of that moment was revealed in the transformation of those who had witnessed the resurrected Christ. A small group of disciples, whose leader was brutally executed as a rebel bandit, who betrayed, denied, and fled, were convinced that they had seen Jesus, not as a ghost, but alive, became courageous, proclaimed Jesus as Lord in the face of imprisonment and death, and spread the good news of Jesus Christ to all nations. Saul, the zealot famous for persecuting the followers, received the grace of God, and became Paul the greatest evangelist. What happened on Easter is more than any words could hope to express. “Peace be with you.”[7] “Receive the Holy Spirit.”[8] “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”[9]  Amen.

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[1] The scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.

[2] John Shelby Spong, Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism: A Bishop Rethinks the Meaning of Scripture (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1991), p. 223.

[3] Ibid, p. 225.

[4] Ibid.

[5] John 20:18.

[6] John 20:28.

[7] John 20:19.

[8] John 20:22.

[9] Matthew 28:20.

Do Not Hold On To Me

April 12, 2020

St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois

John 20:1-18

They were young men still, Peter and John. Though they had been following Jesus for a long time, more than two years, there was still more boyish energy in them than manly reserve. So it is not surprising to see them jump up at the words of Mary and race for the tomb. “He’s not there?” you can almost hear them saying. “This I’ve got to see!” As if in competition they race for the tomb, and the “other disciple” – presumably John – outran Peter and got there first. Peter, not one to lose a race, marches right into the tomb.

What they find there proves that Mary was right, but they’re still stumped. You can imagine them saying to one another, “Huh. I don’t get it.” Peter presumably comes to the same conclusion as Mary, that the tomb has been raided by grave robbers. John takes a second look. Maybe he notices the care with which the burial clothes have been arranged. Not robbery, but something else.

If the body was moved, to another tomb, the burial clothes would not have been left behind. And if the body had been stolen in order to be desecrated, why the care taken with the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head? John saw and believed that something bigger was happening. But it would take something more to make it sink in for them. Later that evening the Lord appeared in a locked room and they were finally able to say: “We have seen the risen Christ!”

Mary Magdalene’s experience is different. She too is confused by what she finds, but in her case she is blinded by grief. She came alone, while it was still dark, to pour out her grief before the tomb. She had been there, at the foot of the cross, watching as her Lord had died in that terrible way, and she was already deeply wounded. Imagine her pain when she sees the stone has been moved away, the body missing. She runs to find Peter and John and cries out, “They have taken the Lord.” She returns to the tomb in anguish.

When she does finally look in, hoping to find that she was wrong, that the body really was there, she instead sees the angels. The implication of their presence is lost in her grief, and in her distress she repeats what she knows, “They have taken away my Lord.” She then turns away from the tomb, away from this heavenly visitation. Nowhere else in scripture does someone brush aside an angel. But they are not what she seeks. Not even angels compare to the reality of Jesus. He is not there in the tomb, so she turns away.

Then the Lord appeared. In turning, she sees him, yet she does not know who he is. When reality is too much for us to cope with, our minds sometimes superimpose something rational, familiar. It must be the gardener. Again she turns away. Only, he calls her by name. “Mary!” And in that moment she knew: “My Teacher!” She turns around, to see the Good Shepherd who calls his own sheep by name.

We are often like Peter and John. We’re focused on the tomb and what happened to the body. We’re not content with mystery; we want the facts! And how are we supposed to explain this impossible, amazing event to anyone who doesn’t already believe? No one I know has actually seen a resurrection. But it does help me to remember that no one saw it happen on Easter morning either.

The resurrection was entirely between Jesus and God. There were no witnesses. No one can say what happened inside the tomb, because no one was there. When Mary arrived that morning, he was already gone. Peter and John saw the linen wrappings. Mary saw angels. The rest of the disciples didn’t even show up at the tomb; but that did not matter because the empty tomb was not the point.

Jesus was too busy not being dead. He had places to go and people to see. Jesus lives, and he’s not just going to hang around in the graveyard. The Lord appeared, first to Mary, and then to the disciples, and then to Thomas, who doubted. He even went down to the beach to have breakfast with the fishermen.

There in the garden, the risen Christ appeared to Mary. This was the moment when everything changed. Jesus is alive. Our Lord is the Living God. The realm of God is here, in the heart of every believer, and not even death can stop the Ruler of Heaven and Earth.

“He is risen!” proclaims Mary, and we reply “Christ is risen indeed!” This is more than an historical claim. It is a deeply personal, as well as communal, affirmation. The disciples’ experience of the risen Christ is the same presence they knew before his death. The presence of the living Christ has been experienced by Christians in all times and places. Just as Peter and John and Mary each had a different experience in the garden, so each of us experiences the risen Christ in our own lives in different ways. But the presence of Jesus in our lives is real and powerful.

Easter is about transformation. It is the transformation of death into life. It is the transformation of doubt into belief. But more than that, it is the transformation of the world, and it won’t happen without us. Encountering the risen Christ in an Easter moment is staggering. But following Jesus after that encounter means that we must be passionate about the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God has been described as “the world the prophets dreamed of – a world of distributive justice in which everyone has enough and systems are fair.” This “is God's dream… that can only be realized by being grounded ever more deeply in the reality of God, whose heart is justice.”[1]

The kingdom of God was described by The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. the night before he was assassinated. “The question is not, ‘If I stop to help this man in need, what will happen to me?’ ‘If I do not stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to them?’ That's the question.”[2] The kingdom of God is not a place, but a way of living that puts justice, peace, compassion, and love first above all things.

There in the garden, Jesus said to Mary, “Do not hold on to me.” We cannot cling to him, hoping that he will make everything okay for us. Jesus sends Mary to proclaim the good news as he ascends to God, and she turns to face the future. A future that is not bereft of the presence of Jesus, but instead a future where the Living Lord has appeared, and all of us may follow and be disciples. Amen.

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[1] Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan, The Last Week, 2007.

[2] Martin Luther King, Jr., Mason Temple, Memphis, TN, April 3, 1968.