Encounters with Jesus: the ascension (#5)

Encounters with Jesus: the ascension (#5)

Rumc

June 1, 2014

The story is told about the Ascension Day celebrations at a particular seminary. A special Ascension Day service was held and the whole seminary in robes and regalia gathered for the big celebration. It was quite an event. The service ended and, the assembly emerged from the chapel singing some great ascension hymn. Unknown to the worshippers, a somewhat creative student had found a life-size statue of Jesus - the hollow, plastic painted kind - and stuffed it with fireworks – the skyrocket type. As the procession marched into the courtyard, the student lit the fuse, sending the statue soaring up out of the shrubbery through a cloud of smoke and sparks. It buzzed over the scattering members of the procession, finally taking a nosedive on to the roof of a nearby building. There the rocket Jesus sputtered and died. The dean of the seminary was not impressed when the student explained that he was simply trying to dramatize his faith in the ascension of Jesus.

Whatever you may think of the student’s method, I have to say one thing. I bet no one ever forgot that Ascension Day.

For the most part, however, Ascension Day is barely remembered. There is no special holiday to mark the occasion, no three-day weekend, and no parades. It was work as usual for most of us on Thursday. I have to admit that it didn’t occur to me until Friday that Thursday had been Ascension Day. Not very many Christians remembered Christ’s ascension to heaven as they went about their busy lives.

We hardly even talk about Jesus ascending to heaven very much anymore because to our modern minds the image of a man suddenly lifting off the ground and disappearing behind the clouds conjures up images of Superman who had the ability to just lift up his arms and take off into the sky.

That’s not the way the world works. As some have said, "Nothing in our world goes up except rockets, the cost of living, and unemployment statistics.”[1]…oh and Jesus on Ascension Day.

The whole prescientific concept that Jesus went up to heaven defies modern understanding of the universe. "Up where?" people ask. "Into outer space, a planet, a star?" The ascension story doesn’t fit into modern thinking anymore; it’s not mentioned in the Bible very much and anyway, it falls on a workday. Who needs it?[2]

Let me tell you who needs the ascension of Jesus…we do.

This is the last week of the series about post resurrection appearances of Jesus called “Encounters with Jesus.” We have been looking at original art created by some of our friends. We have looked at

1.     the resurrection,

2.     the appearance in the garden,

3.     the appearance to doubting Thomas,

4.     and the appearance by the sea.

This week, I have to admit that I don’t have an original piece of art. It didn’t occur to me to ask specifically for one for the ascension. I found a work that I love though. It is called “Ascension of Christ” by Salvador Dali.[3] I will post it on the side of the sanctuary when we are done today, but since the original is about four feet square, the screen is the best place to view it.

Let’s look at the story. There are actually two stories of the ascension in Dr. Luke’s work. One at the end of the Gospel of Luke, the other at the beginning of the book of Acts. The two stories, however, have completely different purposes. In Luke, it draws the ministry and mission of Jesus to a close, and in Acts, it opens the age of the church. There are, therefore, some important differences between these accounts of the ascension.

There is, however a common thread woven into each of the stories. Actually, I think there are three common threads in the stories and together they point to the reasons that the story of Christ’s ascension is important to us today.

First, and most obviously, in both stories Jesus RISES TO REIGN. In Luke, Jesus does the superman thing, you know “faster than a speeding messiah.” In Acts Jesus takes a cloud elevator and heads for home. The effect is the same. The Disciple’s last view of Jesus would have been something like Salvador Dali’s perspective. The last thing the disciple saw was the bottom of Jesus dirty feet.

In the ascension, Jesus is both returning home and taking his work to the universe.

The ascension is the completion of the incarnation story. Jesus emerges from heaven via the womb and returns to heaven via the empty tomb.

St Augustine expressed his opinion about Ascension Day like this: "This is that festival which confirms the grace of all the festivals together … For unless the Savior had ascended into heaven, his Nativity would have come to nothing ... his Passion would have borne no fruit for us, and his most holy Resurrection would have been useless." 

The ascension is the affirmation of all that has come before. If you were still in doubt after the miraculous conception and birth; if you were still in doubt after the mysterious magi; if you were still uncertain after all the healings and miracles; if you were still undecided after the fulfillment of the prophecy in the crucifixion and resurrection; if you were still doubting after Thomas touched his hands and after brunch on the beach… this ascension was intended to seal the deal that Jesus really was who he said he was. He really was God himself in human skin come to love and save people from their sin. He really was the Son of God risen to reign at God’s right hand for all eternity.

The second thread running through both accounts of the ascension is Jesus’ Promises of power.

·        In Luke Jesus says, “And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with POWER from on high.”

·        In acts Jesus says, “You will receive POWER when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.”

Both of these references point to Pentecost when the Holy Spirit of the high God, which hovered over the waters in creation, will make a home the disciple’s hearts and the church. From that indwelling will flow the power of the Holy Spirit to do as Jesus said, “even greater things than I do.”[4]

This promise of power comes to a church that faces a future without Jesus’ physical presence. The Feast of Ascension doesn’t get the attention that Pentecost gets, but it is a pivotal moment in the gospel story. Without it, there is no Pentecost.

The ascension is a reminder that there is a separation between God and us. After all, Jesus did go “up” or “away” from the disciples. This language of transcendence reminds us that God lies beyond our control. We can’t manipulate God with our rituals and our words, but God can and will empower us to be the church God needs us to be.

Jesus is risen to reign. He promises power to his people. Finally, he “Challenges them to change the world.”

In Acts, Jesus says, “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

In Luke, he says, “repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”

Jesus was taken up into heaven, his earthly mission was completed, but that does not mean the mission of God is completed. For with Jesus’ departure – the accounts in Luke and in Acts agree – the disciples (which includes us) were to become witnesses to what they have seen and heard.

Witnesses have a story to tell – a story with meaning. The story tells about the events of Jesus’ life – and points to repentance and forgiveness.

·        We are witnesses of what Jesus has done in our lives and in the life of the world bringing repentance and forgiveness.

·        We have stories to tell of the power we have received from him to do things we could never do on our own.

·        We have stories to tell. Stories of forgiveness.

·        Stories of healing.

·        Stories of love.

·        Stories of Hope.

·        We have stories to tell in the way we forgive and accept forgiveness.

·        We have stories to tell as we witness to the healing power of God in our lives bring others into the great physician’s healing light.

·        We have stories to tell of being loved when we were sure we were unlovable.

·        We have stories to tell by loving those who are so beaten down by life (and the people around them) that they can’t even dream of being loved.

·        We have stories to tell. Stories of “hope for the helpless, rest for the weary, and love for the broken hearts.”[5]

·        We have stories to tell of lives changed,

o   relationships restored, c

o   ommunities transformed,

o   families strengthened, and

o   death defeated.

·        We have stories to tell … stories of loving the unlovable,

·        remembering the forgotten,

·        feeding the hungry,

·        lifting up the poor,

·        helping the crippled,

·        surprising the disheartened,

·        clothing the naked,

·        refreshing the thirsty,

·        freeing the prisoner,

·        strengthening the weak,

·        giving joy to the depressed,

·        comforting to the sick,

·        giving a smile to the embittered,

·        mentoring the young,

·        caring for the aged,

·        challenging the comfortable,

·        confronting injustice,

·        correcting the deceived,

·        bringing down the haughty,

·         building bridges for the disenfranchised,

·         offering justice instead of judgment,

·        healing instead of hatred, and

·        acceptance to the unacceptable.

·        We have stories to tell, by the way we live to change the world.

This third thread is Jesus’ command to go out and change the world for Jesus Christ. What have you done to change the world this week?

·        If you have touched a life and made a difference bless you… Bless you.

·        If you have thought only of yourself and no one is better off because they met you this week, shame on you… Shame on you.

·        If this community (which is our Jerusalem) and the world for which God has made us responsible are better or different this week because this church is here, thank God… thank God.

·        If we have failed to reach out to even the people who are like us and near us, let alone those who are far away and very different. God forgive us. … God forgive us.

In his poem “Beginning in Jerusalem” Andrew King writes

Begin in the brightly painted kitchens.
At the table set for supper and on the wide couches
where we watch TV. Begin while we are sorting
the laundry, writing out the shopping list.
And in front of our bathroom mirrors.

Begin in the barns among the warmth of animals
and the smells of grain and manure.
Begin in the growing fields, and in the flooded
pastures, and where the rains have not come
and the soil is cracked and hard.

Begin in the gleaming office towers, the shiny
shopping malls, the sweaty factory floors.
Begin on crumbling sidewalks and amid
the rumble of subways. At machines, at our desks,
by the coffee makers and computers.

Begin with the rich, the comfortable.
Begin with the poor, the desperate.
Among the successful, the self-assured.
Among the failed and the floundering.
In the glitter of the halls of power,
and in the cold and shadowed corners
of tragedy and defeat.

Begin on a day when the sun is brilliant;
on a day when the sky is gray.
In a time when economies are favorable;
in a time when all is rust;
at the moment when leaders are caring;
or amid indifference, hostility, despair.

Let us begin beginning again. And whether
we have begun and triumphed, or begun
and struggled and faltered, we will continue
our beginning, as we have from our beginning,
at Jerusalem,
which is wherever
and whoever we are.^[6]

Go Change the world for out risen and ascended Christ.

AMEN

---

[1] © Pastor Vince Gerhardy, St Luke's Lutheran Church, Nambour - 12th May, 2002, E-mail: gerhardy65@hotmail.com 

[2]  © Pastor Vince Gerhardy, St Luke's Lutheran Church, Nambour - 12th May, 2002, E-mail: gerhardy65@hotmail.com 

[3] “The ascension of Christ” 1958 Salvador Dali

[4] John 14:12

[5] “cry out to Jesus” third day

[6] Andrew King, “BEGINNING AT JERUSALEM” (Luke 24: 44-53) http://earth2earth.wordpress.com/2014/05/25/poem-for-the-sunday-lectionary-the-ascension/

ENCOUTNERS WITH JESUS: in the upper room (3) Reinbeck UMC 5/18/14

Encoutners with Jesus: in the upper room (3)

Reinbeck UMC 5/18/14

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life conducted a survey that discovered:
Amongst Roman Catholics, Mainline Protestants, and Orthodox Christians, 25% (1 in 4) of those church members had doubts about the existence of God. Among Jews, the ratio was 6 out of 10 doubted God’s existence.

These are people who “belong” to a religious group. They go to church, or the synagogue. They support a ministry financially and in other ways. But they have… doubts.

Do you believe? Well, not everyone does. Not even everyone who is here this morning believes.

That is exactly the situation in which the disciples found themselves. Not everyone believed.

This story takes place on the same day as the other stories we have studied so far in this series: the encounter in the tomb and the encounter in the garden. Today we continue with two post resurrection appearances that together are known as the story of Doubting Thomas. Today’s art is from Clint Anderson and after this morning, you will find it on this side of the sanctuary.

The story starts on the same night that the resurrection was discovered: Easter Sunday night.

That morning Mary had found the empty tomb. She ran to tell the disciples. She says “would you believe” that the tomb is empty. Not all of them believed. Remember? Peter and John had to run to see for themselves. Why? Because they couldn’t believe it without seeing it.

It was evening of that same day. The disciples were locked in an upper room. It might have been the same room in which they had supper with Jesus a few days earlier. For some reason all the disciples were there except for Thomas. Maybe he was at the store. Maybe he was running late after work. Maybe he was stuck in traffic. Maybe he was off pouting. Maybe he just didn’t feel like being there.

A husband and his wife arose one Sunday morning and the wife dressed for church. It was just about time for the service when she noticed her husband hadn't moved a finger toward getting dressed. Perplexed, she asked, "Why aren't you getting dressed for church?" He said, "Cause I don't want to go." She asked, "Do you have any reason?" He said, "Yes, I have three good reasons. First, the congregation is cold. Second, no one likes me. And third, I just don't want to go." The wife replied, wisely, "Well, honey, I have three reasons why you should go. First, the congregation is warm. Second, there are a few people there who like you. And third, you're the pastor! So get dressed!"

I don’t know what Thomas’ reasons were, but he wasn’t there that day. When he finally arrived all the other disciples said something like, Would you believe that Jesus’ tomb is empty. NO? Well would you believe that he is alive? NO? Well would you believe he was just here? Thomas answers, “No, I don’t believe.” Thomas tells them, “Unless I see it for myself, and can touch his wounds, I won’t believe.” I get the feeling that Thomas might have been fooled a couple of times by the jokes played by the other disciples. He wasn’t about to be fooled this time. “Unless I see it for myself, and can touch his wounds, I won’t believe.”

Now, I think Thomas has received a bum rap over the years. He apparently grew up with the nick name “Thomas the twin.” John tells us the he was called Didimus, which means “twin” in Greek. Now he was pegged with the nick name “doubter.” How would you like to be called “doubting <<< >>>” or “doubting <<< >>>” or “doubting <<< >>>.”

We sometimes do that with a person’s profession, you know Bill the barber, or Brent the Pharmacist. But no one would want to be pegged as the doubter, and I don’t think it is really fair.

There are two other times that Thomas speaks in the gospel. Once in chapter 11 of John. Jesus wants to go back to Judea after Lazarus’ death. The disciples are trying to talk him out of it and then Thomas speaks in verse 16. “16 Then Thomas (called Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him." There is no doubt there, just pure courage and dedication.

The second Thomas speaks is in John 14. We will start in verse 1. 1"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. 2In my fathers house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you with me that you may also be where I am. 4You know the way to the place where I am going. 5Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" 6Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one come to the Father except through me." 

In this second story, there is no doubt, only courage. He has the courage to ask the question all the other disciples were afraid to ask. It is really too bad that the only thing Thomas is remembered for is his doubt because that is not the whole story.

Getting back to our story, one week later, the disciples were once again locked in the upper room. They must have been really afraid… this time Thomas is with them and Jesus appears again. He appears even though the doors are locked and immediately greets them with the standard Jewish greeting, “Peace be with you.” He immediately turns to Thomas and says, “Here, put your finger here, see my hands? Reach out your hand and put it into my side.”

Suddenly Thomas is standing face with face with the risen Christ and his doubt disappears. I think at that moment he is transformed from a doubter to a believer. From a skeptic to a supporter. Jesus goes on to say, “Stop doubting and believe.”

Christian tradition holds that Thomas set sail for India and was the first to spread the Christian message there. In the end, his doubt… his desire to know Jesus for himself, was what brought him faith. That faith gave him the strength to bring that message to so many others. If you go to India today, St. Thomas is the one who didn’t just doubt, but who believed, and who helped others to do so as well.

But he was lucky, right? I mean, he got to see Jesus, to touch Jesus, to know Jesus, in a way you and I don’t. Doubting Thomas may have become a saint, but what hope is there for me, or for you?

I preach this message today partially in hopes that I am not the only one in this church who from time to time suffers with more doubt than faith. I suspect that if I were to ask many of you in the privateness of your own heart, “Do you believe?” You would have to honestly respond that you have gone through periods of doubt as well.

We come from a tradition that embraces doubt and rests on the assurance that faith is not the opposite of doubt. The opposite of faith would be rejection. Faith is as a gift from God that comes to us in the midst of our doubt.

John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, had a faith journey like an obstacle course.

He grew up in the church, his father an Anglican priest and his mother was probably a better preacher than his father, even though she was not allowed to be a priest. Yet he did not have faith. He tried to gain faith by self discipline and founding the Holy Club at Oxford, but he still didn’t find faith. He traveled to Georgia to be missionary hoping that his faith would grow, but he came home and still he did not really believe deep down inside.

Finally, at a meeting at Aldersgate Street in London he had the same experience that Thomas had, of meeting with the risen Lord. He recorded in his journal: "about a quarter before nine … I felt my heart strangely warm. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for my salvation; and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me." 

It was as though Jesus stood before him and said, “stop doubting and believe” and he received the gift of faith.

He went on to preach what I think is one of his greatest sermons called “The witness of the spirit.” He preached on Romans 8:16 “the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”

There was once a woman in her 30’s who had an overwhelming spiritual experience. She knew God was present, and she felt God calling her to do something new, and scary, and hard.

The young woman went out, and for the next 50 years she did amazing things. But inside she doubted. She wrestled with faith. She had what Christian writers for centuries have called a “dark night of the soul”. Sometimes she even questioned the existence of God. Her lack of faith bothered her.

The other disciples may have called her, “Doubting Teresa”. But you and I know her as Mother Teresa.

 If Thomas, and John Wesley, and Mother Teresa all suffered with doubts what makes us think that we should be immune. Let me tell you again.  Doubt is not the opposite of faith.  Those of us who have faith, usually experience some degree of doubt.

1.     That’s OK. It is OK for us to doubt as long as we leave room for faith.

2.     It is OK to have doubt as long as, like Thomas, we seek that opportunity to stand face to face with the risen Lord Jesus.

3.     It is OK to have doubt as long as, like Wesley we continue seek that gift of assurance from God.

4.     It is OK to have doubt as long as, like mother Teresa we keep following our calling even in the times of darkness.

5.      

Gene Robinson, the Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire has a great image of journeying in faith while filled with doubt.

He says, we have an image that faith is like Moses lifting his arms and parting the red sea so the people could walk through on dry land. The reality, he says, was more like this: the people put one foot into the water, tentatively, and the waters rolled back a little. And then they put another foot down, and the waters rolled back more. And then they put another foot down, and the waters rolled back more. And then they put another foot down, and the waters rolled back more. And so on, and so on, until they found they had safely reached the other shore.

It’s the same with the Christian life:

·        you can’t see to the other shore from here, and you don’t have to. God is already there waiting for you.

·        You won’t always see the solid dry ground for your next step, but you don’t have to because God is with you in the waters.

·         The life of faith may have its seasons of doubt, but that is OK because God is with us in the darkness.

Today I tell you, doubt as much as you need to,

·        but leave just enough room for faith that Jesus really did rise from the dead.

·        Doubt as much as you need to, but leave just enough room for faith that God will show you the next right step.

·        Doubt as much as you need to, but leave just enough room for faith that God can warm your heart.

·         Doubt as much as you need to, but leave just enough room for faith that the spirit can assure you that you are a child of God.

The doubts may still be there at least from time to time, but just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Because that is what faith is all about.

AMEN

Encounters with Jesus: in the garden (2) May 11, 2014 Reinbeck UMC

Encounters with Jesus: in the garden (2)

May 11, 2014

Reinbeck UMC

There is nothing quite like it. Nothing that even comes close to comparing to the hopelessness that floods over us when death comes to rip someone we love from our arms. Grief washes over us like a tidal wave leaving in its wake tired days and sleepless nights. Losing someone dear to us to death is kind of a twilight zone experience. Nothing can prepare us for it. Nothing can stop it. No one is ever ready to hear the words, “I’m sorry, we did all we could.”

The world caves in and the emptiness that washes in behind the shock leaves us vulnerable, hurting, and empty.

That’s what Mary Magdalene must have been experiencing. She had one of those sleepless nights. She tried to sleep, then got up and paced the floor... then tried to lie down again, but sleep would not come and she got up again... and on it went through the night. She took it as long as she could and then headed for the grave early in the morning, very early -- before the sun came up. Perhaps just being near his tomb would bring some trace of relief.

The world knows death so well, yet many try to deny it.

Harry Houdini denied the reality of death, and always promised his wife that he would escape from death and come back to her. He didn’t.

Elvis Presley died 37 years ago. His most ardent fans refuse to believe. How many times has Elvis been spotted here or there? In spite of his immense popularity and the grief of his fans, Elvis never came back for another concert.

17 years ago this summer Princess Diana lost her life in the car accident. How many times did we hear someone say after her death, “I just can’t believe she’s gone?” Nevertheless, she is.

Whether we are rich or poor, famous or unknown, powerful or impotent... death is truly the bottom line. Isn’t it?

Or is it? Death is not the last word for those who encounter Jesus after the resurrection. As we explore our second post-resurrection appearance of Jesus, we come to reflect on Mary’s encounter with Jesus in the Garden. This week’s art is from Earlene Nosbisch.

As we see Mary and Jesus in this embroidered scene let’s ask ourselves what if…

What if… What if someone you loved died? You were there at the bedside and watched them take their last breath. You watched the funeral home come and zip them into that black bag. You watched them load the body in the back of the van. You even went to the funeral, and burial, and ate little ham sandwiches.

What if… a few days later that person was suddenly standing right in front of you?

What if … all that you thought you knew about life and death suddenly didn’t work anymore?

What if … after all these years, you are faced with the proposition that death is truly not the bottom line?

That’s the position in which Mary found herself on that first Easter morning.

·       She had been in the garden when Jesus was captured.

·       She had peered over the wall as Jesus was tried.

·       She grimaced when Jesus was beaten.

·       She cried as Jesus struggled up the hill under the weight of that awful cross.

·       She stood as close as she dared when they nailed him to the crossbeam and lifted it into place, and she stood with Jesus’ Mother, Mary, to watch him take his last breath.

As far as she was concerned, that was the end of the story!

There was no “what if” in her mind. There was just dead certainty. That this was the end.

Then as she neared the tomb, she saw that the stone had been disturbed. Do you suppose she had a brief fleeting thought of “what if?” If she did, it fled as quickly as it came because she jumped to the conclusion that someone had moved the body.

Now you have to recognize that this week’s story from John is just a little different from last week’s story from Luke.

·       First, only Mary Magdalene is named. The other women may have been there, but only she is named in the story.

·       Second, Mary doesn’t go up to the tomb right away but runs to get Peter and “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” whom we believe to be John. She reports to them, “They have taken the Lord and we do not know where they have laid him.” Notice she says “we” do not know… that is an indication that the other women may have been with her.

·       She says, “They have taken the Lord.” We don’t know exactly who the “They” are. She might not have even been sure.

The disciples raced to the tomb to find the stone rolled back just as Mary had said. They went inside and found the grave cloths still lying on the shelf where the body had been. Now there is a lot of speculation about those grave cloths. People keep looking for clues to the process of resurrection by analyzing what John writes about the cloths. The bottom line is that all we know is that the grave cloths were there and the body wasn’t.

Then, interestingly enough, John writes, “Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed.” Believed what? Believed that he was risen from the dead? We have no indication of that. I suspect that he believed what Mary Magdalene had said about someone stealing the body, because it goes on to say, “they did not yet understand the scripture that he must rise from the dead.”

If that’s correct, than so far no one has caught on to what has happened here and Peter and John head home. Probably crushed and confused.

Mary stayed behind though. She was weeping. The Greek word is really more like she was wailing, as is the custom in the Middle East.

She just couldn’t believe what was happening and she had to see for herself… so she dried her eyes, rounded up all of her courage, and bent down to look in the little opening.

To her shock and surprise, it was not empty. There were two angels (just like last week) two angels and they asked her why she was weeping. She repeated her belief that they have moved the body.

Just then, she sensed someone behind her. She looked at him, but did not recognize Jesus. Perhaps in part, because her eyes were all blurry from crying, but we also know from other appearances that there was something different about Jesus’ appearance that meant he could only be recognized through the eyes of faith.

Again, the man behind her asks, “Why are you weeping?” She tells her story again, but almost before she gets the last word out Jesus says, “Mary!” She must have recognized the voice and cried out “Rabbouni!” which is a form of the word Rabbi, which means teacher.

She threw her arms around Jesus neck and hugged the stuffing out of him. She was relieved and didn’t want to lose him again.

And she won’t. Having seen the risen Christ Mary will never lose the transformative power of the resurrection. After all, she stood face to face with death and now stands face to face with the risen Lord Jesus.

She stood face to face with the worst of human sin and now she stands face to face with the Risen Lord Jesus. For her it made all the difference in the world.

In addition, it can for you too.

Maybe you stand face to face with your death, or the death of someone you love this week. If you do, come, stand face to face with the Lord Jesus who is victorious over any grave.

Maybe you stand face to face with an uncertain future this week as you finish school, or your job is in jeopardy, or you marriage is about to crumble. If you do, come, stand face to face with the Lord Jesus who goes before you into the scary places of life.

Maybe you stand face to face with a frightening diagnosis this week. Cancer, Leukemia, a tumor (Fill in the blank for your own disease). Come, stand face to face with the Lord Jesus who heals the lame, the blind, and the deaf.

Maybe you stand face to face with the darkest parts of your own character today; those things about yourself that you would never want anyone else to know. You stand face to face with your shame, your addiction, and your obsessions. Come, stand face to face with the Lord Jesus who knows all secrets and brings light to the deepest darkness.

Maybe you come broken this week. Your relationship with your spouse, your parent, or your child is strained. Maybe it has been for a long time. Maybe you can’t even remember how it started anymore. Come, stand face to face with the Lord Jesus who forgives our sins and restores our relationships.

Maybe you come depressed this week. You don’t know why, but life is just shades of gray, interrupted by periods of deep darkness in your heart. Come, stand face to face with the Lord Jesus who knows your emptiness and comes to fill your life with meaning and love.

Maybe I haven’t quite described your pain today. Maybe I have missed the mark on your trouble. Come anyway. Come and stand face to face with the Lord Jesus who triumphed over all sin and the grave and can triumph over your pain and trouble today as well.

What really matters is that whatever our lives are… we come face to face with the risen Jesus.

·       Face to face with His power.

·       Face to face with His forgiveness.

·       Face to face with His compassion.

·       Face to face with His love.

·       Face to face with His grace.

Come… come… come

Encounters with Jesus: In the empty tomb (1) May 4, 2014

Encounters with Jesus: In the empty tomb (1)

May 4, 2014

Christmas has a large and colorful cast of characters including not only the three stars, but the angel Gabriel, the innkeeper, the shepherds, the heavenly host, the three Wise Men, Herod, the star of Bethlehem, and even the animals kneeling in the straw. We have seen them represented so often that we would recognize them anywhere. We know about the birth in all its detail as well as we know about the births of ourselves or our children. The manger is as familiar as home. We have made a major production of it.[1]

Easter is different though. We spend the weeks of Lent preparing for Easter: Praying, meditating, reading scripture, focusing on the deep meanings of the death of Jesus. Then we fly through Holy week. There are the palm branches, the black cloths, the seven last words, and the silence of Saturday. Finally, Easter is here, the Lord is Risen AMEN. Let’s go home and have ham. Then the church is off to Mother’s day, and senior recognition day, and Memorial Day.

This year I have decided in these weeks following Easter that we are going to stay with the resurrection story for a few weeks, and specifically what we call the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus

There are more than a few post-resurrection appearances of Jesus. The number varies depending on how you combine them or make them distinct stories. I have selected 5 on which we will focus this year. Each of these stories has an original piece of art attached to it. Here is the first, from Sarah Ellenberger. You can find the original on the wall over here, with a prayer and a scripture to read. I am posting them one at a time and want to encourage you to stop in during the week and spend some time praying here in the sanctuary and meditating on the stories this art represents.

The first story is, I suppose, not technically a post resurrection appearance of Jesus, but it is the only place to start: the empty tomb. You might say this is not an appearance of Jesus, but rather a disappearance. It is the heart of the Easter story. So let’s see what we can learn from Luke’s account.

Luke begins with the word, “But”… Wait! Let’s stop there. This is the biggest but in the history of humanity. In the 23^rd chapter, Luke has been telling us about the death of Jesus, specifically, the trial before Pilate, the crucifixion, the death and the burial of Jesus. The curtain comes down because it is the Sabbath and Luke reports, “On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.”

That would appear to be the end of the story. By all the natural laws of the world that should be the end of the story. If it were a movie, it is one of those where the audience sits in stunned sadness as the lights start to come up. People start to rustle around collecting their things, but suddenly the projector comes back on and the theatre is plunged into darkness: BUT!

The gospel screams BUT WAIT! That isn’t the end. There’s more…There is much more, and if you leave now you will miss the best parts.

“But on the first day of the week early at dawn.” We go from the darkness of death to the darkness of dawn. The Greek word used there does not just mean early, it means deep: In the deep darkness of the morning. The morning would be Sunday morning. Remember the Jewish Sabbath is Saturday and we worship on Sunday because it is the day of resurrection, but I get ahead of myself. 

They came to the tomb. Now Luke is clear that the women know exactly which tomb is Jesus’ because they accompanied Joseph of Aramathea to the tomb just three days earlier. There is no question about whether they might be at the wrong tomb. This is it.

They brought spices. Now, the Jewish death rituals did not include embalming as the Egyptians did with their mummies. The goal of the spices was not to preserve, but to cover up some of the smell of decomposition. In fact the Greek word used here for spice means aroma. They brought “aromatics” to put on Jesus face and hands, and to sprinkle around the body.

Here we go again BUT!!! This "but" happens to be in the middle of the next sentence, but it applies to the whole thing. "BUT" they saw the stone was rolled away and he wasn’t in there! What must they have thought?

·        They might thought they were in the wrong place, but as I told you, Luke is careful to make sure that they know where to go.

·        Maybe they thought the body had been moved. In other gospels, Mary thinks the gardener has moved Jesus.

·        Maybe they thought t the body had been stolen. In Matthew, there is the story about the guards going to the chief priest, which is intended to prove that he was not stolen. Besides that, who would unwrap the body and leave the grave cloths?

I’m sure all of those things swirled through their heads as they stood there in the entrance to the tomb. They only thing that didn’t swirl through their heads was “resurrection.” Apparently, they had forgotten Jesus’ prediction of the resurrection.

The world was still in the darkness of Jesus’ death. The women came in darkness to pay their respects. Now they entered the deepest darkness of all, the darkness of not being able to make sense of what has happening.

The scripture says they were perplexed. The Greek word actually has to do with sight. It was like being in a fun house with everything upside-down and not being able to trust their eyes. They just stood there trying to make sense of what they were seeing. It would be like opening a coffin expecting to see a loved one and seeing only the silk pillow. They stood there trying to take it all in and make sense of what they were seeing.

SHAZAM!... well, that is the best I can do to translate the next Greek word. It means suddenly, but it is an interjection. It is a one-word exclamation. So SHAZAM! Or, as Noah would say, “BaBam.” Suddenly the room was filled with light and there were two men in dazzling or bright clothes. Dazzling is the same word used at the transfiguration of Jesus to describe Moses and Elijah, and the shine on his face as he left the mountain. It is a holy glow. These were not ordinary men, but angels.

The angels’ first words are key. “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” Sure, it is a wakeup call for the women but it is so much more. It is the first time the Easter story has been proclaimed. He is living! You are looking for a body, but he is living! You are coming to face death, but he is living!

I don’t think that made them any less perplexed! You know they lived in the same world, with the same rules we do. They say that there are only two certain things, death and taxes and suddenly death is not so certain. As Anna Carter Florence says, “If the dead don’t stay dead, what can you count on?” We think of death as final and irreversible, but for the first time ever death was not the final word. Sure, there have been resuscitations in the Bible like Lazarus, but he went on to die again in his old age. This was different. This was new. This was impossible by every worldly standard.

The resurrection is not of this world, though. In the resurrection, God reaches out of the eternal into the finite and reclaims his own son. There had never been anything like it before, and there has never been anything like it since.

Finally, the angels help the women make sense of it. “Remember,” They say, “Remember how he told you that the son of man must he handed over to sinners, crucified, an on the third day rise again?” And they remembered. They remembered. These women were the first Christians, at least in as much as they were the first people to believe in the resurrection of Jesus.

It is a little surprising to me that, even though Jesus predicted his death … and resurrection … several times across his ministry; no one greets the news that God has raised Jesus from the grave and defeated death and the devil by saying, “Praise God!” No one shouts “Hallelujah” when they hear that their friend and Lord has been raised to life. And absolutely no one, upon hearing the news that death itself could not hold the Lord of Glory captive, says, “I knew it – just like he said!” The angels have to remind them.

The women run to tell the 11 disciples, and what do they find? “These words seemed to them as an idle tale.” Actually “idle tale” is a fairly generous translation of the Greek work leros. That word, you see, is the root of our word “delirious.” So in short, they thought what the women said was crazy, nuts, utter nonsense.

The disciples don’t believe them. Except for one disciple, and it is no surprise who that is. Peter goes running off to see for himself.

So what are we to take away from this Lucan account of the empty tomb?

Classic preaching says that a Good sermon has three points that the congregation can remember. Therefore, I am going to give you three points.

First point, He is Risen!

Second point, He is risen!

Third point … (you guess) that’s right, He is risen!

Kind of like the old adage about real estate: that the three most important things in real estate ate location, location and location.

The three most important things from this story are, He is risen. He is risen. And He is risen. We have to understand that before any of the post resurrection appearances make any sense. He is risen!

The first “he is risen” comes from the proof of the women’s own perception. The women stand there with the stone rolled back in the dark, cold, empty tomb staring at the grave cloths, and there is only one conclusion. He is risen because they can see it with their own eyes. They might not believe it, but they can see it.

The second he is risen comes from the angels have one important message. He is not here. He is risen. What else is there to say?

The Final “He is risen” comes from Jesus own testimony, remembering that he promised to rise from the dead on the third day. There is only one conclusion. He is risen.

I started talking about the biggest “but” in history. The biggest but in history is BUT… He is risen, the biggest 4 words in history are “but he is risen.”

He was dead, but he is risen!

Death was the last word, but he is risen!

Your darkness may seem deep, but he is risen!

Your sin seems powerful, but he is risen!

Your life seems meaningless, but he is risen!

You might not be sure what tomorrow will bring, but he is risen!

You might be grieving the death of a loved one, but he is risen!

You m might be facing cancer, or diabetes, or macular degeneration, or any number of terrible diseases, But he is risen!

You might be trapped in a cycle of addiction, but he is risen!

No, the resurrection does not take the difficulty away. The resurrection didn’t rewind to Friday afternoon and take the cross away, but it did win victory over the cross and death.

There is victory over death, because he is risen!

Death does not get to have the last word, because he is risen!

In your darkness, you can find light, because he is risen!

In your sin, you can find resurrection, because he is risen!

Meaninglessness is filled with significance, because he is risen!

You can face tomorrow with hope, because he is risen!

We can walk through grief, because he is risen!

We can face cancer, or diabetes, or macular degeneration, or any other terrible disease, because he is risen!

You can break the cycle of addiction, because he is risen!

Go in peace and power, because he is risen!

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[1] http://frederickbuechner.com/content/easter