Reflections on "What Do You Do with a Resurrection?" Easter Sunday, 2017

My first Easter sermon serving St. Andrew Presbyterian.  Grand and glorious music as part of the worship service. I began the week working the Lazarus story (the first Scripture lesson) for the Lenten small group study.  At that point, I came up with the sermon title, but by the time Sunday arrived a better title would have been "What are you looking for?"  I had to do a  little work to get from that to the "What Do You Do with a Resurrection."  

The sermon might have been a bit too long.  The Associate Pastor noted that I could have finished the sermon with the line just before my concluding story.  As I reflected on the end of the sermon, i think she is correct.  Ending with "...beware, Christ is alive and among us."  would have provided a more dramatic ending. Plus, i could have saved this conclusion for a future sermon (it's always good to pace the use of good illustrations!).

The ending I did use worked fairly well.  In fact, in the second service, the congregation filled in the last line "He is risen, indeed." to the story.  That was pretty cool.

“What Do You Do with a Resurrection” SAPC, Easter, 2017; John 11: 17-27; John 20: 1-18

 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7 and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples returned to their homes.

11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look[a] into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew,[b] “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Introduction: In the first chapter of the Gospel of John, two of John the Baptist's disciples meet Jesus, and he looks at them and asks, “What are you looking for?” 

As Mary stand before Jesus at the empty tomb, she does not recognize him, but he has a question for her:  “whom are you looking for?”

A good question for today.

What are you looking for this morning?

Mary’s answer might have been, “I am looking for the body of the my dead friend Jesus.”

But you know the story of his resurrection.

You came here this morning knowing we were going to announce “Jesus Christ is Risen today.”

So why are you here?  What are you looking for this morning?

1.  are you looking for hope in the face of illness or difficulties

2. Or maybe you are just here for the timpani and brass?

3.  Are you looking for new possibilities for your life that can only be powered by the God of resurrection?

4. Or maybe it’s part of a the family tradition.

b.  Mary was looking for the dead body, and instead she discovers resurrection.

1. the tomb is empty.

2.  the one she supposes is the gardener is Jesus, alive again!

c. now the question — what is she going to do with the resurrection.

Or better yet, what are you going to do with the resurrection.

Move 2: You can cling to the hope that our mortality and death are no longer the final answers.

a. Thomas Lynch, a poet and writer who writes out of his life long experience as an undertaker not in his book the Undertaking: the idea of eternal life or the afterlife “begins to make the most sense after life – when someone we love is dead...”

1. he notes that when you're sitting in a hot tub enjoying the evening, you need resurrection like you need another belly button.

2.  But some of us  are here today need resurrection because we arrive full of grief over a loved one who is not able to be here.

1. Or we are living out the challenges of our medical journeys and the uncertainty of the future.

2.  It’s sad, and scary, and hard.  

b. Mary and those first disciples know that feeling.

1. their good friend Jesus has died.

2. the one in whom they had hope for a future has was last seen hanging on the cross dead.

3.  the discovery of the empty tomb means they have a hope that extends beyond death.

4. Whatever can be lost along the way of our medical journeys, even our life itself, is only a temporary loss because death and our mortality have been overcome.

c. Not only is the tomb empty, but Christ is alive.

1. Their future has changed.

2. their hopes have changed.

3.  They can dare to believe that there is something more than our bodies which break down; there is something more than even death.

c.  Presbyterian Ruling Elder John Glenn, you may think of him as war hero famous astronaut, but I think of him as a Presbyterian!

He died last December.

Due to scheduling issues and the family trying to find the perfect day for his burial, the committal service at Arlington National Cemetery took place just a week and a half ago, on what would have been his 74th wedding anniversary.

Pouring rain.  Fitting for a commital, I suppose, as our mortality is revealed.  

A ceremonial service worthy of a military and astronaut here.

A horse drawn caisson with the casket to the grave site.

Six marines in dress blues to carried the casket the final steps.

The U.S. Navy Band Sea Chanters quartet sang "Amazing Grace," and "The Lord's Prayer.”

Marines fired ceremonial rounds as a salute.

Then the bugler sounding Taps, the traditional end of the service.

And then the bugler began again.  he sounded Reveille, the traditional tune to wake up the troops.

He sounded Reveille at John Glenn’s request because Glenn believed in the resurrection, that his death was not just and end as indicated by Taps, but a day of resurrection.  So let Reveille sound out.(http://www.the-review.com/local%20news/2017/04/07/john-glenn-laid-to-rest-at-arlington the Alliance Review, 4/14/17; Julia Wharff, my colleague who serves in Columbus, OH and went to see John Glenn’s body as it laid in state, first shared this story with me)

If you come here this morning because you need hope as you grieve or face medical challenges, you are at the right place.  

Christ has overcome death.

Move 3:  The resurrection means that God has deemed the world worthy of being saved; that God has deemed you worthy of being saved.

a.   The resurrection is not just some miracle in which we have to believe.

1. The resurrection of Christ means that God values being in right relationship with us enough to let Christ die on the cross and then raise him from the dead.

2. the resurrection makes a claim on you.

b. Notice that when Jesus calls “Mary,” by name she recognizes him.

1. it’s personal.

2. the resurrection has far and wide-reaching implications, but for Mary it impacts her in that moment and the in the next moment, and the next moments as she lives into this new reality.

3. It’s personal for you as well.

4.  It means giving up looking in the mirror and seeing the person who is not good enough and  instead seeing the person God has said is worth saving.

What do you do with a resurrection — take it personally!

Move 4:  we are also invited to be swept away by the power of God who resurrects.

a.   The first passage we read from the Gospel of John this morning is the story of Jesus raising his friend Lazarus from the dead.

1.the religious authorities decided the best way to deal with a resurrection was to kill Lazarus — get rid of the proof.

2. Instead of embracing resurrection, get rid of it.

3.  It seems to me that when confronted with resurrection, one instinct might be to try and kill it off or run away from it.

4.  Resurrection can be sort of scary. 

5. if God can resurrection, what might God want to do with me or expect from me?

d.  Following the God of resurrection means giving up all the reasons we have for not moving into those new possibilities God puts before us and claiming that new creation God calls us to be.  

1.  Not too long ago, I had a conversation with someone who was in the interview process for what appeared to be an exciting new job situation.

AS the person shared with me about the new job and how the interview process, they was clearly some apprehension.  I thought maybe the person was afraid of not getting the job, so in all my pastoral care wisdom I asked, “Are you scared of not getting the job?”

After a long pause, the person replied, “No.  I'm scared that I might actually choose me.  That they might actually think I'm the one who can do this job.”

4.  Maybe it’s easier not to be the chosen one.  To just go along with how things are.

5. But remember what Jesus told Martha when he explained who he was.  “i am the resurrection and the life.”  Not just a distant event that speaks to eternal things, but a life powered by God’s desire to do a  new thing.

6. the empty tomb is before us, and from it we hear God saying,  “I choose you. I choose you to be part of a great new thing I am doing!”

6. not just in our own lives, but even in our world of violence and war.

7.  the hymn we will sing after the sermon, Christ Is Alive, was penned in the days before Easter just after Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated.

8. God’s power to resurrect calls us to act out of our hope now. 

d.  Rob Fuquay, the author of the book we used for our Lenten study, wrote:  “Death cannot give a future.  death cannot create.  Death cannot do a new thing”  (Fuquay, 113, the God We Can Know).

1. But the God who resurrects can.

2. the empty tomb means God is not done.

3.  If you come here this morning looking for the Messiah, the one who can change your life, the one who brings you hope, beware, he is alive and among us.

Conclusion:  this story goes back to the time of the Cold War when the Soviet Union and its communism dominated Eastern Europe.  

there was a meeting with leaders from all the satellite countries present.  Sort of a pep rally for several thousand members of the party, a time to restate their purpose and to build up enthusiasm among its members. 

As a part of the meeting, a Marxist philosopher, lectured the assembly on atheism.  He fully explained why there is no God.  He spoke for almost an hour. When the official was finished with his lecture, there was scattered, polite applause.   

Then an Orthodox priest was introduced and brought to the podium.  He was told that he would have only three minutes for his response to the official’s lecture. 

The priest began by saying he would not need three minutes.  He needed only three words.  And then he raised his arms and shouted at the top of his voice, “Christ is risen!” 

And then the great assembly, whose members could not resist the response that was deep within, thundered: “Christ is risen indeed!” 

 Again the priest called out, “Christ is risen!”  And again the people replied with the words of the Orthodox church’s liturgy, “Christ is risen indeed!”

Yet a third time the priest announced to this crowd of party bureaucrats and nominal atheists, “Christ is risen!”  And for a third time, they in unison affirmed, “Christ is risen indeed!” With that, the priest left the podium.  (See “Homiletics” January-March, 1993, p. 41).

Christ is Risen.  What are you going to do?

Reflections on "Going to a Parade or Crucifixion?" Psalm 118

The Psalm is the lectionary palm that fits with Palm Sunday.  the John passage was the week's lesson for the Lenten study we have been doing.  In truth, the sermon focused on the Psalm, with only a fleeting reference to the Gospel lesson.

As part of the liturgy, we "stripped" the church during the last hymn.  In other words, we took all the paraments, tipped the baptismal font, turned over the chalice, and covered it all in black.

Lisa, the Associate Pastor, and I did a two person sermon.  As you read through it, imagine that we were speaking our parts, but made not visual contact with each other as we tried to give the impression that two people were speaking a week apart as one went to Jesus' parade into Jerusalem, and the other went to Jesus' crucifixion.   The limited staging was done in parallel fashion to help give the feel of autonomous reflections that overlapped in their thoughts.  

Neither Lisa nor I could tell how the congregation was reacting to the sermon as we preached it, but we had a very good response after it.  Some of the responses were very powerful because they indicated the sermon has caused them to reflect again over what they heard and saw.  part of response was to the liturgy and the sermon.

I have never done Palm/Passion Sunday until last Sunday, and it was a powerful experience.    

Psalm 118: 19-29 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we beseech you, O Lord! O Lord, we beseech you, give us success! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord. The Lord is God, and he has given us light. Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God, I will extol you. O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,  for his steadfast love endures forever.

John 14: 1-9:  “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe[a] in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?[b] 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And you know the way to the place where I am going.”[c] 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you know me, you will know[d] my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

“going to a Parade or Crucifixion?” SAPC, February 12, 2017

David:  this week in our Lenten study group, we explored Jesus’ statement, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

this morning, we are reflecting on the choices we make — whether to follow the way Jesus offers, or to turn away.

similar choices were made years ago, that week in Jerusalem when the events we now commemorate during Holy week were lived out by people like us, people choosing which way to go — follow Jesus, or turn from him.

The choices are not as clear cut or simple when they are lived out in the complexities of our lives.

Listen to a couple of people who were struggling with these choices long ago, people sort of like us.

Lisa (moving halfway down left outside aisle):  I am going to a parade.

Richard (moving halfway down right outside aisle):  I am going to a crucifixion

Lisa (moving to end of outside left aisle):   I’m excited. I haven’t been to a parade like this one before. My friend invited me, and I can’t wait because it is going to be great!

Richard (moving to end of outside left aisle):  I have never been to a crucifixion before today.  

I guess I'm going out of guilt.  I just stood there as they took Jesus away.  I did nothing to stop them.

I know people who go for the spectacle of it all.  

watching someone die does not sound that appealing.  

Watching Jesus hang from a cross, even less so

it’s not going to be a good day with this gory sight to see.

Lisa:  I don’t know what this parade is going to be like, but it is going to be different. My friend who said to come told me to bring palm branches to wave. The only parade I’ve ever been to is a Roman parade, and we weren’t waving palm branches! At that parade, the Roman governor was at the head of the long procession of soldiers. Some of the soldiers were on horses – others were on foot – and they all had on a lot of armor. The drums were beating and the soldiers were all marching in step with the drums. Golden eagle banners were flying. People were cheering. It was a glorious sight to see.

Richard: Crucifixion is the ultimate punishment.  

Only the worst of the robbers get crucified.  It’s a public death meant to discourage others.

or revolutionaries who threaten the roman government - that’s really the fastest way to get crucified - upset the Romans.  Threaten Pontius Pilate and see how fast he’ll have you nailed to a cross.

This crucifixion is sort of odd.  Jesus seemed to irritate the religious folks more than the Romans.

But once it looked like Jesus was going to be a problem for the government, that was his death sentence.

Lisa (move to center left of chancel steps): At the parade I’m going to, people are going to wave palm branches and shout Hosanna, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Ever since I was a child, we’ve been shouting this word from the psalms, that means save us. Can Jesus save us? Maybe he is the one who can.

He raised Lazarus from the dead after three days. Jesus’ friend was in that tomb and Jesus walked right in and told Lazarus to stand up and walk, and he did. Lazarus walked right out of that tomb.

He fed 5000 people who had been listening to him teach and talk all day. They wouldn’t leave. They were hungry. One fish and five little loaves of bread fed those people and they all came home with the leftovers to share!

I heard that a woman who was sick for 14 years just touched the robe of his hem and was healed. He turned around and talked to her and her life was changed forever.

Richard (move to center right of chancel steps):   I could see this crucifixion coming.  

They were coming at him from every direction.

first, the religious authorities: Jesus was threatening the religious authorities because he paid them no attention.

He didn’t really even go up against them.  Oh, he called them hypocrites a few times and pointed out how they abused their power, but mostly he seemed to ignore them.  It was sort of like he told the people — “look at what I do and listen to what I say.”  and then decide if you like the ways things are done at the Temple, or if you want to follow me.

You could see the anger growing with the Pharisees, especially when people were starting to listen and follow him.

Jesus was on the hillside teaching people one day and it got they.  They were hungry. So they gathered up fish and bread, and somehow Jesus multiplied it so that over 5K were fed.  Sound pretty good, right?  The Pharisees did not think so.

He healed the woman who touched the hem of his garment.  The Pharisee got even madder.

He raised Lazarus from the dead, went right into the tomb and told Lazarus to stand up and walk right.  Lazarus did.    the Pharisees got madder -- how did Jesus do this? What kind of magic did he do?  And when people started calling him the Son of God -- the Pharisees went ballistic.

they also were frightened of the way the crowds.  they told the Roman authorities that crowds were going to riot, that the crowds thought Jesus was more important than the emperor.

that got the attention of the Roman authorities.  they did not like all he big crowds that gathered around Jesus.  Romans like control.  you could see the centurions getting antsy because the crowds seemed to care more about Jesus than the emperor.

Jesus and all the authorities were on a collision course.

Lisa (front right side of center aisle):  I am at the parade today because I am at a point in my life when I need something more.   If Jesus could change someone like the woman who just touched his cloak. . . . Maybe he could save me. 

Richard (front left side of center aisle):  I keep thinking maybe Jesus will pull off a miracle.  

Maybe after they nail him to the cross, he’ll just jump right off.

that would be his greatest miracle of all.

I bet the Roman soldiers would take off.

But somehow that does not seem to be Jesus’ plan.  

Lately he’s been talking a lot about dying. I don’t get it, but he acts like he needs to be crucified.

but where does that leave me.  i finally found someone I could believe in, someone I was willing to follow.

My life seemed like it was changing.

But if Jesus is dead on the cross, how can I follow a dead man?

David:  We finish Lent and enter Holy week as participants in two parades — a triumphant entry into Jerusalem for the Messiah and walking to Golgotha to see Christ crucified.

As we walk, sometimes it’s hard to tell which parade is the one we want.

Lisa (walking 2/3 way up center aisle): I must be getting close to the parade. I can hear them shouting, “Hosanna, Hosanna, blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”

Richard (walking 1/2 way up center aisle):  I must be getting close to the crucifixion.  I can hear them shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him! Nail him to the cross.”

Lisa and Richard say the following lines together as they leave.

Lisa:  Hosanna, hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”

Richard:  Crucify him.  Crucify him. Nail him to the cross..

Reflections on "Life on the Vine" John 15: 1-8

I preached this text two years ago at the church I served in Troy, OH.  Approaching this text from the vantage point of the Lenten devotional book we are using led to a very different sermon, although there were some similarities.  I wish I had focused more on the pruning section. Perhaps that should have been the focus of the entire sermon.

“Life on the Vine”  SAPC, Denton, TX; April 2, 2017; John 15: 1-8;

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. 2 He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes[a] to make it bear more fruit. 3 You have already been cleansed[b] by the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become[c] my disciples.

Move 1: In case you are wondering, you are not the one in total control.  the fate of creation does not rest in your hands. 

In case you were wondering, everything does not depend on you and your ability to figure it out.

In case you were wondering, you are not in charge.

a.  As we reflect on Jesus’ statement, “I am the vine,” he makes it clear that this is not one of those illustrations where we get to pick who we want to be.

1.  We may want Jesus to say, “I am whatever you want me to be and you can be whatever you want to be.” (This thought inspired by blog, April 30, 2012 By The Hardest Question 3 Comments I Want To Be a Sunflower For Jesus  by Nadia Bolz-Weber, http://thq.wearesparkhouse.org/yearb/easter5gospe/)

2. Sort of You want to be the vine, be the vine.  Oh, you want to be the branch, be the branch.  Who wants to be the pruner.”

b.  No Jesus makes it explicit.

1.  God is the vine grower:  God is the one who plants and cares for the vine; 

God is the one who prunes the vine  

God is the one who provides what the vine and branches need.

2. We are not the ones in charge of the vineyard

c.  Jesus is the vine; 

1.  the one who brings sustenance and life to the branches.

2. the one who connects us.

c.   We are the branches, the ones called to bear the fruit of God's love and Christ's care for us.

 Move 2: We also hear from Jesus about the importance of pruning.

a.  The Greek verb kathairo used in vs. 2 can mean"prune" or cleanse.” 

1. Same root word Jesus uses in the Gospel of John story when he washes his disciples feet. in the Gospel of John

2.  As Jesus tells it, the vine grower prunes in vs. 2, in the same way Jesus’ word cleanses in vs. 3.

3.  Gives power to need for us to hear Jesus’ words and examine our lives to determine what we need to cut away so that we can follow Christ. 

b. My wife prunes much better than I do.

1.  give her clippers, and bushes beware.

2.  We had a not quite waist high stone wall that ran across the front of our house in OH.  Previous owners put out all sorts of flowers, etc. in a bed that ran the length of the house.

3.  I didn’t want all that work, so we planned knockout roses.  Not sure about here, but in OH’s climate all you had to do was plant them, and trim them back.  My kind of plants.

4.  I would do the trimming in season to keep them from being too intrusive for the walkers along the sidewalk. 

5. But when it came to cutting them back in early spring, my wife did it.  Well, I did the first pass, and then she would come and really cut them back.

4. the roses do better when she cuts them.

c.   Author this week offers the image of pinching.

1.  he writes about tomato plants and pinching the suckers off the vine so that the plant does not waste nutrients on the suckers and all the resources go to the tomatoes on the vine.

2. He suggests we do a pinching exercise periodically in our own lives:  examine what we are doing that is extraneous to our calling as disciples and quit doing it, which allows more resources of living as Chirst’s disciples.

Move 3:  Jesus also offers the image of abiding in him as a way to live our lives of discipleship.

a.  the word “abide” in the Greek means to literally, “remain on the branch.”

1.  to remain with Christ.

2. to intertwine our lives with him so that we, the branches, bear the fruit of the vine, that is the fruits of Christ.

b.  Christ links abiding in him to how he abides in God.

1. our relationship with Christ is modeled on his relationship with god.

2.  As we saw last week with the Good Shepherd image, Christ calls us to have the same type of relationship with him that he has with God.

c.  if we read beyond vs. 8, Jesus connects abiding to him to abiding in love.

1.  The theological image of the branch remaining on the vine moving to theological language that suggests abiding in Christ is abiding in love.

2.  the basis for our remaining with Christ is God’s love for us. 

d. Remaining in Christ allows us to bear fruit much fruit.

1. Video - luscious, purple grapes.  It made me want to stop by the store and buy some grapes (it also made me point out to my wife that the grapes were purple, since I have long lost the battle over grapes and have to eat green grapes at home!).
2. beautiful, tasty grapes are the end-product that the vine grower seeks (or at least that I seek when I purchase grapes!).

1. That is the end-product of pruning away those extraneous things in our life, abiding in Christ and knowing knowing God's love for us – a life that shows forth God's love and shares God's love with others.

3.  Just what God desires of us.  Good fruit that glorifies God.

Conclusion:  Beautiful bulletin covers.

Chalice this week.   

A reminder that Christ continues to abide in us, that is remain in with us, through our coming to his table to meet him.

We come to our Lord’s Table and taste the juice or win and know the God who abides in love with us through Christ.

Abide in Christ.

Abide in love.  

Life on the vine.

Amen.