Chuck
March 28th, 2005, 12:26 PM
From First Christan Church
Last week I ended my sermon by saying that when my dad was buried this past June, my family, that is my wife LaDonna, my daughter Cherish, her husband John, and her children, and my son Adam and his wife Natalie, stayed at the cemetery to watch the casket lowered and then each of us, except the children, took a shovel full of dirt and shoveled it on the casket. Several months later my grandson, Sam, then age four, asked his mother how God could come down out of heaven and go into the grave and take granddaddy Charles to heaven. I said that I was going to have a partial Christian answer to that question this morning.
I want to do it by looking at the resurrection stories in John. I do not claim that my answer will be satisfying for those who are looking for proof of the resurrection. The gospel of John is keenly aware that there is no proof. In the very first chapter of John, the author writes, “The Word became flesh and lived among us and we have seen his glory, glory as of the Father’s only son.” To say that we have seen his glory means that the author understood not all witnessed the glory. In almost every case in the New Testament those who speak of the resurrection say they are witnesses, and by that they mean that what they are witnessing was not available to a sound movie camera. That does not mean that what they witnessed was totally subjective. Sometimes the revelation occurs to a group of faithful followers. Remember when Jesus prays in John and God answers his prayer with a voice of heaven, but many standing there said it thundered. What is revelation to some is thunder to others?
What we have in the revelation stories in John are three stories. You know them; you have heard them every Easter. Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb. Now in Luke, it is Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the Mother of James, and other women. In Mark it was Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Solome; in Matthew it was Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. But in John, it is only Mary Magdalene who goes to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb and so she immediately runs and tells Peter and the other disciple who Jesus loved and told them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they laid him.” So Peter and the beloved disciple race to the tomb. The beloved disciple, known only in this gospel and never named, gets to the tomb first. He looks in and sees the linen wrappings but he does not enter. He waits for Peter to arrive. Peter goes in the tomb. He sees the linen wrappings and the cloth that had been on Jesus head, not lying with the wrapping but rolled up in a place by itself. The other disciple went in, saw the same things, and believed. They did not yet understand the scripture that he must rise from the dead. They returned to their homes. Now Mary Magdalene is outside the tomb. She bent over and saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying. They said to her, “Why are you weeping?” She replies, “They have taken my Lord and I do not know where they have taken his body.” As she turns around Jesus is standing there but she does not recognize him. She thinks he is a gardener. He says to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She says, “If you have taken him away tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away.” When I read this I am reminded of how comforted the 9/11 people were to have the bodies of their loved ones recovered. It gave them a possibility of healing. Some bodies in 9/11 were vaporized and never recovered. Those families may never heal. There is always the nagging doubt that the person may not be dead. There is always a desire and hope the person will show up. When you don’t see the body, healing almost never occurs. What happens here is Jesus says, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabonni.” He says, “Do not hold on to me for I have not yet ascended to my Father and your Father, but go and tell the disciples that I am ascending to my Father and your Father.” She goes and tells them what has happened.
On the evening of the same day, the disciples are in the house where they had met. The doors were locked for fear of the Jews. Were they afraid that what had happened to Jesus was now going to happen to them. We don’t know why they were afraid, but in the midst of their fear, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he shows them his hands and his side.
The disciples are overjoyed that the Lord is with them. And says to them again, “Peace be with you,” and he breaths on them the Holy Spirit. In Luke it is 50 days later, but in John they receive the Spirit on Easter night. He says to them, “If you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any they are retained.” That means that the church has the power to interpret the scriptures. In this Terry Shaivo case, all argue that life is precious and ought to be preserved. The question is, should it be preserved by extraordinary means? The Catholic Church says no, unless it is for a short time. A respirator is extraordinary means. A feeding tube is not if it leads to recovery, but when time is lengthened and there seems no hope of recovery, then removal of the tube is not favored by some, but is by others. What would happen if this situation occurred to the Pope or the President? What I think is that Christians, of all people, should not treat death as the ultimate enemy. Life is not all good and death is not all bad. That must be a basic premise of Easter Faith.
Thomas was not there, and he tells the disciples that he will not believe unless he sees the nails in his hands and puts his hand in his side. Next Sunday the disciples are again in the room and the doors are shut, but this time Thomas is with them. Jesus appears to them and says, “Peace be to you,” and then says to Thomas, “See my hands; reach out your hand and place it in my side.” Thomas says, “My Lord and My God.” Jesus says, “You believed because you have seen me. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”
There are two things about this that I would have you notice. Mary does not recognize Jesus until he calls her name. Perhaps that is why passersby and the curious never see Jesus. Jesus calls the name of those who seek him. “Seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.” I suspect if you are in church today you know that Jesus is calling your name. He is speaking a word to you and the question is, will you respond, “My Lord and my God?”
The second thing I would have you notice is that the Beloved Disciple is the hero of John’s resurrection narratives. Do you remember that Peter went into the tomb and saw the grave clothes and left and knew nothing; but the disciple who Jesus loved went in, saw the empty tomb, and believed. Mary Magdalene believed that they had stolen the body, but the beloved disciple with no more evidence believed. Why? Because he believed already. He trusted already. He had heard Jesus’ predictions and he trusted the one whom he had been following. You see, that is really the question this Easter. Do you trust the message that we have in John that, “God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whosoever believes in him should have eternal life.” You see, we are like the beloved disciple. We have the witness of the New Testament, we have the word of Christ, we have the resurrection stories; but as John’s Gospel says in the beginning,”No one has see God; only Jesus has made him known.” If he has made him know to you, then he has called your name and you are ready to go and witness. For me, that is the greatest assurance of resurrection. There have been so many witnesses that have carried on the message that is seems to me there can be no doubt that Christ lives. He lives, He lives, He lives in my heart today.
You see Sam doesn’t know how God takes granddaddy Charles to heaven. But he trusts his mother. When he has needed her she has been there. She has fed him, clothed him, rocked him, entertained him, and taught him how to be safe and careful. She has nourished him. He trusts her, and by trusting her, he believes. He will in time no doubt, doubt, but for now he trust her.
Those who trust the message shout. He lives,He lives, He lives in my heart today. Thank God He lives.
Amen.
Last week I ended my sermon by saying that when my dad was buried this past June, my family, that is my wife LaDonna, my daughter Cherish, her husband John, and her children, and my son Adam and his wife Natalie, stayed at the cemetery to watch the casket lowered and then each of us, except the children, took a shovel full of dirt and shoveled it on the casket. Several months later my grandson, Sam, then age four, asked his mother how God could come down out of heaven and go into the grave and take granddaddy Charles to heaven. I said that I was going to have a partial Christian answer to that question this morning.
I want to do it by looking at the resurrection stories in John. I do not claim that my answer will be satisfying for those who are looking for proof of the resurrection. The gospel of John is keenly aware that there is no proof. In the very first chapter of John, the author writes, “The Word became flesh and lived among us and we have seen his glory, glory as of the Father’s only son.” To say that we have seen his glory means that the author understood not all witnessed the glory. In almost every case in the New Testament those who speak of the resurrection say they are witnesses, and by that they mean that what they are witnessing was not available to a sound movie camera. That does not mean that what they witnessed was totally subjective. Sometimes the revelation occurs to a group of faithful followers. Remember when Jesus prays in John and God answers his prayer with a voice of heaven, but many standing there said it thundered. What is revelation to some is thunder to others?
What we have in the revelation stories in John are three stories. You know them; you have heard them every Easter. Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb. Now in Luke, it is Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the Mother of James, and other women. In Mark it was Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Solome; in Matthew it was Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. But in John, it is only Mary Magdalene who goes to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb and so she immediately runs and tells Peter and the other disciple who Jesus loved and told them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they laid him.” So Peter and the beloved disciple race to the tomb. The beloved disciple, known only in this gospel and never named, gets to the tomb first. He looks in and sees the linen wrappings but he does not enter. He waits for Peter to arrive. Peter goes in the tomb. He sees the linen wrappings and the cloth that had been on Jesus head, not lying with the wrapping but rolled up in a place by itself. The other disciple went in, saw the same things, and believed. They did not yet understand the scripture that he must rise from the dead. They returned to their homes. Now Mary Magdalene is outside the tomb. She bent over and saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying. They said to her, “Why are you weeping?” She replies, “They have taken my Lord and I do not know where they have taken his body.” As she turns around Jesus is standing there but she does not recognize him. She thinks he is a gardener. He says to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She says, “If you have taken him away tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away.” When I read this I am reminded of how comforted the 9/11 people were to have the bodies of their loved ones recovered. It gave them a possibility of healing. Some bodies in 9/11 were vaporized and never recovered. Those families may never heal. There is always the nagging doubt that the person may not be dead. There is always a desire and hope the person will show up. When you don’t see the body, healing almost never occurs. What happens here is Jesus says, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabonni.” He says, “Do not hold on to me for I have not yet ascended to my Father and your Father, but go and tell the disciples that I am ascending to my Father and your Father.” She goes and tells them what has happened.
On the evening of the same day, the disciples are in the house where they had met. The doors were locked for fear of the Jews. Were they afraid that what had happened to Jesus was now going to happen to them. We don’t know why they were afraid, but in the midst of their fear, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he shows them his hands and his side.
The disciples are overjoyed that the Lord is with them. And says to them again, “Peace be with you,” and he breaths on them the Holy Spirit. In Luke it is 50 days later, but in John they receive the Spirit on Easter night. He says to them, “If you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any they are retained.” That means that the church has the power to interpret the scriptures. In this Terry Shaivo case, all argue that life is precious and ought to be preserved. The question is, should it be preserved by extraordinary means? The Catholic Church says no, unless it is for a short time. A respirator is extraordinary means. A feeding tube is not if it leads to recovery, but when time is lengthened and there seems no hope of recovery, then removal of the tube is not favored by some, but is by others. What would happen if this situation occurred to the Pope or the President? What I think is that Christians, of all people, should not treat death as the ultimate enemy. Life is not all good and death is not all bad. That must be a basic premise of Easter Faith.
Thomas was not there, and he tells the disciples that he will not believe unless he sees the nails in his hands and puts his hand in his side. Next Sunday the disciples are again in the room and the doors are shut, but this time Thomas is with them. Jesus appears to them and says, “Peace be to you,” and then says to Thomas, “See my hands; reach out your hand and place it in my side.” Thomas says, “My Lord and My God.” Jesus says, “You believed because you have seen me. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”
There are two things about this that I would have you notice. Mary does not recognize Jesus until he calls her name. Perhaps that is why passersby and the curious never see Jesus. Jesus calls the name of those who seek him. “Seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.” I suspect if you are in church today you know that Jesus is calling your name. He is speaking a word to you and the question is, will you respond, “My Lord and my God?”
The second thing I would have you notice is that the Beloved Disciple is the hero of John’s resurrection narratives. Do you remember that Peter went into the tomb and saw the grave clothes and left and knew nothing; but the disciple who Jesus loved went in, saw the empty tomb, and believed. Mary Magdalene believed that they had stolen the body, but the beloved disciple with no more evidence believed. Why? Because he believed already. He trusted already. He had heard Jesus’ predictions and he trusted the one whom he had been following. You see, that is really the question this Easter. Do you trust the message that we have in John that, “God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whosoever believes in him should have eternal life.” You see, we are like the beloved disciple. We have the witness of the New Testament, we have the word of Christ, we have the resurrection stories; but as John’s Gospel says in the beginning,”No one has see God; only Jesus has made him known.” If he has made him know to you, then he has called your name and you are ready to go and witness. For me, that is the greatest assurance of resurrection. There have been so many witnesses that have carried on the message that is seems to me there can be no doubt that Christ lives. He lives, He lives, He lives in my heart today.
You see Sam doesn’t know how God takes granddaddy Charles to heaven. But he trusts his mother. When he has needed her she has been there. She has fed him, clothed him, rocked him, entertained him, and taught him how to be safe and careful. She has nourished him. He trusts her, and by trusting her, he believes. He will in time no doubt, doubt, but for now he trust her.
Those who trust the message shout. He lives,He lives, He lives in my heart today. Thank God He lives.
Amen.