Jesus is Alive, Surprise!

Sermon Matthew 28:1-10 April 16, 2017 Easter Sunday

                                                Sermon: Jesus is Alive, Surprise!

A friend of mine (Jo Ann Staebler) said,

“The Easter gospel begins with great grief.”

At first I thought, “No way. Easter is a time of joy. There is no grief.” And then I realized, “Just a minute-of course it begins with great grief.’

The women were on their way to the tomb where Jesus lay. And these women were deep in grief. The women have gone into muscle memory mode. They are going through the motions of grief that all do when tragedy, death, destruction or trauma strike.

And it is also true that it is darkest before the dawn.

And our greatest fears rise up in those darkest hours.

Everyone was in shock and they did not know what to do without their Lord.

Their faith had been crushed, beaten, and dismantled by the death of the Savior. And they were very afraid of what would happen next.

In our journey of faith we too have faced times when everything we believed was crushed, beaten, and dismantled.

We have been in dark hours where we did not know what to do or what to say.

We too were functioning in muscle memory mode.

We too were going through the motions just to get through the day only to have to repeat those motions for more days than we could remember.

The gospel lesson of Easter pulls us into all the

grief and drama of the power of loss.

And then while we are still caught in the challenge of grief,

God astounds us with the BIG SURPRISE!

Jesus is not here.

He is ALIVE!

It is a surprise beyond our imagination.

It is a surprise that once again startles our faith!

He is alive shocks us as much as his death did.

It is too much to bear.

Now what do we do? He is ALIVE!

How do we act? He is ALIVE!

And how do we share this news? He is ALIVE!

Jesus said he would return again, but how many really believed it would happen like this?

He said it over and over again.

But how well did they listen?

I know my husband is always trying to get me to listen-to really hear what he is saying.

I know I’m told things for my own good over and over again-but I don’t seem to hear it-even when my life depends on it.

Jesus spoke in riddles. Some we can give the disciples a break-maybe not judge them so harshly. The parables of Jesus were hard to follow…

Remember the one when he was telling Nicodemus about being born again. We, like the disciples, scratched our heads wondering how this renewal of life can actually happen. We know our bodies don’t go through the birth process more than once. So how can new life be born in us?

Jesus was full of surprises alright.

He had a way of making food appear out of a couple slices of bread. He touched people and they were healed. He taught the leaders of the synagogue things about God no one had ever known. He walked on water.

He raised Lazarus from the dead…wow, he really was full of surprises.

He really did do things beyond anyone’s imagination.

He really did do miracles.

Perhaps, then his rising from the dead is true too.

And if this surprise is true then we can remember all the things he did.

We can talk about them to people.

Jesus didn’t do all these surprising things to entertain us.

He did them to transform us; to change us; to make us new.

Just as the caterpillar crawled into the tomb of its chrysalis and rose from it as a magnificent butterfly; so Jesus has risen-magnificent from the depths of his tomb. Transformed. And so he declares we are too.

You see, in dying, God is making sure there is rising!

For if God goes down to the dead and rises to new life;

rest assured God has made the way for us who die

                                              to rise to new life!

We can be assured and raised up with strength as we witness the surprise and wonder of the Resurrection;

of new life;

of a new creation!

This is our hope!

Believing in this surprise, this miracle of God, fills us with new life.

We rise up today filled with joy and wonder.

God makes all things new through the power of the resurrection born in us.

Jesus has risen to new life so we too rise to new life.

It is the miracle that grants us the power to change not only who we are but the world around us.

SO we wonder again,

what do we do?

How do we act?

What news do we share?

We go out from here today rejoicing in the strength and courage of the Savior born anew in us.

We go out from this place nourished and fed at Table so we can do the things Jesus did.

We can make the abundance of food appear from two slices of bread. We have the capacity to offer our extras to others in need.

We can share the abundance of our joy with our neighbors.

We can take the abundance of our knowledge and offer to help others learn and live. Just like those who volunteer with the literacy council, we offer the abundance of our knowledge through tutoring, mentoring, teaching.

We can take the abundance of our courage and stand in the gap for those who can’t.

The list goes on and on of what we can do.

And how can we share this great surprise?

Through sheer faith in believing. We may not understand it, and we may not be able to explain it, but, we can believe it by the evidence of God’s love within us. It is real because God’s love is real.

Friends let the warmth of love flow through you today.

Let the love you cannot imagine surprise you.

Let the power of the resurrection surprise rise up in you.

Go now and live. Go now and give.

Jesus is alive-surprise! Amen.

This is the good news which we have received, in which we stand, and by which we are saved, if we hold fast: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day, and that he appeared first to the women, then to Peter, and to the twelve, and then to many faithful witnesses. We believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus Christ is the first and the last, the beginning and the end; he is our Lord and our God

Christ is Risen

Sermon Luke 24:1-12 March 27, 2016 EasterC

Christ is Risen

The women did on the third day as they had done for so many other relatives.

They knew the routine. They had done it just a few weeks earlier for Lazarus.

They gathered up the spices and placed them in the baskets as they prepared to go to the tomb to care for the body of Jesus.

They had held vigil for him at the foot of the cross.

They had seen him buried in the tomb.

He had been buried just as other loved ones had been.

Except this time, there was a guard and a large stone. And they wondered a little bit about how to handle the stone.

Women do as women have done

from the beginning of time

and continue into this time.

Somehow in the midst of grief and in the pain of loss, they get up, and they put one foot in front of the other.

They know that work still has to be done.

Dishes need doing, hungry mouths need to be fed, kids need to be heard, spouses need to know they matter, and companies still rely on them to show up for work.

We can learn a lot from the women who have gone before us.

Our mothers, or aunts or grandmothers have given us examples of how to keep going when it seems like we can’t.

They have given us some amazing ways of how to cope when we think we can’t.

They can tell some stories of how they made it through tough times.

It might be a good time to have a cup of tea with those women and listen to their stories again of days gone by.

I guarantee you, you will find your own strength to go forth as you listen to their strength.

It is only natural then, one might say, that it was the women first who saw the empty tomb.

They encountered the risen Lord before the rest.

They discover the unexpected, the unbelievable, the perplexing absence of the body of Jesus.

But, before they could even begin to speculate as to what had happened the dazzling men appear.

And here is where all the Good News appears-not the dazzling men-well maybe-ok, back on track here.

The women are in awe of God as they realize the messengers of God have appeared before them. They bow down in full reverence with their faces to the ground and their hearts pounding over the presence before them.

And this is the beginning of the good surprises.

I am reminded by the words of one wise person, saying, “In this day and time there are so few good surprises left. We are able to know so much, so when we have a choice of a good surprise let’s allow it to come to pass.”  

In our day when good surprises are rare, can we still be surprised by the joy these women encounter when they are told that Jesus has risen?

It is this good news that causes musicians to write music that takes our breath away when we hear the sounds of the Alleluia chorus.

It is the joy of this surprise that fills churches with fanfare and celebration and banners, colorful flowers and people raising the roof in song.

The greatest blessing on Easter (as well as Christmas) is to have a sanctuary filled with people visiting from all over.

How joyful it is for a congregation to witness the visits of others who have come on a special day to join in with song.

What a wonderful gift it is that so many choose to share in the good surprise of the Resurrection!

The Resurrection of Jesus-or as my children lovingly would say, “when Jesus came alive again”-is the greatest surprise of our faith.

His presence with us and within us now and forever more has completed full circle all the promises of Scripture from beginning to end. Part of the Easter vigil that is held on Saturday is the reading of all of those familiar promises God offers for God’s people. God’s love is from everlasting to everlasting.

How can we continue to live out the good news of the surprise of Easter morning?

One way we do is by making sure our kids have egg hunts and other happy occasions of surprise. We offer joy to others by dropping off some flowers or an unexpected gift. Throw a surprise party for a friend. Or perhaps an even greater surprise of joy to come by and visit.

The women as they ran from the tomb to tell the others broke the silences around them. They heard the words of these men of God, they were surrounded by these words of fulfillment, “Why are you looking for the living among the dead, he is risen.” They could not contain their joy and amazement. Without a thought they went running and shouting the Good News, the great surprise in the streets and to the others-even though the disciples thought the words were idle talk. Peter at least went and realized the same joy as the women.

Yes, and we too can carry on the great surprise of the Good News of Christ is Alive by breaking the silences around us and go running down to the others we know and shout out that he is no longer bound by death, but is victorious in life.

We could choose to believe this Jesus is the Christ and discover the surprise of his truth within us to change and transform and fill us with the joy of hope and wonder.

We can carry on the Resurrection,

the Easter surprise story

by living in the invitation of Jesus

to live as he lived, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you should also love one another.”

Amen.

Christ is Risen Indeed!

Sermon Mark 16:1-8 April 5, 2015 EASTER!

Christ is Risen Indeed!

Some of us like surprises; the moment that catches us off guard and fills our hearts with unexpected joy! Moments like final four basketball shots that take our breath away. Or gifts that come to us from a loved one fully out of the blue. We generally love surprises.

Today, this day-Easter Sunday is our greatest surprise!

It is the moment that no one thought God would or could win.

Today is the day when God is exalted.

God’s glory reigns over the world.

Today we not only remember God brought life and light back into a world that prefers the darkness, but we LIVE in the Light of Life who God raised up from the depths of death.

Today, as I shared with the children-the empty egg is our big surprise-the tomb is empty and we all say loud and clear-Christ is Alive!

Yet, today’s resurrection story told in Mark’s gospel-which the experts say end at verse 8-tells us about the women.

The women were filled with terror and amazement! How’s that possible?

 Imagine if we had been the women to first arrive at the tomb.

What would our reaction have been? How would we have responded to the surprise of finding the stone rolled away and the tomb empty?

How would we have heard the news of the man sitting inside-the guy sitting on the bench, just next to the empty grave cloths!?-Would we have even heard his words? Or would we have been so obsessed with the fact that the body of our Lord was gone?

Imagine our anxiety over the facts before us. They’d be so high we wouldn’t have heard a word this guy on the bench was trying to say to us. Perhaps we would have been so caught up with the facts that we were unable to see the miracle?

It is valuable to know that an empty tomb can fill us with both terror and amazement.

For in the terror of surprise our fears are recognized-

                                            life is not the same-death and the tomb no longer have the

                                                                          same hold on us as we have always understood.

And in the terror of thought of what should be or could be -God takes the fear and transforms it.

Today, there is a new way.

In our weakness and in our failures God has carved out a path for us that leads us to see him.

In a world that continues to thrive in darkness, a world that seeks to lay claim through the death of the innocent, we are filled with the surprise of terror that people can do that to one another.

And so we peer into the tomb of a missing Savior and

cry out where are you!

We cry out why are you not here where we expect you to be?

We cry out in our own despairs of loss and grief and seek him where he is not to be found.

AND then-we finally hear the words of the angel as we listen again. Yes, the guy sitting at the end of the bench is now clearly seen as an angel of God-we can not only hear his words-but we listen-we listen.

We hear the words of the promise of Jesus as he was with the disciples in the last days. We hear them again as an echo in our minds…I am with you always to the end of the age.

And the surprise of amazement hits us, they are no longer words; but the reality of God with us-we, by the power of God, have our Lord with and within us!

It is true!

And we like the women follow through, we don’t keep silent anymore we run and tell the others as we have been told to do.

We run, not out of fear, but out of wonder and amazement.

We run with joy in our hearts and clear conviction and the power in our feet seems to come from a place of energy we had not known existed.

It is a real and exhilarating feeling inside our bones that resurrects us from all our doubts and all our wonderings. We have been brought into the Light of new Life now and forever!

For we, like the disciples have been along the way with Jesus. We have encountered Jesus in the stories as he met Peter and Nicodemus, the blind man and the women and we have been with him as he was before Pilate. We have journeyed a long way with our Lord. We have sat at Table with him and asked the question, “Is it I?” And today we hear Jesus say to us, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you, continue in my love…I have said these things to you that my joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full.” We are moved as we hear him call us friends! The amazement of all of who Jesus was and is and shall be are now with us and part of who we are. We turn to each other and see Christ!

We too have been raised up to new life.

Can we believe it?

Yes, we can!

Christ is Alive!

Let us rejoice and sing. Today is the festival of Thanksgiving!

Today is the renewal of the great surprise,

                                       the wonder of God,

                                          the joy of salvation,

                                                    the Light of Life is upon us and we will go out with joy!

                                                                                                                                     Alleluia! Amen!

Easter, Holy Week, Preschoolers & Dogs-how do we tell them?

Easter, Holy Week, Preschoolers & Dogs-how do we tell them?

She asked, “Is she going to come alive again too?” Her four year old face looked up at me with those large wondering eyes as if I could provide the answer she was seeking. Her hopeful question struck me and I was staring at her dumb and fumbling for an answer.

We, standing together on the back deck, watched as daddy buried our faithful dog in our pet cemetery yards away. It was Holy Week and of course she had heard about Jesus’ death and resurrection. She wanted to know if the dog we loved so much was going to come back to us in the same way Jesus who loved us so much came back to us. And I stood there not knowing what to say.

How do we share the news of the death and resurrection of Jesus to our little ones?

My mistake was assuming that since she had been raised on a farm she was familiar with the natural cycle of life and death. What I didn’t realize was that when the family pet died it was different from the animals that provided food for the table. The family pet was part of us. The family dog had been the one who snuggled close to our little girl. Our precious dog Sasha had allowed our daughter to dump sand on her, to put hats on her and had allowed her to tumble and roll all over her. It became clear that we had lost a member of our family. Sasha’s death hurt deeply. And to a four year old she wanted to make sense out of this loss. Don’t we all?

I think we all want to make sense out the loss of our loved ones. And in our hope to understand we turn to the story of Jesus. We look to his death and resurrection in the hope that this will bring us comfort. We assure ourselves that our loved ones are resting in the arms of our resurrected Lord.

So, here we are in Holy Week and as adults we too struggle to understand the death of our Lord Jesus. How do we share the news of the death and resurrection of Jesus to our little ones?

Probably the best way is the way in which we share all kinds of information with our children, a little bit at a time. Or as the experts call it-in age appropriate chunks.

For tiny toddlers, they know about happy and sad. They can hear that it was a sad day when Jesus died. They can hear that some people are very mean and do hurtful things. They can hear that Jesus died on a cross (which we do not need to show any gory pictures at this age) because people didn’t understand about love.

Carolyn C. Brown has written an entire book for educators on how to teach children about Lent and Easter. Her work is excellent and it holds many details of different tangible activities that can be done to help children put a grasp on this idea of death and resurrection. One suggestion she has for tiny toddlers is to play with plastic Easter eggs by opening and closing them and being surprised at the empty egg. This surprise is a happy event. Connecting the empty egg with joy and saying, ‘Happy Easter, Jesus is alive!’ is one small way to begin the journey of the Easter story with the little ones.

I think back to my four year old and the sadness she felt. I think about the reality in her mind of the power of God to raise up Jesus. She understood the power of God to bring life. She grasped that concept. So, if God could do that for Jesus wouldn’t God also do that for Sasha, the dog? It was the strongest statement of faith! The trust in God’s strength and love and power proclaimed by a little one!

When a parent hears these words they need not be afraid. They need not think, ‘how cute.’ But, they need to acknowledge the faith that comes from the child in these moments. If a parent fails to witness these questions as declarations of faith then we do harm to the furthering of their faith in the future.

A response to a child who asks this question would be, “Yes, God’s love for us is so strong that God can raise up and bring new life to all of God’s creatures. Isn’t that a blessing? Our Sasha isn’t with us anymore but I trust that God loves all of the creatures God has made. I trust that she is truly in God’s care now and forever.”

The importance of telling preschoolers about the death of Jesus is to connect his death directly to God’s love and power to overcome death. In other words they need to hear that God wins. God has power that is greater than all the bad and all the meanness in the world. They can understand at this age that flowers die in the winter and come alive again in the spring. They love to hear the same story over and over again. Choose to tell them about joy of Easter and the wonder of God’s love. We are all on a journey of faith.

Don’t be surprised at the questions your little ones ask, because in them you will discover a mighty depth of faith. Praise God for this Holy Week and the power of God to give us strength to parent, to tell the story and to be surprised on Easter as we say, Christ is Alive! Alleluia, Amen!