We All Have a Story to Tell: Transformation: What About You?, 4/5/15

Easter sermon 2015   Apr 5      Jn 20:1-18

20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalenewent to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.² So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” ³ So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. ⁴ Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, ⁷ as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. ⁸ Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. ⁹ (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) ¹⁰ Then the disciples went back to where they were staying. ¹¹ Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb ¹² and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. ¹³ They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” ¹⁴ At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. ¹⁵ He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” ¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). ¹⁷ Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” ¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

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Its easter what will we talk about?

Usual sermon are about jesus being raised.  Yeah jesus.  What we believe.

Sometimes they are aobut proofs of the resurrection.  Why we believe.

These are good topics, but we will save for another year.

Today, what does it all mean for you.  Do you ever feel like you need a resurrection?

Does religion seem irrelevant

When the guru sat down to worship each evening, the ashram cat would get in the way and distract the worshipers. So he ordered that the cat be tied during evening worship.

After the guru died the cat continued to be tied during evening worship. And when the cat died, another cat was brougt to the ashram so that it could be duly tied during evening worship.

Centuries later learned treatises were written by the guru's disciples on the religious and liturgical significance of tying up a cat while worship is performed.

Do you ever feel like you need a resurrection?

We are running running running in this life

Do you run?

Have you ever run?

Some story about track and wanting to quit.

There is a lot of running around on easter.  From the tomb.  Back to the tomb. Back and forth.

Are you exhausted from a busy life? Working, cooking, fixing, driving kids around

Most of us are

Playing whack a mole - picture

Yes Jesus rose [tell the story]

What a morning it must have been for the women who found the empty tomb!  What a morning, what a day for the disciples.  Their understanding of everything changed with one bit of news - He is no longer here, he is risen from the grave.

Easter =

Resurrection

Renewal

Do over

Start over

New life

Clean slate

We can rise too

Not just in eternity,

But now today – maybe you are tired, maybe you came here skeptical

Rise to the life that god has given you

Jesus brings joy – hope - meaning

Find renewal

Find new life

Find joy

How to do this

1pray- not asking for things but getting to know god

The Jews of a small town in Russia were eagerly awaiting the
arrival of a Rabbi. This was going to be a rare event, so they
spent a lot of time preparing the questions they were going to
put to the holy man. When he finally arrived and they met with him in the town
hall, he could sense the tension in the atmosphere as all prepared
to listen to the answers he had for them.

He said nothing at first; he just gazed into their eyes, and
hummed a haunting melody. Soon everyone began to hum.
He started to sing and they sang along with him. He swayed
and danced in solemn, measured steps. The congregation followed
suit. Soon they became so involved in the dance, so
absorbed in its movements that they were lost to everything
else on earth; so every person in that crowd was made whole,
was healed from the inner fragmentation that keeps us from
the Truth. It was nearly an hour before the dance slowed down and
came to a halt. With the tension drained out of their inner
being, everyone sat in the silent peace that pervaded the
room. Then the Rabbi spoke the only words he pronounced
that evening; "I trust that I have answered your questions."

2 find a place of renewal – redwoods.   Lake jacomo, your deck. A quiet place

You find renewal when it helps you be grounded in  the present

Most of us are worried about the future or tortured by the past.

We go to some cool place and we don’t even see it because we are taking selfies

The Japanese general finally goes to sleep

Where is the place that you must go to see that where you are is wonderful?

Live in the present - Japanese warrior

A Japanese warrior was captured by his enemies and thrown into prison. That night he was unable to sleep because he feared that the next day he would be interrogated, tortured, and executed. Then the words of his Zen master came to him, "Tomorrow is not real. It is an illusion. The only reality is now." Heeding these words, the warrior became peaceful and fell asleep

3. find people. A church. a group.  A mission. A friend

When this you see remember three

My daughter has been asked to join a small group

Introverts don’t join small groups very well

To see the good in the gift of the people around you

In Budapest, a man goes to the priest and complains, "Life is unbearable. There are nine of us living in one room. What can I do?"

The priest answers, "Take your goat into the room with you." The man in incredulous, but the priest insists. "Do as I say and come back in a week." A week later the man comes back looking more distraught than before. "We cannot stand it," he tells the priest. "The goat is filthy." The priest then tells him, "Go home and let the goat out. And come back in a week."
A radiant man returns to the priest a week later, exclaiming, "Life is beautiful. We enjoy every minute of it now that there's no goat -- only the nine of us."

Choosing to live a different life

The book, the Survivors club

Interviewing those who forgot to pull the ripcord.

I froze.

In a moment of difficulty some people freeze

Those who survive take a different path

They look for hope.  They cling to light.

They know where the exit is on the plane.

They drive defensively.

They make a conscious decision to live.

Running.  There is a lot of running around at easter.

Are you running yourself into the ground

Or are you running for joy

Change the world by changing me

I was a revolutionary when I was young and all my prayer to God was "Lord give me the energy to change the world."
"As I approached middle age and realized that half my life was gone without my changing a single soul, I changed my prayer to "Lord, give me the grace to change all those who come in contact with me. Just my family and friends, and I shall be satisfied."
"Now that I am an old man and my days are numbered, my only prayer is, "Lord, give me the grace to change myself. "If I had prayed for this right from the start I would not have wasted my life.

Conclusion

What a morning it must have been for the women who found the empty tomb!  What a morning, what a day for the disciples.  Their understanding of everything changed with one bit of news - He is no longer here, he is risen from the grave.

A day that began in worry and fear quickly gave way to joy and celebration.

Easter should still have this affect on us.  We may rise in the morning with despair and gloom, but the moment we think of Jesus, our outlook can change. 

Lean to get lost in the amazingness of God.

Find a place that renews your heart.

Get connected to people of the soul.

The bad news is not the last news.  worry is temporary, the joy is eternal. 

Don't simply rise to the day.  Awaken to the day!  Jesus is alive, Jesus is with us!

Easter is god's reminder that you can live life with him.

Just as jesus called marys name and everything changed…. Jesus calls your name today and every day.  Easter isn’t just for jesus.  Its for all of us. Lets pray 

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