Easter 2016, 3/27/16

Easter 2016 version 2  Jn 20:1-18 bb

20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went 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.

It is easter.  

Typical easter sermon.  Proofs of the resurrection or X the victor over death

Im fine w that.

But that really doesn’t matter

I can tell you a,b,c but it doesn’t matter unless it matters to you

Too many Christians want to leave Jesus in the tomb

We want Jesus, but we want him on ice

No proof of the resurrection will matter as long as we keep him sequestered

Question isn’t did it happen, question is has it happened for you

Have you let him out of the tomb

Many ways to keep him still in the tomb

I believe in love, but I cannot give it to others

I believe in generosity, but I spend it all on myself

I believe in going the second mile, but I just don’t make myself do it

Believe in forgiveness but do not forgive

Believe in hearing the call, but will not hear the call.

I believe in Believe in the power, but don’t turn it loose in life

If this your story, then he might as well not have risen, you’re keeping him on ice

People today don’t believe

Today:  jesus rose, so what

Why don’t people believe?

Our Jesus is still in the tomb

1-People don’t believe our message because -Christians can have an arrogance

People are not allowed to ask questions

          You must just take it by faith

2-People don’t believe our message because -Christians don’t love

          They point the fingers at people instead of pointing to God

3-People don’t believe our message because -Christians Don’t forgive others

4-People don’t believe our message because -Christians are just as guilt laden as I am.  They don’t really believe that they are forgiven

When we act like this, Jesus is still in the tomb.

Friends.  There is an alternative.

Jesus talked about an abundant life.  In the abundant life we can know that we are loved.

And because we are loved, we can know that we are forgiven and we can forgive others.

Jn 3:16  God so loved the world

God loves you.  Believe it or not

You cant forgive yourself?

Maybe you need a special crucifixion just for you……

Friend, the work of jesus on the cross is a once and for all time action

And because of it, We are free from Fear and guilt…………

we no longer have to live in them.  romans 5.  No condemnation to those who are in Christ

Story of the sheeply lion

We are free from retribution and from living a life based on getting even. 

The payback is over.  The resurrection means that the cross has put an end to this.  you can live as a forgiver.

To err is human to forgive is devine

It is human for us to want to hurt back

     When u get hurt – what do you do?

1. You might hold back- less likely the next time to step out.   We are artists is k-garten

2. We start making lists-labels…. They hurt me because they are _________.  We protect ourselves by shutting off people that we think might hurt us

3. Revenge- sometimes w hurt back

Because we are forgiven

We can learn to forgive

 Christians should not be  just student s of forgiving, you have to get really good at it

Forgiveness means refusing to make them pay for what they did

To refrain from lashing out at someone when you want to do it with all of your being is a form of agony

In forgiveness, you are absorbing the debt. Taking the cost of it completely on yourself .

You completely absorb the pain instead of lashing out at the other person.  It feels like a kind of death - a kind of suffering

Parker Palmer

   “The cross says, the pain stops here.”

    The cross is a way of absorbing pain,  not passing it on.

“Father forgive them, they don’t know what…”

The way of the cross is a way that transforms pain from destructive impulse into creative constructive transforming power

You see, you are a Christ follower, you do have great power

When Jesus accepted the cross, his death opened up a channel for the redeeming power of love.

This pattern unleashes amazing power in this world- and you get to play.

Any experience of life can be turned for the good.

You will be hauled before magistrates and it will be an opportunity for a testimony. Everything that happens to you in this life, good or bad, a Christian can use. You can transmute anything that comes to you and bring some good. A testimony of God’s grace, rescuing some good out of everything that happens to you.

Yes we can turn pain into joy.  That is the resurrection message.  Bad news to good.  Death into life.  Worry into hope.

Life is stormy.  Relationships are stormy.  You have a chance to bring calm to the storm

As jesus did it, so you too can be used by god to end hostility

God so loved the world

We are free from rejection……he welcomes us.  He embraces us.  Prodigal sons welcome home…….this is how Jesus sees Gods love

Victory………. although we sense the struggle from time to time, but the battle has been fought and the victory is ours in Christ. 

May we now choose to live as Easter people

Winston Churchill had planned his funeral, which took place in Saint Paul’s Cathedral. He included many of the great hymns of the church, and used the eloquent Anglican liturgy. At his direction, a bugler, positioned high in the dome of Saint Paul’s, intoned, after the benediction, the sound of “Taps,” the universal signal that says the day is over. But then came the most dramatic turn: As Churchill instructed, as soon as “Taps” was finished, another bugler, placed on the other side of the great dome, played the notes of “Reveille” - “It’s time to get up. It’s time to get up. It’s time to get up in the morning.” That was Churchill’s testimony that at the end of history, the last note will not be “Taps,” it will be “Reveille.” The worst things are never the last things.

death is not the end.  Depression is not the end.  Hurt is not the end.  Anger is not the end.  The resurrection wakes us up to new life………

Because of the resurrection of jesus we have the promise of new life.

Yes life eternal, but also life now. 

Life filled with love, life filled with hope.  Life filled with joy.

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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