Sermons for the Month
God's Voice Is Not Lost!
DATE: March 23rd, 2008
SERVICE: Easter Sunday
TEXT: Matthew 28:1-10“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN
On the way to school one day a Faith Lutheran Church preschooler asked her Mom, "Did God loose his voice?" When the story was relayed to me, the first thing I thought of was the banners that some United Church of Christ congregations have displayed recently. White letters, printed on bright red background, proclaim: GOD IS STILL SPEAKING. The first time I saw it I thought, "Then I wish God would speak up!" So, I sympathize with that little one; it often seems as if God has laryngitis. Her Mom provided a wise answer explaining that God speaks, but we sometimes have trouble hearing. We need help. And help is exactly what the two Marys received at dawn that Sunday when the approached the tomb of their teacher Jesus who was brutally beaten and crucified the previous Friday. Let me pause here for just a moment to point out that the account in Matthew includes details that are not found in the other Gospels. When Jesus is laid in the tomb by Joseph of Arimathea, who then leaves, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary are the last ones left on the scene; they were there that dark Friday night, sitting opposite the tomb. The account leaves them there and moves to the next day when the Sabbath ends at sun down; the Chief Priests and Pharisees are displaying their nervousness. They go to Pilate, requesting that he send soldiers and make the tomb of Jesus secure, so that the disciples cannot steal his body. So, a guard is sent to the tomb, and the religious leaders go with them to oversee the sealing of the stone in the entrance. No doubt they believe no one can get in or out. Getting back, then, to Sunday morning; the two Marys go to see the tomb where they had held vigil on Friday night. We can imagine that they are sad, preoccupied, perhaps surprised to see so many Roman soldiers guarding the tomb. They need help hearing God … and do they ever receive it! The earth quakes because the angel that descends from heaven is not delicate, but powerful. The carefully sealed stone is cast aside, becoming the perch from which the angel glows like a bright lightening flash. The guards, being mere men, fall over in a dead faint, but the women are still standing. They hear the message which is spoken loud and clear. "Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is no here; for he has been raised…." They are to check out the empty tomb, and then quickly go to his disciples with the Good News of the resurrection, including the promise that they will see him in Galilee. Then, as they set out with fear and great joy, as if the message from the angel was not loud enough and they needed more help hearing, Jesus comes to them. The women actually see, touch and worship him, and Jesus affirms the promise for the disciples: "There they will see me." They go then to convey the message, but don't you wonder if the disciples had trouble hearing? After all, they did not have the benefit of the earth quake and a luminous angel. In fact, in the Gospel of Luke we read that the disciples felt the women's message was an idle tale, and they did not believe them. (Luke 24:11) But it may be more then garden-variety doubt; one writer suggests that the disciples were afraid to see Jesus due to their abandonment of him as he suffered. Perhaps his resurrection was not such good news for them. And, yet, the Mary's offered a word of grace. Jesus had called them "brothers"; after all that had occurred they were still family. Their sins and betrayal had died with Jesus, and were left in the tomb. (1) We can imagine that as the disciples hear themselves called "brothers" they begin to grasp that "oddball" concept called grace that they had so much trouble internalizing when Jesus was alive. Finally they begin to see what it means to be brothers and sisters of Jesus, and to be the beloved of God. Philip Yancey offers many wonderful thoughts in his book What's So Amazing About Grace, and I have been sharing them in Lent. I have saved one of my favorites for this most-important day. He tells the story of receiving a postcard from a friend; on it only six words were written: "I am the one Jesus loves." When Philip Yancey asked him about his message, the writer said that it had come from author Brennan Manning who spoke about the disciple John, who is identified in the Gospel named after him as, "the one Jesus loved." He said, "If John were to be asked, 'What is your primary identity in life?' he would NOT reply, 'I am a disciple, an apostle, an evangelist, an author of one of the four Gospels,' but rather, 'I am the one Jesus loves.'" Philip Yancey then offers this reflection: "What would it mean if I too came to the place were I saw my primary identity in life as "the one Jesus loves"? How different would I view myself at the end of the day?" (2) We too need to hear Jesus saying, that in spite of our failings, we are his sisters and brothers, we are the ones to whom he comes and we are the ones Jesus loves. It would be wonderful if we could be more like a young man named Andy. Perhaps you too have followed his story. Andy is now 22; three years ago he was in a horrible industrial accident in which he lost his body below the belly button. There have been various stories about him in the newspaper, including requests for community support of a project to rebuild his family's home to accommodate his needs. But in all those stories, which have detailed the on-going struggle and incredible suffering that Andy experiences daily, the thing that has amazed me is that he believes without a doubt that he is the one Jesus loves. He struggles to be in an upright position, the pain never leaves, and yet he is positive and filled with hope. How? He credits this to his sense of humor and faith in God, which he says grows stronger every day. Andy always remembers his blessings. (3) (Now, I have to tell, all that makes my petty complaints seem pretty embarrassing.) This is a person who hears God and who believes he is loved. He "gets" the oddball concept of grace, which means he understands the message of Easter. Because Jesus was raised from the dead, our assumptions and expectations about this imperfect life can be transformed. Life can be lived with joy. He is risen, so we can loudly proclaim that love and grace win; hope overcomes despair; life triumphs over death and God has not lost his voice.
AMEN
(1) "Living by the Word" by Frederick Niedner, Christian Century, March 11, 2008, pg. 21 (2) What's So Amazing About Grace by Philip Yancey, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI., 1997, pgs. 68-69. (3) "Every Day He Feels the Faith and Strength" by Jewell Cardwell, Akron Beacon Journal, January 15, 2008, pgs. A1 and A3