Acts 10:34-43
http://bible.oremus.org/browser.cgi?passage=acts+10%3A34-43
Psalm 118:1-2:14-24
http://bible.oremus.org/browser.cgi?passage=psalm+118%3A1-2%2C+14-24
Colossians 3:1-4
http://bible.oremus.org/browser.cgi?passage=colossians+3%3A1-4
Matthew 27:57-28:10
http://bible.oremus.org/browser.cgi?passage=matthew+27%3A57-28%3A10
"I know that you are looking for Jesus," says the angel, "who was crucified." Observant angel, to guess that the two Marys who had gone to Jesus’ tomb were there seeking their Lord. It couldn’t have been hard to figure out that the two women who had been dedicated disciples of Jesus throughout his ministry, who had been pretty much the only ones to witness his actual death, who had watched his lifeless body being placed in the tomb were there, as soon as possible after the Sabbath, to mourn over his dead body. Jesus had made a particular point throughout his ministry of welcoming women into his circle, and affirming them, and so, like any distraught follower, they were going to keep vigil at his graveside. Even though he was dead, he continued to draw them to him, and so they were there, seeking him out.
We are here today because we, too, are looking for Jesus. Our situation is a little bit different than the two Marys - a lot different, in fact - because we are not here keeping vigil for someone who has died. Instead, we are here because we know that Jesus has been given new life and we are seeking some kind of contact with that one in whom death was defeated and whose resurrections has brought us hope of new life. Now, you might not put it that way, exactly. You may be here because it’s Easter, and you feel like somehow you should be in church on Easter. And that’s fine. You may be here because a family member or a friend wants you to be here. And that’s fine, too. Those are good reasons to come to church today. But I would hazard a guess that whether or not it’s your express reason for being here, pretty much each one of us here feels deep down that our life is not as satisfactory as it ought to be, that something is missing. In a vague, unidentifiable way, our lives are not complete. We’re constantly looking for ways to improve, remodel, reshape. What we are really seeking, church-language aside, is new life, and renewal, and a reason to hope that this isn’t all there is. And for us Christians, this new life and renewal comes to us embodied in the resurrected Christ. Thus, consciously or subconsciously, we seek him out.
But boy, is he hard to find. After all, we are two thousand years removed from the resurrection event. Can you imagine that? The event that we celebrate this morning took place almost two thousand years ago. Jesus Christ, whom we seek, died and was raised almost twenty centuries ago. None of us here, neither our parents, or grandparents, or any of the family we can trace back, personally saw the living Christ. We are so far separated from the event that it is stunning. And that can make it very difficult to find Christ. In the past two thousand years, the church has piled interpretation on top of interpretation of what Jesus’ death and resurrection means, and has built layers and layers over top of the original person of Jesus Christ, each person adding, inevitably, their own bias to the mix. The Gospels, our primary source for who Jesus was, weren’t written until at least thirty years after he died, by people who weren’t eyewitnesses and had to rely on word-of-mouth.
But it’s more than just two thousand years of history that makes it difficult to find the Christ who brings new life. It’s also the stuff that’s going on in our own lives. In addition to all of the newspapers, radio stations, and tv reports that tell us at every turn about somebody who’s been shot, or about a war that has broken out, or about the escalating violent crime and gang activities, we also have the difficulties of our own lives: the family relationships that aren’t what they used to be, the illnesses that threaten the lives of our loved ones, the financial difficulties that make the future seem bleak. And all of these things surround us and overwhelm us until it seems that even if Jesus Christ was standing right in front of us, proclaiming new life and light, we would have a hard time seeing him. These things make "blind faith" almost impossible, and no matter how much we might work to find Jesus, it seems as if everywhere we look, the tomb is empty and we are afraid.
But the angel says, "Do not be afraid. He is not here." And then goes on to tell the two Marys something further. "He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him." So it’s not that Jesus is not here, period. It’s just that the risen Christ isn’t here at this particular place. The disciples must go to Galilee to find him. But why Galilee? Ah, there is the clue both for the disciples and for us.
Galilee is the place where it all began. In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus makes his first public appearance on the mountain in Galilee. Now, because the Gospels were crafted by writers, we know that first things and last things always carry some significance, and so we can guess that this first public appearance is important. And it is. On this mountain in Galilee, Jesus lays out his platform, as it were. He tells the crowd what he’s all about and what kind of teacher he’s going to be and what he wants them to do. In short, he gives them the Beatitudes, he tells them to love their enemies, and to "do unto others as you would have them do unto you." In other words, he tells them how to act ethically towards those around them; how to carry out God’s love for the world in concrete ways. In Galilee, Jesus lays out that God favours the meek, the merciful, the peacemakers, and the persecuted. That rather than being impressed by the righteous, God has set out to redeem the unrighteous. And Jesus invites us to be a part of that. In Galilee, on the mountain.
Which is where Mary, and the disciples, and by extension us, are to go to see the Risen Lord. You see, we aren’t going to find new life simply in church, per se, or in reading our Bible, or in refraining from committing one sin or another. By directing us to Galilee, Jesus is telling us that where we will find new life, where we will find him, is wherever we actively carry out those ethical guidelines - when we embody the Beatitudes, when we turn the other cheek, when we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. These things might take place in church - I’m not saying don’t come to church, after all - but they are far more likely to happen outside of church, to happen in your day-to-day living, with your regular interactions with people at work, as you shop, with your family and friends. And when they do, you will be greeted by the risen Christ in those situations, in those Galilees.
There is a reality show on TV that I stumbled across recently called "Dog: The Bounty Hunter." It is, as you might suspect, about a real-life bounty hunter. You might not think that that has anything to do with seeing the risen Christ bring new life in the day-to-days, but the episode I saw was the perfect example of that. You see, before he became a bounty hunter, Duane "Dog" Chapman lived a life that eventually landed him in jail on manslaughter charges. But while he was in jail, he had an encounter with the risen Christ, and he realized that his sins had been forgiven and he was being given a second chance. And because he was so grateful for this new life that God had given him, he has made it a point to help others to experience that new life, too. And he does it through his mantra of second chances. In the episode I saw, he and his crew had to go pick up a young guy who had skipped out on his court appearance. This kid had never been arrested before, but the crew suspected that he was involved with drugs, and Dog believed that if they could set him right this one time, then they could probably prevent him from embarking on a life-long cycle of drugs, crime, and jail. And so Dog made an impassioned speech to his crew, telling them about how God had given him a new life and a second chance in jail, and he ended by saying, "This is the second chance business, and we are going to give this kid a second chance because we are second chance people." And so they tracked the kid down and gave him the chance to set things right with his family before they finally handed him over to the authorities. As unlikely as it seems, this biker-looking ex-convict was bringing the new life of the risen Christ into this kid’s life. He was acting out the ethics of Galilee in his workplace, and here’s the thing - I have no doubt that he found that Jesus Christ was right there alongside him.
Now, I’m telling you about Dog: The Bounty Hunter because if this guy can live out Jesus’ words in his life, so can you You can give others a second chance, you can affirm their lives as worth saving, you can treat others the way you wish to be treated. It’s sometimes very difficult, but it’s not impossible. Jesus did it, Dog does it, and so can you And when you do these things, you know that you will be greeted by the risen Christ, Jesus whom we seek. It’s not that these things are a requirement, and that Jesus won’t bring you new life until you do them, it’s just that in doing them, you find what the disciples two thousand years ago discovered. You find that in doing these things, you have arrived at Galilee. You find that the risen Christ has gone ahead of you, and is in fact already there, sharing his new life with the disciples and with you Thanks be to God. Amen.
Sunday, March 27, 2005
Friday, March 25, 2005
Fri, March 25, 2005 - Good Friday
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
http://bible.oremus.org/browser.cgi?passage=isaiah+52%3A13-53%3A12
Psalm 22
http://bible.oremus.org/browser.cgi?passage=psalm+22
Hebrews 10:16-25
http://bible.oremus.org/browser.cgi?passage=hebrews+10%3A16-25
John 18:1-19:42
http://bible.oremus.org/browser.cgi?passage=john+18%3A1-19%3A42
We begin today as we left yesterday - with betrayal. Judas has betrayed his rabbi Jesus by identifying him to the Roman and Temple authorities. The disciples have betrayed Jesus by failing to stand up for him when the police came and by disappearing off into the night at the crucial moment. Peter has most obviously betrayed him by denying that he knew him three times before the rooster crowed. The crowds who, on Palm Sunday, lauded praise on the-Messiah-come-to-Jerusalem have betrayed him by calling for his execution instead of his release.
And we, too, have betrayed Jesus. I spoke yesterday about Jesus’ last words to us, that we should love one another, even our enemies, and how our failure to do that was a betrayal of Jesus himself. But there’s more than that. Like the disciples, we too have abandoned and denied Jesus at the most crucial moment. When we have seen Jesus in the poor or the homeless or the marginalised, how often have we spoken up on their behalf? When Jesus has come to us in those people who are on welfare, or social assistance, how often have we turned away so we don’t have to confront the prejudices, including our own, that have put them there? "What you do for the least of these," says Jesus, "you do for me." Well, we haven’t done it for the least of them, and so we haven’t done it for Jesus.
Most seriously, like the crowds, we have called for the execution of Jesus more times than we have called for his release. What I mean is: so many times in our lives we are faced with the choice of proclaiming a Gospel of love and forgiveness or keeping quiet for fear of reprisal. And instead of standing up for those who have been hurt and rejected in the name of Christianity, instead of defending sinners who are just as loved by God as we are, instead of begging for forgiveness when the Christian church commits some egregious error, we choose instead to just keep our mouths shut. We fail to cry out for the release of Jesus - for the release of his love in the world. And this results in the execution of Jesus. Our failure to stand up for others and affirm their life the way Jesus did betrays Jesus and them. It results in the death of Jesus and of them. So let’s not fool ourselves and say, "Oh, if I was there in Jerusalem, I wouldn’t have been like the crowds." Let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that we would have asked for Jesus to be freed instead of Barabbas. We’re not any different from the disciples or from the crowds - we’re betrayers, too.
But in the midst of all that betrayal, we have Jesus. Jesus, who, the Gospels tell us, knew where his message of unconditional love and forgiveness would take him, and who did not react to betrayal the way we would. Jesus, who, when his disciple took a run at the people coming to arrest him, told him to put the sword away. Jesus spent his ministry reaching out to the outsiders, healing them, proclaiming the love of God to them, and always, always, bringing them life. That was one of the identifiers of the Christ - that he came to bring life to all people. "I came that they might have life, and have it abundantly," Jesus says. "I am the way, the truth, and the life." "What has come into being in him was life." Jesus’ ministry was centred around life.
So with all that emphasis on life, why did Jesus not defend himself when the time came? Why did he allow us to put him on a cross to die? Some people say that it’s because God preordained it. Others say it’s because Jesus’ blood was necessary as an offering for our sins. But I think that it was because of his commitment to life - our life - that he chose to be put on the cross. You see, Jesus wasn’t the unwilling victim of political oppression, despite what some people think. He chose to be there, because choosing not to be there would have meant denying everything he believed in and everything he said. "Greater love has no one than this: that they lay down their life for their friends." Refusing to die would have meant going back on his own words. It would have meant a betrayal of his own ideals and of us. And so to prove that he meant what he said, he had to die.
Last year, a movie came out from China called "Hero." And although at times it’s a terrible piece of Communist propaganda, there is a scene in it that has direct relevance to today. Towards the end of the movie, it is revealed that one of the main characters, the most incredible swordsman alive - called Broken Sword, has had a change of heart. He has come to the understanding that a swordsman’s ultimate goal in life is actually to lay down his sword. He believes that once a person can "embrace everything around him, only then will the desire to kill no longer exist. Only then will there be peace." Well, this new-found understanding and treasuring of life does not sit well with his lover, Flying Snow. For the last ten years, the couple had committed their lives to plotting the assassination of the king who had slaughtered their countrymen, and now Broken Sword is saying he wants to give up. To, in fact, stop anybody else from even carrying on. Well, Flying Snow challenges Broken Sword to a duel. She believes that when push comes to shove, when his life is on the line, Broken Sword will, in fact, go back on what he says and defend himself. And so the action starts, and at the pivotal moment, when Flying Snow has thrust her blade at her Broken Sword, when one move by him could disarm her and send her flying, Broken Sword gives a small smile and drops his weapon. Unable to pull back, Flying Snow’s blade sinks deep into him, delivering a fatal blow. In shock and confusion, she stares at her dying lover and asks, in a bewildered tone of voice, "Why did you not defend yourself?" And he answers, "So you would finally believe me."
Jesus did not defend himself, and died, so that we would finally believe him. So that we would finally understand that when he said love your enemy, when he said turn the other cheek, when he said that he had come to bring forgiveness and life to all, no matter what their sin, he meant it. You know, it’s funny. Most people would kill to prove that they’re right. But Jesus chose to die to prove that he was right.
And that is where we are left today. Our betrayal of Jesus led him to the cross, and his determination to never betray us kept him there. It meant death for Jesus, but it means life for us. And that means that while we have begun today with betrayal, Jesus has broken that cycle and ended it with life for us. Our ultimate betrayal of our Saviour has been subsumed by his refusal to do the same to us, and that has changed everything. Nothing will be the same anymore. Not even death.
http://bible.oremus.org/browser.cgi?passage=isaiah+52%3A13-53%3A12
Psalm 22
http://bible.oremus.org/browser.cgi?passage=psalm+22
Hebrews 10:16-25
http://bible.oremus.org/browser.cgi?passage=hebrews+10%3A16-25
John 18:1-19:42
http://bible.oremus.org/browser.cgi?passage=john+18%3A1-19%3A42
We begin today as we left yesterday - with betrayal. Judas has betrayed his rabbi Jesus by identifying him to the Roman and Temple authorities. The disciples have betrayed Jesus by failing to stand up for him when the police came and by disappearing off into the night at the crucial moment. Peter has most obviously betrayed him by denying that he knew him three times before the rooster crowed. The crowds who, on Palm Sunday, lauded praise on the-Messiah-come-to-Jerusalem have betrayed him by calling for his execution instead of his release.
And we, too, have betrayed Jesus. I spoke yesterday about Jesus’ last words to us, that we should love one another, even our enemies, and how our failure to do that was a betrayal of Jesus himself. But there’s more than that. Like the disciples, we too have abandoned and denied Jesus at the most crucial moment. When we have seen Jesus in the poor or the homeless or the marginalised, how often have we spoken up on their behalf? When Jesus has come to us in those people who are on welfare, or social assistance, how often have we turned away so we don’t have to confront the prejudices, including our own, that have put them there? "What you do for the least of these," says Jesus, "you do for me." Well, we haven’t done it for the least of them, and so we haven’t done it for Jesus.
Most seriously, like the crowds, we have called for the execution of Jesus more times than we have called for his release. What I mean is: so many times in our lives we are faced with the choice of proclaiming a Gospel of love and forgiveness or keeping quiet for fear of reprisal. And instead of standing up for those who have been hurt and rejected in the name of Christianity, instead of defending sinners who are just as loved by God as we are, instead of begging for forgiveness when the Christian church commits some egregious error, we choose instead to just keep our mouths shut. We fail to cry out for the release of Jesus - for the release of his love in the world. And this results in the execution of Jesus. Our failure to stand up for others and affirm their life the way Jesus did betrays Jesus and them. It results in the death of Jesus and of them. So let’s not fool ourselves and say, "Oh, if I was there in Jerusalem, I wouldn’t have been like the crowds." Let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that we would have asked for Jesus to be freed instead of Barabbas. We’re not any different from the disciples or from the crowds - we’re betrayers, too.
But in the midst of all that betrayal, we have Jesus. Jesus, who, the Gospels tell us, knew where his message of unconditional love and forgiveness would take him, and who did not react to betrayal the way we would. Jesus, who, when his disciple took a run at the people coming to arrest him, told him to put the sword away. Jesus spent his ministry reaching out to the outsiders, healing them, proclaiming the love of God to them, and always, always, bringing them life. That was one of the identifiers of the Christ - that he came to bring life to all people. "I came that they might have life, and have it abundantly," Jesus says. "I am the way, the truth, and the life." "What has come into being in him was life." Jesus’ ministry was centred around life.
So with all that emphasis on life, why did Jesus not defend himself when the time came? Why did he allow us to put him on a cross to die? Some people say that it’s because God preordained it. Others say it’s because Jesus’ blood was necessary as an offering for our sins. But I think that it was because of his commitment to life - our life - that he chose to be put on the cross. You see, Jesus wasn’t the unwilling victim of political oppression, despite what some people think. He chose to be there, because choosing not to be there would have meant denying everything he believed in and everything he said. "Greater love has no one than this: that they lay down their life for their friends." Refusing to die would have meant going back on his own words. It would have meant a betrayal of his own ideals and of us. And so to prove that he meant what he said, he had to die.
Last year, a movie came out from China called "Hero." And although at times it’s a terrible piece of Communist propaganda, there is a scene in it that has direct relevance to today. Towards the end of the movie, it is revealed that one of the main characters, the most incredible swordsman alive - called Broken Sword, has had a change of heart. He has come to the understanding that a swordsman’s ultimate goal in life is actually to lay down his sword. He believes that once a person can "embrace everything around him, only then will the desire to kill no longer exist. Only then will there be peace." Well, this new-found understanding and treasuring of life does not sit well with his lover, Flying Snow. For the last ten years, the couple had committed their lives to plotting the assassination of the king who had slaughtered their countrymen, and now Broken Sword is saying he wants to give up. To, in fact, stop anybody else from even carrying on. Well, Flying Snow challenges Broken Sword to a duel. She believes that when push comes to shove, when his life is on the line, Broken Sword will, in fact, go back on what he says and defend himself. And so the action starts, and at the pivotal moment, when Flying Snow has thrust her blade at her Broken Sword, when one move by him could disarm her and send her flying, Broken Sword gives a small smile and drops his weapon. Unable to pull back, Flying Snow’s blade sinks deep into him, delivering a fatal blow. In shock and confusion, she stares at her dying lover and asks, in a bewildered tone of voice, "Why did you not defend yourself?" And he answers, "So you would finally believe me."
Jesus did not defend himself, and died, so that we would finally believe him. So that we would finally understand that when he said love your enemy, when he said turn the other cheek, when he said that he had come to bring forgiveness and life to all, no matter what their sin, he meant it. You know, it’s funny. Most people would kill to prove that they’re right. But Jesus chose to die to prove that he was right.
And that is where we are left today. Our betrayal of Jesus led him to the cross, and his determination to never betray us kept him there. It meant death for Jesus, but it means life for us. And that means that while we have begun today with betrayal, Jesus has broken that cycle and ended it with life for us. Our ultimate betrayal of our Saviour has been subsumed by his refusal to do the same to us, and that has changed everything. Nothing will be the same anymore. Not even death.
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