Easter 2003
Acts 10: 34-43
John 20: 1-18
Meeting the Messiah
Caves. Caves can be shallow, just deep enough to
shelter someone from a storm. Caves can also be long and complex, parts
that may be unreachable except by the most experienced caver. On the
island of Patmos , one of the south eastern islands of Greece, there is
a special cave that I had the privilege of seeing last month. Patmos
was used by the Romans as a place to exile political prisoners. John
the beloved disciple, was exiled here, and lived in a cave. It was here
that he records the book of Revelations, 1 :9-10, “I John, your
brother, who share with you in Jesus the tribulation and the kingdom
and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos on account
of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the Spirit on
the Lord’s day and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet
saying, Write.” This was in 95 A.D. and ever since pilgrims make
their way to this tiny island to see the cave of the Apocalypse.
Historians cannot locate the exact location of the
tomb of Jesus. But they do know the tomb of Jesus was a cave, large
enough to have a special stone rolled across its mouth, to seal it.
This tomb was similar to the one Lazarus was buried in, before Jesus
came and performed the miracle of restoring him to life. You have to
wonder if this was another one of Jesus’ hints to his disciples,
remember Lazarus, remember what happened there, the same thing is going
to happen to me! But they don’t get it at all. It was Mary who
gets it right. While the disciples hide somewhere a cave of fear, and
anxiety, Mary goes to the cave where Jesus was taken and finds the
stone rolled away. She is confused, what has happened? She runs to get
Peter and another one of the disciples , and because of their fear the
did not realize what Jesus had prophesied to them was coming true. They
run back to their cave. But Mary stays and Jesus appears. She then
brings the good news of the Resurrection back to the disciples, “
I have seen the Lord” she boldly proclaims.
The poet Roberta Porter, writes about Resurrection
“God, sometimes we’re as tightly bound as Lazarus in a
tomb; unseeing, unfeeling, unmoving. Then, in our bondage you send
another to help free us; a friend who believes and rolls the stone
away. Unbound, enabled to emerge from the caves of our making, our eyes
are opened to see your loving face. We are released-
Resurrection!”
It is one thing to remember the history of
resurrection, it is quite another to apply this gift to our lives. We
are not eyewitnesses to the historic event of the crucifixion, or the
resurrection. We have never met Mary, or John, or Peter. But we do
experience what it feels like to be trapped in the cave of fear, times
in our lives when we are unsure, scared, out of control, times when the
future seems so uncertain. We wonder how we can go on.
John Wesley is a historical figure, the founder of
Methodism preached in 1733-1765, and by the way we celebrate his 300
birthday this year. Wesley preached again and again on those ways that
keep us in the caves of own making. First, he preached about the
importance of following Christ. Our lives would fall short of the
potential of what we might be if we do not accept the blessings of God.
If we hide from God, if we decide that we are not good enough, we are
not smart enough, we are not brave enough, we are hiding away in our
caves of self-depreciation. Wesley urges us to follow Jesus out of the
tomb and experience resurrection, for with God all things are possible!
Following Jesus is not an unnatural yearning.
Turning back to the gospel, it is when Jesus calls her by name,
“Mary.” It is if Jesus was saying “recognize him who
recognizes you’. And because Mary was called by name, she
acknowledged her creator, and called him at once ‘rabboni’,
that is teacher. Jesus was both the one she was outwardly seeking and
the one who was teaching her inwardly to seek him. We come to worship
outwardly this morning, to celebrate the resurrection, and we find if
we listen that Jesus calls us by name, and it is Jesus we truly seek.
Come out of your caves and rejoice! Jesus knows us, calls us and trusts
us to bring hope to the world.
The second cave we often hide in is a cave of guilt
and shame. We do not have to be told how much we have failed, we do not
have to have any more proof that we have done some really terrible
things in our life. Like the disciples we too hide when things get
rough, because in our own way we have denied Jesus, we have abandoned
him we have fled at critical moments of faith, instead of standing up
for Jesus, we hide under the chair. But again Jesus teaches us that
forgiveness is even stronger than death. Jesus at the time of deepest
despair, and pain while he dies on the cross, whispers, “Father
forgive them for they know not what they do.” Jesus knew that the
very same disciples that were hiding would be the ones who would have
to spread the good news of the gospel after he ascended into heaven.
Jesus knew they would betray them and yet forgives them, freeing them
so they can leave sin and guilt behind, and with renewed energy
continue the work in all the world.
Wesley believed that the gift of Jesus the Holy
Spirit was just what the disciples and all believers after them would
be enough to sustain them in this mission. For Wesley, the Spirit was
the principle of life itself, of all understanding, of what is called
conscience, and of every impulse to do good. Instead of God being
external to us, for Wesley, God does not enter a person from without
and take possession because God is already, always, a constitutive part
of the person. (p.46-47, John Cobb Grace and Responsibility, 1995.)
Like the seeds of wheat sprouting in the field, within our souls are
the seeds of the spirit which are nurtured by God, and our acceptance
of grace.
But once again we sometimes do not trust in this
grace. Tomorrow I have to visit the dentist and may face a root canal.
Then I found this poem called “Root Canal” “Like
rekindling still smoldering resentments my tongue caresses each rotten
tooth, resisting extraction and forgiveness”(Alive Now , March
April 2003, p. 31). Let God extract all those smoldering resentments ,
all those times we have sinned and tried to hide these sins from God,
Let us be loosed from fear and anxiety. Let our wounded self be healed
, God can release the pain even to those experiences we thought no one
could ever heal. Come out of the caves of pain and anguish, come into
the light of the Son!
Lastly, once we have accepted this gift of grace,
we are called to share the good news to others. I was pleased that this
week our preschool opened registration for the fall, and in about four
hours almost every class was filled. Only two part time times remained.
The word out there in the community is that this preschool provides a
quality experience, one that emphasizes learning and a faith in Jesus
Christ. This all in a short 3 years here at our church. Now the
question remains, why is our church the best kept secret in Walnut? We
do good work here, not only with the preschool, but in the care and
kindness extended to those in our family, and anyone who is looking for
a place to grow spiritually. Yes we are small, but that only provides
more of an opportunity to be involved with the work of Jesus Christ.
Love music?, you can sing in the choir. Love scripture? We offer Bible
Study, and Sunday School. Have a passion for landscaping? we have
beautiful grounds that are calling out to you. Are you concerned about
world affairs? This church gave moneys to life giving work that meets
the needs of people all over this great big earth. Our United Methodist
Women, have made a priority to support new ministries like a start up
church in Paraguay as well as ongoing mission projects here in Southern
California. All of these ministries while still paying off the mortgage
for the new building that houses our preschool and Sunday Church
school.
As a church, as those who live a life of faith, we
need to go to all the caves of the world. Where there is hatred we need
to teach love, where there is fear, we need to offer assurance, where
there are wounds, offer healing. This is the mission that Jesus calls
us to, calls you to, away from the caves of our own making. The work is
sometimes hard, sometimes scary, sometimes we do not know how it will
all turn out, but we don’t have to know, God knows. God knows
that resurrection is greater than death. God knows that grace is
greater than sin,God knows we are cherished children of the light and
loves us so much God sent his only begotten Son. Come out into the
light of the Son, come out of the caves, live free, live with love and
joy!! Amen.
