An Empty Tomb (Easter 2013)

John 20:1-18; Acts 10:34-43; 1 Corinthians 15:19-26; Psalm 118

Christ has risen.  Christ has risen indeed, Alleluia!

Christ has risen.  Christ has risen indeed, Alleluia!

Christ has risen.  Christ has risen indeed, Alleluia!

The story goes, early, on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary came and saw the stone had been removed from the tomb, so she ran and told Peter and John, that they have taken the Lord and we do not know where they have laid him.

So they begin to run, and they get there, and they see what they see, yep, he’s gone, and they go home.  End of story, right?  He went somewhere, or someone took him at least; nice of them to fold the linens before going.  The end. Or so it seems to the disciples.

But Mary stays behind.  She’s weeping.  It’s not enough.  She looks inside the tomb, still weeping, and sees the angels.  And they ask her, ‘why are you weeping?’  And she says again, “they’ve taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”  

And then suddenly, Jesus himself is standing there, and asks, “woman, why are you weeping?”  And she says, as if to a total stranger, “if you have taken him away, tell me where, and I’ll take him away.”

And Jesus looks at her and says, “Maaary!”

And the lightbulb goes on:  that’s the aha moment!

And then Jesus tells her to go.  He has a job for her to do--to tell the disciples that he is risen, and will ascend to their father and their God.

Do you know why church services are ordered the way they are?  We gather in this place, on the first day of the week, praising God, yet maybe the weight of the week before us is still bothering us. Maybe it seems that everything is still dark.  And we confess our  sins--maybe that God seems far away after everything that’s gone on, and we just don’t know how to be reunited.  And then we hear a proclamation that our sins are forgiven--and we rejoice, right?  There’s that “gloria” thing we do....But maybe we don’t get it, or don’t quite understand, or it just doesn’t seem to be enough. We still feel in the dark. So we hear the scripture lessons and the message.  We lift up our hearts with hymns and recite our creeds--even if they might feel more strange to us than familiar.  We offer our lives and our resources in hopes that they’ll do some good.  We pray, and maybe then we can hear that familiar, personal, comforting voice of God.  But even if we have that ‘AHA!’ moment--there’s a surprise.  We can’t stay here.  We have work to do.  Just when we’ve settled in, it’s time to go back out there into that world, the one that so often weighs us down, and proclaim the good news--that Christ is risen, and my God is your God, and our Father is the loving Father of those other folks as well.  

Every Sunday is a little Easter, a little Resurrection.  Good news!  Right?

It’s alright though, if we don’t get that, whether every Sunday, or any Sunday, or even on Easter Sunday.  After all--even Jesus’ closest friends and best students did not get it.

They didn’t expect the Resurrection.  If anything, they expected grave robbers or Roman soldiers to have taken the body.  

And afterwards--well, things weren’t perfect, even among the disciples; we heard right here in the story about the famous competition between Peter and John--or, as you might have heard: the guy that would become the head of the church--and the disciple whom Jesus loved.  That conflict kept on, even to their own students, who finally wrote down these gospels of Mark and John.

And then Mary, who by tradition we say washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and dried them with her hair--she doesn’t even recognize Jesus, and thinks he’s just the gardener.  And yet the one who weeps, becomes the first one to spread the proclamation of joy.

The thing is though, questions and not- understanding, doubts and skepticism, even cynicism are essential to faith; faith is not unquestioning belief.  Grant the disciples their due for being human.  After all, God became human to reach humans.

Paul writes, “If for this life only we have hoped for Christ, we are most of all to be pitied.”  Instead, Christ is raised, and not just him, but us also, that death is not the end, but eternal life.  Reunification.  A healing of wounds and grief.  

Miracles will happen, and we won’t necessarily get it.  We’ll be weeping even in the midst of joy.  We will be transformed in some ways and still entirely too human in other ways.  And God is forgiving.  After all, God knows us, and our limitations.  

So even though the disciples were not perfect, and even though we are not perfect--even if we don’t understand any of this stuff that happened that we celebrate today, or celebrate every Sunday--remember:  Jesus Christ is still risen from the dead.  Jesus Christ still calls us by name--knows us even when we don’t recognize Him, even if we mistake Jesus for a total stranger.  And Resurrection happens, even when we least expect it.  And that is reason for real joy, in spite of ourselves even, on this day, and always.

Christ is risen!  Christ is risen indeed!  Alleluia!  

Alleluia!

The peace of Christ be with you!  Amen.

Forward Motion

Isaiah 43:16-21; Psalm 126; Philippians 3:4b-14; John 12:1-8

In this season of Lent we’ve been talking about companionship along life’s journeys:  about sibling relationships, and friends, and family and finding spiritual community as well.....

And speaking of families, I wonder, how many of you have either heard your parents say, or maybe you said it to your kids, “and this is why we can’t have nice things?”

You usually hear it when something of value gets wasted, broken, or misused in some way.  (I heard it endlessly in our home with my four brothers; I’ve invoked in my home at least once with my toddlers already)! Families, and college roommates, and governments, and even church congregations, can have arguments about how to use our resources best--with differing and sometimes competing values attached to each purpose.

So, going back to Bethany in the Gospel story today:  This is a group of friends at dinner having, at first glance, this kind of argument.  They all know each other well; they have goals of fulfilling a mission; Mary uses the expensive perfume to wash Jesus’ feet.  Judas says, we could’ve probably invested that in better ways, what a waste.  The story is emotionally loaded. Motives are assigned to each of the players in the story, and some harsh words are said, and also, perhaps you noticed, Jesus takes sides.

So let’s try to untangle what happened...

Extravagant Things

First of all, there’s the extravagance of using a perfume which cost a year’s wages.  At today’s rates, maybe $20,000 or more for a manual laborer?  That's a lot of money, I don’t even know if there’s a perfume that expensive in existence today.  And we don’t hear how Mary even got it--is this something you just keep around the house?  We may never know.

However, listen to where they are--in John’s telling of the story, they’re at the house of Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.  And while his sister Martha served Jesus and the disciples, Mary made this gesture of affection.  And it’s important to note that in John’s telling of the story, Mary is not some awful sinner, not a prostitute as we sometimes infer (it’s not actually in the Bible); but Mary, sister of Martha, sister of Lazarus, and friend of Jesus.

Now, if someone brought my family member back from the dead, I could see that kind of extravagance.  It’s not sustainable for your bank account, maybe it’s foolish in a hundred ways, but it’s pure gratitude.  If someone did that for me, for my family, I think I’d be saying, you know, take whatever you want, it’s yours--the car, the house, whatever, I don’t care! After all, my family member is worth more to me than anything I might own.

And Paul has similar things to say about his own life in today’s reading--that his love of Christ and his compulsion to spread the Gospel have really cost him everything he had--his status, his employment, his freedom (since he’s often in jail)--and he considers it all worth it, because he knows that what he has found in Christ is worth far more than any of that.  Especially the hope Paul has of resurrection from the dead.

It’s funny, because we often today hear about extravagance trying to avoid death, or even old age, which if we live that long we know is in itself inevitable.  We joke about guys who get fancy cars as part of a midlife crisis; we talk about women who “have a little work done.”  We hear of people wanting to be cryogenically frozen in hopes of being brought back to life at some point in the future.  Sometimes people who are desperately ill try this in hopes of later finding a cure.  (Although, I admit I’m not sure I’d want to be brought back a hundred years in the future, if all my friends and family were gone).  

Over and over in the Scriptures today we hear about God doing new and surprising things that sometimes seem foolish, or at least contrary to conventional wisdom.  God tells us that for those of us who weep, we will end up rejoicing, that our fortunes will be restored despite our suffering, that what has happened in the past is the past, because God is about to do something new--and we simply need to be ready for it.

So, I tried to think of where foolish extravagance might be fruitful.  Well, how many of us made complete fools of ourselves while pursuing our spouses?  How many of us don’t care what we look like when we’re lavishing affection on our children or grandchildren, when we’re rolling around on the ground playing with them?  I think we also know at moments like those, that this is what really matters.  Moments like these, maybe we begin to understand what Mary is doing.

And we know, (right?) that this kind of time is all too important with those we love:  we know for young parents not to stress too much about the state of the housekeeping when the kids are young, and  to just love them while they are there.  They will be gone before we know it.  The same is true of working long hours and neglecting our families whenever we don’t have to do so for survival--too quickly, our loved ones are gone.

And speaking of gone:  remember also that disciples, Mary, Martha--everyone in that room--saw Lazarus resurrected, but there is no promise at that moment, on that day, in that place, that Jesus is only going to be dead for three days.  Maybe for them at best, there’s a faction of Judaism that teaches resurrection on the last day, but not in three days.  If they had any inkling of what was coming, that Jesus would be condemned and executed, we can really understand such extravagance.

Footwashing: Would You Really?

I’m going to throw another idea out on the table now:  washing someone else’s feet with your hair.  Let’s be honest, this is kind of gross.  And maybe not many of us have hair that long. Yet footwashing was part of the hospitality rite, and with good reason: people wore sandals without socks, it was hot and dusty, so their feet were probably reeking.  Servants and slaves did this in good households, but they brought out water and towels.  But really, how many of us would do that for someone else, even a friend?  How many of us would do that for our spouses?  The closest many of us have gotten is cleaning a child who stepped in dog doo, am I right?  And how many of us would let someone else wash our feet?  Do we worry about what people would think of our feet?  Are they ugly? hairy?  smelly?  I really enjoy doing a foot-washing service on Maundy Thursday, but I know a lot of people are afraid to do it, because it’s pretty humbling and well, intimate, to touch somebody else’s feet, or have somebody else handle your own.

Remember the story of Lazarus though?  When Jesus entered that tomb, on the fourth day, the day that was considered proof beyond a doubt that they guy was dead and had even started to stink--that’s the day Jesus went into the tomb.  All those burial spices and perfumes used to anoint the dead--they weren’t about to help now.

Feet don’t seem maybe so bad in comparison.

And now Mary is here, and according to Jesus, is anointing him for the day of his own burial.  Jesus knows the time and is counting the cost.  He is perhaps frustrated with friends who don’t see the big picture.  And yet, he embraces the friend who is willing to be ridiculed by extravagance.

So why is Judas upset?  Maybe he was stealing--although, if you remember John’s gospel is being written down decades later, after lots of fighting between Christians and Jews, maybe there’s a little gossip happening there.  In the meantime, sometimes we stay with what we find comfortable and conventional because we simply fear the unknown.

++

Paul writes about loss and gain, and pressing onward toward the goal--the goal of resurrection. Meanwhile, Jesus too, realizes he’s in forward motion: heading toward the cross.  If people around him realized even that; still only God could have known about the resurrection and promise of Easter, the surprise that lay in store.  God has, and God will continue, to turn sensible world order on its head.  God continues to do a new thing.  When we are beyond hope, like Lazarus, God lavishes extravagant love on us.  And that is our way forward, in all times, and in all places, with abundant hope. Amen.

There But For the Grace of God...

Isaiah 55:1-9; Psalm 63:1-8; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13; Luke 13:1-9

This is an excellent resource on prayers celebrating the gifts of women in the church:  http://www.pcusa.org/media/uploads/pw/pdfs/2013_celebrate_the_gift.pdf

Today’s Scriptures offer some difficult stories, and show us that the questions people had for Jesus back in his time, are not so very different from the questions of faith which we hold deeply today.

Today we have stories of people suffering and being struck down, stories warning us to be mindful of our own morality, and how not to end up like those other folks.  And maybe these days, we might have a question in our minds of just how troubling these stories can be.

When Bad Things Happen To Good People*

In the Gospel story, people are asking Jesus the fundamental question, Why did these bad things happen to these people? After all, they suffered unspeakable acts when the local dictator killed people trying to practice their religion.  And we hear from the people an even deeper suspicion then than now that might those who suffered might have deserved it; morality, etc.  Yet Jesus reminds them that the people who suffered are no better or worse than anyone else.  Simply put, tragedy is not God’s punishment for sin.  That’s pretty radical talk, and often overlooked.  And Jesus goes on to say that trying to insulate ourselves from the bad which has happened to others, is more likely to lead us on our own short-sighted paths to destruction.

And in Paul we hear phrases that are so often misinterpreted by people trying to comfort others going through suffering.   But what does it really mean to be tested?  And that phrase that God never gives us more than we can handle--not actually what Paul says--says that everyone faces tests; rather; God gives a way out somehow, and that is what allows us to endure a situation, because there is some glimmer of hope.  And that way out may entail some extremely difficult choices.

It’s important to realize when reading this passage that Paul is trying to coerce the “know it alls” at Corinth, who think that they’re better than others and can get away with doing things that cause others to stumble, because they’re invincible.  Paul is warning them that they’re just as human and just as vulnerable as anyone else.  

When we see someone else who is suffering, we have this saying, “There but for the grace of God go I.”  It’s supposed to be a sympathetic phrase, that we could just as likely be the one suffering as the person we’re observing.  But it’s not really God’s grace that allowed us to live a more privileged or less harrowing life than someone else.  And it doesn’t mean that God didn’t extend grace to a person who is suffering.  Instead, I think the more appropriate questions are:  How much grace does God extend to us?  And, How much grace do we need to extend to each other?

Women, Self-Righteousness, and Grace

As you’ve already seen in the bulletin, this weekend of focus on the gifts of women in PCUSA, and it’s the ‘kickoff’ of sorts to our One Great Hour of Sharing.

And I’m wondering if you’ve heard the phrase, “hating on each other?”  It means to have a certain amount of self-righteousness about someone else, especially the kind that we get together in groups to express.  Well, I’m going to be honest with you, just as the Scripture stories all have people who are kind of doing this to others today, we’re pretty good at doing this as women.  If you want evidence of this today, you need look no further than the websites called “mommy blogs;” where you can hate on those who use disposable diapers, or daycare, or formula, or just parent their children somehow differently than you do.  A generation ago, before the Internet, the more familiar term was the “mommy wars”--with deeply drawn lines between women who stayed home to raise their children and those who worked outside the home.  It really is the same war, now just fought on different media.

However, as a world, we’re making a little more progress when it comes to ‘hating on,’ or blaming, women who experience domestic violence or sexual assault.  The rhetoric in this country is dying down about whether the woman in question did something to “deserve it,”  whether by wearing the wrong outfit or burning her partner’s supper--and more emphasis is being put on women’s rights not to be abused in the first place.  Yet, there is still work to be done in our society, and work to be done around the world on this very topic.  And we ourselves can probably be more helpful when talking about these things in other places by not saying it happens because the men in those countries are somehow morally or culturally inferior to the men in our own, as a result of their race or ethnicity or religion.  Perhaps when we say this, we do so in the vain hope that it will not happen to us.

And there are so many other circumstances in which women can find themselves, that we are more willing to judge or regard with disgust, rather than compassion--for example, teenage pregnancy, or prostitution.  We heap shame on women who do either of these things, while probably hoping that either situation doesn’t happen to anyone we know.  And yet, even in the Bible, God brings blessings through pregnant teens and prostitutes.  It’s not an easy life, to be sure, but we don’t need to make it harder.

Remember that phrase again, “God never gives you more than you can endure?”  Well, maybe God doesn’t, but others do?  What is harder to face, the suffering of our situation, or the stigma we receive from others?

And then, there’s the tension that exists closer to home, that might be in any of our homes, which is the tension between Mothers vs. Daughters; or especially mothers and daughters in law.  We consider ourselves lucky when a relationship is good; and almost inevitable when the relationship is not--perhaps because years of heartache are so deeply felt and remembered.  Whatever role we play, it’s easier to commiserate with our friends than to really work on the brokenness in the relationship itself.

[And let’s be honest, the world has changed and it exacerbates that tension: Everything that we thought we knew about raising children 20 or 40 years ago is considered wrong now:  should the baby always sleep on its back, or on its stomach?]

Of all the things I’ve described above, then and now, I think we do well to hear those words in Isaiah, when God says:  My thoughts are not your thoughts, and my ways are not your ways.  The heavens are higher than the earth--well, we all know that taking the high road, and truly doing so, is hard!

And yet, we too, whether we have faced misfortune, or are tempted to judge others who have, we might know deeply the words of the Psalmist, that God’s “Steadfast love is better than life; my soul clings to you, you have been my help.”

The Outreach Factor: God Abundantly Pardons

This will be even more important for us as we seek to grow.  As Isaiah says, People we wouldn’t even consider associating with might turn to us, and when we reach out as a church to our community, we might be surprised whom we find waiting for us, if we are really practicing God’s welcome!

Why waste our efforts on anything less than what God seeks from us?  Whether cliquishness or fashion or denigrating others?

After all, God abundantly pardons.  What if the housekeeping isn’t perfect?  God pardons.  Did you make a costly mistake at work?  Have a family fight?  Did you sleep in and miss church?  God abundantly pardons.  Forgot to exercise last year?  Your Doctor might not be so understanding, but God abundantly pardons.  The point is not to give up and stop caring as if nothing matters--but at least to reduce our anxiety about failure, so that we can begin to practice love.  Begin seeing world as God sees it --and not wandering around in self-righteousness, because that is a problem.  I think we all have to be reminded of this from time to time, because it’s so easy to do, to think we’re doing it all right, we’re going to church every week, we’re watching our mouths, we’re doing a little volunteer work here and there--but it’s too easy to judge others.  We get too fixated on what others doing wrong, probably missing something looming large in our own lives.  Paul says, “If you think you’re standing, watch out that you don’t fall.  Everyone faces the same kinds of tests in this life.”

Finally, let’s go back to that fig tree in the garden.  When we’re ready to cut others down, God pleads for another chance.  When we’re the ones who feel like we’re a waste of space, God may simply have put our feet in manure a while until we are ready to thrive again!

When we have been shown such abundant grace, why wouldn’t we want to respond in kind?  Why wouldn’t we want to bear good fruit?

Tragedy is not a punishment for sin.  In judging others, we risk destroying our own lives as well as others.  God has shown us the ways of love, through extending grace to us, that we might lend our own acts of healing to a hurting world.  Go and do likewise. Amen.

*There is an excellent book by this title, authored by Rabbi Harold Kushner.  I highly recommend it.

Children’s sermon:  Why do bad things happen?

Sometimes we do things that aren’t wise, and bad things happen. If we tease someone, they might cry.  If we don’t study, we might get a bad grade.   If we let our cat out, it might get lost.  Other times, we have accidents, where we didn’t do anything wrong, but something bad happens anyway.  In Biblical days, people thought that if something bad happened to you, you must have done something wrong to deserve it. This is done to scare other people into being good, but didn’t work very well, and people were afraid.   Jesus says that this is not true, and that we should not judge people by the bad things that have happened to them, because they could happen to anyone.  Rather, we should focus on God’s love for us, trust in God, and show God’s love to other people.

Prayers:

For those recovering from stroke

For those struggling with mental health

For those struggling with addictions

For all who face abuse in their homes and families

For all who face hunger

For all women who struggle to gain access to education, work, and safety in their daily lives around the world

For the Catholic church, as they seek a new leader, that they may discern with wisdom