A Skeleton In God's Closet
Children's sermon
Illustration
Preaching
Sermon
Worship
As you are no doubt aware, the controversy over the "Jesus family tomb" has generated quite a bit of media "buzz." Ossuaries discovered in Israel some time ago are now alleged to have contained the dessicated bones of Jesus, along with Mary, Mary Magdalene, and some other family members. The archaeological evidence seems to be highly speculative and the Discovery Channel documentary promoting this theory is rather sensationalized -- but if the allegations put forward by director James Cameron (of Titanic fame) are true, the faith of many Christians could be profoundly shaken. In this installment of The Immediate Word, team member Scott Suskovic explores some questions raised by this controversy, including the all-important one of what really lies at the heart of our belief about Jesus Christ and his resurrection. Team member James Killen contributes some additional thoughts on this week's Old Testament reading from Isaiah, and there's the usual complement of illustrations, worship resources, and a children's message.
A Skeleton in God's Closet
by Scott Suskovic
1 Corinthians 10:1-13
THE WORLD
Fact or fiction? This past Sunday (March 4), the Discovery Channel aired a "docudrama" by a famous filmmaker on what is reported to be an ossuary containing the bones of Jesus, his wife Mary Magdalene, and their son. Is this the stuff of Dan Brown and The Da Vinci Code? Or is this a skeleton in God's closet?
Dr. Paul Maier is a professor at Western Michigan University in the field of archaeology and biblical history. Several years ago he wrote a novel called A Skeleton in God's Closet. The book was about a bishop in the Catholic Church whose best friend, an agnostic archaeologist, discovered the bones of Jesus. In his coffin were nails from the cross, the plaque that read "King of the Jews" in three languages, and a handwritten letter of apology from Joseph of Arimathea. Joseph spoke about wanting to give dignity and a proper burial to his friend Jesus, so he stole the body. He had no idea that this act of friendship would spark stories of Jesus' resurrection. The book centers on the friendship of the bishop and the archaeologist, and the impact such a discovery would have on the Christian Church.
Whether a fictional book or a television documentary, are such pursuits legitimate inquiries -- or are they simply because enquiring minds want to know? In this week's second lesson from 1 Corinthians 10, Paul talks about idols and other irreverent pursuits that draw us away from God. In what category would you put the bones of Jesus?
THE WORD
There are pretty strong admonitions in 1 Corinthians 10 about not putting God to the test lest we be bitten by snakes, not rebelling against God lest he send us out into the wilderness, not falling into idolatry lest God abandon us altogether: "So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall."
These words, of course, were written to the people of Corinth, who were known for their sexual immorality, their wandering, idolatrous eyes, and their questionable behavior even inside the community of believers (such as being drunk at communion and incest). Like those who went on that first Exodus, they delighted in putting God to the test with their rebellion.
What about the recent documentary The Tomb of Jesus? Into which category would you put that? Is it open for honest investigation from the very best forensic science the world can offer -- or should the bones of Jesus be sacrosanct? Would this cross the line and fall into "putting God to the test, rebellion, and idolatry," or would it be a legitimate inquiry?
That depends. Scripture is always concerned with the heart. What is the motivation? Those journalists and archaeologists in the Discovery Channel docudrama made clear their motivation. They were not interested in just laying out all the facts. They had a definite conclusion in mind before filming the project. They were as excited as the archaeologist in Dr. Maier's book to claim the bones of Jesus and debunk the central teaching of Christianity -- the resurrection of Jesus. They knew what Paul wrote was true: "If Christ has not been raised from the dead, then our faith is in vain.... If Jesus has not been raised from the dead, we are of all people most to be pitied." Paul didn't mean a spiritual resurrection. Paul didn't mean that the good ideas of Jesus would live on in the teaching of his disciples. Paul didn't mean that Jesus only lives inside of me. Paul meant a real, physical, the-tomb-is-empty resurrection. He referred not only to his own experience of this, but challenged his readers to ask the other 500 who witnessed it.
And so we find in that docudrama, particularly during the interview afterwards with Ted Koppel, that these "experts" on the Tomb of Jesus took shortcuts, edited clips, and compromised archaeological science -- all for the sake of debunking Christianity. In many ways, it is the Exodus story all over again -- this time, not being retold in ancient Corinth with stories of immorality and idolatry, but rather today as we continue to seek ways to put God to the test. It all comes back to the heart.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
I'm the first one who loves a good debate. I enjoy apologetics that seek to undergird the foundation of Christianity. I believe any church that asks people to check their brain at the door and take all the claims of the Bible solely based on faith robs believers of a genuine, mature faith. What is the difference between this and The Tomb of Jesus?
The difference is this: Remember the lawyer who approached Jesus in Luke 10, asking "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" After Jesus responded with the command to love God and your neighbor, verse 29 says: "But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, 'And who is my neighbor?' "
This lawyer had no desire to seek the truth. The motivation of his heart was to stump Jesus and exalt himself. Even if Jesus were to answer all of his questions perfectly (which he did), this person would not believe. It comes down once again to the heart.
The gift that is ours comes from a patient savior. In this week's text from Luke, Jesus tells the story of the fig tree that did not produce fruit. While the owner was ready to chop it down and throw it into the fire, it was a gardener who pleaded to give the tree some more manure, sunshine, and water. But even for the gardener, that time was limited. A tree that is good within will bear good fruit, because that is what fig trees do. But a tree that is impure from within cannot bear good fruit and will not last. It all starts from within -- within the heart.
ANOTHER VIEW
Come to Life
by James Killen
Isaiah 55:1-9
Like an evangelist giving the invitation at the end of an old-fashioned revival, Isaiah calls all who can hear him to put away everything that hinders them and to come and receive the most precious thing that anyone could ever receive, the fullness of life that can be had in a covenant relationship with God. He invites them to come and receive it as a free gift from God, whose love in everlasting and whose ways are beyond our understanding. The prophet holds out this invitation to all people and invites them to accept it.
This last chapter of the writings of the unknown prophet whom scholars call "Second Isaiah" is full of joyful optimism. But it is not an easy optimism. The people to whom he spoke had seen their nation, the nation they had thought of as the chosen people of God, defeated and taken into exile by the Babylonians. In their captivity, many of the people lost hope. Life was not good. They were beginning to doubt that God could save them -- or that he would save them if he could. Faith had begun to seem futile to them. They must have been very vulnerable to the cynical people who taunted them, saying, "Where is your God?" Many must have given up on the salvation that the prophets had promised and decided to settle for something they knew they could get, material prosperity, some place of advantage in the society of the people among whom they lived.
But the Isaiah of the exile had a promising message: God still loved his people. Their suffering had been vicarious suffering on behalf of all people. God was still God. God would yet act to save, not only the chosen people, but all people.
The return, when it came, was not as glorious as the people had hoped it would be. They were not immediately restored to power, prosperity, and peace. The writings of "Third Isaiah," who wrote after the return, were not as optimistic as those of "Second Isaiah."
But maybe the prophet of the exile was talking about something bigger than just Israel's return to Jerusalem. Maybe he was also talking about a promise that is there for all people of every age and nation simply because God is who God is. If that is not true, this passage really isn't very useful to us, is it? Through the ancient prophet, we can hear God saying to us that God cares about us and that God is always reaching out to welcome us into a loving relationship with God in which we can find the most precious gift that anyone could have, the gift of fullness of life. This is that life that Jesus called the treasure hidden in a field, and the pearl of great price (Matthew 13:44-46).
We, like the people of the exile, can sometimes let ourselves be led by our culture into a place where we forget the promise of God -- if, indeed, we have ever heard it. We look at our circumstances and decide that they are not what we wish they were, and so we decide that life is not good. Never mind that most people in the rest of world would find that notion ridiculous. We think it, and so those thoughts shape our attitudes toward life. We find ourselves having doubts about God because God has not put life together for us just like we wanted it. When someone writes a sensational novel or comes up with some dubious archeological find that seems to undercut some aspect of our faith, we let it get to us. We forget about the promise of God and spend our life's energy trying to get something for ourselves that will fill the empty spot where fullness of life ought to be. Our culture has developed a whole industry dedicated to generating discontent and advertising things that we can buy with money that promise fullness of life -- things like new cars and Caribbean cruises and Viagra. But they don't work. They leave us hungry and thirsty for the real thing.
The prophet of the exile still has a message for us: Stop scrambling after things that can't satisfy. Stop letting yourself be tormented by a cynical culture. The thing you are really hungry for is right there for you... all you have to do is take it. As Moses said to the people in an earlier age, "Choose life" (Deuteronomy 30:19). It is there for you, and it does not depend upon your circumstances. God is there with you under good circumstances and bad ones, and God makes fullness of life possible even under the worst circumstances. If you will enter into a relationship of trust and of love with God, you will find there the thing that can satisfy your deepest needs no matter what is going on around you. And when that comes, you will be surprised how it will change the way the world looks to you and how you will be able to live in it. Even when things are not going well for you, you can go out with joy and be led back in peace; and it will seem to you that the hills are singing and the trees are clapping their hands for you (Isaiah 55:12). "Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the water."
ILLUSTRATIONS
They found the bones of Jesus? Really? And so now there will be another long debate and we'll call it a controversy. That seems so predictable. The search for the truth is much more circuitous than a simple discovery of an ossuary in Jerusalem. It will take years for us to make sense of it all. In the meantime I take much comfort in an ancient symbol of faith: the labyrinth. Ancients and moderns alike have discovered and are discovering that the patterns that lead to faith and truth are similar. They are not straight lines! Science and faith are alike in that way. As the old Spanish proverb puts it: "God writes straight in crooked lines!"
***
Controversies come and controversies go. We argued over Christology for 300 years until we finally agreed that Jesus was both God and Human, not either/or. (At least most Christians agreed on that.) Then we argued over slavery, civil rights, and the role of women in the church. Now we're embroiled in yet another brouhaha over human sexuality. We haven't put that one to bed yet (if you'll pardon the expression), when a whole new controversy arises around a somewhat disquieting discovery of some bones in Jerusalem. Where will it lead? Enter Winston Churchill with this gem: "The truth is incontrovertible -- malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end there it is."
***
Ultimately my faith does not rest on a fact of science as if it can be proven or disproved. Ultimately my faith rests on a choice to live in relationship with what moves my heart in the deepest places. My heart rests in the heart of God. It cannot come to rest until it finds its home there. My life then is a choice to live as though being alive itself is a miracle. Einstein put it this way: "There are two ways to live -- you can live as if nothing is a miracle, or you can live as if everything is a miracle."
***
Thomas Long, in a sermon, relates a point made by the novelist Frederick Buechner, who once wondered what would happen if God rearranged the stars to spell the words "I REALLY EXIST" across the night sky for all to see:
What would happen? Well, the reaction would be dramatic. Churches would spill over into football stadiums, crime would cease, wars would suddenly stop, an uncanny hush would fall over the world -- for a while. But then there would be the message in the stars night after night, month after month, year after year. Every night the sky would proclaim "I REALLY EXIST," and it would become a normal part of nature. "I REALLY EXIST." So what? What difference would that make?
For, as Buechner says, what we really want in our deepest need is not proof that there is a God somewhere who exists or even scientific evidence that a resurrection happened some time ago in history. What we need is a God who is right here, knee-deep in the mud and mire of human existence -- a risen Christ who comes to us every day to give life and hope. That is a God who comes not in evidence but in the relationship of trust we call faith. God cannot be seen when we draw a line in the sand and say, "Give me proof or I don't step over the line." God can be seen only by those who already step over the line in trust. When we do, our eyes are opened, and the world is full of resurrection light. When we encounter that Christ, when we experience the power of that presence, then we know in faith that Christ is raised from the dead and our faith is not in vain.
* Thomas Long, "So, What About the Resurrection?" (broadcast on the Day 1 radio program [formerly The Protestant Hour], February 15, 2004), http://www.day1.net/index.php5?view=transcripts&tid=29
***
"For eight decades he has been lying in state on public display, a cadaver in a succession of dark suits, encased in a glass box beside a walkway in the basement of his granite mausoleum. Many who revere him say he is at peace, the leader in repose beneath the lights. Others think he just looks macabre.
"Time has been unkind to Lenin, whose remains here in Red Square are said to sprout occasional fungi, and whose ideology and party long ago fell to ruins. Now the inevitable question has returned. Should his body be moved?" (C.J. Chivers, "Russia Weighs What to Do with Lenin's Body," New York Times, October 5, 2005)
The Russian government, successor to the Communist regime that once idolized Lenin, is coming to see his huge mausoleum -- and the public display of his embalmed, but slowly-decaying body -- as an embarrassment. Some leaders are suggesting that Lenin's body be given a decent burial. Others want to keep it on display.
The diehard supporters of Marxism-Leninism focus their energies on a rotting corpse. What a contrast this is to Christianity, whose adherents worship a risen Savior!
***
The ancient man approached God (or even the gods) as the accused person approaches his judge. For the modern man the roles are reversed. He is the judge: God is in the dock. He is quite a kindly judge: if God should have a reasonable defense for being the god who permits war, poverty, and disease, he is ready to listen to it. The trial may even end in God's acquittal. But the important thing is that man is on the bench and God in the dock.
-- C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock
("The dock," in British parlance, is the enclosure in a courtroom in which the accused sits during a trial.)
***
If Jesus was married, as he was hanging there on the cross wouldn't he have gathered not only his mother Mary and his close friend John but also his wife, and asked John to watch over both of them (and his child, if there was one)? He did no such thing. And during his ministry, knowing he would not be on this earth long, wouldn't he have avoided marrying so that he wouldn't leave a woman widowed and a child without a father?
***
Jesus said of himself that he was homeless: "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." If he'd had a wife and child, he wouldn't have been able to say this.
***
The Christian faith proclaims that Jesus was resurrected, that his dead earthly body became an entirely new living body. The Apostles' Creed, the very bedrock of our faith, speaks of "the resurrection of the body." And the Athanasian Creed says that all people shall rise bodily.
The Gospels of Luke and John state that his followers found no body, just grave clothes, in the tomb after Jesus' resurrection. And all four Gospels proclaim that the tomb was empty when the disciples came to it on that Sunday morning.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by Thom M. Shuman
Call to Worship
Leader: When our pockets are empty,
God allows us to purchase what we need, charging it to grace's account.
People: God thinks differently than we do.
Leader: When our souls are parched,
God hands us a glass of living water.
People: God's ways are different from ours.
Leader: When we grow weary of searching,
God takes our hand and leads us home.
People: God's love is different from ours.
Prayer of the Day
God of Grace:
we would max out every credit card and empty our bank accounts
if we thought we could buy that peace, that hope, that mercy, that joy
which always seem to elude us.
Yet you wrap them up and hand them to us,
with no price tag attached.
We hold our empty lives out to the world,
begging to be filled to the brim with all that will only disappoint us.
Yet you would grace us with living waters,
which never run dry.
We lie awake at night from the insomnia of our stress,
whispering of our fears.
Yet you would lullaby us
with your love which never ends.
We would lift our hearts to you,
God in Community, Holy in One,
trusting that you will listen to us,
even as we pray as Jesus has taught us,
Our Father . . .
Call to Reconciliation
Gifted beyond measure, we grumble that we don't have enough.
Seeking to get our own way,
we do not see the ways God wants to forgive us and restore us to new life.
In this season of reflection and repentance,
let us turn to the One who waits for us with hope.
(Unison) Prayer of Confession
We continue to be tempted, Faithful God.
We are blessed with gifts to use for others,
but we want to keep them for ourselves.
We easily notice the mistakes of those around us,
but do not want to look in the mirror at our lives.
We turn our desires into idols,
so we do not have to recognize how they can damage us.
Forgive us, Steadfast God.
Fill the poverty of our spirits with the richness of your grace;
feed our selfish hunger with the bread of compassion for the world;
pour the living waters of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior,
into our hearts until they overflow with love.
(silent prayers may be offered)
Assurance of Pardon
Leader: God is faithful.
God's love is an eternal bargain which will not be broken,
God's grace is the gift which will not be taken back.
People: Such abundant mercy, such extravagant grace!
Thanks be to God, we are forgiven. Amen.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Like a Rock
Object: a rock
For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. (1 Corinthians 10:4b)
Good morning! What do I have here in my hand? (Show the rock and let them answer.) Yes, this is a rock. What can you tell me about rocks? What do you know about them? (Let them answer.)
Well, all those things are true about rocks. Now, the Bible calls Jesus a rock. We also have a hymn where we call Jesus the "Rock of Ages." In what way can we think of Jesus as a rock? (Let them answer.)
The main reason we refer to Jesus as a rock is that he is firm and strong like a rock and can't be moved from where he wants to be. He has promised to be with us always, and nothing can ever move him away from people who believe in him and love him. He is always there for us, and his promise is as firm as this rock. Aren't you glad that we have a Savior who is that solid? (Let them answer.)
Dear Jesus: Thank you for being the strong rock of our salvation. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, March 11, 2007, issue.
Copyright 2007 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 517 South Main Street, Lima, Ohio 45804.
A Skeleton in God's Closet
by Scott Suskovic
1 Corinthians 10:1-13
THE WORLD
Fact or fiction? This past Sunday (March 4), the Discovery Channel aired a "docudrama" by a famous filmmaker on what is reported to be an ossuary containing the bones of Jesus, his wife Mary Magdalene, and their son. Is this the stuff of Dan Brown and The Da Vinci Code? Or is this a skeleton in God's closet?
Dr. Paul Maier is a professor at Western Michigan University in the field of archaeology and biblical history. Several years ago he wrote a novel called A Skeleton in God's Closet. The book was about a bishop in the Catholic Church whose best friend, an agnostic archaeologist, discovered the bones of Jesus. In his coffin were nails from the cross, the plaque that read "King of the Jews" in three languages, and a handwritten letter of apology from Joseph of Arimathea. Joseph spoke about wanting to give dignity and a proper burial to his friend Jesus, so he stole the body. He had no idea that this act of friendship would spark stories of Jesus' resurrection. The book centers on the friendship of the bishop and the archaeologist, and the impact such a discovery would have on the Christian Church.
Whether a fictional book or a television documentary, are such pursuits legitimate inquiries -- or are they simply because enquiring minds want to know? In this week's second lesson from 1 Corinthians 10, Paul talks about idols and other irreverent pursuits that draw us away from God. In what category would you put the bones of Jesus?
THE WORD
There are pretty strong admonitions in 1 Corinthians 10 about not putting God to the test lest we be bitten by snakes, not rebelling against God lest he send us out into the wilderness, not falling into idolatry lest God abandon us altogether: "So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall."
These words, of course, were written to the people of Corinth, who were known for their sexual immorality, their wandering, idolatrous eyes, and their questionable behavior even inside the community of believers (such as being drunk at communion and incest). Like those who went on that first Exodus, they delighted in putting God to the test with their rebellion.
What about the recent documentary The Tomb of Jesus? Into which category would you put that? Is it open for honest investigation from the very best forensic science the world can offer -- or should the bones of Jesus be sacrosanct? Would this cross the line and fall into "putting God to the test, rebellion, and idolatry," or would it be a legitimate inquiry?
That depends. Scripture is always concerned with the heart. What is the motivation? Those journalists and archaeologists in the Discovery Channel docudrama made clear their motivation. They were not interested in just laying out all the facts. They had a definite conclusion in mind before filming the project. They were as excited as the archaeologist in Dr. Maier's book to claim the bones of Jesus and debunk the central teaching of Christianity -- the resurrection of Jesus. They knew what Paul wrote was true: "If Christ has not been raised from the dead, then our faith is in vain.... If Jesus has not been raised from the dead, we are of all people most to be pitied." Paul didn't mean a spiritual resurrection. Paul didn't mean that the good ideas of Jesus would live on in the teaching of his disciples. Paul didn't mean that Jesus only lives inside of me. Paul meant a real, physical, the-tomb-is-empty resurrection. He referred not only to his own experience of this, but challenged his readers to ask the other 500 who witnessed it.
And so we find in that docudrama, particularly during the interview afterwards with Ted Koppel, that these "experts" on the Tomb of Jesus took shortcuts, edited clips, and compromised archaeological science -- all for the sake of debunking Christianity. In many ways, it is the Exodus story all over again -- this time, not being retold in ancient Corinth with stories of immorality and idolatry, but rather today as we continue to seek ways to put God to the test. It all comes back to the heart.
CRAFTING THE SERMON
I'm the first one who loves a good debate. I enjoy apologetics that seek to undergird the foundation of Christianity. I believe any church that asks people to check their brain at the door and take all the claims of the Bible solely based on faith robs believers of a genuine, mature faith. What is the difference between this and The Tomb of Jesus?
The difference is this: Remember the lawyer who approached Jesus in Luke 10, asking "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" After Jesus responded with the command to love God and your neighbor, verse 29 says: "But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, 'And who is my neighbor?' "
This lawyer had no desire to seek the truth. The motivation of his heart was to stump Jesus and exalt himself. Even if Jesus were to answer all of his questions perfectly (which he did), this person would not believe. It comes down once again to the heart.
The gift that is ours comes from a patient savior. In this week's text from Luke, Jesus tells the story of the fig tree that did not produce fruit. While the owner was ready to chop it down and throw it into the fire, it was a gardener who pleaded to give the tree some more manure, sunshine, and water. But even for the gardener, that time was limited. A tree that is good within will bear good fruit, because that is what fig trees do. But a tree that is impure from within cannot bear good fruit and will not last. It all starts from within -- within the heart.
ANOTHER VIEW
Come to Life
by James Killen
Isaiah 55:1-9
Like an evangelist giving the invitation at the end of an old-fashioned revival, Isaiah calls all who can hear him to put away everything that hinders them and to come and receive the most precious thing that anyone could ever receive, the fullness of life that can be had in a covenant relationship with God. He invites them to come and receive it as a free gift from God, whose love in everlasting and whose ways are beyond our understanding. The prophet holds out this invitation to all people and invites them to accept it.
This last chapter of the writings of the unknown prophet whom scholars call "Second Isaiah" is full of joyful optimism. But it is not an easy optimism. The people to whom he spoke had seen their nation, the nation they had thought of as the chosen people of God, defeated and taken into exile by the Babylonians. In their captivity, many of the people lost hope. Life was not good. They were beginning to doubt that God could save them -- or that he would save them if he could. Faith had begun to seem futile to them. They must have been very vulnerable to the cynical people who taunted them, saying, "Where is your God?" Many must have given up on the salvation that the prophets had promised and decided to settle for something they knew they could get, material prosperity, some place of advantage in the society of the people among whom they lived.
But the Isaiah of the exile had a promising message: God still loved his people. Their suffering had been vicarious suffering on behalf of all people. God was still God. God would yet act to save, not only the chosen people, but all people.
The return, when it came, was not as glorious as the people had hoped it would be. They were not immediately restored to power, prosperity, and peace. The writings of "Third Isaiah," who wrote after the return, were not as optimistic as those of "Second Isaiah."
But maybe the prophet of the exile was talking about something bigger than just Israel's return to Jerusalem. Maybe he was also talking about a promise that is there for all people of every age and nation simply because God is who God is. If that is not true, this passage really isn't very useful to us, is it? Through the ancient prophet, we can hear God saying to us that God cares about us and that God is always reaching out to welcome us into a loving relationship with God in which we can find the most precious gift that anyone could have, the gift of fullness of life. This is that life that Jesus called the treasure hidden in a field, and the pearl of great price (Matthew 13:44-46).
We, like the people of the exile, can sometimes let ourselves be led by our culture into a place where we forget the promise of God -- if, indeed, we have ever heard it. We look at our circumstances and decide that they are not what we wish they were, and so we decide that life is not good. Never mind that most people in the rest of world would find that notion ridiculous. We think it, and so those thoughts shape our attitudes toward life. We find ourselves having doubts about God because God has not put life together for us just like we wanted it. When someone writes a sensational novel or comes up with some dubious archeological find that seems to undercut some aspect of our faith, we let it get to us. We forget about the promise of God and spend our life's energy trying to get something for ourselves that will fill the empty spot where fullness of life ought to be. Our culture has developed a whole industry dedicated to generating discontent and advertising things that we can buy with money that promise fullness of life -- things like new cars and Caribbean cruises and Viagra. But they don't work. They leave us hungry and thirsty for the real thing.
The prophet of the exile still has a message for us: Stop scrambling after things that can't satisfy. Stop letting yourself be tormented by a cynical culture. The thing you are really hungry for is right there for you... all you have to do is take it. As Moses said to the people in an earlier age, "Choose life" (Deuteronomy 30:19). It is there for you, and it does not depend upon your circumstances. God is there with you under good circumstances and bad ones, and God makes fullness of life possible even under the worst circumstances. If you will enter into a relationship of trust and of love with God, you will find there the thing that can satisfy your deepest needs no matter what is going on around you. And when that comes, you will be surprised how it will change the way the world looks to you and how you will be able to live in it. Even when things are not going well for you, you can go out with joy and be led back in peace; and it will seem to you that the hills are singing and the trees are clapping their hands for you (Isaiah 55:12). "Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the water."
ILLUSTRATIONS
They found the bones of Jesus? Really? And so now there will be another long debate and we'll call it a controversy. That seems so predictable. The search for the truth is much more circuitous than a simple discovery of an ossuary in Jerusalem. It will take years for us to make sense of it all. In the meantime I take much comfort in an ancient symbol of faith: the labyrinth. Ancients and moderns alike have discovered and are discovering that the patterns that lead to faith and truth are similar. They are not straight lines! Science and faith are alike in that way. As the old Spanish proverb puts it: "God writes straight in crooked lines!"
***
Controversies come and controversies go. We argued over Christology for 300 years until we finally agreed that Jesus was both God and Human, not either/or. (At least most Christians agreed on that.) Then we argued over slavery, civil rights, and the role of women in the church. Now we're embroiled in yet another brouhaha over human sexuality. We haven't put that one to bed yet (if you'll pardon the expression), when a whole new controversy arises around a somewhat disquieting discovery of some bones in Jerusalem. Where will it lead? Enter Winston Churchill with this gem: "The truth is incontrovertible -- malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end there it is."
***
Ultimately my faith does not rest on a fact of science as if it can be proven or disproved. Ultimately my faith rests on a choice to live in relationship with what moves my heart in the deepest places. My heart rests in the heart of God. It cannot come to rest until it finds its home there. My life then is a choice to live as though being alive itself is a miracle. Einstein put it this way: "There are two ways to live -- you can live as if nothing is a miracle, or you can live as if everything is a miracle."
***
Thomas Long, in a sermon, relates a point made by the novelist Frederick Buechner, who once wondered what would happen if God rearranged the stars to spell the words "I REALLY EXIST" across the night sky for all to see:
What would happen? Well, the reaction would be dramatic. Churches would spill over into football stadiums, crime would cease, wars would suddenly stop, an uncanny hush would fall over the world -- for a while. But then there would be the message in the stars night after night, month after month, year after year. Every night the sky would proclaim "I REALLY EXIST," and it would become a normal part of nature. "I REALLY EXIST." So what? What difference would that make?
For, as Buechner says, what we really want in our deepest need is not proof that there is a God somewhere who exists or even scientific evidence that a resurrection happened some time ago in history. What we need is a God who is right here, knee-deep in the mud and mire of human existence -- a risen Christ who comes to us every day to give life and hope. That is a God who comes not in evidence but in the relationship of trust we call faith. God cannot be seen when we draw a line in the sand and say, "Give me proof or I don't step over the line." God can be seen only by those who already step over the line in trust. When we do, our eyes are opened, and the world is full of resurrection light. When we encounter that Christ, when we experience the power of that presence, then we know in faith that Christ is raised from the dead and our faith is not in vain.
* Thomas Long, "So, What About the Resurrection?" (broadcast on the Day 1 radio program [formerly The Protestant Hour], February 15, 2004), http://www.day1.net/index.php5?view=transcripts&tid=29
***
"For eight decades he has been lying in state on public display, a cadaver in a succession of dark suits, encased in a glass box beside a walkway in the basement of his granite mausoleum. Many who revere him say he is at peace, the leader in repose beneath the lights. Others think he just looks macabre.
"Time has been unkind to Lenin, whose remains here in Red Square are said to sprout occasional fungi, and whose ideology and party long ago fell to ruins. Now the inevitable question has returned. Should his body be moved?" (C.J. Chivers, "Russia Weighs What to Do with Lenin's Body," New York Times, October 5, 2005)
The Russian government, successor to the Communist regime that once idolized Lenin, is coming to see his huge mausoleum -- and the public display of his embalmed, but slowly-decaying body -- as an embarrassment. Some leaders are suggesting that Lenin's body be given a decent burial. Others want to keep it on display.
The diehard supporters of Marxism-Leninism focus their energies on a rotting corpse. What a contrast this is to Christianity, whose adherents worship a risen Savior!
***
The ancient man approached God (or even the gods) as the accused person approaches his judge. For the modern man the roles are reversed. He is the judge: God is in the dock. He is quite a kindly judge: if God should have a reasonable defense for being the god who permits war, poverty, and disease, he is ready to listen to it. The trial may even end in God's acquittal. But the important thing is that man is on the bench and God in the dock.
-- C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock
("The dock," in British parlance, is the enclosure in a courtroom in which the accused sits during a trial.)
***
If Jesus was married, as he was hanging there on the cross wouldn't he have gathered not only his mother Mary and his close friend John but also his wife, and asked John to watch over both of them (and his child, if there was one)? He did no such thing. And during his ministry, knowing he would not be on this earth long, wouldn't he have avoided marrying so that he wouldn't leave a woman widowed and a child without a father?
***
Jesus said of himself that he was homeless: "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." If he'd had a wife and child, he wouldn't have been able to say this.
***
The Christian faith proclaims that Jesus was resurrected, that his dead earthly body became an entirely new living body. The Apostles' Creed, the very bedrock of our faith, speaks of "the resurrection of the body." And the Athanasian Creed says that all people shall rise bodily.
The Gospels of Luke and John state that his followers found no body, just grave clothes, in the tomb after Jesus' resurrection. And all four Gospels proclaim that the tomb was empty when the disciples came to it on that Sunday morning.
WORSHIP RESOURCES
by Thom M. Shuman
Call to Worship
Leader: When our pockets are empty,
God allows us to purchase what we need, charging it to grace's account.
People: God thinks differently than we do.
Leader: When our souls are parched,
God hands us a glass of living water.
People: God's ways are different from ours.
Leader: When we grow weary of searching,
God takes our hand and leads us home.
People: God's love is different from ours.
Prayer of the Day
God of Grace:
we would max out every credit card and empty our bank accounts
if we thought we could buy that peace, that hope, that mercy, that joy
which always seem to elude us.
Yet you wrap them up and hand them to us,
with no price tag attached.
We hold our empty lives out to the world,
begging to be filled to the brim with all that will only disappoint us.
Yet you would grace us with living waters,
which never run dry.
We lie awake at night from the insomnia of our stress,
whispering of our fears.
Yet you would lullaby us
with your love which never ends.
We would lift our hearts to you,
God in Community, Holy in One,
trusting that you will listen to us,
even as we pray as Jesus has taught us,
Our Father . . .
Call to Reconciliation
Gifted beyond measure, we grumble that we don't have enough.
Seeking to get our own way,
we do not see the ways God wants to forgive us and restore us to new life.
In this season of reflection and repentance,
let us turn to the One who waits for us with hope.
(Unison) Prayer of Confession
We continue to be tempted, Faithful God.
We are blessed with gifts to use for others,
but we want to keep them for ourselves.
We easily notice the mistakes of those around us,
but do not want to look in the mirror at our lives.
We turn our desires into idols,
so we do not have to recognize how they can damage us.
Forgive us, Steadfast God.
Fill the poverty of our spirits with the richness of your grace;
feed our selfish hunger with the bread of compassion for the world;
pour the living waters of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior,
into our hearts until they overflow with love.
(silent prayers may be offered)
Assurance of Pardon
Leader: God is faithful.
God's love is an eternal bargain which will not be broken,
God's grace is the gift which will not be taken back.
People: Such abundant mercy, such extravagant grace!
Thanks be to God, we are forgiven. Amen.
CHILDREN'S SERMON
Like a Rock
Object: a rock
For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. (1 Corinthians 10:4b)
Good morning! What do I have here in my hand? (Show the rock and let them answer.) Yes, this is a rock. What can you tell me about rocks? What do you know about them? (Let them answer.)
Well, all those things are true about rocks. Now, the Bible calls Jesus a rock. We also have a hymn where we call Jesus the "Rock of Ages." In what way can we think of Jesus as a rock? (Let them answer.)
The main reason we refer to Jesus as a rock is that he is firm and strong like a rock and can't be moved from where he wants to be. He has promised to be with us always, and nothing can ever move him away from people who believe in him and love him. He is always there for us, and his promise is as firm as this rock. Aren't you glad that we have a Savior who is that solid? (Let them answer.)
Dear Jesus: Thank you for being the strong rock of our salvation. Amen.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Immediate Word, March 11, 2007, issue.
Copyright 2007 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to The Immediate Word service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons and in worship and classroom settings only. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 517 South Main Street, Lima, Ohio 45804.
