We Live In Hope
Sermon
Living In Hope
Cycle C Sermons for Lent and Easter Based on the Second Lessons
Good morning! Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed! Happy Easter!
Several times this week I have revised this sermon message, wanting to incorporate the emotions of this Holy Week, to understand the last week as a journey with Jesus and the disciples. The joy and triumph of Palm Sunday quickly seems to move into the intimacy of Maundy Thursday with its meal shared among friends, the servant leader Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, and the breaking of bread and sharing of cup. We then quickly move to the pain and suffering of Good Friday, of the betrayal, arrest, torture, crucifixion, and death. And then it was Saturday.
All day Saturday, I wondered how the disciples spent their day. They were in the in-between time, the time between the loss of their beloved friend and teacher, and their true understanding of Christ’s return in three days. They must have been sad. They must have been looking back at the last years wondering if they could have done something to prevent the crucifixion, wondering if this was truly God’s plan, and wondering about that Passover meal and the prayers they could have, and perhaps should have, said in the garden that night.
Reverend Doctor Mark Miller, who served as the transitional interim minister of the Pacific Northwest Conference of the United Church of Christ is known for saying, “Your windshield needs to be larger than your rearview mirror.” I know that the disciples didn’t have windshields and rearview mirrors, but Jesus was trying to teach them the same thing by saying to a would-be disciple, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
I wonder what Jesus thought of all the looking back the disciples were doing. And I wonder how much of it was sharing memories and how much of it was wishing for the day before, the minute before, when Jesus was still with them. I wonder if Peter wished he would have a chance to apologize, or if they were mourning Judas, his betrayal, and his loss. I wonder if they thought about arguing over who should be first and whether or not they could drink from the cup from which Jesus had drunk.
They would have celebrated the sabbath as well ― although celebrate would be a strong word. They would have prayed the Shema, Sh’ma Yis’ra’eil Adonai Eloheinu Adonai echad: Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one. Barukh sheim k’vod malkhuto l’olam va’ed: Blessed be the name of his glorious kingdom forever and ever.
It would have been difficult to praise God that day just as difficult as it is for us to praise God in times of sorrow, illness, loss, or pain. It is challenging to lift up our praise to God when we do not understand why things are going wrong in our lives or in the world. But we, just as the disciples, or maybe even more so because we know how the story ends, are called to believe in the power and presence of our God, and to praise God for all the blessing and challenges we have.
How do we explain the resurrection of Jesus? Can we? Perhaps not. Yet, the resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of our faith, of the Christian faith. If there is no resurrection, there is no Christianity. The essence of this Easter celebration is the resurrection, the conquering of death by our God. To deny this, even if we cannot explain it, is to lose the essence of what it means to be Christian, what it means to be a Jesus follower. We may never know how it happened. We may debate what it means, yet, we each believe firmly that God conquered death. That is the essence of being a Christian: Christ is risen.
You may recall from an earlier message that my eldest grandson once asked me, “How and why did Jesus die and how did he get to be alive again?” My response to him, at least about the resurrection, was that love raised Jesus from the dead. The love of God for his son and for humanity raised Jesus from the dead. It was much harder to explain to him a mere five years later why his mother died and why his prayers for her resurrection (at least so that he could see and touch her) were not answered. How do you explain to a child that his mother was, in fact, raised from the dead but not to walk on the earth, but to be with God in heaven? Complex questions that are beyond my ability to explain to a nine-year old. He is eighteen now and still has more questions than answers, including whether or not there is a God. His confusion is not solitary. He understands there is one larger and more powerful than he, but does not view God in the ways some people of faith do ― he is not a conservative and he does not believe in the puppeteer God that controls every action. He is put off by the people who proclaim he is going to heal because he does not believe in God, as they define God to him.
Rather, he asks questions about this godhead, this almighty being who created all that is and loves his children enough to let them have free will and mess the world up until it has gotten to the state it is in. He has faith that there is more to life than what he can see, touch, taste, and smell, but he hasn’t quite figured out the nature of God in his own experience. He knows love. He feels love. He knows forgiveness. He feels forgiveness. He has long theological conversations with me, but more questions than answers and I will admit, I do not have all the answers either.
Do I know the actions required of God to have raised Jesus from the dead? No, I do not. Do I believe with all my heart that Jesus is risen? Yes, I do. I do not have to be able to define it, to structure the process, to believe that the living Christ is present. I have seen and experienced his presence, heard his voice, and felt his touch. Some of you may remember when I shared the story of encountering Jesus while being guided through a meditation, as a part of the spiritual exercises of Saint Ignatius. As I was walking into the dark, dank basement I was using as a symbol for my sinfulness, I saw a light and as the light came closer a figure became clearer. I know, without a doubt in my being, that this was Jesus reaching out to me. Jesus spoke, “Come” and extended his arms to me. It wasn’t until Jesus came another step closer and again spoke, “Come” that I raced into his embrace. I knew the presence of the risen Christ, forgiving and loving me, in a way I could never, had never, and have never known it again. Yet, of all the readings and studying and learning about Christianity I have done, this one experience is the certainty on which my belief in the resurrection rests. I do not know how, but I know it to be so.
Paul shared his certainty in the resurrection with us, but went even further. Not only is Christ risen, but we will all be risen in Christ as well. This is the belief with which I spoke with certainty to my grandson about his mother’s resurrection. This is the certainty with which Paul wrote to the church in Corinth.
How can this be? Well, Paul uses an ancient belief, that humans were once divine and then fell into sinfulness as the example for us. If the actions of one he named Adam can result in the fall into sinfulness as all human beings, how much more likely is it that the resurrection of one, Jesus, Son of God, can result in the resurrection of us all? Genesis 1-3 reminds us of the fall into sinfulness. The Easter gospel reminds us of the resurrection of Jesus. Our destiny is defined by both, not only by one.
I have written before about my own sinfulness and admitted that sometimes my attitudes are not as God would wish. I also can rest on the forgiveness of God through Jesus ― my vision and experience of Jesus affirms that for me. Through my sinfulness I “die”, and through God’s forgiveness and Jesus’ resurrection, I live.
How assured are you of your destiny in faith? Have you thought much about what brings you toward sin and what moves you back into relationship with God? This day of all Christian days, we can celebrate the certainty that we are forgiven, redeemed, and undeniably connected to the salvation of being in Christ. Easter is the good news of all the Christian faith. Through the resurrection of Jesus, we have the hope, no the certainty, that the resurrection is also for us. Death had been defeated for all time.
Have you ever been at the bedside of one who is actively dying? There are machines, people, prayer, and grief. There is the essence of the living person struggling either to live or to die. You can, if you are intuitive, feel the presence, the spirit, the essence of the person who is lying in bed awaiting death. I have sat at many such bedsides. I can feel the pain of the relatives in the room. Sometimes I can feel the pain of the person who is dying. I can sometimes even feel the presence of God as I anoint the dying and pray for and with that person and those they leave behind. As the person moves into death, takes perhaps a last gasping breath, or simply ceases to breathe, there is, in the room, a difference. Before machines beep and people are visibly aware, sometimes there is simply a shift in the energy, the soul of the person leaves them, leaves us, and moves on to God. This is a resurrection moment, a moment when death is defeated, not by the body, but by the soul, by the spirit which has gone home. It is a profound moment and a profound experience for a pastor to feel and know the soul lives on with God, not with the body. I am not sure anyone who has not experienced this, and even those of us who have, can describe it well. Yet, I know it to be so. Death had been defeated. Resurrection came. That is the message of Easter. Our future, as Christ followers, as disciples of Jesus, is life, not death. All life has within it the possibility of resurrection. Death has been conquered.
Martin Luther said, “Our Lord Jesus has written the promise of the resurrection, not in the books alone but in every leaf of springtime.” This is the message for us at Easter. Resurrection comes! God and God’s love wins! We are both redeemed in the here and now, and into the future into an eternal future that, without Easter, we could not imagine. We are undeniably linked to Christ through our faith in him, through our emulation of him in our everyday lives, and finally in our resurrection through the door he has opened for us. May we know that joy this day and in all the days yet to come. We are Easter people. We are resurrection people. We live! Amen.
Several times this week I have revised this sermon message, wanting to incorporate the emotions of this Holy Week, to understand the last week as a journey with Jesus and the disciples. The joy and triumph of Palm Sunday quickly seems to move into the intimacy of Maundy Thursday with its meal shared among friends, the servant leader Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, and the breaking of bread and sharing of cup. We then quickly move to the pain and suffering of Good Friday, of the betrayal, arrest, torture, crucifixion, and death. And then it was Saturday.
All day Saturday, I wondered how the disciples spent their day. They were in the in-between time, the time between the loss of their beloved friend and teacher, and their true understanding of Christ’s return in three days. They must have been sad. They must have been looking back at the last years wondering if they could have done something to prevent the crucifixion, wondering if this was truly God’s plan, and wondering about that Passover meal and the prayers they could have, and perhaps should have, said in the garden that night.
Reverend Doctor Mark Miller, who served as the transitional interim minister of the Pacific Northwest Conference of the United Church of Christ is known for saying, “Your windshield needs to be larger than your rearview mirror.” I know that the disciples didn’t have windshields and rearview mirrors, but Jesus was trying to teach them the same thing by saying to a would-be disciple, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
I wonder what Jesus thought of all the looking back the disciples were doing. And I wonder how much of it was sharing memories and how much of it was wishing for the day before, the minute before, when Jesus was still with them. I wonder if Peter wished he would have a chance to apologize, or if they were mourning Judas, his betrayal, and his loss. I wonder if they thought about arguing over who should be first and whether or not they could drink from the cup from which Jesus had drunk.
They would have celebrated the sabbath as well ― although celebrate would be a strong word. They would have prayed the Shema, Sh’ma Yis’ra’eil Adonai Eloheinu Adonai echad: Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one. Barukh sheim k’vod malkhuto l’olam va’ed: Blessed be the name of his glorious kingdom forever and ever.
It would have been difficult to praise God that day just as difficult as it is for us to praise God in times of sorrow, illness, loss, or pain. It is challenging to lift up our praise to God when we do not understand why things are going wrong in our lives or in the world. But we, just as the disciples, or maybe even more so because we know how the story ends, are called to believe in the power and presence of our God, and to praise God for all the blessing and challenges we have.
How do we explain the resurrection of Jesus? Can we? Perhaps not. Yet, the resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of our faith, of the Christian faith. If there is no resurrection, there is no Christianity. The essence of this Easter celebration is the resurrection, the conquering of death by our God. To deny this, even if we cannot explain it, is to lose the essence of what it means to be Christian, what it means to be a Jesus follower. We may never know how it happened. We may debate what it means, yet, we each believe firmly that God conquered death. That is the essence of being a Christian: Christ is risen.
You may recall from an earlier message that my eldest grandson once asked me, “How and why did Jesus die and how did he get to be alive again?” My response to him, at least about the resurrection, was that love raised Jesus from the dead. The love of God for his son and for humanity raised Jesus from the dead. It was much harder to explain to him a mere five years later why his mother died and why his prayers for her resurrection (at least so that he could see and touch her) were not answered. How do you explain to a child that his mother was, in fact, raised from the dead but not to walk on the earth, but to be with God in heaven? Complex questions that are beyond my ability to explain to a nine-year old. He is eighteen now and still has more questions than answers, including whether or not there is a God. His confusion is not solitary. He understands there is one larger and more powerful than he, but does not view God in the ways some people of faith do ― he is not a conservative and he does not believe in the puppeteer God that controls every action. He is put off by the people who proclaim he is going to heal because he does not believe in God, as they define God to him.
Rather, he asks questions about this godhead, this almighty being who created all that is and loves his children enough to let them have free will and mess the world up until it has gotten to the state it is in. He has faith that there is more to life than what he can see, touch, taste, and smell, but he hasn’t quite figured out the nature of God in his own experience. He knows love. He feels love. He knows forgiveness. He feels forgiveness. He has long theological conversations with me, but more questions than answers and I will admit, I do not have all the answers either.
Do I know the actions required of God to have raised Jesus from the dead? No, I do not. Do I believe with all my heart that Jesus is risen? Yes, I do. I do not have to be able to define it, to structure the process, to believe that the living Christ is present. I have seen and experienced his presence, heard his voice, and felt his touch. Some of you may remember when I shared the story of encountering Jesus while being guided through a meditation, as a part of the spiritual exercises of Saint Ignatius. As I was walking into the dark, dank basement I was using as a symbol for my sinfulness, I saw a light and as the light came closer a figure became clearer. I know, without a doubt in my being, that this was Jesus reaching out to me. Jesus spoke, “Come” and extended his arms to me. It wasn’t until Jesus came another step closer and again spoke, “Come” that I raced into his embrace. I knew the presence of the risen Christ, forgiving and loving me, in a way I could never, had never, and have never known it again. Yet, of all the readings and studying and learning about Christianity I have done, this one experience is the certainty on which my belief in the resurrection rests. I do not know how, but I know it to be so.
Paul shared his certainty in the resurrection with us, but went even further. Not only is Christ risen, but we will all be risen in Christ as well. This is the belief with which I spoke with certainty to my grandson about his mother’s resurrection. This is the certainty with which Paul wrote to the church in Corinth.
How can this be? Well, Paul uses an ancient belief, that humans were once divine and then fell into sinfulness as the example for us. If the actions of one he named Adam can result in the fall into sinfulness as all human beings, how much more likely is it that the resurrection of one, Jesus, Son of God, can result in the resurrection of us all? Genesis 1-3 reminds us of the fall into sinfulness. The Easter gospel reminds us of the resurrection of Jesus. Our destiny is defined by both, not only by one.
I have written before about my own sinfulness and admitted that sometimes my attitudes are not as God would wish. I also can rest on the forgiveness of God through Jesus ― my vision and experience of Jesus affirms that for me. Through my sinfulness I “die”, and through God’s forgiveness and Jesus’ resurrection, I live.
How assured are you of your destiny in faith? Have you thought much about what brings you toward sin and what moves you back into relationship with God? This day of all Christian days, we can celebrate the certainty that we are forgiven, redeemed, and undeniably connected to the salvation of being in Christ. Easter is the good news of all the Christian faith. Through the resurrection of Jesus, we have the hope, no the certainty, that the resurrection is also for us. Death had been defeated for all time.
Have you ever been at the bedside of one who is actively dying? There are machines, people, prayer, and grief. There is the essence of the living person struggling either to live or to die. You can, if you are intuitive, feel the presence, the spirit, the essence of the person who is lying in bed awaiting death. I have sat at many such bedsides. I can feel the pain of the relatives in the room. Sometimes I can feel the pain of the person who is dying. I can sometimes even feel the presence of God as I anoint the dying and pray for and with that person and those they leave behind. As the person moves into death, takes perhaps a last gasping breath, or simply ceases to breathe, there is, in the room, a difference. Before machines beep and people are visibly aware, sometimes there is simply a shift in the energy, the soul of the person leaves them, leaves us, and moves on to God. This is a resurrection moment, a moment when death is defeated, not by the body, but by the soul, by the spirit which has gone home. It is a profound moment and a profound experience for a pastor to feel and know the soul lives on with God, not with the body. I am not sure anyone who has not experienced this, and even those of us who have, can describe it well. Yet, I know it to be so. Death had been defeated. Resurrection came. That is the message of Easter. Our future, as Christ followers, as disciples of Jesus, is life, not death. All life has within it the possibility of resurrection. Death has been conquered.
Martin Luther said, “Our Lord Jesus has written the promise of the resurrection, not in the books alone but in every leaf of springtime.” This is the message for us at Easter. Resurrection comes! God and God’s love wins! We are both redeemed in the here and now, and into the future into an eternal future that, without Easter, we could not imagine. We are undeniably linked to Christ through our faith in him, through our emulation of him in our everyday lives, and finally in our resurrection through the door he has opened for us. May we know that joy this day and in all the days yet to come. We are Easter people. We are resurrection people. We live! Amen.
