"Encountering the Unexpected," Easter Sermon, April 16, 2017
Community United
Methodist Church, Quincy
“Encountering the
Unexpected”
Easter Sunday, April
16, 2017
Pastor Andrew Davis
John 20: 1-18
Happy
Easter!! I don’t think we can say it
enough; Christ IS Risen!! HE IS RISEN
INDEED, ALLELUIA!! While we might be
enjoying the chocolates, sweet treats, and other goodies we may have sworn off
during the forty days of Lent, something special has been happening during that
time that has led up to this moment today.
During these last Forty Days, we have journeyed with Jesus through the
wilderness of Lent, journeyed with him into Jerusalem, then journeyed with him to
the cross. While Good Friday is a day of
darkness and while it may also feel that all hope died along with Jesus on that
afternoon, we had to go through it so that we can come to the empty tomb and
see that Jesus is indeed the resurrection and the life, as he is not there. He’s no longer dead, but he lives just as he
promised, whether we expected it or not!!
Christ is Risen!! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!
For
the longest time, it took me quite awhile to fully appreciate the significance
of Easter. In fact, these last five
years is where I have really come to appreciate Easter even more, as it is the
hope and joy of this day that makes me feel as if the world is alive once again,
but also feel a sense of new energy and renewed faith each time Easter rolls
around. And after this long and
sometimes unforgiving winter that we have experienced here in the Sierras, I
think all of us are ready to see the new life that’s starting to appear around
us, thanks to all of this rain and snow, which has surpassed the levels from
1982-83. While things were lay cold,
sometimes gloomy, and dormant during the winter, I always look forward to those
first hints of warmth in the air, the longer days, and seeing all the flowers
and trees in full bloom. I’m not sure
our allergies like it too much for us with allergies, but it is a wonderful
sight that lifts the spirits when we are in the midst of so much beauty around
us here in Plumas County. Even while driving
through the Sierra Valley to Reno a couple weeks ago, I couldn’t help but
notice how many calves are out in the pastures, plus think I saw a couple lambs
across the street from the high school when I was walking the bike trail one
day. And as you were on your way to
worship here this morning, have you had a chance to look around you and see the
new life that is happening, even amidst the lingering winter weather? Have you been listening to the sound of
nature’s symphony ranging from the frogs at night to the birds in the morning
and during the day? In some ways, going
through winter has been like going through Good Friday, in which all the trees
and grasses appear lifeless until Spring when the world comes alive once
again. And each Spring when I’m out
hiking or walking, I always encounter something unexpected along the way in one
way or another, usually something wonderful or awe-inspiring.
As
we just heard in John’s account of Jesus’s resurrection, I invite us to imagine
putting ourselves in the shoes of Mary Magdalene on that early morning after
the world went dark after the gruesome way that Jesus died on the cross. Even though it was early on Sunday morning,
Mary Magdalene expected to come to the tomb to weep and grieve the loss of her
teacher, savior, and friend. Mary
Magdalene, Jesus’s mother Mary, the Beloved Disciple, and Jesus’s sister were
among the few to remain with Jesus as he died on the cross, while the other
disciples ran away in fear. Yet when she
arrives at the tomb, Mary Magdalene encounters the jarring sight of the stone
being rolled away, not sure what to make of it.
Could Jesus’s body been stolen, or moved to another burial site? Mary’s encounter with the unexpected is
startling and could easily lead to jumping to conclusions, so she goes to get a
second opinion, running to get Simon Peter and the unnamed, Beloved Disciple
who are equally as puzzled and jarred as she is when they arrive at the empty
tomb. But it takes looking inside the
empty tomb to defy their expectations; instead of finding a corpse, they find
the grave clothes folded and rolled up neatly.
There is nothing in that tomb except the folded linens, at least until
the angels, then the risen Jesus appear to Mary after the two disciples leave.
However,
the Beloved Disciple gets it, as he believes from what Jesus taught earlier, in
which Jesus would have to die in order to be resurrected, the same notion of going
through Good Friday to get to Easter. We
may not like it, but going through Good Friday is something the disciples had
to experience in order to encounter this unexpected sight of the empty tomb, as
they too would ultimately encounter the resurrected Jesus amidst their running
away in fear. At the same time, Jesus
will remind Mary not to hold on to him, as he is telling her that this is a new
day, or like the Fleetwood Mack song goes, “yesterday’s gone, yesterday’s
gone.” Letting go of what was is part of living into the resurrection and new
life. But as Jesus reminded Mary
Magdalene, will remind the disciples, and remind us, believing in the
resurrection and new life has that kind of power to transform each of us in
exciting ways, sometimes in unexpected ways.
Sometimes encountering the
unexpected requires us to go through something we don’t like in order to
experience something new, much like going through Good Friday to get to Easter,
or letting go of and not holding onto something forever even though some things
are not meant to last forever. Sometimes
we have customs and traditions that have run their course, yet we want to hold
onto them as long as we can, but then when something happens such as the loss
of a family member or someone near and dear moving away, or even simple
changes, it can rock our world. While we
might mourn and grieve the loss of traditions and customs like Tevye in the
musical “Fiddler on the Roof” or family patriarch, Sam Krichinsky in the 1990
film “Avalon,” there is always something new that is possible that can happen
when we let go, even when it is unexpected.
Sometimes, we have to die to
an old way of life and let go so that we can experience a new sense of self and
live our lives to their fullest. And
along the way of that journey we may have various encounters with the
unexpected, as sometimes those encounters can be life changing and transforming. In his book, Renegade Gospel, Rev. Mike Slaughter at Ginghamsburg UMC in Tipp
City, OH writes that
Resurrection faith
begins with a renewed way of thinking.
Before you can be raised to a new level of life, you have to die to old
ways of thinking. You have to have new
life pictures! This means releasing past
assumptions, feelings, and practices.
Resurrection thinking affects every area of our lives. From our relationships to the way we think
about the stewardship of time and financial resources, we must die to old
patterns of thinking and be raised to the new.[i]
Mary
sure did not expect to have the encounter that she did with the risen Jesus, as
she thought he was someone else until he called her by name. But when she did encounter this unexpected
sight of seeing Jesus again, risen from the dead, her instinct is to hold onto
him in which he tells her not to, as he has yet to ascend to God, who is also
our God. Yet she would never be the same
after that. Hopelessness and despair gave
way to hope and joy. And that is part of
why we sometimes need to die to old ways, because in order to experience the
same joy and the same hope that Mary did on that morning and the same joy and
hope the disciples will ultimately experience as they encounter the unexpected
when they too see the risen Jesus, we can’t always hold on to what was. Encountering the unexpected has that kind of
power, in which we can see things in a new light. By rising, Jesus is showing us that death,
despair, and hopelessness is not going to have the final say! Instead of finding her Lord dead and buried,
Mary Magdalene ultimately found hope and joy, as Jesus was risen as he had
promised earlier.[ii]
Encountering
the unexpected can be life changing for each of us, as it involves a change in
perspective. Professor Karoline Lewis
explains that
[Mary Magdalene’s] first-person sermon
suggests that she has confidence in her words and now in her true identity
because in calling Jesus “Rabbouni” she views herself as a disciple. This is
perhaps the oft-overlooked promise of the resurrection -- it alters your
perspective on your identity, who God wants you to be in
the world, toward what God is calling you to do. All of a sudden you start to
trust that who God said you were all this time might actually be true; that God
might have something in mind for you that you have not allowed yourself to
believe.[iii]
Encountering the
unexpected can help us see ourselves differently, which is wonderful and
sometimes scary. However,
encountering the unexpected can be a place where we can have some of our most
profound encounters with God just like Mary Magdalene did with the risen
Christ. Look at the way Jesus sends Mary out to
tell the rest of the disciples the Good News, that he has risen from the dead,
and look at how she tells the disciples everything that she saw. We see a contrast of emotions in John’s
account of the resurrection that begins with weeping, with despair, and
hopelessness that turns to unbounded joy and excitement when Mary
Magdalene encounters the risen Christ. She
is never the same and the disciples won’t be either when they encounter the
risen Jesus in the days that are ahead.
So, what is it that we
expect to encounter on Easter that may be unexpected? For me, while I may know the story and know
what’s going to happen each year, I try to do so as if I’m hearing the story for
the first time and trying to ask myself what resurrection means for me
personally. At the same time, I also
think about how to live more fully, enjoy life, and how to have a new sense of
life when I think about what Jesus’s resurrection means to me. And I’m sure each of you may have similar, or
even different experiences with how each of you approach and encounter the
story too. And, this may even be the
first time hearing it too, which is so awesome because this is a huge part of
our faith as Christians and followers of Jesus!!! Perhaps hearing this story might be a way of
encountering the unexpected.
Even though I sometimes struggled
with my faith for a time in my younger adult life and even had a
love-hate/hate-love relationship with organized religion (which I admit that I still
sometimes have), I know that I sure didn’t plan on moving to Washintgon, DC for
seminary, nor planned to be a pastor of a church (although I think many of my
colleagues could say they didn’t plan to either). I didn’t expect to meet what have become some
of my closest friends while in seminary either.
And I definitely did not expect to come to a great church like this, in
a such a beautiful place. Sometimes when
we encounter the unexpected, God works through us in ways we would never think
was ever possible. But just like Jesus’s
resurrection and the encounters with the risen Jesus, nothing is impossible!! But it does take an ounce of faith and
belief, trusting in God’s promises.
And
each of you has a story too, as all of us have encountered the unexpected in
one way or another. There may be
unexpected ways that you have encountered God, or someone who may have been
God’s voice speaking to you, almost like the encounter Mary Magdalene and
disciples had with the risen Christ. But
you know what? We too can still
encounter the resurrected Jesus in our own lives today, as each of us are his
hands and feet through our words and our actions when we roll up our sleeves
and fully live into our faith, as we are here to support each other whether we
are beginning the journey, or if we’ve been on it for a long time now.
But sometimes, it takes an
encounter with the unexpected, a small ounce of faith, and belief to totally
transform who we are; and as a result, we will never be the same when we
encounter the unexpected and risen Jesus just like when the Beloved Disciple and
Mary Magdalene had their AHA! moments at the empty tomb. Rev. Mike Slaughter further explains in Renegade Gospel that
An
encounter with the resurrected Jesus, however, doesn’t just transform the way
we view ourselves; it causes us to see others in a new light. The poor are no longer lazy, ignorant, or
simply unlucky; they are the people God loves, so much so that more than two
thousand scriptures are dedicated to justice for the vulnerable and poor, the
widow, and orphan. God teaches us to
love ourselves and love others as ourselves; the resurrected Jesus reveals that
it truly is more blessed to give than to receive, that ultimately the measure
of our lives will be based on whatever we do for the least and the lost. Jesus even redefines enemy, not as someone to hate but as someone worth praying for, an
individual of sacred worth and God-potential.
Our encounters with the resurrected Jesus give us new eyes and a new
resurrection worldview…the impossible becomes possible.[iv]
That’s
the Good News about living into the resurrection and encountering the
unexpected, as we get a new sense of self, but also new eyes to view everyone
in the world just like Mary Magdalene and the Beloved Disciple did when they
saw and when they believed. Mary was
never the same, so as each of us experiences the resurrected Jesus in our own
way, let’s remember that encountering the unexpected can change and transform
us and how we see others. I feel the
power of resurrection within this very church right now, as we are arising to
the many possibilities of how we can help our community and grow in spirit;
whether through our work at C.A.N. (Community Assistance Network), PCIRC
(Plumas County Intervention and Resource Center), Sierra House, discerning new
outreach ministries to Ohana House, exploring ways to reach out to the new
housing for Feather River College, resurrecting our Sunday School program so
that we can better serve families in our neighborhood and surrounding
communities, or the installation of our new lift which will make it easier for
people to enter this beautiful sanctuary for worship. We are trusting God’s promises as all of this
happen and we are seeing how anything is possible in living into new life as a
community of faith.
As we think about ways we
can better help our community and reach outside of the walls and share the Good
News of the resurrected Jesus with others just like Mary did with the disciple,
each of us can be personally transformed in the new relationships that we can
cultivate, and even encounter the unexpected in seeing some of the gifts we may
not have realized we had before, but it takes an ounce of faith, even a small
ounce and belief in what is possible, as Jesus as showed Mary Magdalene, the
disciples, and us that ANYTHING is possible through him and trusting in God’s
promises.
As
we begin this new journey of resurrection and keep the celebration of Easter
going this week and in the coming weeks, what are some of the unexpected things
that have happened when you have encountered the risen Jesus? What are some unexpected ways that you have
received Good News, or some unexpected Good News that you have received? At the same time, what are things you might
be hanging onto that you need to let go of so that you can fully experience new
life and resurrection on your own journey of faith? Let us think of all the possibilities that
are out there as we go and share the Good News with everyone and anytime that
we encounter the unexpected. Christ is
Risen: HE IS RISEN INDEED, ALLELUIA!
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, let the church say, AMEN.
[i]
Mike Slaughter, Renegade Gospel: The
Rebel Jesus (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2014), 123-24.
[ii]
Ministries, Discipleship. 2017. "Easter Sunday — Preaching
Notes - Umcdiscipleship.Org". Umcdiscipleship.Org. Accessed
April 13 2017.
https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/easter-sunday-2017-preaching-notes.
[iii]
Lewis, Karoline, and Karoline Lewis. 2017. "Not Proof
But Perspective By Karoline Lewis - Craft Of Preaching - Working
Preacher". Workingpreacher.Org.
Accessed April 13 2017. http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=4859.
[iv]
Slaughter, 135-36.
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