Easter 2009
Jesus Came Alive!
Rev. Vickie Miller
There was a child in a Sunday school class, Jeremy. Jeremy was not your typical child. He had a terminal illness which affected both his body and his mind.
Still, his parents had tried to give him as normal a life as possible and regularly took him to church. The Sunday school teacher noticed that at the age of 12, Jeremy was the only one in his class who had difficulty learning and did not seem to understand. It was frustrating having a child like Jeremy in his class and somewhat disruptive to the other students.
Springtime came, and the children talked excitedly about the coming of Easter. Their teacher told them the story of Jesus, and then to emphasize the idea of new life, he gave each of the children a large plastic egg with this assignment: "I want you to take this home and bring it back next week with something inside that shows new life. Do you understand?"
All the children responded enthusiastically, "Yes, Mr. Johnson!" All of them, that is, except for Jeremy. He just listened carefully, his eyes never leaving the teacher’s face. Had he understood what he had said about Jesus’ death and resurrection? Did he understand the assignment? The teacher thought perhaps he should call his parents and explain the project to them, but he got busy and forgot.
The next Sunday, 19 children came to class, laughing and excited as they placed their eggs in a large wicker basket on Mr. Johnson’s desk. In the first egg, Mr. Johnson found a flower. He said, "Oh yes, a flower is certainly a sign of new life. When plants peek through the ground, we know that spring is here."
A small girl in the first row waved her arms. "That’s my egg, Mr. Johnson.”
The next egg contained a plastic butterfly. The teacher held it up. He said, "We all know that a caterpillar changes and grows into a beautiful butterfly. Yes, that is new life, too." Dillon smiled proudly and said, "That one is mine!"
Next, the teacher found a rock with moss on it. He explained that moss, too, showed life. Billy spoke up from the back of the classroom. "My daddy helped me!"
Then the teacher opened the fourth egg. But the egg was empty! Surely it must be Jeremy’s, he thought, and, obviously, he didn’t understand his instructions. If only he hadn’t forgotten to phone his parents. Because he did not want to embarrass him, he quietly set the egg aside and reached for another. Suddenly Jeremy spoke up. "Mr. Johnson, aren’t you going to talk about my egg?" A bit flustered, the teacher said, "But Jeremy -- your egg is empty." Jeremy, looked into his eyes and said softly, "Yes, but Jesus’ tomb was empty, too!"
An empty tomb – the first sign of new life.
I. In our Gospel reading today, Mary encounters an empty tomb. Like the empty Easter egg, this observer of the empty tomb did not know what to do with it either. What an exciting Gospel story this is. This story captures the awe, the confusion, the mental quandary these people were in after discovering an empty tomb. The atmosphere is tense and abrupt, and everyone seems to be running.
I see this story in three acts. First, early in the morning Mary comes to the tomb. Who knows if she’d had any sleep the night before. All she knows is that she must be near the body of Jesus. When she arrives and looks, surely she must be thinking, “Are my eyes playing tricks on me? It appears that the stone has been removed.”
As Mary gets closer and discovers that, yes, it’s true, the stone is gone and the body of this one she loved so much, is not there. Can you imagine the shock?
My goodness, what does this mean? Surely, someone must have stolen Jesus’ body. So in a frantic Mary leaves, I am sure in a hurry, to find the disciples.
Having found Simon Peter and the other disciples, Mary tells them the upsetting news. So Peter and John run full force to see for themselves.
It reminds of the little girl who was dressed up in her Easter dress and was excitedly headed off to church down the street. She knew the Easter egg hunt was happening that day, and she did not want to miss it. However, she was afraid of being late and so she starting running. Dressed in her new black patent shoes, white stockings and Easter dress, she begins running and praying, “God, don’t let me be late. God don’t let me be late.” The poor thing trips and falls, scuffing her new shoes, soiling her new dress, hat goes flying. After picking herself up, gathering her things and wiping off her dress, she looks up to the sky and says, “God, I said, please don’t let me be late. But please don’t shove me either!”
II. The scripture tells us that the other disciple outran Peter and got there first. Maybe God shoved Peter too and he fell or maybe he just wasn’t as athletic as John.
Nevertheless, the disciples see this empty tomb for themselves and that Jesus is not there. The story takes us to Act 3. Mary now returns to the tomb. She is there alone, still trying to make sense of this empty tomb. As she is weeping she tells two angels that they have taken away her Lord and she does not know where.
And then it happened. She turned around and saw Jesus. She sees Jesus!
Unfortunately, she thinks he’s the gardener and she starts interrogating him. If you have done it, if you’ve taken my Jesus, please tell me.”
II. There is a true story about a man named Shirl Jennings, born in 1946. At the age of three, Shirl contracted meningitis, polio and cat scratch fever all at the same time and as a result became blind. Mr. Jennings was blind for 45 years, and then in 1991 he underwent newly discovered operations to restore his sight.
After the surgery and many long, anticipated days of healing, the bandages were slowly removed from his eyes. At first, it wasn’t the miracle they had hoped for. Doctors discovered, that though Shirl could see light and images and colors with his physical eyes, his brain could not comprehend them. His brain had stopped processing sight. Airplanes flying at 30,000 feet seemed to skim just over his head. They showed him an apple and an orange. At first, Shirl could not tell them apart. He had to pick them up. He had to feel them. He wanted to smell them. Faces were just blurs to him until they spoke.
III. “Mary,” says Jesus and then she knew. Mary knew. Then she saw Jesus, not just with her eyes but with her heart! Jesus came alive! Like Shirl Jennings who wanted to touch the apple and the orange, to make sure that they were what he thought they were, Jesus had to tell Mary, “Do not hold on to me. It is me. I am alive. Go and tell the others.” And Mary went and said, “I have seen the Lord.”
IV. Have you seen him? Have you seen Jesus?
We have been looking for this Jesus the whole season of Lent. In our preaching series Jesus Came…we have explored Jesus fully.
We discovered how Jesus came to take up the cross, not only at Golgotha but to live a passionate life.
Jesus came to show God’s compassion, moved by the world’s pain, hunger & loneliness
Jesus came to bring salvation, to heal what is wounded.
Jesus came to repair the world, to stand up for injustice when he saw it, even clearing the Temple.
Jesus came to experience humanity by emptying himself of divinity in order to relate to others.
During Lent, it was the historical Jesus that we explored, the flesh and blood, human Jesus that Mary and the disciples knew.
Today we worship a different Jesus. Jesus Came Alive! Jesus is here today.
Can you see him?
Unfortunately, we don’t have the benefit of seeing the empty tomb. We don’t feel and touch the physical risen Christ the way that Mary. But that’s okay.
Because today we have an Easter Jesus, a new spiritual reality – not a flesh and blood Jesus, not a Jesus limited by time and space, not a Jesus vulnerable to humans attempts to eliminate him.
Jesus came alive and we can see him.
Shirl Jennings said something very, very enlightening.
“I don’t think we really see with our eyes.”
“I don’t think we really see with our eyes.”
VI. Jesus Came Alive! Can you see him?
Can you see and feel him in your heart? Can you see Jesus in the signs of new life all around us? Can you see Jesus in others you encounter? Can you see Jesus in the world?
Yes, I can see Jesus. I can see Jesus alive in the Dominican Republic in the new church plant there and in Maria who told me when I was there two years ago…if we could have a church here it would be a dream come true.
Yes, I can see Jesus. Jesus is alive. Can you see him? Jesus is alive in Pakistan with a small group of lesbians, who have escaped arranged marriages and despite the threat of the death penalty, have reached out to MCC and are being resurrected today with hope.
I can see Jesus. Jesus is alive. Can you see him? Jesus is alive in Eastern Europe in a small group of Christians in Moldava and Romania in a group of Christians who marched in their first ever pride march and have been changed forever because of it..
I can see Jesus. Jesus is alive. Can you see him? Jesus is alive in Africa in the House of Rainbow in Nigeria. Jesus is alive in Zimbabwe, where MCC’ers provide food and medicines for Mother of Peace orphanage for 300 children infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.
I can see Jesus. Jesus is alive. Can you see him? Jesus is alive in Jamaica, even in a country rated as the most homophobic in the world. As once a month Jamaican MCC’ers stuff themselves into cars and vans and buses to travel 2-3 hours to courageously worship together, Jesus comes alive!
I can see Jesus. Jesus is alive. Can you see him? For me, Jesus is alive in the United States this week – in Vermont and Iowa and Washington D.C.
I can see Jesus. Jesus is alive. Can you see him? Jesus is alive at Trinity MCC. I walked the land last Saturday after every one had left. I cleared out the cobwebs on the path for you if anyone wants to take a walk. And on my walk here I felt that Jesus is alive here. In the new growth in the ground, in the beauty of the trees, in the warmth of the hospitality you have shown Carol and I and in the ways I see you learning to come together and trust your future.
Jesus is alive. What about in you? Can you see him?
Lutheran minister, Brian Stoffregen says:
“It can be easy to ‘see’ the risen Christ
In a packed Easter Sunday worship service,
or perhaps even in a sunrise or the spring flowers blooming;
But where is the risen Jesus when the people return home
---to the drudgery of the same old things?
The risen Christ has gone there ahead of them. They will see him.”
VI. Shirl Jennings came home one day after being out exploring the world. After many months of trying to see, he said to his wife,
“I saw the horizon today. It’s beautiful. Even though I might not be able to touch it, I know that it’s out there.”
That is the real miracle of Easter.
Jesus, we know you are out there.
This risen Christ can be experienced anywhere and everywhere…around the world or simply waiting for us in our own homes when we get there.
Jesus came alive. Can you see him? Yes we can.
Let us celebrate Christ who is risen today! Amen.
