UCC Church of Charlotte

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Easter Sermon 10 am service
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Sunday, April 12, 2009 11:44:03 AM
From:
Phil Hobson   
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To:
Phil Hobson 


Not Yet Understanding
John 20:1-18

Grace and Peace to you this morning.  Grace and Peace.
    
Before Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene, before the road to Emmaus, before the appearance to the disciples in the locked room, or the threefold redemption of Peter on the beach, there is this moment.  
    
An empty tomb.  And disbelieving disciples.
    
Peter and the other disciple run to see for themselves.  Peter, the impetuous one, doesn’t stop at the entrance.  He rushes into the tomb.  And the body is not there.  The other disciple, following Peter, joins him in the tomb, and sees and believes.
    
And John tells us, for as yet, they did not understand the scripture that he must rise from the dead.  And they went back to their homes.
    
There will be appearances of Jesus.  There will be Mary, called by name and knowing it is the Lord.  The disciples on the road to Emmaus, who do not know it is him until the breaking of the bread.  The fearful ones locking themselves in, unknowing of his presence until he reveals himself and speaks.  Peter asked if he loves the Lord three times, as many times as his denials.  Always God’s doing first, and then our response.  Always revelation, not discovery.
    
But for now, let us stay with disbelieving disciples and an empty tomb, and not yet understanding.
    
Those of you who are parents or teachers or coaches or mentors or pastors or spouses, how many times can you tell someone something and them not get it?  How many times did Jesus explain, whether to Peter and James and John, or to all the disciples, or to the whole crowd, what was going to happen?  How many times did he tell what God was doing in their midst?  How many times did he say what the powers that be were going to do to him, and on the third day he would rise?
    
We like to think we are better off than the disciples.  We can shake our heads at their mistakes, their backwater ways.
    
After all, we have their example to learn from.  And we have the sophistication of science and technology, the power of computers, the communication capacity to send libraries of information around the world at the press of a button.
    
Thirty years ago or so, my family bought our first home computer.  It was an Apple II+, with the special upgrade to 48k of memory.  Today, one e-mail that I receive and read and reply to on my cell phone may well be larger than they entire capacity of that first computer we had.  A cell phone smaller than the power source on that computer.
   
We have the capacity to look up information on any and every topic imaginable, and many that are unimaginable, at the push of a button.
    
We have the ability to type in a question and get answers from all over the world.
    
But do we understand this passage, and the empty tomb, any better than Peter and the other disciple?
    
In our innundation of information, with our deluge of data, with our pushbutton technology and our instant answers, do we have the capacity to sit with a troublesome passage and let it work on us?
    
It should slow us down to realize that those who were with Jesus for three years, walking with him, eating with him, healing with him, feeding the multitudes with him, they still didn’t understand.  And even when the tomb is opened, the stone rolled away, the body gone, they don’t understand what he told them so many times: God will be faithful; and I will be raised.
    
It should give us pause.  And in our pause, praise.  And in our praise, wonder.  And in our wonder, turning to God.
    
For in this moment, we learn that God is faithful beyond our reason.
    
God is able, beyond our imagination.
    
God is trustworthy, beyond our worthiness.
    
So in the midst of all the pomp and circumstance of Easter, in the midst of family gatherings and elaborate meals, in the midst of all that we have going on, let us pause.
    
And let us let this word work on us - God is faithful, Christ is risen.
    
And let us prayerfully imagine how much more we might be able to faithfully achieve, how much healing we might know, how much forgiveness we might receive and offer, how much hope we might have and share, how much good we might know and do, how much we might bless those around us, if we but trusted God to be faithful, and understood what Jesus has been saying all along - love God with all you have, all you are, all you do; and love your neighbor as yourself.  For God is faithful.
    
Thanks be to God.
    
Amen.