WEBVTT 00:00:00.650 --> 00:00:03.169 Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons, 00:00:03.270 --> 00:00:06.209 a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg. 00:00:06.870 --> 00:00:08.750 It's our hope that these sermons will draw you 00:00:08.750 --> 00:00:11.169 more into the life of following God, Father, 00:00:11.310 --> 00:00:14.150 Son and Holy Spirit. Please consider coming and 00:00:14.150 --> 00:00:16.469 joining with us each Sunday morning at 10am in 00:00:16.469 --> 00:00:18.809 the heart of Midtown Harrisburg. You can find 00:00:18.809 --> 00:00:22.329 us online at SecondCityChurch .org and on Facebook, 00:00:22.629 --> 00:00:25.030 Instagram and YouTube. We hope you enjoy this 00:00:25.030 --> 00:00:33.140 sermon. God Bless. Great God, we pray again that 00:00:33.140 --> 00:00:36.840 you would stir in our hearts the wonder of your 00:00:36.840 --> 00:00:43.119 resurrection, the wonder of life in the kingdom 00:00:43.119 --> 00:00:47.659 where death cannot hold you down. God, I pray 00:00:47.659 --> 00:00:50.259 that you would speak to us again this morning, 00:00:50.780 --> 00:00:54.659 that you would speak to us specifically, or that 00:00:54.659 --> 00:00:57.560 you would call us to greater life and to greater 00:00:57.560 --> 00:01:05.219 faith in you. We ask in your name. Amen. Now, 00:01:05.480 --> 00:01:09.540 I will admit that I actually intended a longer 00:01:09.540 --> 00:01:12.640 text there. I'm going to be focusing our attention 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:15.480 on three of the narratives in the Gospel of John 00:01:15.480 --> 00:01:18.299 this morning. But I want to tell you a story 00:01:18.299 --> 00:01:20.040 that you've probably heard before, at least you've 00:01:20.040 --> 00:01:24.620 heard the gist of it. On Saturday, June 17th 00:01:24.620 --> 00:01:29.310 in 1972, Five men were arrested and they arrested 00:01:29.310 --> 00:01:32.370 for breaking into the Democratic National Committee 00:01:32.370 --> 00:01:34.189 headquarters. You've probably heard of this. 00:01:34.650 --> 00:01:37.349 The security guard at the office complex had 00:01:37.349 --> 00:01:39.629 noticed that there was tape that was covering 00:01:39.629 --> 00:01:42.730 the door. You know how you can do this? You can 00:01:42.730 --> 00:01:45.069 cover it so that when it shuts, it doesn't really 00:01:45.069 --> 00:01:47.670 lock. And so he had noticed that and he'd actually 00:01:47.670 --> 00:01:49.629 taken off. He said, that's weird. And then he 00:01:49.629 --> 00:01:53.170 went back and he found that there was tape on 00:01:53.170 --> 00:01:56.180 again. And he said, well, something's fishy. 00:01:56.280 --> 00:01:58.920 And so he called the police and an unmarked police 00:01:58.920 --> 00:02:04.040 car arrived. And while the burglars, the burglars 00:02:04.040 --> 00:02:06.439 sentry across the street, they were distracted 00:02:06.439 --> 00:02:10.159 by watching TV. That's when the car arrived. 00:02:10.319 --> 00:02:12.240 Well, the five men were arrested and they were 00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:15.099 arrested for conspiracy, right? Burglary, attempted 00:02:15.099 --> 00:02:18.919 wiretapping. Y 'all know the story. That wasn't 00:02:18.919 --> 00:02:22.960 the big story. The real scandal happened when 00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:25.300 the president of the United States, Richard Nixon, 00:02:25.340 --> 00:02:27.860 and his committee to reelect him was found to 00:02:27.860 --> 00:02:31.439 be behind it all. Scandal and deception, right? 00:02:32.020 --> 00:02:34.300 Lies. It's the stuff of actually, it's the stuff 00:02:34.300 --> 00:02:36.939 of the great stories and the great movies. Things 00:02:36.939 --> 00:02:39.300 that kind of draw us in wondering what's going 00:02:39.300 --> 00:02:43.659 on and who done it? Who's at fault? Of course, 00:02:43.680 --> 00:02:46.280 what's that known as? That's the known as Watergate, 00:02:46.520 --> 00:02:48.930 right? Those buildings are still there, standing 00:02:48.930 --> 00:02:50.870 there. I've pointed them out and told the story 00:02:50.870 --> 00:02:54.550 to my children. One of the president's men was 00:02:54.550 --> 00:02:58.509 known as the Hatchet Man. One of the president's 00:02:58.509 --> 00:03:02.669 men was Charles Coulson. He was one of the Watergate 00:03:02.669 --> 00:03:05.689 Seven, the seven men who were advisors to the 00:03:05.689 --> 00:03:08.650 president, who were part of the cover -up story, 00:03:08.949 --> 00:03:11.909 part of the scandal. And you probably know that 00:03:11.909 --> 00:03:13.849 he became a Christian. He actually became a Christian 00:03:13.849 --> 00:03:16.710 reading C .S. Lewis, his book, Mere Christianity. 00:03:17.840 --> 00:03:20.020 And he was eventually put in prison for a little 00:03:20.020 --> 00:03:23.120 while, and then he started a wonderful ministry 00:03:23.120 --> 00:03:25.180 called Prison Fellowship. Some of you may have 00:03:25.180 --> 00:03:27.560 been involved with that at the time. Anyway, 00:03:27.740 --> 00:03:29.460 Charles Colson talks about the resurrection like 00:03:29.460 --> 00:03:32.360 this, and I love this. He says, I know the resurrection 00:03:32.360 --> 00:03:38.680 is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. Watergate 00:03:38.680 --> 00:03:40.830 proved to him the resurrection. This is why he 00:03:40.830 --> 00:03:44.310 says, this is why. Because 12 men testified they 00:03:44.310 --> 00:03:47.009 had seen Jesus raised from the dead. Then they 00:03:47.009 --> 00:03:50.289 proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once 00:03:50.289 --> 00:03:55.189 denying it. Everyone was beaten, tortured, stoned, 00:03:55.669 --> 00:03:57.629 and put in prison. That's what happened to the 00:03:57.629 --> 00:04:01.569 disciples. The gospel, or John, you know, the... 00:04:01.580 --> 00:04:04.680 The disciple John may have lived in prison on 00:04:04.680 --> 00:04:07.300 Patmos and may have died naturally, but all the 00:04:07.300 --> 00:04:09.080 rest of the disciples were tortured and killed. 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:14.740 And he probably died in that exiled island in 00:04:14.740 --> 00:04:17.560 prison. He says, they would not have endured 00:04:17.560 --> 00:04:19.819 that if it weren't true. Watergate embroiled 00:04:19.819 --> 00:04:22.860 12 of the most powerful men in the world and 00:04:22.860 --> 00:04:28.620 they couldn't keep the lie for three weeks. Three 00:04:28.620 --> 00:04:34.089 weeks. He says, you're telling me the 12 apostles 00:04:34.089 --> 00:04:41.569 could keep alive for 40 years? Impossible. Watergate 00:04:41.569 --> 00:04:46.529 showed him the truth of the resurrection. Of 00:04:46.529 --> 00:04:49.129 course, I wonder this morning, what do you make 00:04:49.129 --> 00:04:53.250 of the resurrection? What do you make of it? 00:04:54.490 --> 00:05:01.209 I also wonder what does it make of you? Many 00:05:01.209 --> 00:05:04.410 people, many people believe the resurrection 00:05:04.410 --> 00:05:11.649 is a watergate, a scandal, a cover -up. It's 00:05:11.649 --> 00:05:14.569 a self -producing, self -reinforcing kind of 00:05:14.569 --> 00:05:17.230 lie that we just kind of live into. And so many 00:05:17.230 --> 00:05:20.470 people have been duped over the millennia about 00:05:20.470 --> 00:05:24.009 the resurrection. It's a cover -up put together 00:05:24.009 --> 00:05:28.149 by some of Jesus' disciples to dupe the Roman 00:05:28.149 --> 00:05:32.470 authorities. to say, gotcha, to the religious 00:05:32.470 --> 00:05:36.970 leaders. And people have just been believing 00:05:36.970 --> 00:05:39.829 that story time and again. That's often what's 00:05:39.829 --> 00:05:46.050 said. It's Easter, a water gate, a cover up. 00:05:46.850 --> 00:05:49.569 Is it the Easter gate, right? But I wonder what 00:05:49.569 --> 00:05:52.149 you make of it. What do you think of it? What 00:05:52.149 --> 00:05:57.170 do you think of the resurrection? I mean, it's 00:05:57.170 --> 00:05:59.389 the central thing of Christianity. Paul says, 00:05:59.430 --> 00:06:02.110 as I mentioned earlier, if it didn't happen, 00:06:02.509 --> 00:06:06.129 Christians are to be pitied, maybe laughed at, 00:06:07.189 --> 00:06:10.790 scorned. Look at all these people. They come 00:06:10.790 --> 00:06:15.029 in week in, week out, confess their sins, believe 00:06:15.029 --> 00:06:17.209 that they're truly forgiven because of the work 00:06:17.209 --> 00:06:23.660 of Christ. Is it all a big cover -up? Well, The 00:06:23.660 --> 00:06:25.319 Gospel of John gives us a few different narratives 00:06:25.319 --> 00:06:27.220 that I think kind of invite us into this kind 00:06:27.220 --> 00:06:30.639 of process. One of them, you probably know of, 00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:35.500 it's the doubting Thomas story. One of his own 00:06:35.500 --> 00:06:37.819 disciples, one of Jesus' own disciples after 00:06:37.819 --> 00:06:41.100 the resurrection. And he's wondering if it's 00:06:41.100 --> 00:06:43.839 true. And in some ways, I think actually Thomas 00:06:43.839 --> 00:06:47.180 is sort of, interacts with Jesus how we would 00:06:47.180 --> 00:06:50.600 expect. He doubts this reality of what God has 00:06:50.600 --> 00:06:54.300 done. And I think there's a little bit of this. 00:06:54.300 --> 00:06:56.439 There's a couple reasons why we think this is 00:06:56.439 --> 00:07:00.560 what we'd expect. One is that Thomas is an interesting 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:02.720 character in the Gospels. He doesn't appear too 00:07:02.720 --> 00:07:06.279 much. He's not like the Apostle Peter or John 00:07:06.279 --> 00:07:07.860 or James. They get a lot of attention. Thomas 00:07:07.860 --> 00:07:11.259 doesn't get a lot of attention. But at one point 00:07:11.259 --> 00:07:15.079 in John chapter 11, he basically says, well, 00:07:15.079 --> 00:07:20.279 if we're going to go with Jesus, let's die. Maybe 00:07:20.279 --> 00:07:25.170 he's kind of a dour guy. Chapter 14, he basically 00:07:25.170 --> 00:07:30.189 tells Jesus, Lord, your teaching's not very clear. 00:07:31.610 --> 00:07:33.930 Which, you know, that's true sometimes. Sometimes 00:07:33.930 --> 00:07:37.350 you're kind of wondering what's going on. But 00:07:37.350 --> 00:07:41.310 on the first Easter, all the disciples are gathered 00:07:41.310 --> 00:07:44.629 together in a room and that door is locked and 00:07:44.629 --> 00:07:47.769 Thomas isn't there. And in some ways, at least 00:07:47.769 --> 00:07:49.449 first when Jesus appears to them. And in some 00:07:49.449 --> 00:07:52.629 ways that's maybe not a big surprise because 00:07:53.399 --> 00:07:55.939 because of his own kind of history, but also 00:07:55.939 --> 00:08:00.959 because he understands what we understand. Maybe 00:08:00.959 --> 00:08:02.759 he had thought to throw in the whole towel and 00:08:02.759 --> 00:08:04.720 the whole thing. Maybe he had actually seen Jesus' 00:08:05.060 --> 00:08:09.319 hands nailed to the cross. He had seen him breathe 00:08:09.319 --> 00:08:15.959 his last, all that kind of stuff. Maybe he knew 00:08:15.959 --> 00:08:20.610 what you and I know. Which is not new to sort 00:08:20.610 --> 00:08:24.230 of modern science that once people breathe their 00:08:24.230 --> 00:08:28.310 last they don't breathe again When you die you 00:08:28.310 --> 00:08:35.470 die In the gospel of John there are some that 00:08:35.470 --> 00:08:38.909 are simply sort of hostile to Jesus You can think 00:08:38.909 --> 00:08:41.889 of the religious leaders who plot to kill him, 00:08:41.889 --> 00:08:45.509 right? You can think of the the crowds that we 00:08:45.509 --> 00:08:50.690 remembered last Sunday who shout, Hosanna, and 00:08:50.690 --> 00:08:52.889 then on Good Friday, they're saying, crucify 00:08:52.889 --> 00:08:58.110 him. Do away with him. There are a lot of people 00:08:58.110 --> 00:09:01.610 who just misunderstand Jesus. You know, again, 00:09:01.649 --> 00:09:03.529 think of last week, you know, the people are 00:09:03.529 --> 00:09:04.870 mixed, right? That's what I was saying last week. 00:09:04.889 --> 00:09:07.169 They're throwing these palms and these cloaks 00:09:07.169 --> 00:09:09.610 down and they're thinking, okay, you're going 00:09:09.610 --> 00:09:12.309 to kind of do away with the empire, do away with 00:09:12.309 --> 00:09:14.870 the Romans. They're not quite understanding Jesus. 00:09:16.100 --> 00:09:19.200 And then there are some who believe, and then 00:09:19.200 --> 00:09:22.159 there are people, other people like Thomas, right? 00:09:22.320 --> 00:09:25.820 Initially here, at least in that story. And I 00:09:25.820 --> 00:09:28.240 want to suggest to you that maybe that's you. 00:09:28.940 --> 00:09:34.279 You're not necessarily hostile. You just kind 00:09:34.279 --> 00:09:36.340 of go, I don't know what to make of this stuff. 00:09:36.360 --> 00:09:40.220 I don't know that I kind of buy it. What do you 00:09:40.220 --> 00:09:43.039 do with a God who comes and heals people and 00:09:43.039 --> 00:09:46.240 declares the forgiveness of sins? What do you 00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:50.539 do with a God who who dies on a torture instrument 00:09:50.539 --> 00:09:55.179 and Christians celebrate that? What do you do 00:09:55.179 --> 00:09:59.519 with the God who comes and liberates? What do 00:09:59.519 --> 00:10:01.600 you do with the God who rises from the dead? 00:10:02.460 --> 00:10:04.820 Right. I mean some at least you may be scratching 00:10:04.820 --> 00:10:06.740 your head and you're wondering I don't know what's 00:10:06.740 --> 00:10:11.179 going on here Thomas I'm suggesting to you in 00:10:11.179 --> 00:10:13.559 some ways is who we expect him to be but it's 00:10:13.419 --> 00:10:15.600 Who we expect him to be because it's the case 00:10:15.600 --> 00:10:19.220 for so many. No doubt it's the case for some 00:10:19.220 --> 00:10:21.759 of you this morning. That you hear the story 00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:23.860 of Thomas and his doubting of whether or not 00:10:23.860 --> 00:10:26.039 Jesus rose from the dead and you go, yeah, I 00:10:26.039 --> 00:10:32.200 get that. Rowan Williams, who was the last, I 00:10:32.200 --> 00:10:34.820 guess two archbishops of Canterbury ago now, 00:10:34.820 --> 00:10:37.379 says, death and the hells of dereliction and 00:10:37.379 --> 00:10:40.600 abandonment eat people up. You know, like our 00:10:40.600 --> 00:10:44.029 life kind of eats us up. Broken hearts and broken 00:10:44.029 --> 00:10:47.769 relationships bodies that don't work Exhaust 00:10:47.769 --> 00:10:50.669 us they scrape us out. They bring us to nothing 00:10:50.669 --> 00:10:53.169 and it's often even in that that we kind of go 00:10:53.169 --> 00:10:56.389 there is no Hope and so we hear something like 00:10:56.389 --> 00:10:58.309 resurrection. We go. I don't know. I'm gonna 00:10:58.309 --> 00:11:04.570 have to see some of that If I buy that We live 00:11:04.570 --> 00:11:09.129 lives of death and loss we live lives where our 00:11:09.129 --> 00:11:13.429 minds are often confused Where sin persists where 00:11:13.429 --> 00:11:16.669 death really does seem to run rampant and resurrection 00:11:16.669 --> 00:11:21.450 real resurrection life is just Too much to buy 00:11:21.450 --> 00:11:26.470 into maybe too much to believe So again, I just 00:11:26.470 --> 00:11:27.669 want to ask this morning do you think of the 00:11:27.669 --> 00:11:31.289 resurrection is just kind of this fanciful story 00:11:31.289 --> 00:11:37.230 Maybe a cover -up for something else maybe like 00:11:37.230 --> 00:11:42.480 some people say it was a hallucination It was 00:11:42.480 --> 00:11:47.000 Jesus raising in their hearts so they could feel 00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:52.840 good about stuff. Now the claim of Christianity, 00:11:53.000 --> 00:11:55.759 the claim of the scriptures is that God truly 00:11:55.759 --> 00:12:01.080 rose. Real life, body. So what you have in the 00:12:01.080 --> 00:12:05.879 story of Thomas is, is Jesus meeting him in that 00:12:05.879 --> 00:12:09.179 place of doubt and wonder and questioning. Not 00:12:09.179 --> 00:12:11.500 shirking him off not pushing him away, but coming 00:12:11.500 --> 00:12:15.259 to him and saying here put your put your hands 00:12:15.259 --> 00:12:21.399 in my hands Place your hand in my side don't 00:12:21.399 --> 00:12:27.120 disbelieve but but believe And this morning I 00:12:27.120 --> 00:12:28.759 want to suggest you if you're kind of somebody 00:12:28.759 --> 00:12:31.019 who's like figment of the imagination Probably 00:12:31.019 --> 00:12:34.019 didn't happen. Everybody's duped Would you come 00:12:34.019 --> 00:12:38.629 to the Lord in that place? Would you Maybe invite 00:12:38.629 --> 00:12:45.470 him to say, it's true. Let Jesus draw you into 00:12:45.470 --> 00:12:48.149 a world where Good Friday's not the end of the 00:12:48.149 --> 00:12:53.049 story. Where it breaks way into Easter morning. 00:12:54.190 --> 00:12:58.490 Where the cross becomes a flowering tree. Well, 00:12:58.649 --> 00:13:00.330 another story, actually the one that precedes 00:13:00.330 --> 00:13:03.929 that in John's Gospel. is the story of the disciples, 00:13:04.049 --> 00:13:06.769 right? So the disciples are gathered and Thomas 00:13:06.769 --> 00:13:10.750 isn't there. They're gathered in this room together. 00:13:12.090 --> 00:13:14.909 And what the text tells us is that the room's 00:13:14.909 --> 00:13:22.970 locked. And why would the room be locked? I would 00:13:22.970 --> 00:13:28.769 guess that the disciples are full of fear. My 00:13:28.769 --> 00:13:31.639 guess... is that Peter told them stories. You 00:13:31.639 --> 00:13:33.480 know what? When I was following Jesus around 00:13:33.480 --> 00:13:35.500 after he got arrested, people were like, hey, 00:13:35.500 --> 00:13:40.720 you were with them. You were one of them. Your 00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:42.820 accent betrays you. You're from Galilee. I saw 00:13:42.820 --> 00:13:46.379 you with them. And they saw what happened to 00:13:46.379 --> 00:13:50.159 Christ on Good Friday, nailed to a tree. They're 00:13:50.159 --> 00:13:53.860 locking the door, right? They're locking the 00:13:53.860 --> 00:13:57.590 door. They don't want people to come in. Certainly 00:13:57.590 --> 00:14:00.409 not the people that might say you were one of 00:14:00.409 --> 00:14:05.850 his people and one of his disciples. And in comes 00:14:05.850 --> 00:14:08.470 Jesus. That's how the story goes. They got a 00:14:08.470 --> 00:14:12.450 locked door and in comes Jesus. He doesn't come 00:14:12.450 --> 00:14:16.450 in through the door. He's bodily, but this resurrection 00:14:16.450 --> 00:14:19.370 bodily is a different kind of bodily dynamic. 00:14:20.470 --> 00:14:22.750 He just appears and they can touch him. Thomas 00:14:22.750 --> 00:14:27.200 touches him. He's as real as real can be. And 00:14:27.200 --> 00:14:29.220 he comes to them in the midst of this place where 00:14:29.220 --> 00:14:31.720 the door is locked. And the first thing he tells 00:14:31.720 --> 00:14:35.799 them is peace. And he repeats it, peace, peace 00:14:35.799 --> 00:14:39.860 be with you. And they touch him again and he 00:14:39.860 --> 00:14:45.539 says, peace be with you. So the first thing that 00:14:45.539 --> 00:14:47.539 the resurrection does to this group of fearful 00:14:47.539 --> 00:14:51.139 disciples is it brings peace. It comes to a world 00:14:51.139 --> 00:14:54.460 that is The world of Thomas, right? The one who 00:14:54.460 --> 00:14:56.580 properly doubts that this kind of good news can 00:14:56.580 --> 00:15:00.639 really happen because the resurrection comes 00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:03.980 to a world that is full of death and decay and 00:15:03.980 --> 00:15:08.419 despondency and depression and despair and all 00:15:08.419 --> 00:15:14.639 of that. That's the way of this world. And it 00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:18.019 says that's no longer the order of things. That's 00:15:18.019 --> 00:15:21.120 what the resurrection does. It speaks into this 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:24.860 world that is full of understandable fear. And 00:15:24.860 --> 00:15:31.259 Jesus says, peace be with you. Jesus comes and 00:15:31.259 --> 00:15:35.340 he brings peace. And when he does, it's not just 00:15:35.340 --> 00:15:38.080 that we have to make something of the resurrection, 00:15:38.159 --> 00:15:40.120 but the resurrection made something of those 00:15:40.120 --> 00:15:44.259 disciples. It changed them. And specifically, 00:15:44.440 --> 00:15:46.480 actually in that text, it makes them into assent 00:15:46.480 --> 00:15:48.419 people because right after he gives them peace, 00:15:48.779 --> 00:15:51.259 he says, as the father sends me, I'm sending 00:15:51.259 --> 00:15:54.059 you, which is great when you're locked in a room, 00:15:54.059 --> 00:15:58.279 because what he's saying is get out, get out 00:15:58.279 --> 00:16:04.539 of this room, go, unlock the doors. He's sending 00:16:04.539 --> 00:16:08.080 them out into a Good Friday, fear -filled world 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:13.019 with an Easter hope. Get out and tell people 00:16:13.019 --> 00:16:14.919 that death is no longer the order of the day, 00:16:14.919 --> 00:16:18.960 life is. Get out, get out from your fear, from 00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:23.840 your locked up self. Nothing can hold you back. 00:16:24.600 --> 00:16:28.179 Death is no longer a real obstacle for you. All 00:16:28.179 --> 00:16:31.679 of the disciples gave their life for that truth. 00:16:32.600 --> 00:16:36.720 They went out of that room, locked up, opened 00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:40.379 door, all of it. So it was a sent people, but 00:16:40.379 --> 00:16:42.059 it also, this is an interesting thing in the 00:16:42.059 --> 00:16:45.159 text too, is that makes them a, the people who 00:16:45.159 --> 00:16:46.899 are the presence of God in the world. Cause after 00:16:46.899 --> 00:16:49.299 he says, get out, I'm gonna send you out. He 00:16:49.299 --> 00:16:52.860 says, I'm gonna give you the Holy Spirit. And 00:16:52.860 --> 00:16:54.620 he says this, if you forgive the sins of any, 00:16:54.860 --> 00:16:56.860 they're forgiven. If you withhold them, they're 00:16:56.860 --> 00:16:59.100 withheld, which is a really weird thing for Jesus 00:16:59.100 --> 00:17:03.840 to say in that moment. But he immediately follows 00:17:03.840 --> 00:17:07.279 that up with receive the Holy Spirit. What he's 00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:09.799 saying is, you are my presence. You are the good 00:17:09.799 --> 00:17:13.059 news presence into the world. Get out and go 00:17:13.059 --> 00:17:16.900 in my name and do my work. So what's that look 00:17:16.900 --> 00:17:19.859 like? Here's what someone suggested. How is a 00:17:19.859 --> 00:17:22.980 Christian to prove the tomb is still empty the 00:17:22.980 --> 00:17:26.640 day after Easter? They dare to love difficult 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:29.559 neighbors. They repent for wrongs a little bit 00:17:29.559 --> 00:17:31.819 more quickly. That's partly how you believe in 00:17:31.819 --> 00:17:33.700 the resurrection. You repent a little more quickly. 00:17:35.240 --> 00:17:38.240 You repent and engage with conflict a little 00:17:38.240 --> 00:17:43.019 less defensively. That's hard. You return to 00:17:43.019 --> 00:17:45.900 work with a fresh sense of purpose and mission. 00:17:47.140 --> 00:17:50.740 You commit to praying for the impossible situation 00:17:50.740 --> 00:17:52.740 that you're finding yourself in. That's part 00:17:52.740 --> 00:17:56.460 of believing in the resurrection. You quietly 00:17:56.460 --> 00:18:00.500 preserve in the long -term battles with depression. 00:18:00.970 --> 00:18:03.910 You approach your spouses and your children, 00:18:03.970 --> 00:18:06.410 your roommates with fresh wonder and fresh affection, 00:18:07.009 --> 00:18:10.910 fresh hope. You can risk serving where nobody 00:18:10.910 --> 00:18:14.670 else wants to go. That's what is happening there. 00:18:15.029 --> 00:18:21.990 Go out, forgive, here's the Holy Spirit. Fleming 00:18:21.990 --> 00:18:23.589 Rutledge, some of you have read her wonderful 00:18:23.589 --> 00:18:25.789 book, The Crucifixion. It says, it cannot be 00:18:25.789 --> 00:18:28.809 said too often. If Christ was not raised from 00:18:28.809 --> 00:18:33.519 the dead, we would never have heard of him. Of 00:18:33.519 --> 00:18:36.160 course, the flip side is that because you heard, 00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:38.799 because he did rise from the dead, you have heard 00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:41.920 of him. You have gathered together. Broken relationships 00:18:41.920 --> 00:18:45.779 are healed. Forgiveness really is on offer. New 00:18:45.779 --> 00:18:50.819 life in the midst of death. Disciples would have 00:18:50.819 --> 00:18:55.859 never been sent. The disciples... I mean, think 00:18:55.859 --> 00:18:58.400 about them. They were a motley crew. Peter, of 00:18:58.400 --> 00:19:00.940 course, was impetuous. He's always doing crazy 00:19:00.940 --> 00:19:04.200 things. Some of them we don't hear anything about, 00:19:04.220 --> 00:19:06.400 but some of them, you know, they're zealots. 00:19:06.920 --> 00:19:10.940 Simon the zealot. He's wanting to take up arms 00:19:10.940 --> 00:19:14.960 against the Romans. Matthew's a tax collector. 00:19:15.140 --> 00:19:16.819 He's in cahoots with the Romans. They're just 00:19:16.819 --> 00:19:19.599 a weird group of people. And somehow that weird 00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:21.839 group of people, God changes in that moment. 00:19:22.019 --> 00:19:25.349 He sends them out with his good news. and it 00:19:25.349 --> 00:19:29.589 changes the world. Christians throughout the 00:19:29.589 --> 00:19:31.230 world this morning and Christians throughout 00:19:31.230 --> 00:19:34.230 time are gathering together not because of some 00:19:34.230 --> 00:19:39.170 cover -up, not because of some scandal, not because 00:19:39.170 --> 00:19:46.269 of some wishful thinking, but because the resurrection 00:19:46.269 --> 00:19:50.390 made something of them, made them into a sent 00:19:50.390 --> 00:19:52.630 people into the presence of God in this world 00:19:52.630 --> 00:19:56.579 of death. But here's the great thing is that 00:19:56.579 --> 00:19:59.079 the first story actually that tells of the resurrection 00:19:59.079 --> 00:20:03.339 in John's gospel is when John or when Peter meets, 00:20:03.920 --> 00:20:07.339 what am I saying, when Jesus meets Mary. And 00:20:07.339 --> 00:20:10.960 Mary comes to the tomb that first Easter morning 00:20:10.960 --> 00:20:14.039 and she comes right with spices. That's part 00:20:14.039 --> 00:20:15.460 of a big part of the story. Why is she coming 00:20:15.460 --> 00:20:20.059 with spices? Because she knows that dead bodies 00:20:20.059 --> 00:20:24.160 smell. She's not thinking this will be fun. Maybe 00:20:24.160 --> 00:20:26.660 I'll see my savior again. She's thinking this 00:20:26.660 --> 00:20:28.599 will not be fun It will smell and I'll need to 00:20:28.599 --> 00:20:32.920 cover up the stench And when she comes she stoops 00:20:32.920 --> 00:20:38.539 down, right? She it says she weeps She's probably 00:20:38.539 --> 00:20:42.920 cries she probably cries bitterly And my guess 00:20:42.920 --> 00:20:45.640 is you know sort of those deep weepings deep 00:20:45.640 --> 00:20:50.319 times of tears Times of loss and estrangement 00:20:50.319 --> 00:20:54.759 of death the death of a loved one, where tears 00:20:54.759 --> 00:20:58.180 sort of have their own timetable, and they just 00:20:58.180 --> 00:21:00.640 kind of keep flowing until they sort of stop, 00:21:00.660 --> 00:21:05.279 they have their own rhythm to them. And as she 00:21:05.279 --> 00:21:10.480 wonders what's happening as she's weeping, it 00:21:10.480 --> 00:21:13.140 seems as though there's figure there. She's wondering, 00:21:13.359 --> 00:21:16.519 where have they taken my Lord, right? She's looking 00:21:16.519 --> 00:21:21.640 and she's saying, where is Jesus? Where is his 00:21:21.640 --> 00:21:25.640 body? And then it's in that moment that Jesus 00:21:25.640 --> 00:21:31.140 comes to her. If you remember that story, one 00:21:31.140 --> 00:21:32.819 of the things that she says is that she thought 00:21:32.819 --> 00:21:38.420 that he was a gardener. But she doesn't say gardener. 00:21:38.980 --> 00:21:42.319 She speaks to him in a sort of impersonal way. 00:21:42.339 --> 00:21:45.940 She says, sir, sir, where have they taken my 00:21:45.940 --> 00:21:51.009 Lord? And in that moment, actually, Jesus speaks 00:21:51.009 --> 00:21:55.470 her name specifically. Which is to say, in the 00:21:55.470 --> 00:21:58.009 midst of her tears, in the midst of her experiences 00:21:58.009 --> 00:22:02.650 of Good Friday reality, death on this side of 00:22:02.650 --> 00:22:09.769 glory, He knows her pain. He says, Mary. And 00:22:09.769 --> 00:22:17.630 it's sort of like saying, Bella, Bettina, Alec, 00:22:19.820 --> 00:22:27.259 Devin Peter Bruce Part of what's happening in 00:22:27.259 --> 00:22:30.680 this story of the resurrection are is the reality 00:22:30.680 --> 00:22:34.960 of the specifics of God knowing your experiences 00:22:34.960 --> 00:22:39.779 of living in the Good Friday world Your experiences 00:22:39.779 --> 00:22:43.920 of doubt and wonder and questioning your experiences 00:22:43.920 --> 00:22:50.690 of weeping and crying and pain He speaks to her 00:22:50.690 --> 00:22:54.170 and he turns her weeping also then into going. 00:22:56.750 --> 00:22:59.970 He turns her weeping into a life towards others. 00:23:00.170 --> 00:23:02.009 You might remember that she goes back and tells 00:23:02.009 --> 00:23:06.289 the disciples. What do we make of the resurrection? 00:23:06.869 --> 00:23:08.750 Well, part of the question is, what is it doing 00:23:08.750 --> 00:23:14.609 to you? Is it just a figment of our imagination? 00:23:14.769 --> 00:23:17.599 Is it a scandal or is it a cover up? Is it a 00:23:17.599 --> 00:23:21.319 cute fairy tale that gives us a reason to eat 00:23:21.319 --> 00:23:26.200 chocolate? As if we need a reason to eat chocolate, 00:23:26.920 --> 00:23:31.440 right? We don't need one of those. Is it a parable? 00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:35.619 That though bad things happen in the world, don't 00:23:35.619 --> 00:23:43.940 give up. Is it a moral story? Love is stronger 00:23:43.940 --> 00:23:51.240 than death. wishful thinking. Did it really happen? 00:23:52.160 --> 00:23:56.200 Because if the resurrection didn't happen, nothing 00:23:56.200 --> 00:24:02.140 matters. If it did, everything matters. If Jesus 00:24:02.140 --> 00:24:04.279 really rose from the dead, physical, everything 00:24:04.279 --> 00:24:08.859 physical is sort of charged with wonder, glory, 00:24:09.000 --> 00:24:12.900 and beauty that God would come among it and declare 00:24:12.900 --> 00:24:17.490 it good and worth redeeming. What do you make 00:24:17.490 --> 00:24:23.849 of the resurrection? I'm gonna tell you a story. 00:24:27.690 --> 00:24:31.910 There is a beautiful ritual in the Habsburg family, 00:24:31.970 --> 00:24:38.569 you know that Austrian Empire. When the emperors 00:24:38.569 --> 00:24:41.789 would die, they would be brought to the cathedral. 00:24:42.400 --> 00:24:44.680 I looked up the name of this cathedral, but I 00:24:44.680 --> 00:24:46.859 honestly, I feel like sometimes I try to say 00:24:46.859 --> 00:24:48.519 things in other languages and they just don't 00:24:48.519 --> 00:24:50.440 come out very well. I was like, I'm not going 00:24:50.440 --> 00:24:52.819 to write it down because it was too tricky. But 00:24:52.819 --> 00:24:54.359 they come to this cathedral in the middle of 00:24:54.359 --> 00:24:58.000 Vienna. And if you go down deep into the steps 00:24:58.000 --> 00:25:01.559 below there, there's the crypt where these emperors 00:25:01.559 --> 00:25:05.460 are buried. And the tradition when an emperor 00:25:05.460 --> 00:25:07.759 dies is that they are brought, their cask is 00:25:07.759 --> 00:25:10.720 brought down and there is a door that is locked. 00:25:12.759 --> 00:25:15.579 It's sort of like the story there in the disciples. 00:25:15.599 --> 00:25:20.819 It's all locked. And the master of the ceremonies 00:25:20.819 --> 00:25:24.579 comes and he knocks on this door and a voice 00:25:24.579 --> 00:25:29.180 from inside says, who's there? Sounds spooky, 00:25:29.180 --> 00:25:32.420 but it's just part of what happens, right? Well, 00:25:32.720 --> 00:25:36.240 the tradition goes is that... The Master of Ceremonies 00:25:36.240 --> 00:25:39.180 responds by saying something like this, Franz 00:25:39.180 --> 00:25:41.980 Joseph, Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, 00:25:42.059 --> 00:25:46.059 King of Croatia, and then rattles off all 27 00:25:46.059 --> 00:25:50.500 titles that the Emperor had. Who's there, right? 00:25:50.799 --> 00:25:54.940 Let me tell you all of what I have, all the titles 00:25:54.940 --> 00:26:03.599 that I have. Let me in. And inside the monk, 00:26:03.769 --> 00:26:10.390 responds, yeah, we don't know him. So anyway, 00:26:10.509 --> 00:26:13.710 the master of ceremonies, he knocks again. And 00:26:13.710 --> 00:26:18.049 the voice from inside says, who's there? And 00:26:18.049 --> 00:26:21.210 the tradition goes that this time, the master 00:26:21.210 --> 00:26:24.750 of ceremonies is to recount the emperor's great 00:26:24.750 --> 00:26:28.750 deeds, the peace treaties that were made, the 00:26:28.750 --> 00:26:32.069 wars that he won, who he married, what children 00:26:32.069 --> 00:26:37.759 he had. rattle off all of this great stuff that 00:26:37.759 --> 00:26:41.579 the emperor did. What's the reply from inside? 00:26:43.200 --> 00:26:50.920 We don't know him. And then a third time, third 00:26:50.920 --> 00:26:54.880 time the master of ceremonies knocks and the 00:26:54.880 --> 00:27:00.339 monk from inside says, who's there? And the reply 00:27:00.339 --> 00:27:06.960 the third time, is Franz Joseph, a poor sinner. 00:27:09.759 --> 00:27:12.359 And this is the invitation to this new life. 00:27:12.500 --> 00:27:16.859 The doors opened up. The crypt is just a temporary 00:27:16.859 --> 00:27:18.779 thing for somebody that comes to Jesus and says, 00:27:19.140 --> 00:27:22.559 I'm just gonna rest in your grace for me and 00:27:22.559 --> 00:27:25.700 trust that death is just an entrance into a whole 00:27:25.700 --> 00:27:28.519 new life. That all the things that I've sort 00:27:28.519 --> 00:27:31.200 of added up all the titles I've gained all of 00:27:31.200 --> 00:27:33.960 the jobs I've done all of the blah blah blah 00:27:33.960 --> 00:27:37.039 blah That I think earns me something all I need 00:27:37.039 --> 00:27:43.700 to do is come to you knock Come to you and say 00:27:43.700 --> 00:27:47.140 I'm a sinner and Jesus says let me give you new 00:27:47.140 --> 00:27:54.940 life Resurrection hope is on offer for you just 00:27:54.940 --> 00:27:59.539 come to Jesus Come to Jesus and knock and the 00:27:59.539 --> 00:28:03.480 door will be opened to you. What do you make 00:28:03.480 --> 00:28:06.299 of Christ? What do you make of the resurrection? 00:28:09.240 --> 00:28:14.039 What do you make of it today? And what? What 00:28:14.039 --> 00:28:16.619 if you gave yourself to following this Lord? 00:28:17.119 --> 00:28:19.259 Coming to him and just saying, I'm a poor sinner 00:28:19.259 --> 00:28:25.619 and I need you. What might it do to you? Let 00:28:25.619 --> 00:28:28.880 me pray for us. Lord, we're thankful that Good 00:28:28.880 --> 00:28:32.700 Friday is not the end. That this world that we 00:28:32.700 --> 00:28:36.759 live in now that is so full of despair and death 00:28:36.759 --> 00:28:41.019 and despondency and so many reasons for doubt, 00:28:41.559 --> 00:28:44.140 Lord. So many reasons why we can see ourselves 00:28:44.140 --> 00:28:48.900 right there next to Thomas going no way. So many 00:28:48.900 --> 00:28:52.380 reasons why In the world that we live in, something 00:28:52.380 --> 00:28:55.019 like resurrection hope, death not actually having 00:28:55.019 --> 00:28:59.079 the final say seems impossible. But I pray that 00:28:59.079 --> 00:29:01.160 we'd come to you this morning and just say, Lord, 00:29:01.160 --> 00:29:04.680 I'm a sinner, give me belief. That we'd come 00:29:04.680 --> 00:29:08.119 maybe like Thomas and desire to put our hands 00:29:08.119 --> 00:29:12.519 into the, our fingers into your hands and into 00:29:12.519 --> 00:29:17.119 your side and to hear Jesus say, don't disbelief, 00:29:17.200 --> 00:29:20.680 but believe. And I pray that as we do that, Lord, 00:29:20.700 --> 00:29:23.940 that we would become a resurrection people, that 00:29:23.940 --> 00:29:26.700 we'd be people that press into the dark places 00:29:26.700 --> 00:29:30.740 of life, that we press into the dark relationships 00:29:30.740 --> 00:29:35.119 of our lives. We move out into the world with 00:29:35.119 --> 00:29:38.839 a hope and a belief that you can do the impossible 00:29:38.839 --> 00:29:43.180 and that you are with us. I hear this, Lord. 00:29:43.299 --> 00:29:46.200 We lay these prayers before you. Transform us 00:29:46.200 --> 00:29:50.019 by your resurrection power. In Jesus' holy name, 00:29:50.960 --> 00:29:51.200 Amen.