It was on the first day of the week when Mary Magdalene came to the tomb where Jesus body had been laid. She was startled to see that the grave had been opened. The scripture for today’s sermon is found in John 20:11-18. We pick up the narrative on that first Easter morning and this is what we read:
“But Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. As she wept, she knelt to look into the tomb and saw two angels sitting there, dressed in white, one at the head, the other at the foot of where Jesus’ body had been laid. They said to her, “Woman, why do you weep?”
“They took my Master,” she said, “and I don’t know where they put him.” After she said this, she turned away and saw Jesus standing there. But she didn’t recognize him.
Jesus spoke to her, “Woman, why do you weep? Who are you looking for?”
She, thinking that he was the gardener, said, “Mister, if you took him, tell me where you put him so I can care for him.”
Jesus said, “Mary.”
Turning to face him, she said in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” meaning “Teacher!”
Jesus said, “Don’t cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I ascend to my Father and your Father, my God and your God.’”
Mary Magdalene went, telling the news to the disciples: “I saw the Master!” And she told them everything he said to her.”
There are some very valuable lessons that we can learn from this story about life and about the ability of Jesus Christ to bring us back to life.
You have witnessed many things in this service. At the beginning of the service you saw a dramatic presentation of someone being brought to life.
It was simply a picture and illustration of the hopelessness one feels without knowing Jesus and the life that Jesus gives to those who seek Him.
We are taken with life. We spend millions of dollars a year looking for signs of life.
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory designs, builds and operates the world’s most sophisticated and advanced radio telescopes. Scientists from around the world use these powerful tools to study the Sun, planets and other objects in our own solar system, as well as distant stars, galaxies, and other mysterious objects many millions, or even billions of light-years away. So far their search has proven unfruitful. I don’t know what you brought with you into this room today. I don’t know the pain or the hurt or the circumstances that you find yourself in but I do know that the Christ we remember at Easter is able to transform your life from death to life.
Let’s look a little closer at this encounter that brought Mary back to life.
What lessons can we learn from this story?
1. Weeping is a sign of life.
Jesus had been killed right before her eyes and now she was in the cemetery. Four times we read that Mary wept or was weeping.
This was Mary’s second visit to the tomb on this morning. She was beside herself with grief. The Bible says, “But Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. As she wept, she knelt to look into the tomb.” You can feel the grief and feeling of helplessness as she looks into the tomb for another time.
Mary was overcome by grief because Jesus had transformed her life. He had cast many devils out of her, seven to be exact. She was a new person. Her life had been radically different and now the source of her great change was gone.
Things that make us cry are a natural part of life. If you cry you are still living. If you cry it is a sign that you are still part of the human race.
Life is filled with disappointments and heartaches.
We all cry sometimes.
It could be a broken relationship.
It could be our job or the pressure at work.
It could be a very personal family related problem.
It could be that you are struggling with some kind of an addiction that no one else knows about but you and God. You feel as though you are dead yourself because you can’t ever seem to overcome it.
Whatever makes you cry, be thankful because if you are still crying you are still living and that is a good thing.
The good news is that there is a Savior who’s name is Jesus and He wants to bring you to life. Your weeping may endure for the night but when Jesus comes into your life joy comes in the morning.
Phillip Gulley tells the story that when he had an old neighbor when he was growing up named Doctor Gibbs. He didn’t look like a doctor. Most of the time he wore a straw hat whose front brim was green sunglass plastic and denim overalls. He smiled a lot and his smile matched his old hat. It was old, crinkly and well worn.
When Dr. Gibbs wasn’t saving lives, he was planting trees. His old house sat on ten acres and his life goal was to make it a forest.
The good doctor had some interesting theories concerning plant husbandry. He came from the “No pain, no gain” school of horticulture. He never watered his trees which flew in the face of conventional wisdom. Once Gulley asked why. He said watering plants spoiled them, and how if you water them, each successive generation will grow weaker and weaker. So you only have to make things rough for them and weed out the weenie trees early on.
The old doctor talked about how that watering trees made for shallow roots and how that trees that weren’t watered had to grow deep roots in search of moisture. So he never watered the trees. He’d planted an oak and, instead of watering it every morning, he’d beat it with a rolled up newspaper. Smack! Slap! Pow! I asked him why he did that and he said it was to get the tree’s attention.
The doctor died over twenty five years ago and Gulley says that he every now and again walks by the doctor’s old house and looks at the trees he’d watch him plant years ago. They’re granite strong. Big and robust. Those trees wake up in the morning and beat their chests and drink their coffee black.
Gulley planted a couple of trees a few years back. Carried water to them. The whole nine yards. Two years of coddling has resulted in trees that expect to be waited on hand and foot. Whenever a cold wind blows in they tremble and chatter their braches. Sissy trees.
It seems that Dr. Gibbs believed that adversity and deprivation seemed to benefit them in ways that comfort and ease never could.
Too many times we pray for ease, but that’s a prayer seldom met.
Weeping drives us to let our faith go deep.
Weeping causes us to search for Him until we find Him.
Mary went back to where she saw Jesus last and that is where it happened.
What make Easter so special? It was a day of sorrow and dead hopes and dreams. What made the difference? It wasn’t the sunrise. It wasn’t the stone which was rolled away. It wasn’t the presence of angels.
The change came when she saw Jesus.
2. Worshipping is a sign of life.
The scripture says that she had this conversation with Jesus and thought that He was the gardener.
What made the difference was that He called her by name.
Do you know that Jesus knows you by name today?
He knows, according to the Bible, how many hairs are on your head.
He knew you, according to the Bible, before you were ever born while you were still in your mother’s womb.
When Jesus calls your name the natural response will be to worship.
The story we read says,
“. . . she turned away and saw Jesus standing there. But she didn’t recognize him. Jesus spoke to her, “Woman, why do you weep? Who are you looking for?” She, thinking that he was the gardener, said, “Mister, if you took him, tell me where you put him so I can care for him.”
Jesus said, “Mary.”
Turning to face him, she said in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” meaning “Teacher!”
Jesus said, “Don’t cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. . .”
Jesus said don’t cling to me but He did not mean that Mary shouldn’t touch Him. That would be inconsistent with what He told His disciple Thomas just a few days later. He invited him to touch the prints of the nails in His hands to dispel his doubt about the resurrection.
You can touch Jesus. You can touch Him through worshipping Him.
You can touch Him through serving Him. When we see Jesus we cannot help but worship. Do you worship Him?
Have you worshipped Him in this service?
Worshipping is a sign of life.
This week NBC reporter, David Bloom, was memorialized at a service held in St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The 39 year old, husband and father of three little girls died of a pulmonary embolism while covering the war in Iraq. He entered the conflict in a refurbished tank dubbed the Bloommobile. He had designed the inside of this vehicle to accommodate his needs while traveling into Iraq with the military. He never got permission to do it but the military let him join in with his own vehicle. It is thought that the cramped conditions caused the blood clot which took his life.
What you need to know about David Bloom is that in the weeks of this conflict and leading up to it, he seemed preoccupied with his spiritual life. David Bloom had learned to worship. He had learned to love Jesus and he let his family know it.
He confided in his pastor the night before he left. He said, “ I’m almost afraid to say this but I’m ready.” When the priest asked whether he was afraid God might take him, he simply nodded.
In his last email home he wrote, “Yes, I’m proud of the good job we’ve all been doing, but in the scheme of things it matters little compared to my relationship with you, the girls and Jesus Christ.” I don’t know what you are feeling today but I know that Jesus brings people to life and when they come to life there is one last sign.
3. Witnessing is a sign of life.
“Go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I ascend to my Father and your Father, my God and your God.’
Mary Magdalene went, telling the news to the disciples: “I saw the Master!” And she told them everything he said to her.”
When Jesus touches your life you cannot help but witness about His great love.
Does it mean that you will always be on a high? No
Does it mean that you will always be a success? No
Does it mean that you will never make a mistake? No
What it means is that there is no greater story than this, that a man would lay down His life for his friends.
He went to the cross. Jesus suffered the humiliation and separation from His Father. He died so that you could live forever. He rose again because He came to give you life and that more abundantly than you could ever imagine.
Presently a Christ follower in this church is going through a difficult time. After years of watching her mother and husband’s health deteriorate she watched them both die a week apart. She buried her mother one week and her husband the next.
That would be enough to break our spirit if we handled it alone but with the resurrected Christ even the valley of the shadow of death can bring comfort. His presence is enough. The rod and staff of the Greatest Shepherd bring comfort when comfort seems impossible.
Listen and watch the witness of a Christ follower.
Jesus brings life.
He can bring you to life. He stands today waiting to change your life dramatically.
Have you been weeping? That’s not surprising. It’s a sign of life.
Can you worship Him?
Do you have a story to share with others?
You can have your own story, as great as Mary’s in the Bible.
In the book, Love Walked Among Us, Paul Miller quotes Anne Lamott, a best selling author with the following story,
“I didn’t go to the flea market the week of my abortion. I stayed home, and smoked dope and got drunk, and tried to write a little . . . On the seventh night, though very drunk. . .I discovered that I was bleeding heavily. . .I thought I should call a doctor. . . but I was so disgusted that I had gotten so drunk one week after my abortion that I just couldn’t wake someone up and ask for help. I got in bed, shaky and sad and too wild to have another drink or take a sleeping pill. I had a cigarette and turned off the light.
After a while as I lay there, I became aware of someone with me, hunkered down in the corner. . .the feeling was so strong that I actually turned on the light for a moment to make sure no one was there—of course, there wasn’t. But after a while, in the dark again, I knew beyond doubt that it was Jesus. I felt him as surely as I feel my dog lying nearby as I write this.
I was appalled. I thought about my life and my brilliant, hilarious progressive friends. I thought about what everyone would think of me if I became a Christian, and it seemed an utterly impossible thing that simply could not be allowed to happen. I turned to the wall and said out loud, “I would rather die.”
I felt Him just sitting there watching me with patience and love. I squeezed my eyes shut but it didn’t help because that’s not what I was seeing Him with. I finally fell asleep and in the morning He was gone.
The experience spooked me badly and everywhere I went I felt as if there was a little cat following me, wanting me to reach down and pick it up. Wanting me to open the door and let it in.
One week later, I went to church. I was so hung over I couldn’t stand for the songs. This time I stayed for the sermon. I thought it was ridiculous, like someone trying to convince me of the existence of extraterrestrials, but the last song was so deep and raw and pure that I could not escape. I felt as though the presence of God was washing over me. I began to cry. I raced home and felt the little cat running along at my heals. I opened the door of my house and I stood there for one long minute, and then I hung my head and said: “I quit.” I took a deep long breath and said out loud, “All right, You can come in.”
Jesus brings you to life.
He gives you Life.
“I once was lost but now I’m found.
Was blind but now I see.
Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.
“I serve a risen Savior; He’s in the world today. I know that He is living, whatever men may say. I see His hand of mercy; I hear His voice of cheer; And just the time I need Him, He’s always near.
He lives, He lives Christ Jesus lives today.”
Has He brought you to life?
Do you live today?
Better yet, Does He live in you today?
