Life After Intervention. My Sermon based on John 20:19-31

1.
Prayer:
Gracious and ever living God we come today filed with joy and anticipation. Longing to encounter the Risen Christ. Ready to know the promise of love everlasting and peace among your people. Lead us into your Grace oh God and open our lives to your Hope. This we ask in the name of our risen Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen
2.
So, exactly who talked ya’ll into this? Letting me preach? A friend at work asked if this would be my first sermon at First Church. You all know the answer to that question. Of course not. Anyone who has been in small group or served on a committee with me knows I’ve been preaching for years. Martha just finally called my bluff.

Seriously though, it is a very great honor and humbling experience to stand before my friends and family. People who love me in spite of me. The very same people I love so deeply. I mean that’s really what all this is about isn’t it? Love? Christ walked amongst us teaching us the true meaning of love. The true meaning of relationship with God. Teaching us that we cannot, we can not, be in full relationship with Him unless we are in full relationship with our community our Church. And we all know relationship brings responsibility.
Martha’s Lenten Sermon series was wrapped around the concept of intervention, as seen in the popular TV show with the same name. Well, unfortuniatly I know from experience too much about the circumstances and themes in that show. But the show stops really when all the hard work begins. Once a person is confronted by family, friends and people who love and cafre about them, they are given the free will choice to accept help and start a new life oor to continue the self destructive behavior and terrible choices that brought them to where they are. If they choose help they enter rehab and begin to heal through some sort of program that almost always is centered in the 12 step treatment plan developed by Acholics Anonymous. A very important part of that process is to recognize not only how we have harmed others but how others have hurt us and to move past it. In AA I learned that either I can forgive and move on, or I can hold on to bad memories and bad feelings and forever use them as an excuse to abuse drugs and alcohol. So, simply said, even a drunk can learn to recognize the need to forgive and move on.A common excuse used by alcoholics is “so and so drove me to drink.” Well I’m here to tell you that it was my truck that drove me to drink and it was my refusal to let go of the past that I used as an excuse to drink after my truck drove me there.
So now the hard work of forgiveness begins.


4.
In the liturgy today the Psalmist and the writer in Acts paint a glorious picture of the Church. In Psalms we hear “How beautiful it is when brothers and sisters get along.” And from Acts we learn that the community of believers that made up the Early Church was selling their own property to meet the needs of their brothers and sisters. Church historians tell us the Methodism began with John Wesley in the 1700’s, but I see Methodist here in the Psalms and in Acts. I have seen this very Church, First Church, as a body of believers and as individuals stand up and sacrifice their time their talents and their treasure to meet the needs of others.
5.
That is what the rebuilding that’s taking place at the corner of Second and Poplar is all about isn’t it. It’s not about what color we paint the bathrooms or whether we sit in pews or in chairs. Sorry John, but it’s not about whether we have a pipe organ or an electric organ. All those things are going to work themselves out.
What the rebuilding of that sacred space is about are Christian Families we don’t even know yet that will join us there. It’s about the many more Christians that will come after we’re long gone that we will never know. But, they will know us. The same way we know the Church that met in a tavern. They will know us the same way we know the Church that built the first log building. They will know us the same way we know the Church that built the beautiful sanctuary that was lost to a fire. The only way the Church that comes after us will know this Church is by the love we put into that building. Love is the most important fixture on any of the list of fixtures the architects and building committee have made up. And we cannot have love without forgiveness.

6.
Now, nothing since the fire has been easy for us but staying in relationship and community wasn’t easy for the post crucifixion church either. God knew it wouldn’t be easy. The Gospel writer tells us that when Jesus came into that locked room, that room full of fear and uncertainty, full of men and women who may not have even been certain they could trust each other, the first word Jesus spoke was PEACE.
I can see them there together can’t you? Scared and in crisis, but together. We’ve all been there haven’t we? Not necessarily agreeing with each other, but together. Really, it sounds a lot like a United Methodist Committee Meeting doesn’t it? But there they were, and Jesus was there too. Bringing peace and then calling on them to forgive.
Now this small band of Christians had a lot to forgive. I’m sure some wanted to strike back at the Romans who nailed Christ to the Cross. Others probably wanted to go after the Jewish Leaders who brought charges against Jesus. Some too, I’m certain, were angry with each other and with themselves for not doing more to stop the crucifixion. For hiding from the authorities. And even in the case of Peter, for denying Christ and with that denial denying the very community he was now seeking comfort with. But, there they were, together in that locked room. And Jesus was there too, bringing peace and empowering forgiveness.
God has filled this world and filled our lives with everything we need to not only survive but to thrive, to really live. Live a life filled with joy and hope and love.

7.
I like to think of life and learning in terms of tools and toolboxes. When I learn something I think of it as putting another tool in my toolbox. Something useful I can use later on. Well God has filled our toolboxes with all the tools we need to live that joyful life. But you can’t build a house if you don’t take the hammer out of the tool box and start pounding some nails. And we can’t build a Church without forgiveness.
Now forgiveness is one of the most important tools we’ve been given but it’s also one of the hardest ones to pick up and use, much like a jackhammer or a pick axe. Once when I was doing commercial construction work I was the superintendent on a job building 14 miles of sidewalks for the City. The inspector and I needed to open up a man hole to make sure mud and construction debris hadn’t washed down into the storm drain causing it to back up. The cast iron manhole lays flat with only a small opening or indentation to get under the cover and lift it out. When I couldn’t get it up with my hands the inspector asked me if I had a pick. You see you can take a pick, slip it under the lid and pry it up just enough to get a better grip on the lid and roll it off. I said sure I’ve got a pick but I make a point of not carrying it around with me in my truck.
Now, many of you have seen my truck. Even though I don’t work construction anymore my old truck is still full of stuff. Well back then, every tool you could imagine was in my pickup truck. So the inspector laughed and asked me why a pick wasn’t in there too. I told him I didn’t carry a pick around because if a did somebody might ask me to use it and I don’t much care for swinging a pick. You see using a pick is hard work. So is forgiveness. But, God has given us this mighty tool and He expects us to use it
8.
There is an immensely popular book that many of you have may have read, if not I highly recommend it, named “The Shack” by William Paul Young. The shack is a beautiful expression of one person’s view of God and of heaven. It’s also an expression of the longing individuals in our modern culture, our friends, our neighbors, and coworkers have for some kind of spiritual experience and even a communal spiritual experience and relationship. But the book also highlights people’s reluctance to participate in existing faith communities, like the Methodist Church, that they, rightly or wrongly, perceive as judgmental, exclusive, and harsh. Well, we have to fix that.

Any way there is one part in the book where the author, speaking as the Character Papa, who represents God and Papa beautifully describes the tools we’ve been given to help us forgive.
From the shack: p 190-191
“Don’t forget that in the midst of all your pain and heartache, you are surrounded by beauty, the wonder of creation, art, your music and culture, the sounds of laughter and love, of whispered hopes and celebrations, of new life and transformation, of reconciliation and forgiveness”
God has filled this world and our lives with everything we need to not only survive but to thrive, to really live. Live a life filled with joy and hope and love.
9.
When the risen Christ came into that locked upper room He knew his disciples would be angry and confused. He knew they either wouldn’t remember or wouldn’t understand His promise to defeat the tomb. So Christ entered that room, spoke words of peace, then entered into the bodies of the disciples. In the Message it reads “Then He took a deep breath and breathed into them. ‘Receive the Holy Spirit,’ he said.”
Immediately then He reminded them about forgiveness. He wanted them to know the peace of forgiveness. Not of being forgiven but of forgiving others.
How hard is that?
10.
The main Character in the Shack, McKenzie suffers a terrible loss. His young daughter is abducted and murdered by a serial killer known for hiding his victim’s remains in places where they are never found. Compounding the already terrible pain and loss by placing a huge question mark at the end. Forever extending the pain the families of his victims feel.
Later in the book Sarayu, the character that represents the Holy Spirit talks to McKenzie about choices we make that allow us to hold on to things we must let go of.
Sarayu is talking about living a life defined by rules. Rules we place on ourselves and rules we hold others accountable for. Sarayu says “It grants you the power to judge others and feel superior to them. You believe you are living to a higher standard than they are.”
Ouch. Sounds a lot like me sometimes. Not forgiveing leads me to judgment. Not to forgive says I trust myself and my knowing over God’s. Not forgiving forever binds me to someone or something I need to leave far behind. We cannot have the life God wants for us if we carry around baggage that slows us down. God has granted us forgiveness from our sins and with that gift comes the power to forgive others. He frees us from our sins so we can free ourselves from those who have sinned against us.
11.
Now, forgiveness doesn’t necessarily mean relationship. Forgiving someone who has sinned against us either gives us the freedom needed to continue you in a relationship that brings joy and meaning to our lives or it can mean the freedom to walk away from a harmful or hurtful relationship.
Without forgiveness we cannot have peace. Without forgiveness we cannot have joy. Without forgiveness we cannot have life. Without forgiveness we cannot have relationship. Without forgiveness we cannot have community. And without forgiveness we cannot have Church.
Ultimately it comes down to this: If Jesus Christ can look down from the cross at the people who persecuted, prosecuted, tried, convicted, tortured, humiliated, shamed and publicly crucified Him. If He could look down on these people and forgive them; how can I as an Easter child; how can we as Easter people, stand comfortably on this earth and NOT turn to our neighbors and forgive them?
Christ died for the forgiveness of our sins but he lives to teach us to forgive.
I’ll close with the Gospel reading from John 20, taken from the Message.
“22-23Then he took a deep breath and breathed into them. "Receive the Holy Spirit," he said. "If you forgive someone's sins, they're gone for good. If you don't forgive sins, what are you going to do with them?"

Easter People

What an incredible Easter this has been! So many powerful images and emotions as the day began. I was awake for one of the most beautiful sunrises I've ever experienced. So many colors, the sky was alive in vibrant magenta, pink, orange, blue, and purple. I love the way the low clouds reflect the pink light of dawn. On the way to Church I passed First Baptist who always decorates a large cross in the front of the Church with fresh cut flowers and blooming shrubs. The Cross comes alive, transformed from a harsh cold reminder of the crucifixion to a beautiful, living testament to the Living Christ. WOW!!!!!!

Today's episode of "Speaking of Faith" (http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/) featured an interview with Armenian Orthodox Theologian Vigen Guroian (http://www.guroian.com/Welcome.html) talking about his book "The Fragrance of God." Beautiful correlation of our sense of God and our sense of smell. We smell something and identify with it but it is still somewhat mysterious and uncertain. Much like our relationship with God. A true mystic (my kinda Christian!)It is going on my MUST READ list. Right now I'm finishing up "Take this Bread" by Sara Miles (http://saramiles.net/). She fully explores "eating Jesus" and all of what that means.

Take some time today and see God alive in our world, in our time.
Grace and Peace to all Easter People!!!!