A woman was at work when she received a phone call that her daughter was very sick with a fever. She left work and stopped by the pharmacy to get some medication. She got back to her car and found that she had locked her keys in the car. She looked around and found an old rusty coat hanger that had been thrown down on the ground, possibly by someone else who at some time or other had locked their keys in their car, but she didn’t know how to use it. So she bowed her head and asked God to send her some help. Within five minutes an old rusty car pulled up, with a dirty, greasy, bearded man who was wearing an old biker do-rag on his head. The woman looked up and whispered, “This is what you sent to help me?” But, she was desperate, so she was also very thankful. The man got out of his car and asked her if he could help. She said, She told him her situation and asked if he could help. “Sure”. He walked over to the car, and in less than a minute had it opened. She cried and hugged him, and through her tears said, “Thank you SO much! You’re a very nice man.” The man replied, “Lady, I’m not a nice man. I just got out of prison…today- I’ve only been out for about an hour. I was in prison for car theft.” She hugged the man again and with sobbing tears cried out loud, “Oh, Thank you God! You even sent me a professional!”
Today is the 7th and last week of our Easter Sermon series- The Wussification of the Church. This series, aimed at addressing the decline in mainline Churches over the past 30+ years, is based on the writings of theologian and author Leonard Sweet. Each week we have asked a hard question designed to help us be on the leading edge of a revival among mainline denominations. The 1st week we asked “What are YOU looking for?” The 2nd week the question was “Do YOU understand?” The 3rd week was “Do YOU want to be made well?” The 4th week we asked “Do YOU want to quit?” The 5th week was “Will YOU lay down YOUR life?” Last week was “Will YOU drink the cup?” Today, on this Easter Sunday, we ask, “Why are YOU crying?”
But first, I have a different question to ask- can we take Christianity at face value? Can people take our church, our lives, at face value? Without strong roots, our face value can quickly become farce value. Oscar Wilde sarcastically wrote, “The first duty in life is to be as artificial as possible. What the second duty is no one has yet discovered.” So many Christian faces look like following Jesus is more a life sentence than a life style! But human beings of every age, at all times and in all places, whether they realize and reflect on it or not, are in relationship with the amazing mystery of human life we call God. So why are we crying? Kahlil Gibran- “When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.” Psalm 30:5- “Weeping might endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. Louis XIV- “Why are you weeping? Did you imagine that I was immortal?” Today we ask the polar opposite of that question!
John 20:1-18- 1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” 3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. 15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). 17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
The story of Mary Magdalene meeting Jesus at the empty tomb is found only in John’s gospel. Everything about this little slice of life rings true. A weeping woman lingers by an empty tomb, wondering what’s happened to the body of the one she loved. When Jesus suddenly appears, she doesn’t recognize him. Then she grips his feet so tightly that he has to tell her to let go. The vignette ends with the mourner turned into a missionary, running to tell the others what she has just seen and heard. When Jesus hung on the cross, Mary Magdalene was there. When they took Jesus’ body down from the cross, she was there. When they placed his body in the tomb, she was watching it happen. On Saturday evening, she purchased spices to anoint his body. Early Sunday morning, she and the other women ventured to the tomb to finish the job. When they found the tomb empty, they were confused and terrified. The angels told them that Jesus had risen from the dead. They went to tell the disciples…who thought they were crazy. John and Peter went to investigate, and when they saw the grave clothes exactly where the body had been placed on Friday evening, they believed. They left to tell the others. At that point, Mary Magdalene returned to the tomb…confused, bewildered, frightened, and brokenhearted. The truth of the matter hadn’t hit her yet. It’s often said that Mary Magdalene was “last at the cross and first at the tomb.” She was the first to see him alive. The irony is that when she saw him, she didn’t recognize him. But when the truth hit home, she became the first evangelist in Christian history. Death is never easy to deal with. Most of the time we can avoid it or postpone it. But sometimes death stares us in the face and we don’t know what to do. That’s why Mary Magdalene was standing at the tomb crying on the first Easter Sunday. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying?’ ‘They’ve taken my Lord away and I don’t know whe
re they put him.’” Well…if the tomb’s empty, then why is she still there? If you’ve ever lost a loved one who meant more to you than life itself, you know why she was there. She was there because death couldn’t destroy her love for Jesus. She weeps because the tomb is empty. What should have been good news broke her heart! We see the empty tomb as one of the greatest proofs of the Resurrection…but Mary weeps. Evidence alone won’t persuade anyone. Unless the evidence is accompanied by proper understanding and an open heart, no one will ever be changed. Mary had all the right facts…but she still jumped to the wrong conclusion. Then, she turns and sees Jesus standing there…but she doesn’t recognize Him. “Woman, why are you crying? Who’re you looking for?” Mary thinks he’s the gardener and says, “Sir, if you’ve carried him away, tell me where you’ve put him and I’ll get him.” Why didn’t she recognize Jesus? The text doesn’t say, but here are some possibilities. She wasn’t expecting to see him. It’s a contextual thing- you see the checker from the grocery store at a restaurant and you don’t recognize her. He was out of context. But I think the main reason is that Jesus deliberately veiled his own identity. He didn’t want Mary to recognize him so that he could teach her an important truth. She had to learn that he’s always present…even when he’s invisible to the naked eye, that he’s often closest to us when we feel the most alone. Just because we don’t see him doesn’t mean he isn’t there. Then Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She instantly recognizes Him and calls him Teacher. Mary clings to Jesus and He tells her not to. Her clinging meant, “I think everything is the same as it used to be.” But Jesus says, “No, many things are different now.” Then He tells her to go and tell the others. So she goes to the disciples and tells them she has seen the Lord. The mourner becomes the missionary! So it is with all who meet the risen Lord. We are called to do as Mary did- run and tell all who will listen that we’ve seen Jesus!
There’s great power in the words of someone who can say, “I was there. I saw it.” Turn to someone near you and say, “I’ve seen the Lord!” A church in Bangladesh was showing a movie about Jesus to an audience of people who’d never heard the gospel before. As the story of the crucifixion unfolded, there were tears and audible gasps. As the natives watched, one young boy suddenly spoke up, “Don’t be afraid. He gets up again! I saw it before.” That’s our message to a world overwhelmed with the reality of death. God’s given us the answer. We can say to those who feel bewildered and heartbroken, “Don’t cry…Jesus has come back from the dead. I’ve seen the Lord!”
150 years ago, 500 people died of cholera in just ten days in one London neighborhood, marking the beginning of another horrible epidemic. Victorian physician Dr. John Snow of London had already written a controversial pamphlet suggesting that cholera was not caused by “vapors,” but was instead a disease of the “gut,” spread by contaminated water. With the high number of deaths in this neighborhood, he studied the cases and was convinced that a pump at the intersection of Broad and Cambridge Streets was the sole source of contaminated water. In an emotional public meeting, he suggested removing the pump handle so no more water could be drawn from that location. The rest is history. The handle was removed, cholera abated, and huge engineering projects were launched for sanitation systems and clean water across Europe. Dr. Snow’s pump handle affected all of us. It led to improvements in the areas of sanitation and purification, and dramatically improved human life, lowering infant mortality rates and increasing life spans. In February of 2008, Starbucks got a new pump handle…they shut down their stores. It was only for three hours, but for some the mere thought that all 7100 Starbucks in North America were closed was enough to create trembling hands and throbbing heads. Why did Starbucks take a three hour coffee break? To clean up their pump handle. The pump handle that first began the Starbucks phenomenon had been so changed and corrupted that the company needed a new one. It’s a concept that sounds like a contradiction. Shut down your business in order to open up your business. But the same logic has been used by physicians for years. Doctors sometimes induce comas in patients with life-threatening injuries, allowing them to regulate body temperature, reduce swelling, and stabilize fluid levels. They “shut down” in order to help the body come alive to health. Perhaps it’s time for the Church to consider changing the pump handle. Maybe we need to find a new pump handle, since the living water that’s been coming out in recent decades hasn’t been healing as many people as it used to. Starbucks is “all things coffee.” Christians are “all things Jesus.” Jesus is our Pump Handle. We’re at our best when we’re entrepreneurial and courageous, when we push for innovation and reject the status quo, when we’re the coffee that brings people together every day around the world to foster conversation and community.
Who are we? Why are we here? It seems to me that the reason we’re here is because we’re in love…I would be so bold as to call it the passionate throes of “first love”- the love we have for Jesus. It’s that “first love” that brings us to our Savior’s feet. It’s that “first love” that empowers us to ask Jesus to make us His. It’s that “first love” that, through God’s grace, gives us the gift of faith. How much more could we fulfill the Great Commission if we were to reconnect with our first love, and shut ourselves off from all those things that are add-ons to our faith. What if we were to re-plumb…rediscover the heart of our faith, our love for Jesus?
A few years, the Barna Research Group released the findings of a nationwide survey of people who do not consider themselves to be Christian. They were asked to provide their impressions of 11 groups of people ranging from military officers to drug dealers. One of the statistics that struck me was that only 44% of those surveyed had a favorable impression of clergy. Even more disturbing, only 22% had a favorable impression of evangelical Christians, who were beaten out by television performers, real estate agents, lawyers, Democrats, Republicans. The only group that scored lower in favorable ratings than evangelical Christians was drug dealers! Now, whether you identify yourself as an evangelical Christian or not, this attitude ought to concern you. Somebody’s missing the target in their witness for Christ. It’s like that woman who read that dogs were healthier if fed a tablespoon of cod liver oil each day. So each day she followed the same routine–she chased her dog until she caught it, wrestled it down, and managed to force the cod liver oil down the dog’s throat. Until one day when, in the middle of this grueling medicinal effort, the bottle was kicked over. With a sigh, she loosened her grip on the dog so she could wipe up the mess–only to watch the dog trot to the puddle and lick it up. The dog LOVED cod liver oil! It was just the owner’s method of application the dog objected to. The delivery method was the problem. The same could be said of the church. People desperately want to know that God is alive and well…and that He loves them. Why then aren’t our churches full? There must be a problem with how we are communicating our message, with the delivery system. Is the Church ready to stop being wussified? It didn’t happen overnight and we’re not going to cha
nge it over night. But we have to start somewhere. I have a suggestion as to how we might begin to stop it- here it is. Before every committee meeting, ask this question: “Is what we’re about to discuss worth the price Jesus paid on the cross? Is what we’re doing right now, or fighting over right now, worth the shedding of Jesus’ blood? Did Jesus die on the cross so that we could be this kind of church?”
If you don’t know Jesus, or if you’re not sure, there’s no better time than Easter Sunday to put your trust in him. If you sense God’s calling you to come to Jesus, and if you truly want to know him, here’s a prayer that could change your life: “Dear Lord, I know I’m a sinner. Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God. I believe you died on the cross for me. Thank you for taking my punishment and dying in my place. I believe you rose from the dead on the third day. With all my heart, I trust you as my Lord and Savior. Come into my heart and save me now. I gladly receive your gift of salvation. Amen.” If you prayed that prayer with me, here are two things you can do. First, you can go to my website, get a printed copy of this sermon and write today’s date by the prayer as a reminder of your commitment. Second, TELL someone that you prayed the prayer and accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Your faith will grow and your doubts will wane as you tell others what Jesus has done for you. I close with the question Jesus asked Mary: Why are you crying? The time for tears is over. The time to tell the Good News has come. Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed!
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My oldest son recently got this t-shirt for me for my birthday. It is from one of my favorite TV shows. I have shared before that I am a fan of the TV show Seinfeld. While I fully accept the fact that sometimes the show is a bit…bawdy…for my money, it is one of the funniest shows in TV history. There is an episode where Jerry’s best friend George is unemployed and trying to work the unemployment system for all he can. He has to check in with the Unemployment Office regularly, telling them where he has been applying for jobs. The problem is…he really HASN’T been applying for jobs! 
April 29th…an important day in my life! On this date, ___ years ago (Yes, that is intentionally blank! I’m NOT going to publicly reveal my wife’s age! I mean, I was born at night…but it wasn’t LAST night!), my wife was born. She wasn’t, of course, my wife when she was born…but she was destined to be! And I do believe that. We both dated other people in our lifetimes, but I believe with all my heart that we were meant to be together!
A few years ago, my older son was performing with his high school marching band at the then TWA Dome in downtown St. Louis. At time, we lived near St. Louis, so I jumped on the Metrolink train and headed over so I could watch him perform. After he was done, I walked out of the dome and headed to the train platform to catch the next train back to my car at the station in Illinois. 
Today we begin a new Wednesday devotional series called Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Bible. Each Wednesday we will look at a section of books from the Bible- this will literally be an overview of the Bible as a whole. Today’s devotional is called Beginnings, and it deals with the 1st 5 books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. These books, the writing of which is attributed to Moses, are the foundation upon which the rest of the Bible rests- they are very important books. 
My younger son has some issues with allergies. We aren’t really sure what he’s allergic to, despite extensive testing…but’s it’s clearly…something! One thing that seems to affect many people who suffer from allergies is the sting of a bee or wasp. I know folks who have HORRIBLY bad reactions to them. (Horribly like, “If I don’t get treated for this in a timely manner…I might die” horribly!) Recently, my wife, younger son and I went to a community in Southern Illinois to visit a family grave plot and place (actually RE-place) some artificial flowers that decorate a couple of the stones. 
If you know me at all, you know what a
