“What You See Is What You Get” (John 20:1-18)

He is risen! He is Risen indeed!

But is he?

 

Debie Thomas is an author who serves as the Minster for Lifelong Formation at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Palto Alto, California.  In an essay she writes: “In my own life, I am finding it increasingly true that clarity, hope, and healing come when I am willing to linger in barren places, places where the usual platitudes fall flat, and all easy answers prove inadequate.”

 

The story of the resurrection takes place in the dark . . . “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark . . .”  In the darkness Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb where Jesus had been laid.  There she finds the stone across the entrance removed and she runs to tell Peter and the other disciple that someone has removed Jesus from the tomb.

 

Again, in the darkness, Peter and the other disciples ran to the tomb.  The disciple gets there first, looks, but does not go in.  Peter goes straight into the tomb and sees the burial cloths lying there.   The disciple follows him in, sees the cloths . . . and believes.  The writer gives us no clue as to what Peter thinks or believes.  All we know is that the two of them departed.

 

In the meantime, Mary is outside the tomb crying.  She still has no clue what is going on . . . for all she knows someone stole the body of Jesus. As she is crying she is approached by a person—Jesus, who she assumes is a gardener.  He asks why she is crying, and she explains everything that has taken place.  Then she asks him to return the body if he has taken him.  At that point the stranger—Jesus, says her name: “Mary.”  In that moment, in that recognition, Mary believes.

 

There you have it according to the Gospel of John about that first Easter morning.  You have three disciples.  One sees the grave cloths neatly folded and believes.  One sees the same thing and there is no indication that he believes anything.  One is surprised into believing by hearing the sound of her name.  One story but three different experiences . . . such is the journey of faith.  And like the three, how we see and believe all depends upon us.

 

What you see is what you get.

 

Though it is Easter I want to share a Christmas story.  For a long time these two little farm boys had been asking for a pony for Christmas.  Well, Christmas morning came and the two of them leaped out of bed and ran straight to the barn.  Upon entering the barn all they saw was a huge pile of manure sitting in the middle of the barn.  The older boy turned in disgust.  “There is no pony in here!” he proclaimed.  Disgusted, he started to leave until he saw his brother standing in the middle of that huge pile of manure throwing it left and right.

 

“What are you doing?” asked the boy.

 

The little boy responded, “Looking for a pony!  With all this manure there has to be a pony in there somewhere!”

 

So, it is with our Easter story this morning . . . each disciple saw what he or she believed in what was being seen.  One believed with the littlest of evidence, another wasn’t sure what to believe, and the third . . . well, the third took a little prompting but in the end she believed.  And here is the truth, in each of these we find ourselves at one time or another.  With the Easter story we are given plenty of room to experience and understand it from how we see it at this point in our lives and journey of faith.

 

What you see is what you get.  What do you see this Easter morning?  What do you see in this Easter story?

 

For each of us Easter carries its own understanding and impact upon our lives and our faith.  It is not an “one size fits all” experience.  Our story clearly demonstrates that point.  In the darkness of that morning each of the three had different experiences, and each walked away with different understandings.  Each was on his or her own journey, thus how they encountered the situation was different.

 

The story begins with great distress and mourning . . . someone has stolen the body of Jesus.  Not only is he dead . . . he is gone.  In panic two others are invited into the story.  They, too, witness the empty tomb . . . see the burial cloths . . . find no body.  One believes, the other . . . well he is not sure.  He doesn’t understand what is going on.  Lastly, the third who discovered the empty tomb comes to believe with a little prompting from the one she sought.

 

There are times in our lives . . . in our journeys . . . when believing is not so difficult.  When it doesn’t take much for us to believe . . . to believe that Jesus lives.  In those times when everything in life is going well, things are going right, and there are no hassles . . . we believe.  What is there to doubt?  Life is good . . . God is good . . . Jesus lives!

 

There are times in our lives when we wonder.  We wonder about God and God’s existence.  Wonder whether God is with us or not.  Wonder about our faith.  We question where God is . . . where Jesus is.  We want to believe, but believing is hard to do when it feels like the world and life is against us.  In those moments we wonder and we are not sure what we should believe.  In these moments we understand the darkness, feel the darkness, and we struggle to understand.

 

And, then there are those moments where the darkness consumes us, makes us immobile and unable to do anything.  In the darkness we struggle.  Was this not the case for Mary Magdalene?  The empty tomb.  The two disciples witnessing and running off with no explanation . . . leaving her at the empty tomb in the darkness.  The writer of the story tells us: “Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying.”  She had seen the burial cloths . . . she had encountered the two angels in the tomb . . . had seen the reaction of the other two disciples . . . and yet she stood there crying and not believing.  We know this because when Jesus asks her why she is crying she tells him the story and pleads with him to return the body. 

 

Then Jesus spoke her name . . . prompted her in the intimacy of the moment . . . and she believed.  Unlike the other two, Mary stayed and endured the darkness, and she discovered clarity, hope, and healing.  She encountered the living Jesus.  She believed.

 

Your experience of this Easter day . . . of this Easter story . . . all depends upon you and how you experience and see it.  How it touches you depends upon where you are in the journey of your life and faith.  It is a personal thing . . . a private thing . . . this encounter with the risen Jesus.  I imagine that those of us gathered here this morning are all over the place.  And that is okay.  That is okay because we all encounter Jesus differently.

 

This is a story of hope and Easter is always about hope.  Out of the darkness light shined . . . a new day dawned.  There is hope in new beginnings.  Jesus lives.  God is with us.  It all comes down to how we experience and see it.  We get what we see.  If nothing else, there is hope.

 

He lives . . . yes, he does.  Blessings upon our Easter experience.  Amen

“Cost of Believing” (Isaiah 50:4-9a)

Jesus never promised his followers it would be easy.  Consider this: Paul’s ministry ended with him being beheaded; Peter was crucified upside down on a cross; Andrew was crucified; Thomas was stabbed to death by soldiers’ spears; Philip was cruelly put to death; Bartholomew was martyred; James was stoned and clubbed to death; Simon was killed; and Matthias was burned to death.  To follow Jesus was to put one’s life at great risk . . .

 

. . . and Jesus warned them!

 

Jesus warns us all.  Warns us all that there is great risk at being a follower of him and his ways.  Great risks at being faithful.   Throughout the history of Christianity there is a long list of those who have died for their faith . . . a long list of those who have been martyred for following Jesus and his teachings.

 

Since the birth of Christianity there has not been a generation that has not had their martyrs.  Even our own period of history has its martyrs . . .  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Oscar Romero to name a few.  But there have been many, many more who have died for following Jesus.

 

One of the most impactful on my journey of faith has been Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran minister/theologian who publicly spoke out against Adolf Hitler and the rise of Nazism in his homeland.  Unlike many of his peers he did not leave Germany as more of those who protested against Hitler and Nazism rose in power.  He had the opportunity, but he chose to stay knowing the cost of what could happen to him.  Eventually he was arrested.  He died a prisoner by execution a few days before the prison he was in was liberated.

 

While in captivity he continued to be speak out by having notes snuck out of the prison.  The result of that was the classic Christian apologetic book, The Cost of Discipleship.  Bonhoeffer argues in his book that there is a “cost” to be a disciple of Jesus . . . that it is not a “free ride”.  That “cost” is often more than many are willing to pay; thus they fall into a category of “cheap grace”.  I like to think of “cheap grace” as that insurance policy we all receive upon baptism that we believe give us carte blanche on anything we want to do because God’s grace will cover it all.  Its that “free get out of jail” card we all seem to think that we have.

 

Bonhoeffer had this to say about “cheap grace”:

 

“Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjacks' wares. The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin, and the consolations of religion are thrown away at cut prices. Grace is represented as the Church's inexhaustible treasury, from which she showers blessings with generous hands, without asking questions or fixing limits. Grace without price; grace without cost! The essence of grace, we suppose, is that the account has been paid in advance; and, because it has been paid, everything can be had for nothing. Since the cost was infinite, the possibilities of using and spending it are infinite. What would grace be if it were not cheap?...

 

Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”

 

Bonhoeffer writes that following Jesus comes at a cost . . . “costly grace”.  On “costly grace” or the “cost of discipleship” he had this to say:

“Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.

 

Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.

 

Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: "ye were bought at a price," and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.”

 

 

Even the prophet Isaiah understood that there was a “cost” that comes with following the will of God . . . a cost to believing . . . a cost to discipleship.  In our reading this morning the prophet is speaking about the “one who is to come”—the messiah.  In the words that he offers, he offers the words of the messiah.  They are not flowery words . . . poetic words, but words of violence and anguish.  They are words that speak of beatings, mocking, being spit upon, grabbed and hit.  Actions that come upon the messiah because the messiah choses to speak that which God has place within the heart that cannot be ignored. These are the words that demonstrate the cost of believing . . . the cost of being faithful.

 

Following Jesus and his teachings . . . doing God’s will . . . is not easy.  It comes at a cost . . . a cost that often gets overlooked in the fanfare of today—Palm Sunday.

 

Palm Sunday is the day the church celebrates the grand entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.  A day of celebration . . . shouting and singing of “hosanna!”  Great joy and laughter.  The waving of palms.  The time has come, and deliverance is upon the people . . . the Messiah has arrived.  It is a great time of celebration; people are happy, and they are expectant.  Lost in all of that fanfare and celebrating is the rest of the story that has to be played out . . . the trial, the beatings, and finally the crucifixion.  Too often we are quick to jump over all of that and leap right into the victory of the resurrected Jesus.

 

To do that is to ignore the warning of Jesus that it is not easy to follow him or his teachings.  To do that is to buy heartily into the idea of “cheap grace” and ignore the fact that grace is not cheap . . . it comes at a cost.  Ask God . . . it was God’s child that was sacrificed for us.

 

As we contemplate Palm Sunday and all that it means and represents, let us not fall into that trap.  Let us consider the whole story as it is played out and what that means as the followers of Jesus.  Lets us consider and discern the grace that we base our own journey of faith . . . is it “cheap” or is it coming at a price? 

 

Consider the words and actions of Jesus as he reached out to build God’s kingdom.  Consider the risk he took to speak out for those of God’s children who were persecuted, ignored, and even put to death because they were considered unworthy of the popular society and religious of his day.  Consider how he spoke up for those who were weak . . . those who were poor . . . those who were disabled.  Consider how he sought out peace and justice . . . inclusion . . . and love for all.  Consider how he reached out not to kill his enemies, but instead tried to understand them and work with them to fulfill God’s plans of a kingdom.  Consider how his radical love and grace ruffled the feathers of those who were in power to the point that it ended up getting him kill.

 

Jesus never said it would be easy.  Ask those who have died for the faith since then.  Ask those who follow Jesus into the fray today and put their lives on the line because they believe in Jesus and what he taught.  There is a cost that comes with following Jesus.  As always, Jesus leaves the choice up to us . . . Amen.