Surprise Endings

Easter, April 23, 2000

A sermon by Rev. Dr. John K. Luoma

Everyone likes surprise endings. That's what makes stories so interesting. We pay attention, because we can't imagine what the ending is going to be. Certainly one of the best movies, in that regard, in this last year was "The Sixth Sense". It is the story of a psychiatrist and his efforts to help a troubled little boy with a deep dark secret. And he does help. And the ending is truly surprising. Almost impossible to anticipate. And I won't share it with you because that would ruin it if you haven't yet seen the picture.

And today we talk about the greatest surprise ending of all time-the story of the resurrection of Jesus. And, of course, this is a story of fact and not fiction. As the Apostle Paul says, it is a reality attested to by Peter and the twelve disciples, by 500 brothers and sisters in the faith at one time, by James and the apostles, and, he says, last of all by himself.

And it is a total surprise to everyone. No one anticipated it. Certainly Jesus said as much on several occasions, but it seemed to fall on deaf ears. And how can you blame them, especially after witnessing an event like the crucifixion? Jesus suffered the most horrible death possible at that time. We know the story: His body was beaten and mutilated and nailed to a cross, and he eventually died of exposure and asphyxiation. And his body was laid in a tomb, and a big stone was rolled in front, and it was sealed. How could anyone have any doubt that this man was dead? Sometimes I think that some of the images we use for the resurrection give us a false idea of what happened to him. We think of him like we think of the caterpillar who spins a cocoon and then emerges in a different form. But it is just not so. Jesus is as dead as a person can possibly get. As one writer says, he was "dead dead." There was no one who thought anything else. There was no one who
anticipated a resurrection.

And the story as we read it in the Gospel of John bears that out. Mary Magdalene sets out early on Easter morning and the only thing she is expecting to see is a sealed tomb. And the only thing she is expecting to do is to say her last good-byes to her friend, Jesus. And when John and Peter hear that the tomb is empty they run to it and look inside, but it never crosses their mind that Jesus has been resurrected. And even when Mary sees angels in the tomb it doesn't occur to her that something surprising has happened to her Lord. In fact, even when she talks to Jesus face to face she doesn't realize that it is her Lord. Only after he says her name does it dawn on her who he is and what has happened. And she leaves and excitedly shares that with the world.

And one would expect that would be the end, but it is not. The writer of John continues to tell of other appearances of the resurrected Jesus. He keeps popping up all over the place. He appears to the disciples as they are fearfully hiding behind locked doors in Jerusalem. He appears again just for the sake of the doubting Thomas who wasn't there the first time around. Finally, he appears to all the disciples as they gather at the Sea of Galilee. And it makes you wonder what the writer is saying to us. I think he is saying that the resurrected Jesus continues to be present to his people in surprising ways as they continue to trust him and share the good news that in him death and sin and evil have been defeated and new life is possible for all who trust in him.

There is a beautiful poem by Lois Cheney called "Once Upon a Time." It beautifully expresses the meaning of the resurrection and how believers in the resurrection are called to live.

"Once upon a time....there was a God... who so loved the world...that he gave his son...his only son...and they took that son ...and they hung him on a cross...and that son died...and they buried the son-sealed him up tight....But God said, "On, no you don't"....and he rolled back the rock,.... he unsealed his son.... and his son came out, ..... came out walking and breathing..... And he was alive.... And he's alive today....and he walks around...and he stalks around...breathing life and life."

And then with these words she talks about those who love evil and those who just selfishly want to ignore the truth: and how every morning just before dawn they...

"Sneak up to the grave and roll back the stone... to seal it up tight... And every morning God roars "Oh no you don't!".... And he flings back the stone..... And out walks Jesus .....all over again,.... out stalks the grinning, striding Jesus..... But they pretend not to notice the living, breathing, walking, talking Jesus out on the edge calling, "Hey! Hey you!"

And I think that pretty well sums it up. In the resurrected Jesus God has established a new future for us- a future in which everything will be as it is meant to be. Death and sin and evil have been defeated and new life is available to every one who trusts in Jesus.

And the kind of life that we are empowered to live by faith is pretty clear. We set ourselves against the evil ones who seek to deny the resurrection and roll the stone back in front of the tomb.. We set ourselves against those who say there is no hope. We set ourselves against those who regard everyone as their enemy and try to get all they can get while they can get. In our families and in our communities and in our country and in any place we have influence we stand against those who would roll back the stone. We stand with God, and we say, "On, no you don't!"

And to those who pretend not to notice what God has done in Christ, because they believe it will inconvenience them or because they think they can put off making a decision about him, we join with the risen Jesus trying to wake them up to what God has done and trying to save them from the consequences of ignoring it. With Jesus we shout, "Hey! Hey you!"

This is the surprising message we hear this Easter Day-there is new life for everyone who trusts in the resurrected Jesus. There is a glorious future set for everyone who trusts in him, and we can experience this transforming power even now and sometimes in miraculous ways. The resurrected Jesus still has surprises in store for us.

Rev. Kamila Blessing, who has been involved in healing ministry for some years now and has seen many such miracles, shares one that she experienced recently . It is an incredible story called "enveloping warmth." It is the story of a six-year-old named Katya. She was an orphan from Russia adopted by a couple named Bob and Sara Howe. They brought her to the U.S. and they always brought her to church. They tried to envelop her with as much emotional warmth as possible, because she had been so deprived. They didn't know if she understood when they said, "I love you," because she didn't understand much English at all. She was quick and remembered things, but it was sometimes difficult for her to produce good English sentences.

Katya had hardly gotten a start in this country when her parents realized that something was terribly wrong. She was diagnosed with Hodgkins disease and was told that it would be fatal. All the people at church were deeply moved. Katya would lose her wonderful family and her family would lose the child they had longed for. Everyone was praying for Katya.

One evening they had their regular prayer meeting at church and Katya was with her parents. After many other people and things were prayed for, the pastor came to Katya and asked, "May I pray for you?" Since she didn't object, he gently laid his hands on her head and began praying for her healing. He specifically prayed for the next check-up with the oncologist.

Later, she insisted on telling her parents something. She kept saying over and over that she was embarrassed. She was excited and even agitated as she said it. The parents couldn't figure out what she meant. She concluded that she meant that all the people had been looking at her and she felt shy.

At the next visit to the doctor, Katya insisted that the doctor listen to her: "I was embarrassed. I was embarrassed," she said.

To their surprise the new test results showed that Katya was cancer free. Upon hearing this good news Katya again insisted, "I was embarrassed." Suddenly the parents knew that she was talking about the healing prayer. They gently tried to get more information from her and found out that as the pastor was praying for her she felt a flush of warmth in her face and then throughout her body. With her limited exposure to English the only word she could think of to describe it was "embarrassed." That was why she was so insistent on telling them. The moment when the hands were laid upon her was the moment when she felt the enveloping warmth of the spirit of Jesus.

Even today the resurrected continues to come in surprising ways for those who trust him.

Copyright 2000 by Rev. Dr. John K. Luoma

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