Easter March 27, 2016 Luke 24: 1-12 Acts 10: 34-43
Rev. Catherine Purves
Have you had occasion to walk through a quiet graveyard? Perhaps you were going to pay your respects to a loved one who had died. In the early morning, walking through the dewy grass, in the peaceful silence of that place of eternal rest, what are you doing there? Why did you come? Are you looking for closure? Perhaps you just feel that you must acknowledge the deadliness of death in this place of the dead. Or are you trying not to let go, because you don’t want to consign someone you loved to a past of half-forgotten memories? Or, in this act of going to the cemetery, are you proving to yourself (and maybe to others) that your love is still strong, even if all you can do is lay some flowers on the grave and pause for a brief prayer? Is that why you came? It’s possible that all of these things drew you to that place of gravestones and ashes and tombs. What seems certain, however, is that you did not go to that silent and serene place of death to look for the living.
This must also be said of the first witnesses to the resurrection. The women, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women went to the tomb to find a dead body. They had no other expectations. They went in order to anoint the corpse of Jesus with precious perfumes. They went to try, in some small way, to put right what crucifixion had destroyed. They went to show their love for Jesus and to minister to his broken body in the only way that they could. They were acting out their pain and their loss, trying to cope with their grief. They were not looking for the living in that graveyard. They were looking for the dead.
It’s hard to imagine their surprise, their shock and awe, when they found Jesus’ tomb disturbed, and his body gone. They had wanted to bless a corpse, they were looking for the dead in this place of what they thought was eternal repose. And they found instead two glorious beings who only added to their confusion and terror. This wasn’t what they expected; it wasn’t what they had planned for. But their plans and expectations were turned upside down when the two heavenly beings challenged them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”
The answer to that poignant question was obvious. They weren’t looking for the living. They were chasing a memory. They were all caught up in their own emotions. They were grieving. What had they to do with the living? The crucifixion of Jesus had left them feeling half dead themselves. The future, at that moment, seemed to be full of pain and uncertainty and fear. In fact, there was no future, only a past, only memories to be experienced in the present in this graveyard, this place of death. The question of God’s messengers only confused them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”
This first part of the resurrection story in Luke does not end with faith. Though the women obediently reported to the disciples what the angelic visitors had said, we are given no indication that they were convinced or relieved or joyful after having received this strange news. And Luke says that the disciples themselves thought this was “an idle tale,” an unbelievable story reported by some grief-crazed women. Peter did run to the tomb and found it empty, but Luke simply says that he was amazed by what he saw. He too left the graveyard perplexed, rather than convinced that Jesus must be alive
The absence of Jesus, the empty tomb, was not enough to inspire faith. It certainly got their attention, but the resurrection is more than a missing body, and resurrection faith depends upon a genuine encounter with the risen Lord. Later in this same chapter, Luke will describe those encounters that happened in unlikely places: the road to Emmaus, and a locked upper room. The followers of Jesus weren’t looking for the living there either, but the Living Lord found them!
Luke will continue his series of resurrection stories in the Book of Acts. We read there about a sermon preached by Peter who explained that the risen Jesus appeared to those who were chosen by God as witnesses. They were then commanded to preach and to testify that Jesus is Lord of all. They were empowered to do that because they had seen Jesus, spoken with him; they’d even eaten a meal with him. Where do you look for the living? Not in a graveyard, but in the company of believers who know that Jesus is risen, because they have met him and been called by him.
It seems fairly clear that we should expect to be surprised by this Jesus who sometimes appears in the locked rooms where we are hiding and who walks with us as we journey with heavy hearts through the graveyards of our lives with no hopes for the future. He just turns up, often in the most unlikely places. He doesn’t wait to be invited, and he isn’t always where we might expect him to be. Where, then, do you look for the Living Lord? This question is vital, because we have to find him. We must be found by him, or our faith will merely rest upon an empty tomb. While we can’t exactly predict when he will appear, he has given himself to be known in certain ways, and that is where we should be looking for the Living One.
There are at least three obvious places where we should look for the Living Jesus. These are places where the Bible tells us that others have been surprised by him. In our reading from Acts, where we heard that sermon preached by Peter, the backstory is interesting. Peter had been summoned by a most unlikely individual: Cornelius, who was a Roman centurion and a Gentile. I can imagine that Peter didn’t have high hopes for this meeting. Why would God want him to testify to the Risen Jesus in front of a Gentile? But the Lord can use even reluctant fisherman-preachers to proclaim the good news with power. And in the middle of Peter’s sermon the Holy Spirit drew those Gentiles into an encounter with the risen, Living Lord and they started praising God and speaking in tongues. Peter was probably the one who was most surprised by all of this. One place where we should be looking for the Living One is in the Word preached, no matter who the preacher is. If you want to encounter the Living Jesus, you must listen to the living Word. When the gospel is preached, the risen Lord shows up!
A second, sure place where we should be looking for the Living One is in the community of the faithful. The encounters that the first believers had with the resurrected Lord were almost all shared experiences in which Jesus appeared to a group of people. Solo conversions were and are the exception, not the rule. Throughout the Bible, God relates to people corporately not individually. When individuals are used by God it is always for the common good, so that a community of believers can be formed and sustained through their shared encounter with the Living One. The place where we should be looking for the resurrected Christ is in the church of the Living Lord. This is where he enables us to find him, so this is where we must look for him, not as individual seekers, but as a company of believers who are looking for him together here in our church, Sunday after Sunday after Sunday.
A third known place where the living Lord Jesus seeks to encounter us is in the celebration of the Sacrament of Holy Communion. So that is where we should be looking for him and anticipating his real presence. We know that this is not just a meal of remembrance or a meal of anticipation. It is also a meal of encounter, a meal of communion with the Living One. Here in the mystery of the Lord’s Supper Jesus shows up as our Risen Lord. We should look for him here, because this is how he has chosen to touch our lives and transform our lives as we live in him and he in us and as he binds us to one another in a living fellowship of power and grace.
This is our last worship service together, but we must not walk about mournfully like the women in the graveyard. We must not go into hiding like the disciples in their locked upper room. We cannot live on memories; we must not long for the past. We serve a Living Savior who seeks to encounter us here today, and tomorrow, and always in the proclamation of the Gospel, in the community of faith which is his church, and in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. The tomb is empty. Don’t look for him there. This is where you must continue to look for the Living One, for this is where he will be found. eHe does not wait to be invited.
Where Do You Look for the Living?
Easter March 27, 2016 Luke 24: 1-12 Acts 10: 34-43
Rev. Catherine Purves
Have you had occasion to walk through a quiet graveyard? Perhaps you were going to pay your respects to a loved one who had died. In the early morning, walking through the dewy grass, in the peaceful silence of that place of eternal rest, what are you doing there? Why did you come? Are you looking for closure? Perhaps you just feel that you must acknowledge the deadliness of death in this place of the dead. Or are you trying not to let go, because you don’t want to consign someone you loved to a past of half-forgotten memories? Or, in this act of going to the cemetery, are you proving to yourself (and maybe to others) that your love is still strong, even if all you can do is lay some flowers on the grave and pause for a brief prayer? Is that why you came? It’s possible that all of these things drew you to that place of gravestones and ashes and tombs. What seems certain, however, is that you did not go to that silent and serene place of death to look for the living.
This must also be said of the first witnesses to the resurrection. The women, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women went to the tomb to find a dead body. They had no other expectations. They went in order to anoint the corpse of Jesus with precious perfumes. They went to try, in some small way, to put right what crucifixion had destroyed. They went to show their love for Jesus and to minister to his broken body in the only way that they could. They were acting out their pain and their loss, trying to cope with their grief. They were not looking for the living in that graveyard. They were looking for the dead.
It’s hard to imagine their surprise, their shock and awe, when they found Jesus’ tomb disturbed, and his body gone. They had wanted to bless a corpse, they were looking for the dead in this place of what they thought was eternal repose. And they found instead two glorious beings who only added to their confusion and terror. This wasn’t what they expected; it wasn’t what they had planned for. But their plans and expectations were turned upside down when the two heavenly beings challenged them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”
The answer to that poignant question was obvious. They weren’t looking for the living. They were chasing a memory. They were all caught up in their own emotions. They were grieving. What had they to do with the living? The crucifixion of Jesus had left them feeling half dead themselves. The future, at that moment, seemed to be full of pain and uncertainty and fear. In fact, there was no future, only a past, only memories to be experienced in the present in this graveyard, this place of death. The question of God’s messengers only confused them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”
This first part of the resurrection story in Luke does not end with faith. Though the women obediently reported to the disciples what the angelic visitors had said, we are given no indication that they were convinced or relieved or joyful after having received this strange news. And Luke says that the disciples themselves thought this was “an idle tale,” an unbelievable story reported by some grief-crazed women. Peter did run to the tomb and found it empty, but Luke simply says that he was amazed by what he saw. He too left the graveyard perplexed, rather than convinced that Jesus must be alive
The absence of Jesus, the empty tomb, was not enough to inspire faith. It certainly got their attention, but the resurrection is more than a missing body, and resurrection faith depends upon a genuine encounter with the risen Lord. Later in this same chapter, Luke will describe those encounters that happened in unlikely places: the road to Emmaus, and a locked upper room. The followers of Jesus weren’t looking for the living there either, but the Living Lord found them!
Luke will continue his series of resurrection stories in the Book of Acts. We read there about a sermon preached by Peter who explained that the risen Jesus appeared to those who were chosen by God as witnesses. They were then commanded to preach and to testify that Jesus is Lord of all. They were empowered to do that because they had seen Jesus, spoken with him; they’d even eaten a meal with him. Where do you look for the living? Not in a graveyard, but in the company of believers who know that Jesus is risen, because they have met him and been called by him.
It seems fairly clear that we should expect to be surprised by this Jesus who sometimes appears in the locked rooms where we are hiding and who walks with us as we journey with heavy hearts through the graveyards of our lives with no hopes for the future. He just turns up, often in the most unlikely places. He doesn’t wait to be invited, and he isn’t always where we might expect him to be. Where, then, do you look for the Living Lord? This question is vital, because we have to find him. We must be found by him, or our faith will merely rest upon an empty tomb. While we can’t exactly predict when he will appear, he has given himself to be known in certain ways, and that is where we should be looking for the Living One.
There are at least three obvious places where we should look for the Living Jesus. These are places where the Bible tells us that others have been surprised by him. In our reading from Acts, where we heard that sermon preached by Peter, the backstory is interesting. Peter had been summoned by a most unlikely individual: Cornelius, who was a Roman centurion and a Gentile. I can imagine that Peter didn’t have high hopes for this meeting. Why would God want him to testify to the Risen Jesus in front of a Gentile? But the Lord can use even reluctant fisherman-preachers to proclaim the good news with power. And in the middle of Peter’s sermon the Holy Spirit drew those Gentiles into an encounter with the risen, Living Lord and they started praising God and speaking in tongues. Peter was probably the one who was most surprised by all of this. One place where we should be looking for the Living One is in the Word preached, no matter who the preacher is. If you want to encounter the Living Jesus, you must listen to the living Word. When the gospel is preached, the risen Lord shows up!
A second, sure place where we should be looking for the Living One is in the community of the faithful. The encounters that the first believers had with the resurrected Lord were almost all shared experiences in which Jesus appeared to a group of people. Solo conversions were and are the exception, not the rule. Throughout the Bible, God relates to people corporately not individually. When individuals are used by God it is always for the common good, so that a community of believers can be formed and sustained through their shared encounter with the Living One. The place where we should be looking for the resurrected Christ is in the church of the Living Lord. This is where he enables us to find him, so this is where we must look for him, not as individual seekers, but as a company of believers who are looking for him together here in our church, Sunday after Sunday after Sunday.
A third known place where the living Lord Jesus seeks to encounter us is in the celebration of the Sacrament of Holy Communion. So that is where we should be looking for him and anticipating his real presence. We know that this is not just a meal of remembrance or a meal of anticipation. It is also a meal of encounter, a meal of communion with the Living One. Here in the mystery of the Lord’s Supper Jesus shows up as our Risen Lord. We should look for him here, because this is how he has chosen to touch our lives and transform our lives as we live in him and he in us and as he binds us to one another in a living fellowship of power and grace.
This is our last worship service together, but we must not walk about mournfully like the women in the graveyard. We must not go into hiding like the disciples in their locked upper room. We cannot live on memories; we must not long for the past. We serve a Living Savior who seeks to encounter us here today, and tomorrow, and always in the proclamation of the Gospel, in the community of faith which is his church, and in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. The tomb is empty. Don’t look for him there. This is where you must continue to look for the Living One, for this is where he will be found. eHe does not wait to be invited.
Where Do You Look for the Living?
Easter March 27, 2016 Luke 24: 1-12 Acts 10: 34-43
Rev. Catherine Purves
Have you had occasion to walk through a quiet graveyard? Perhaps you were going to pay your respects to a loved one who had died. In the early morning, walking through the dewy grass, in the peaceful silence of that place of eternal rest, what are you doing there? Why did you come? Are you looking for closure? Perhaps you just feel that you must acknowledge the deadliness of death in this place of the dead. Or are you trying not to let go, because you don’t want to consign someone you loved to a past of half-forgotten memories? Or, in this act of going to the cemetery, are you proving to yourself (and maybe to others) that your love is still strong, even if all you can do is lay some flowers on the grave and pause for a brief prayer? Is that why you came? It’s possible that all of these things drew you to that place of gravestones and ashes and tombs. What seems certain, however, is that you did not go to that silent and serene place of death to look for the living.
This must also be said of the first witnesses to the resurrection. The women, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women went to the tomb to find a dead body. They had no other expectations. They went in order to anoint the corpse of Jesus with precious perfumes. They went to try, in some small way, to put right what crucifixion had destroyed. They went to show their love for Jesus and to minister to his broken body in the only way that they could. They were acting out their pain and their loss, trying to cope with their grief. They were not looking for the living in that graveyard. They were looking for the dead.
It’s hard to imagine their surprise, their shock and awe, when they found Jesus’ tomb disturbed, and his body gone. They had wanted to bless a corpse, they were looking for the dead in this place of what they thought was eternal repose. And they found instead two glorious beings who only added to their confusion and terror. This wasn’t what they expected; it wasn’t what they had planned for. But their plans and expectations were turned upside down when the two heavenly beings challenged them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”
The answer to that poignant question was obvious. They weren’t looking for the living. They were chasing a memory. They were all caught up in their own emotions. They were grieving. What had they to do with the living? The crucifixion of Jesus had left them feeling half dead themselves. The future, at that moment, seemed to be full of pain and uncertainty and fear. In fact, there was no future, only a past, only memories to be experienced in the present in this graveyard, this place of death. The question of God’s messengers only confused them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”
This first part of the resurrection story in Luke does not end with faith. Though the women obediently reported to the disciples what the angelic visitors had said, we are given no indication that they were convinced or relieved or joyful after having received this strange news. And Luke says that the disciples themselves thought this was “an idle tale,” an unbelievable story reported by some grief-crazed women. Peter did run to the tomb and found it empty, but Luke simply says that he was amazed by what he saw. He too left the graveyard perplexed, rather than convinced that Jesus must be alive
The absence of Jesus, the empty tomb, was not enough to inspire faith. It certainly got their attention, but the resurrection is more than a missing body, and resurrection faith depends upon a genuine encounter with the risen Lord. Later in this same chapter, Luke will describe those encounters that happened in unlikely places: the road to Emmaus, and a locked upper room. The followers of Jesus weren’t looking for the living there either, but the Living Lord found them!
Luke will continue his series of resurrection stories in the Book of Acts. We read there about a sermon preached by Peter who explained that the risen Jesus appeared to those who were chosen by God as witnesses. They were then commanded to preach and to testify that Jesus is Lord of all. They were empowered to do that because they had seen Jesus, spoken with him; they’d even eaten a meal with him. Where do you look for the living? Not in a graveyard, but in the company of believers who know that Jesus is risen, because they have met him and been called by him.
It seems fairly clear that we should expect to be surprised by this Jesus who sometimes appears in the locked rooms where we are hiding and who walks with us as we journey with heavy hearts through the graveyards of our lives with no hopes for the future. He just turns up, often in the most unlikely places. He doesn’t wait to be invited, and he isn’t always where we might expect him to be. Where, then, do you look for the Living Lord? This question is vital, because we have to find him. We must be found by him, or our faith will merely rest upon an empty tomb. While we can’t exactly predict when he will appear, he has given himself to be known in certain ways, and that is where we should be looking for the Living One.
There are at least three obvious places where we should look for the Living Jesus. These are places where the Bible tells us that others have been surprised by him. In our reading from Acts, where we heard that sermon preached by Peter, the backstory is interesting. Peter had been summoned by a most unlikely individual: Cornelius, who was a Roman centurion and a Gentile. I can imagine that Peter didn’t have high hopes for this meeting. Why would God want him to testify to the Risen Jesus in front of a Gentile? But the Lord can use even reluctant fisherman-preachers to proclaim the good news with power. And in the middle of Peter’s sermon the Holy Spirit drew those Gentiles into an encounter with the risen, Living Lord and they started praising God and speaking in tongues. Peter was probably the one who was most surprised by all of this. One place where we should be looking for the Living One is in the Word preached, no matter who the preacher is. If you want to encounter the Living Jesus, you must listen to the living Word. When the gospel is preached, the risen Lord shows up!
A second, sure place where we should be looking for the Living One is in the community of the faithful. The encounters that the first believers had with the resurrected Lord were almost all shared experiences in which Jesus appeared to a group of people. Solo conversions were and are the exception, not the rule. Throughout the Bible, God relates to people corporately not individually. When individuals are used by God it is always for the common good, so that a community of believers can be formed and sustained through their shared encounter with the Living One. The place where we should be looking for the resurrected Christ is in the church of the Living Lord. This is where he enables us to find him, so this is where we must look for him, not as individual seekers, but as a company of believers who are looking for him together here in our church, Sunday after Sunday after Sunday.
A third known place where the living Lord Jesus seeks to encounter us is in the celebration of the Sacrament of Holy Communion. So that is where we should be looking for him and anticipating his real presence. We know that this is not just a meal of remembrance or a meal of anticipation. It is also a meal of encounter, a meal of communion with the Living One. Here in the mystery of the Lord’s Supper Jesus shows up as our Risen Lord. We should look for him here, because this is how he has chosen to touch our lives and transform our lives as we live in him and he in us and as he binds us to one another in a living fellowship of power and grace.
This is our last worship service together, but we must not walk about mournfully like the women in the graveyard. We must not go into hiding like the disciples in their locked upper room. We cannot live on memories; we must not long for the past. We serve a Living Savior who seeks to encounter us here today, and tomorrow, and always in the proclamation of the Gospel, in the community of faith which is his church, and in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. The tomb is empty. Don’t look for him there. This is where you must continue to look for the Living One, for this is where he will be found. eHe does not wait to be invited.
Where Do You Look for the Living?
Easter March 27, 2016 Luke 24: 1-12 Acts 10: 34-43
Rev. Catherine Purves
Have you had occasion to walk through a quiet graveyard? Perhaps you were going to pay your respects to a loved one who had died. In the early morning, walking through the dewy grass, in the peaceful silence of that place of eternal rest, what are you doing there? Why did you come? Are you looking for closure? Perhaps you just feel that you must acknowledge the deadliness of death in this place of the dead. Or are you trying not to let go, because you don’t want to consign someone you loved to a past of half-forgotten memories? Or, in this act of going to the cemetery, are you proving to yourself (and maybe to others) that your love is still strong, even if all you can do is lay some flowers on the grave and pause for a brief prayer? Is that why you came? It’s possible that all of these things drew you to that place of gravestones and ashes and tombs. What seems certain, however, is that you did not go to that silent and serene place of death to look for the living.
This must also be said of the first witnesses to the resurrection. The women, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women went to the tomb to find a dead body. They had no other expectations. They went in order to anoint the corpse of Jesus with precious perfumes. They went to try, in some small way, to put right what crucifixion had destroyed. They went to show their love for Jesus and to minister to his broken body in the only way that they could. They were acting out their pain and their loss, trying to cope with their grief. They were not looking for the living in that graveyard. They were looking for the dead.
It’s hard to imagine their surprise, their shock and awe, when they found Jesus’ tomb disturbed, and his body gone. They had wanted to bless a corpse, they were looking for the dead in this place of what they thought was eternal repose. And they found instead two glorious beings who only added to their confusion and terror. This wasn’t what they expected; it wasn’t what they had planned for. But their plans and expectations were turned upside down when the two heavenly beings challenged them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”
The answer to that poignant question was obvious. They weren’t looking for the living. They were chasing a memory. They were all caught up in their own emotions. They were grieving. What had they to do with the living? The crucifixion of Jesus had left them feeling half dead themselves. The future, at that moment, seemed to be full of pain and uncertainty and fear. In fact, there was no future, only a past, only memories to be experienced in the present in this graveyard, this place of death. The question of God’s messengers only confused them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”
This first part of the resurrection story in Luke does not end with faith. Though the women obediently reported to the disciples what the angelic visitors had said, we are given no indication that they were convinced or relieved or joyful after having received this strange news. And Luke says that the disciples themselves thought this was “an idle tale,” an unbelievable story reported by some grief-crazed women. Peter did run to the tomb and found it empty, but Luke simply says that he was amazed by what he saw. He too left the graveyard perplexed, rather than convinced that Jesus must be alive
The absence of Jesus, the empty tomb, was not enough to inspire faith. It certainly got their attention, but the resurrection is more than a missing body, and resurrection faith depends upon a genuine encounter with the risen Lord. Later in this same chapter, Luke will describe those encounters that happened in unlikely places: the road to Emmaus, and a locked upper room. The followers of Jesus weren’t looking for the living there either, but the Living Lord found them!
Luke will continue his series of resurrection stories in the Book of Acts. We read there about a sermon preached by Peter who explained that the risen Jesus appeared to those who were chosen by God as witnesses. They were then commanded to preach and to testify that Jesus is Lord of all. They were empowered to do that because they had seen Jesus, spoken with him; they’d even eaten a meal with him. Where do you look for the living? Not in a graveyard, but in the company of believers who know that Jesus is risen, because they have met him and been called by him.
It seems fairly clear that we should expect to be surprised by this Jesus who sometimes appears in the locked rooms where we are hiding and who walks with us as we journey with heavy hearts through the graveyards of our lives with no hopes for the future. He just turns up, often in the most unlikely places. He doesn’t wait to be invited, and he isn’t always where we might expect him to be. Where, then, do you look for the Living Lord? This question is vital, because we have to find him. We must be found by him, or our faith will merely rest upon an empty tomb. While we can’t exactly predict when he will appear, he has given himself to be known in certain ways, and that is where we should be looking for the Living One.
There are at least three obvious places where we should look for the Living Jesus. These are places where the Bible tells us that others have been surprised by him. In our reading from Acts, where we heard that sermon preached by Peter, the backstory is interesting. Peter had been summoned by a most unlikely individual: Cornelius, who was a Roman centurion and a Gentile. I can imagine that Peter didn’t have high hopes for this meeting. Why would God want him to testify to the Risen Jesus in front of a Gentile? But the Lord can use even reluctant fisherman-preachers to proclaim the good news with power. And in the middle of Peter’s sermon the Holy Spirit drew those Gentiles into an encounter with the risen, Living Lord and they started praising God and speaking in tongues. Peter was probably the one who was most surprised by all of this. One place where we should be looking for the Living One is in the Word preached, no matter who the preacher is. If you want to encounter the Living Jesus, you must listen to the living Word. When the gospel is preached, the risen Lord shows up!
A second, sure place where we should be looking for the Living One is in the community of the faithful. The encounters that the first believers had with the resurrected Lord were almost all shared experiences in which Jesus appeared to a group of people. Solo conversions were and are the exception, not the rule. Throughout the Bible, God relates to people corporately not individually. When individuals are used by God it is always for the common good, so that a community of believers can be formed and sustained through their shared encounter with the Living One. The place where we should be looking for the resurrected Christ is in the church of the Living Lord. This is where he enables us to find him, so this is where we must look for him, not as individual seekers, but as a company of believers who are looking for him together here in our church, Sunday after Sunday after Sunday.
A third known place where the living Lord Jesus seeks to encounter us is in the celebration of the Sacrament of Holy Communion. So that is where we should be looking for him and anticipating his real presence. We know that this is not just a meal of remembrance or a meal of anticipation. It is also a meal of encounter, a meal of communion with the Living One. Here in the mystery of the Lord’s Supper Jesus shows up as our Risen Lord. We should look for him here, because this is how he has chosen to touch our lives and transform our lives as we live in him and he in us and as he binds us to one another in a living fellowship of power and grace.
This is our last worship service together, but we must not walk about mournfully like the women in the graveyard. We must not go into hiding like the disciples in their locked upper room. We cannot live on memories; we must not long for the past. We serve a Living Savior who seeks to encounter us here today, and tomorrow, and always in the proclamation of the Gospel, in the community of faith which is his church, and in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. The tomb is empty. Don’t look for him there. This is where you must continue to look for the Living One, for this is where he will be found. eHe does not wait to be invited.
Where Do You Look for the Living?
Easter March 27, 2016 Luke 24: 1-12 Acts 10: 34-43
Rev. Catherine Purves
Have you had occasion to walk through a quiet graveyard? Perhaps you were going to pay your respects to a loved one who had died. In the early morning, walking through the dewy grass, in the peaceful silence of that place of eternal rest, what are you doing there? Why did you come? Are you looking for closure? Perhaps you just feel that you must acknowledge the deadliness of death in this place of the dead. Or are you trying not to let go, because you don’t want to consign someone you loved to a past of half-forgotten memories? Or, in this act of going to the cemetery, are you proving to yourself (and maybe to others) that your love is still strong, even if all you can do is lay some flowers on the grave and pause for a brief prayer? Is that why you came? It’s possible that all of these things drew you to that place of gravestones and ashes and tombs. What seems certain, however, is that you did not go to that silent and serene place of death to look for the living.
This must also be said of the first witnesses to the resurrection. The women, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women went to the tomb to find a dead body. They had no other expectations. They went in order to anoint the corpse of Jesus with precious perfumes. They went to try, in some small way, to put right what crucifixion had destroyed. They went to show their love for Jesus and to minister to his broken body in the only way that they could. They were acting out their pain and their loss, trying to cope with their grief. They were not looking for the living in that graveyard. They were looking for the dead.
It’s hard to imagine their surprise, their shock and awe, when they found Jesus’ tomb disturbed, and his body gone. They had wanted to bless a corpse, they were looking for the dead in this place of what they thought was eternal repose. And they found instead two glorious beings who only added to their confusion and terror. This wasn’t what they expected; it wasn’t what they had planned for. But their plans and expectations were turned upside down when the two heavenly beings challenged them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”
The answer to that poignant question was obvious. They weren’t looking for the living. They were chasing a memory. They were all caught up in their own emotions. They were grieving. What had they to do with the living? The crucifixion of Jesus had left them feeling half dead themselves. The future, at that moment, seemed to be full of pain and uncertainty and fear. In fact, there was no future, only a past, only memories to be experienced in the present in this graveyard, this place of death. The question of God’s messengers only confused them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”
This first part of the resurrection story in Luke does not end with faith. Though the women obediently reported to the disciples what the angelic visitors had said, we are given no indication that they were convinced or relieved or joyful after having received this strange news. And Luke says that the disciples themselves thought this was “an idle tale,” an unbelievable story reported by some grief-crazed women. Peter did run to the tomb and found it empty, but Luke simply says that he was amazed by what he saw. He too left the graveyard perplexed, rather than convinced that Jesus must be alive
The absence of Jesus, the empty tomb, was not enough to inspire faith. It certainly got their attention, but the resurrection is more than a missing body, and resurrection faith depends upon a genuine encounter with the risen Lord. Later in this same chapter, Luke will describe those encounters that happened in unlikely places: the road to Emmaus, and a locked upper room. The followers of Jesus weren’t looking for the living there either, but the Living Lord found them!
Luke will continue his series of resurrection stories in the Book of Acts. We read there about a sermon preached by Peter who explained that the risen Jesus appeared to those who were chosen by God as witnesses. They were then commanded to preach and to testify that Jesus is Lord of all. They were empowered to do that because they had seen Jesus, spoken with him; they’d even eaten a meal with him. Where do you look for the living? Not in a graveyard, but in the company of believers who know that Jesus is risen, because they have met him and been called by him.
It seems fairly clear that we should expect to be surprised by this Jesus who sometimes appears in the locked rooms where we are hiding and who walks with us as we journey with heavy hearts through the graveyards of our lives with no hopes for the future. He just turns up, often in the most unlikely places. He doesn’t wait to be invited, and he isn’t always where we might expect him to be. Where, then, do you look for the Living Lord? This question is vital, because we have to find him. We must be found by him, or our faith will merely rest upon an empty tomb. While we can’t exactly predict when he will appear, he has given himself to be known in certain ways, and that is where we should be looking for the Living One.
There are at least three obvious places where we should look for the Living Jesus. These are places where the Bible tells us that others have been surprised by him. In our reading from Acts, where we heard that sermon preached by Peter, the backstory is interesting. Peter had been summoned by a most unlikely individual: Cornelius, who was a Roman centurion and a Gentile. I can imagine that Peter didn’t have high hopes for this meeting. Why would God want him to testify to the Risen Jesus in front of a Gentile? But the Lord can use even reluctant fisherman-preachers to proclaim the good news with power. And in the middle of Peter’s sermon the Holy Spirit drew those Gentiles into an encounter with the risen, Living Lord and they started praising God and speaking in tongues. Peter was probably the one who was most surprised by all of this. One place where we should be looking for the Living One is in the Word preached, no matter who the preacher is. If you want to encounter the Living Jesus, you must listen to the living Word. When the gospel is preached, the risen Lord shows up!
A second, sure place where we should be looking for the Living One is in the community of the faithful. The encounters that the first believers had with the resurrected Lord were almost all shared experiences in which Jesus appeared to a group of people. Solo conversions were and are the exception, not the rule. Throughout the Bible, God relates to people corporately not individually. When individuals are used by God it is always for the common good, so that a community of believers can be formed and sustained through their shared encounter with the Living One. The place where we should be looking for the resurrected Christ is in the church of the Living Lord. This is where he enables us to find him, so this is where we must look for him, not as individual seekers, but as a company of believers who are looking for him together here in our church, Sunday after Sunday after Sunday.
A third known place where the living Lord Jesus seeks to encounter us is in the celebration of the Sacrament of Holy Communion. So that is where we should be looking for him and anticipating his real presence. We know that this is not just a meal of remembrance or a meal of anticipation. It is also a meal of encounter, a meal of communion with the Living One. Here in the mystery of the Lord’s Supper Jesus shows up as our Risen Lord. We should look for him here, because this is how he has chosen to touch our lives and transform our lives as we live in him and he in us and as he binds us to one another in a living fellowship of power and grace.
This is our last worship service together, but we must not walk about mournfully like the women in the graveyard. We must not go into hiding like the disciples in their locked upper room. We cannot live on memories; we must not long for the past. We serve a Living Savior who seeks to encounter us here today, and tomorrow, and always in the proclamation of the Gospel, in the community of faith which is his church, and in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. The tomb is empty. Don’t look for him there. This is where you must continue to look for the Living One, for this is where he will be found. eHe does not wait to be invited.
Where Do You Look for the Living?
Easter March 27, 2016 Luke 24: 1-12 Acts 10: 34-43
Rev. Catherine Purves
Have you had occasion to walk through a quiet graveyard? Perhaps you were going to pay your respects to a loved one who had died. In the early morning, walking through the dewy grass, in the peaceful silence of that place of eternal rest, what are you doing there? Why did you come? Are you looking for closure? Perhaps you just feel that you must acknowledge the deadliness of death in this place of the dead. Or are you trying not to let go, because you don’t want to consign someone you loved to a past of half-forgotten memories? Or, in this act of going to the cemetery, are you proving to yourself (and maybe to others) that your love is still strong, even if all you can do is lay some flowers on the grave and pause for a brief prayer? Is that why you came? It’s possible that all of these things drew you to that place of gravestones and ashes and tombs. What seems certain, however, is that you did not go to that silent and serene place of death to look for the living.
This must also be said of the first witnesses to the resurrection. The women, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women went to the tomb to find a dead body. They had no other expectations. They went in order to anoint the corpse of Jesus with precious perfumes. They went to try, in some small way, to put right what crucifixion had destroyed. They went to show their love for Jesus and to minister to his broken body in the only way that they could. They were acting out their pain and their loss, trying to cope with their grief. They were not looking for the living in that graveyard. They were looking for the dead.
It’s hard to imagine their surprise, their shock and awe, when they found Jesus’ tomb disturbed, and his body gone. They had wanted to bless a corpse, they were looking for the dead in this place of what they thought was eternal repose. And they found instead two glorious beings who only added to their confusion and terror. This wasn’t what they expected; it wasn’t what they had planned for. But their plans and expectations were turned upside down when the two heavenly beings challenged them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”
The answer to that poignant question was obvious. They weren’t looking for the living. They were chasing a memory. They were all caught up in their own emotions. They were grieving. What had they to do with the living? The crucifixion of Jesus had left them feeling half dead themselves. The future, at that moment, seemed to be full of pain and uncertainty and fear. In fact, there was no future, only a past, only memories to be experienced in the present in this graveyard, this place of death. The question of God’s messengers only confused them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”
This first part of the resurrection story in Luke does not end with faith. Though the women obediently reported to the disciples what the angelic visitors had said, we are given no indication that they were convinced or relieved or joyful after having received this strange news. And Luke says that the disciples themselves thought this was “an idle tale,” an unbelievable story reported by some grief-crazed women. Peter did run to the tomb and found it empty, but Luke simply says that he was amazed by what he saw. He too left the graveyard perplexed, rather than convinced that Jesus must be alive
The absence of Jesus, the empty tomb, was not enough to inspire faith. It certainly got their attention, but the resurrection is more than a missing body, and resurrection faith depends upon a genuine encounter with the risen Lord. Later in this same chapter, Luke will describe those encounters that happened in unlikely places: the road to Emmaus, and a locked upper room. The followers of Jesus weren’t looking for the living there either, but the Living Lord found them!
Luke will continue his series of resurrection stories in the Book of Acts. We read there about a sermon preached by Peter who explained that the risen Jesus appeared to those who were chosen by God as witnesses. They were then commanded to preach and to testify that Jesus is Lord of all. They were empowered to do that because they had seen Jesus, spoken with him; they’d even eaten a meal with him. Where do you look for the living? Not in a graveyard, but in the company of believers who know that Jesus is risen, because they have met him and been called by him.
It seems fairly clear that we should expect to be surprised by this Jesus who sometimes appears in the locked rooms where we are hiding and who walks with us as we journey with heavy hearts through the graveyards of our lives with no hopes for the future. He just turns up, often in the most unlikely places. He doesn’t wait to be invited, and he isn’t always where we might expect him to be. Where, then, do you look for the Living Lord? This question is vital, because we have to find him. We must be found by him, or our faith will merely rest upon an empty tomb. While we can’t exactly predict when he will appear, he has given himself to be known in certain ways, and that is where we should be looking for the Living One.
There are at least three obvious places where we should look for the Living Jesus. These are places where the Bible tells us that others have been surprised by him. In our reading from Acts, where we heard that sermon preached by Peter, the backstory is interesting. Peter had been summoned by a most unlikely individual: Cornelius, who was a Roman centurion and a Gentile. I can imagine that Peter didn’t have high hopes for this meeting. Why would God want him to testify to the Risen Jesus in front of a Gentile? But the Lord can use even reluctant fisherman-preachers to proclaim the good news with power. And in the middle of Peter’s sermon the Holy Spirit drew those Gentiles into an encounter with the risen, Living Lord and they started praising God and speaking in tongues. Peter was probably the one who was most surprised by all of this. One place where we should be looking for the Living One is in the Word preached, no matter who the preacher is. If you want to encounter the Living Jesus, you must listen to the living Word. When the gospel is preached, the risen Lord shows up!
A second, sure place where we should be looking for the Living One is in the community of the faithful. The encounters that the first believers had with the resurrected Lord were almost all shared experiences in which Jesus appeared to a group of people. Solo conversions were and are the exception, not the rule. Throughout the Bible, God relates to people corporately not individually. When individuals are used by God it is always for the common good, so that a community of believers can be formed and sustained through their shared encounter with the Living One. The place where we should be looking for the resurrected Christ is in the church of the Living Lord. This is where he enables us to find him, so this is where we must look for him, not as individual seekers, but as a company of believers who are looking for him together here in our church, Sunday after Sunday after Sunday.
A third known place where the living Lord Jesus seeks to encounter us is in the celebration of the Sacrament of Holy Communion. So that is where we should be looking for him and anticipating his real presence. We know that this is not just a meal of remembrance or a meal of anticipation. It is also a meal of encounter, a meal of communion with the Living One. Here in the mystery of the Lord’s Supper Jesus shows up as our Risen Lord. We should look for him here, because this is how he has chosen to touch our lives and transform our lives as we live in him and he in us and as he binds us to one another in a living fellowship of power and grace.
This is our last worship service together, but we must not walk about mournfully like the women in the graveyard. We must not go into hiding like the disciples in their locked upper room. We cannot live on memories; we must not long for the past. We serve a Living Savior who seeks to encounter us here today, and tomorrow, and always in the proclamation of the Gospel, in the community of faith which is his church, and in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. The tomb is empty. Don’t look for him there. This is where you must continue to look for the Living One, for this is where he will be found. eHe does not wait to be invited.
Where Do You Look for the Living?
Easter March 27, 2016 Luke 24: 1-12 Acts 10: 34-43
Rev. Catherine Purves
Have you had occasion to walk through a quiet graveyard? Perhaps you were going to pay your respects to a loved one who had died. In the early morning, walking through the dewy grass, in the peaceful silence of that place of eternal rest, what are you doing there? Why did you come? Are you looking for closure? Perhaps you just feel that you must acknowledge the deadliness of death in this place of the dead. Or are you trying not to let go, because you don’t want to consign someone you loved to a past of half-forgotten memories? Or, in this act of going to the cemetery, are you proving to yourself (and maybe to others) that your love is still strong, even if all you can do is lay some flowers on the grave and pause for a brief prayer? Is that why you came? It’s possible that all of these things drew you to that place of gravestones and ashes and tombs. What seems certain, however, is that you did not go to that silent and serene place of death to look for the living.
This must also be said of the first witnesses to the resurrection. The women, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women went to the tomb to find a dead body. They had no other expectations. They went in order to anoint the corpse of Jesus with precious perfumes. They went to try, in some small way, to put right what crucifixion had destroyed. They went to show their love for Jesus and to minister to his broken body in the only way that they could. They were acting out their pain and their loss, trying to cope with their grief. They were not looking for the living in that graveyard. They were looking for the dead.
It’s hard to imagine their surprise, their shock and awe, when they found Jesus’ tomb disturbed, and his body gone. They had wanted to bless a corpse, they were looking for the dead in this place of what they thought was eternal repose. And they found instead two glorious beings who only added to their confusion and terror. This wasn’t what they expected; it wasn’t what they had planned for. But their plans and expectations were turned upside down when the two heavenly beings challenged them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”
The answer to that poignant question was obvious. They weren’t looking for the living. They were chasing a memory. They were all caught up in their own emotions. They were grieving. What had they to do with the living? The crucifixion of Jesus had left them feeling half dead themselves. The future, at that moment, seemed to be full of pain and uncertainty and fear. In fact, there was no future, only a past, only memories to be experienced in the present in this graveyard, this place of death. The question of God’s messengers only confused them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”
This first part of the resurrection story in Luke does not end with faith. Though the women obediently reported to the disciples what the angelic visitors had said, we are given no indication that they were convinced or relieved or joyful after having received this strange news. And Luke says that the disciples themselves thought this was “an idle tale,” an unbelievable story reported by some grief-crazed women. Peter did run to the tomb and found it empty, but Luke simply says that he was amazed by what he saw. He too left the graveyard perplexed, rather than convinced that Jesus must be alive
The absence of Jesus, the empty tomb, was not enough to inspire faith. It certainly got their attention, but the resurrection is more than a missing body, and resurrection faith depends upon a genuine encounter with the risen Lord. Later in this same chapter, Luke will describe those encounters that happened in unlikely places: the road to Emmaus, and a locked upper room. The followers of Jesus weren’t looking for the living there either, but the Living Lord found them!
Luke will continue his series of resurrection stories in the Book of Acts. We read there about a sermon preached by Peter who explained that the risen Jesus appeared to those who were chosen by God as witnesses. They were then commanded to preach and to testify that Jesus is Lord of all. They were empowered to do that because they had seen Jesus, spoken with him; they’d even eaten a meal with him. Where do you look for the living? Not in a graveyard, but in the company of believers who know that Jesus is risen, because they have met him and been called by him.
It seems fairly clear that we should expect to be surprised by this Jesus who sometimes appears in the locked rooms where we are hiding and who walks with us as we journey with heavy hearts through the graveyards of our lives with no hopes for the future. He just turns up, often in the most unlikely places. He doesn’t wait to be invited, and he isn’t always where we might expect him to be. Where, then, do you look for the Living Lord? This question is vital, because we have to find him. We must be found by him, or our faith will merely rest upon an empty tomb. While we can’t exactly predict when he will appear, he has given himself to be known in certain ways, and that is where we should be looking for the Living One.
There are at least three obvious places where we should look for the Living Jesus. These are places where the Bible tells us that others have been surprised by him. In our reading from Acts, where we heard that sermon preached by Peter, the backstory is interesting. Peter had been summoned by a most unlikely individual: Cornelius, who was a Roman centurion and a Gentile. I can imagine that Peter didn’t have high hopes for this meeting. Why would God want him to testify to the Risen Jesus in front of a Gentile? But the Lord can use even reluctant fisherman-preachers to proclaim the good news with power. And in the middle of Peter’s sermon the Holy Spirit drew those Gentiles into an encounter with the risen, Living Lord and they started praising God and speaking in tongues. Peter was probably the one who was most surprised by all of this. One place where we should be looking for the Living One is in the Word preached, no matter who the preacher is. If you want to encounter the Living Jesus, you must listen to the living Word. When the gospel is preached, the risen Lord shows up!
A second, sure place where we should be looking for the Living One is in the community of the faithful. The encounters that the first believers had with the resurrected Lord were almost all shared experiences in which Jesus appeared to a group of people. Solo conversions were and are the exception, not the rule. Throughout the Bible, God relates to people corporately not individually. When individuals are used by God it is always for the common good, so that a community of believers can be formed and sustained through their shared encounter with the Living One. The place where we should be looking for the resurrected Christ is in the church of the Living Lord. This is where he enables us to find him, so this is where we must look for him, not as individual seekers, but as a company of believers who are looking for him together here in our church, Sunday after Sunday after Sunday.
A third known place where the living Lord Jesus seeks to encounter us is in the celebration of the Sacrament of Holy Communion. So that is where we should be looking for him and anticipating his real presence. We know that this is not just a meal of remembrance or a meal of anticipation. It is also a meal of encounter, a meal of communion with the Living One. Here in the mystery of the Lord’s Supper Jesus shows up as our Risen Lord. We should look for him here, because this is how he has chosen to touch our lives and transform our lives as we live in him and he in us and as he binds us to one another in a living fellowship of power and grace.
This is our last worship service together, but we must not walk about mournfully like the women in the graveyard. We must not go into hiding like the disciples in their locked upper room. We cannot live on memories; we must not long for the past. We serve a Living Savior who seeks to encounter us here today, and tomorrow, and always in the proclamation of the Gospel, in the community of faith which is his church, and in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. The tomb is empty. Don’t look for him there. This is where you must continue to look for the Living One, for this is where he will be found. eHe does not wait to be invited.