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"What Resurrection Teaches Us" Sermon Delivered By Reverend Richard E. Stetler
– April 7, 2013 Centenary United Psalm 133; John 20:19-29
This morning our Scripture passage describes the experience of Thomas
when he encountered Jesus after his Master’s crucifixion.
Even today, such moments with deceased friends and family members
are life-changing. Such
life-altering experiences leave people with a lot to ponder, and
rightfully so. All of us
are familiar with the common expressions of surprise that some people
have used after having such an encounter:
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This experience was beyond my wildest imagination.
After confirming with his own eyes that Jesus was actually standing in
front of him, Thomas declared, “My Master!
My God!” Jesus
responded, “So, you believe because you have seen me with your own eyes.
Even better blessings are in store for those who trust in
their eternal nature without needing any proof.”
(John 20:29) This
morning we are going to consider this response of Jesus.
Countless pastors have listened to stories of their parishioners,
friends and members of their families that have had similar experiences
to those of Thomas. For
example, patients can recall comments made by the members of their
surgical team during a procedure while they were floating somewhere
above the operating table.
People have witnessed a bright light that appeared to be like some
portal between this dimension and the next.
As they began to enter the light, suddenly they were denied
entrance. A voice informed
them that it was not yet time for them to leave their bodies.
People who have been fortunate enough to have an experience of either
being out-of-their bodies or have an encounter with a deceased loved one
are often stunned, unnerved, or left questioning whether they were
hallucinating. Many of us have celebrated Easter morning for years and yet when our own experience validates the reality that life continues, many of us are spooked and are not sure whether or not we should share our experience with anyone. Can we imagine if the disciples had remained silent about this Good News?
Last week the title of my message was “Don’t Wait To Be Surprised.”
Almost everyone that discussed one of these rare moments with me
wanted me to explain it. In
each case, their curiosity had no boundaries.
All at once they were now open to exploring what had become for
them unchartered waters. This
group included two atheists, a daughter that was extremely close to her
mother, a husband whose young wife died of breast cancer, my grandmother
who had several encounters and a host of others that have seen the
tunnel of white light.
Jesus had a captive audience during his appearances among his disciples.
Have you ever wondered why Jesus did not stay longer with his
friends? What a perfect
opportunity he had to bring into our material world substantive
descriptions of the new world he had entered.
He said nothing about it. Once
he transitioned from our dimension where he made his appearances, he
never returned.
We only receive hints from the Scriptures that there was more that Jesus
wanted to disclose. He once
said, “I have so much more that I want to tell you but right now, it
would be too much for you to understand.”
(Johns 16:12)
There was an out-of-the-body experience that Paul mentioned in one of
his letters. He wrote about
a man who entered the next dimension and returned.
That man said, “While I was in Heaven, I experienced things which
cannot be put into words, things that human lips cannot utter.” (2nd
Corinthians 12:2-4) Jesus
knew how impossible it would be to teach disciples living in the
material world about a reality where nothing but spirit exists.
The Hebrew people were not abstract thinkers like the Greeks.
How can we use the resurrection experience of Jesus and the testimonies
of literally thousands of people to energize our lives just like the
disciples experienced when they began spreading the Good News?
The disciples suddenly began living fearlessly. What gave them
that power and ability? One of the leaders in my last congregation showed me one of the most useful tools for traveling in other countries that I have ever seen. It was a laminated foldout filled with recognizable symbols that tourists could use for connecting with others in countries where English was not spoken.
For example, it had pictures of a plate filled with food, a coffee mug,
a toilet, a taxi, a gasoline station, a hotel room, a store for
medication and a hospital.
There may have been 50 such symbols featured in that universal
communicator. Whoever
developed it knew that certain symbols communicate loud and clear when
language fails.
Jesus gave his audiences countless symbols to use for creating a
personal victory when their lives had become chaotic and confusing.
He experienced almost all the most common
disruptors of life that have
happened to people in every century since the beginning of recorded
history e.g., heartache from his cousin’s murder, betrayal, abandonment,
injustice, a religion governed by practitioners rather than informed
priests, and finally when innocence suffers.
At the end of Jesus’ life, death came by the slowest form of the
most excruciating pain known in the ancient world.
To
each of these potential corrosive invaders of his confidence, faith and
peace, Jesus brought the same response -- love and release, love and
detach, love and let go.
And then, Jesus presented himself to his disciples from the other
side of the curtain,
unscathed and quite alive. What
is interesting is that Jesus gave to humanity an experience that has no
religious affiliation. He
approached life-issues that are universally experienced by people with
the same response.
Jesus gave Thomas and the other disciples a look at the “end game” of
life. No matter what our
experiences have been during our lives, we rise above all of them
intact. Think of how our
adventure in life would dramatically change if each of us could use
Jesus’ response to everything that came up for us.
We would be in control of every response because we were
standing on a foundation formed by our knowledge that life continues.
I recall a woman whose husband of 8 years became involved with someone
else and left their marriage. The couple later divorced.
As she was disclosing the
details of what happened, I never got the impression that she was filled
with any bitterness or anger. She actually loved him so her thoughts
were about him and not his rejection of her.
She wanted his happiness above everything else so she released
him to find his way in life without any remorse.
This is exactly what Jesus did with his response of love and
release.
She took a rest from
relationships for awhile, went to the gym during the evenings and became
exceedingly fit. She took
courses at the
When our love really defines our response to others, such an energy flow
always spells success for our futures.
This response works when we experience the death of loved ones,
when are tempted to be disappointed by others or when we transition from
our jobs that we had not planned on leaving.
Everything Jesus experienced was given the same response – love
and release. In other words, “make no judgment about the value of life’s
changes until you see where they lead.” Most people are unable to use this skill because they have not learned
that life is only a temporary training experience for their spiritual
growth.
Challenging moments provide us with opportunities that happy and
peaceful times cannot. Why?
Potentially painful experiences provide us with an entry point to
love when our compassion and patience appear to be undeserved.
This is what God displays toward
us every day of our lives.
When we personalize life’s defeats with strong, hostile emotions, we
sabotage that opportunity. Jesus would not be our savior today had his
last moments on the cross been spent spewing forth anger and resentment
over his unfair treatment.
However, when we look at life-experiences as rungs in an infinite
ladder of our skill development, our growth accelerates.
This is why absolutely nothing
was successful in defeating Jesus.
Let us return to a prior question and tease our imaginations to give us
a possible answer. Why was
it that Jesus did not stay longer to share with his disciples some
details about the bigger picture?
Jesus showed them just enough to give them hope.
Had he given to them more details, those insights might have
spoiled the mystery and purpose of the drama that we are experiencing.
Life would not be the
adventure it is if every outcome were known. If Jesus had shared extensively what was waiting for us on the other side of the curtain, such sharing might have been like assisting the process of an emerging butterfly from its cocoon by cutting the fibers. Butterflies must struggle without assistance to free themselves from their protective shell. The process of struggling is what strengthens its wings in preparation for flight. Love is a learned response.
We learn it by sharing it again and again during circumstances
when love is not deserved. We must remember the symbol of Jesus sharing
his loving spirit from a cross.
The resurrected Jesus showed his disciples the light that
awaits all of us at the end of the tunnel of life.
That experience is all that they
needed to go forth to spread the Good News. Jesus was careful to share
just enough information.
God has provided a realm in the next dimension for every traveler since
the beginning of time. God
is a perfect teacher that allows no student to be left behind.
Each of us learns at our own pace either through joy or pain.
Among the many certainties that we can take with us this morning
is that we all survive the grave whether we believe in that reality or
not.
Our judgments, beliefs and life-decisions have little to do with
the purpose of the created order.
Such responses only communicate our relationship to it.
As we mentioned last week,
“Don’t wait to be surprised.” Live and be energized by understanding
that we live in eternity now. |