Two Sermons- One on the Cross and the Other is Resurrection

What should I say on Crucifixion? At the cross we learn about true power.
The two processions- Roman and Jesus. True power is humble love.
He was beaten, mocked, tortured- many have suffered similar deaths or worse- the point is not that Jesus suffered the worst death in the history of humankind- the point is that this is not a normal guy getting tortured and executed here- this is the Son of God in the flesh. This prince of peace who rode into town on a borrowed mule had buried his teachings deep into the hearts of many followers- so much so that the religious leaders and the Roman authorities thought he was a threat- worthy of punishment and execution.
Jesus was executed- they thought- to keep peace between Rome and the Ruling Authorities- his teachings were upsetting the industry of religion that built up- [describe the roman coin- Mark 12:13-17- turn to it and the money changers in the Temple Mark 11:15] commandment- no graven images- “Caesar is Lord”- He had just flipped the tables over- drove out money changers in the table- He was upsetting the status quo- He was preaching a way of life- of following God that had everything to do with loving God and Neighbor- and very little to do with the religion and power structures of the day.
He was punished for telling people that the most important thing in life- is to love God and neighbor. Sounds strange doesn’t it. Well it’s a strange story. The very Son of God born into the world- fully human, fully God= suffered at the hands of His own creation- and somehow- mysteriously- but in all reality- the death of the Son of Living God- the end of his existence in time- caused a rip in time- an earthquake of love- that has the power to crush all sin and evil through history. The death of the Son of God, meant to end a movement of God living with people- made it possible for God to live with the people in an even more amazing way. What they meant for evil God used for an amazing good. Through death God said I will give you a life that never ends. He said, “I wasn’t kidding- I am serious about this love and forgiveness thing. I will forgive you all even from the cross.” He still says to us I will forgive you- even though you have cast me aside in your family, or in your home- On that cross he knew that you wouldn’t be ever faithful to Him- and yet he wants so much to have his presence in your life.
At the cross we learn about true power. We must be humble and admit we need the cross- admit it even if you don’t understand. Submit to it, even if you are proud. We are made alive by that death. Submit to it- even if you are hurting.
When we are powerless- when we have given up pretending- we can be most filled with God . God is not distant- God is right here- breathing life into this room- offering comfort from the suffering of life- offering a way into life in God’s presence. God is right here- he wasn’t stopped by the violence of the cross, time won’t stop him, hurt won’t stop him, our guilty feelings won’t stop him, He loves us and is breathing love here now- hoping that we’ll breath in with faith and believe that the execution one Friday was not the Last Word.

...and the resurrection Sermon...
Mark 16:1-8, “The Empty Tomb Experience”
Christ is risen- He is risen indeed.
What a human story we have here with these disciples finding Jesus. And I shouldn’t let it go without mention that they are female. Two Marys and Salome- grieving, hurting, waking up early- grieving +not thinking clearly
When they came to the empty tomb- What they expected did not happen. God does not meet our expectations- God often shifts them. Where we expect death- God makes new life.
Where we see an end of a story- God says I can write a new story.
The Power of God Rolls away the STONE- THEN and NOW
Why was the stone rolled away? Think about it:
John 20:19-20- Tells us that the resurrected Jesus could show up on the other side of locked doors.
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"
The Stone Was rolled away for us to enter in- to see the empty tomb. Jesus could have risen and not rolled away the stone- but that’s not the story we are told
God rolls the stone out of our Heart- So that we can truly see the resurrection- The truth is we come to take care of God and we find that God is there to take care of us
The resurrection is about letting God- roll the stone out of your heart- making a way to enter in and see the empty tomb
The empty Tomb experience- Entering into the tomb- we find a messenger that says, ‘He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.'”- The light bulbs are coming on for the ladies- Oh- my goodness- he is not just a wonderful teacher- he is not just a possible political messiah with crowds following him- He is actually- master of life and death. All of their memories and experiences with Jesus would flash before them- they had been in the presence of God. Like faithful Jews- the became very afraid- Their utter devotion and respect for God- for Yahweh- and here we have killed His very son- and now He has risen- what is next- what will he do? Afraid- duh!- Afraid is an understatement. The presence of God was apparently headed to Galilee- would there be a battle- would the risen Jesus wipe out his attackers and doubters and deniers-
NO- not by a longshot
Jesus was raised Not for Revenge but for Redemption- Not for Fear- but to give people Faith
God had come to earth- taught us great truths- and was killed for it- And the worst crime possible was committed the killing of the one who gives life- but out of this great wrong- Comes an even greater love for us- God’s love for us will not be stopped by our denial of him, our betrayal of Him- God will love us even if we seek to kill him in our lives
Jesus was raised- and we know that God will love us no matter what.
Jesus was raised- and we know that despite all that has happened God- still wants us with him forever.
Resurrection is available Now and Later
NOW- we have stories that end in our life. Relationships break. Friends leave. Loved ones die. Tragedies happen. Bad news comes. But God comes and says there is more life available. God is going ahead of us. Now it is our normal reaction to tremble and be afraid when our life expectations are switched. When we thought we knew the end of the story, but then we turn the page and it is blank- and we don’t know what’s next, we can’t control in any way what is coming. I tremble when life is at its most open. Though the opportunity for growth is there- there is fear- and trembling. Vulnerability is scary.
Can you imagine some of their thoughts that day- Jesus was not there- in fact he was not dead, but alive. Great- that’s great- but I was just starting to realize he was dead, I was just getting okay with the fact that I would bury him and now the facts of the story change. What does it mean that Jesus is alive? How will this change my life? How will the Romans react?
Resurrection is a big deal- We need to make a big deal out of the big deals in our life. So much of life is spent majoring on the minors- of understanding things that don’t mean all that much.
The resurrection is for NOW
We take the empty tomb for granted or we set aside as a nice story- but we do not let it confront our reality- to influence our everyday motivations- our everyday life. We love Jesus and all- but lets not get fanatical I don’t see how a empty tomb should change my life- NOW.
What resurrection is not- it is now and later-
Eternal life is not just an extenuation of this life- it is even better.[Fetus example]
It is not just a life of the soul- it is even better
God has ripped open access to eternity- to life in the very presence of God- and all we have to do get there- has been done for us by God- to live in that reality- in God’s reality we only need grab the pierced hand of Christ and walk by His side- believing that we His death and Resurrection have changed not only our story- but the story of the whole universe.

(Palm Sunday- Baptisms)- Mark 11:1-11 "A New Beginning"

Mark 11:1-11
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, 2 saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3 If anyone asks you, 'Why are you doing this?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.'"
4 They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, 5 some people standing there asked, "What are you doing, untying that colt?" 6 They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. 7 When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. 8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. 9 Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,
"Hosanna!"
"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"
10 "Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!"
"Hosanna in the highest!"
11 Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
(from New International Version)
Two part sermon- What was Jesus doing by riding into Jerusalem?
Jesus/Scripture part- description of what is happening on the original palm day
He was not afraid of his enemies- walked right into the hornet’s nest with his eyes wide open
Riding, a likely hard to control colt- that was borrowed
Jesus taught from a borrowed boat, ate his last meal in a borrowed room, rode to town on a borrowed colt and was even buried in a borrowed tomb
Hosanna= Lord Save us- How would Jesus have heard it?
This quote is from psalm 118 (our call to worship)- Hosanna is a call for salvation
Can you imagine Jesus hearing the crowds shout "Save us"- "You are the blessed one who comes in the name of the Lord" Save us in the highest- Jesus would be lifted high- but not on a throne- instead he was lifted high on a cross. He would not be given a crown of jewels- but instead a crown of thorns
Jesus had an exciting entrance- and yet the day ends with no revolution- no, he simply inspects Jerusalem- sees the temple and retreats to leave his work for another day
What do we learn from Jesus experience? Calling, obedient
Our part- what can we learn from the disciple’s experience?
What can we learn from the experience of the crowd.
Doing what seems strange to the world-
Obedience to the strange and mundane "What are you doing untying that colt?"- That surely must have appeared wrong and strange- and they replied "We are doing what Jesus told us to"= this is no license to do become a horse thief in the name of Jesus- but it does remind us of obedience to the calling we receive in Christ
Doesn’t it seem strange, for several reasons, to stand in public and allow another person to dunk you under water? Strange to some yes- but to those called by Jesus Christ- we are being obedient to his whisper in our hear
Going under the water reminds us of the death and resurrection of Christ
Coming up not just alive, but eternally alive- we are covered with water- just as real as the love of God that covers us every moment of every day.
So it may be strange at first to see the Son of God riding on borrowed colt- untrained, not a stallion, not a ride in a chariot- just a laughable, colt- but he was trying to redefine normal- he was teaching the way of sacrificial love- to love your enemy, to give to the needy- All Christians are called to:
The ministry of everyday life it can seem or appear and even feel mundane- like fetching a donkey- but we are leading by our hand the means to God’s arrival to a whole city- think about it- God could do it on His own but he chooses to use us through the every day stuff to show love to the world- so don’t disregard the mundane of your life- the lifelong obedient tasks God has given you- parenting, marriages, career, being a good neighbor- a good student, a responsible citizen, a caretaker of creation- can all be mundane if we let them- but if we look with the eyes of God we see they are the way that God’s love travels in this world
To our newly baptized and newly confirmed- and truly to all who consider yourself to be a disciple of Christ Jesus
Our life is on loan from God- we are living a borrowed life- lent to us freely by God
God is pleased when people choose to use this life- all of life- even its mundaneness- to do beautiful, loving, forgiving actions- this is God’s vehicle- his transport system
So I charge you Alyssa, Brenda, Eli, Gordy, Haley, Jake, Taylor and Tereasa- to live boldly- to engage life fully- Your lives have been and will continue to be full of opportunities- some strange even mundane- opportunities to Love God and love your neighbor- I charge you to live day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment, opportunity by opportunity- living free of guilt, fear, worry and hatred and living full of grace, faith, hope and love. God loves you- God loves all of us- Hosanna- he has saved us from a life of inwardness- of selfishness- Hosanna- he has saved us from fear- from worry- Hosanna in the highest- He has saved us from meaninglessness and death- Hosanna- God saved us- and though it isn’t always easy- it only gets better and better for all eternity.
Friends and family- if you are here today and are thinking about where you are with God- I applaud you for that- if you want to work on this journey- maybe you are thinking about baptism or confirmation or a call to being a pastor or joining a church- maybe you really just want to be connected with God- want to get things right in your life- I have no idea where you’re at- but today is an opportunity to make a conscious choice to travel into the story that God has prepared for you.
There on your sermon outline at the bottom and also if you received a welcome bag- are chances to communicate- As is said- every journey is started by taking one step- think about it- pray on it- turn in a card- talk to a friend.
God walked right into a story that full of joy and pain, love and denial- he rode into town that day so that we could know what love really looks- and feels like. What a love- What a God- Hosanna. Hosanna.

John 12:20-33 Lifted Up For All

John 12:20-33 Lifted Up For All
20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast. 21 They came to Philip [only Greek disciple name- according to Keener], who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. "Sir," they said, "we would like to see Jesus." 22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.
23 Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
27 "Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!"
Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and will glorify it again." 29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.
30 Jesus said, "This voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 32 But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.
(from New International Version)
What is the secret to life? Groucho Marx said, "The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that you’ve got it made."
But really- now Jesus seems to be teaching something here in our scripture today about the true way to live.
Seeds- listen to Peggy talk about seeds
Basically- as I understand it, [Roll with this- as I have been thinking] A kernel of wheat above ground is a kernel of wheat. Below ground it is seed. If it does not enter into the soil environment- all the nutrients, moisture and such- its life will be one of death. But if it its taken out of its confines and placed in earth- it can multiply and reproduce itself.
Seeds have potential
So this, we see, is related to hating and loving life
Life- what does it mean "who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life."
Self-Life vs. God-Life
The self life is like a kernel of wheat that stays on a shelf or in a jar- in storage- wherever. As long as it is there it is just a single seed. It exists. It has potential for life. But its potential to give life is locked in with the reality that it would have to give up its current state of existence. It would have to die to its current way of living and it doesn’t, so therefore it never uses its potential to produce life. By saving its life it loses life. The lonely, selfish seed never finds the purpose of life. Never loves neighbor, never gives mind, soul and body to God in worship. The selfish seed lives life for itself- what a hellish way to live.
The with God-life is like a kernel of wheat that chooses to see beyond its current situation. It looks inward at the potential God has placed inside it. A potential for more life- more beauty, more goodness and so forth. This seed is no longer as concerned with itself- instead it is concerned with connecting with the giver of Life- returning to earth- and allowing God and God’s beautiful system of nature to unlock its potential for life giving. Because it looks straight at its selfish life and says, "I choose to believe that there is more than this," the seed dies- and becomes a source of life, love and encouragement for others. This seed would never go back to the selfish way it used to live before being enlightened by God- it hates that it used to be so selfish. Its hatred is not of others, it is not of its created self- no it’s the former way it lived- it hates the way of death. And because it hates selfishness and death, the seed, the person truly lives.
Kathleen Norris a great Christian author, says of life, "Life is easier than you’d think; all that is necessary is to accept the impossible do without the indispensable and bear the intolerable."
We are to love the unloveable- even ourselves. We are to forgive the unforgiveable- even ourselves.
God seems incredibly unfair sometimes. I heard a sermon on this recently. God’s justice is just not fair. Have you heard the story of the Prodigal son returning. He spends his family money on wild living- gets stuck working with pigs- decides to come home and plead for his father to accept him as a servant. You see the son had asked for his inheritance early, he wanted out of the house and wanted to pretend and live life as if his father were already dead. Now he had to go home and plead for a job from this very same father. It would have been fair for the father to give him a job and maybe even charge him room and board, since the son had essentially wished the father dead by asking for an early inheritance. But this father instead runs to his child. Has him wear his best clothes and jewelry and throws a big party/barbecue to celebrate his return. The brother of this returning son is ticked off- his father has been unfair. But this is God’s love. He will pay the workers who work the whole day the same as he pays the workers who work just the last hour.
Unfair love. Will you forgive yourself today- though it is the same sin you did last week or whatever. Will you forgive your spouse, your child, your neighbor, your parent, your family member- even though they treated you as if you were dead.
Will you be a kernel of wheat that just sits on the shelf and mopes - or will you be a seed, not willing to stand for the status quo- looking beyond the way things are and seeing the way things could be in the with God life. In the soil, nutrients and moisture of God’s life. Will you burrow yourself into God and allow the unfairness of God’s love, beauty and forgiveness to flow from your lips, hands and heart?
I know there are people hanging on to old hurts in this church. I know some of you may be mad at an another church- or a parent- or yourself- well give up. Die. Let God be God- the unfair God of love- the God who can bring life out of death
You see, our God was lifted up for all. Not just some. Not just for the easy stuff. Not just for the little white lies. No, Our God- was lifted up for it all. To set all our relationships right. To have us give up even our deepest hurts and pains. God wants all His children back. God wants all his children to get out of selfish life and get to the life of beauty, of love of forgiveness. God wants us to unfairly love others- just as he unfairly loved us. He died in our place- he took the sin that was ours- he took it upon himself- he went into the depths of hell to set the captives free- he didn’t have to- he did it because he loves us and wants us to love others with the same kind of self-giving love.
He is drawing you to the cross today. What do you need to let go of? What do you need to forgive? Who do you need to be unfair to?
Confession is an ancient Christian practice- I ask you to please look at the insert in your bulletin and fill out the bottom of it. In order to follow you Jesus help me with.... [you fill in the blank] This can be anonymous. But if you want to put your name, so that I can help you in this journey fill in your name. This is part of your worship today- I strongly encourage you to do it.
Its important to put something into paper. Its important to confess out loud or in written form sometimes- it gets out of our little self world- and into God’s world. So don’t chicken out- what do you honestly need help with.
Do you have a violent temper? Do you have a secret addiction. Maybe you watch too much TV. Maybe you need to forgive an abusive parent. Maybe you need to forgive yourself for something.
What have you been keeping to yourself- that is keeping from living more deeply buried in the with God-life
What seed potential do you have- that you could give to become something you were destined to be.
Your are loved. You are forgiven. You have been called to be a light of love, a fountain of forgiveness a bearer of beauty- I am excited to see God work in me and in you.