An invitation to believe
Snow on our lilacs? Freezing temperatures on Good Friday? Winter coats on Easter, in Kansas? There are some things that you have to see in order to believe! And when we believe them, our lives are changed forever.
Mary, Peter, and John didn't start out their first Easter Sunday with a whole lot of believing: When Mary went to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus and saw that the stone was rolled away, her first thought wasn't resurrection, but rather, body snatchers.
Same thing with Peter and John. After Mary told them what she saw they were not thinking resurrection. They didn't remember how Jesus predicted this, but instead they ran to the tomb to see for themselves. John peeked in and saw the linens lying there, but he wasn't thinking resurrection. Peter went in and saw two separate linens folded up neatly — but he wasn't thinking resurrection. He didn't understand that Jesus said he would rise from the dead.
All three began Easter morning with more questions than answers. More fear than hope. More doubt than belief. But then, one by one, in their own, unique, individual way, as the Spirit led, each one came to believe.
Mary saw Jesus in the garden, but it wasn't until he called her by name that she believed that Jesus had risen. John eventually went inside the empty tomb and after he saw the grave clothes neatly wrapped, he believed that Jesus had risen. And Peter, later that day, when the risen Christ appeared to him and the other disciples — he too was able to believe that Jesus had risen.
All three came to believe — all in their own time and in their own way. John needed less proof. Peter needed more time. Mary needed to hear His voice. Thomas needed to feel and touch.
Everyone of us comes to believe in the resurrected Christ in ways that are unique only to us. No one else comes to faith like we do because no one has the experiences that we have; no one else sees through the lenses that we see through. This fact makes faith a profound mystery, and a miracle. We are not always sure when or how belief comes to us, but when the spirit opens our eyes to faith, we become resurrection people.
Someone once claimed: "Resurrection is real. It is a story that can be expressed in two words: life wins. Life wins. Death is defeated. That is why there is hope. No matter how many times death's grip threatens to take away life — it does not have the final word. The empty tomb points to life, glorious life. Christ has risen! Friends, this is the Good News today. This is truth and this is unfathomable joy."
From under the shadow of death, and in the midst of life's deepest tragedies, comes the resurrection of life. We saw it last week as the Bluffton University baseball team took the field for the first time since the tragic bus accident a few weeks ago. We heard about it as the Amish school that experienced that horrific tragedy last fall opened up a brand new school for some of the students who survived. Over and over again, resurrection stories abound.
Clarence W. Hall once wrote: "If Easter says anything to us today, it says this: You can put truth in a grave, but it won't stay there. You can nail it to a cross, wrap it in winding sheets and shut it up in a tomb, but it will rise!"
Last Thursday, like many of you, I didn't know what to make of our recent spring snowfall. To be sure, there were moments of beauty as we watched those large, pure-white snow flakes fall gently to the earth. But there was more concern than joy. Our gardens were springing up, the alfalfa and wheat were well on their way to a promising harvest, and our flowers were showcasing their beauty.
And then this snow came, a winter blast that had no business in the spring season of life. For a few days it muted the color of the grass; tulips bowed their heads, leaves curled up. We know the 19-degree low temperatures we had the other night will damage, and even kill, some of this spring life that we had come to enjoy, and need for our livelihood.
But despite death's freezing breath, true to God's promise, death does not have the final say. The sun came up again. The birds started singing gain. The temperatures started rising again. The earth started thawing out. Some wheat will snap out of the cold and that which didn't make it, there will assuredly be green wheat again some time in that very place.
You see, Jesus' resurrection power pulsates all throughout God's creation. There are signs and evidence of this all around. May we have the faith to believe it; to live it; and to proclaim it: Christ has Risen! He has risen indeed!
Pastor Corey Miller
Tabor Mennonite Church
Easter Sunday, 2007
