breathing room: Easter 2013: Show Me the Money

sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 03/24/2013

video available at www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard/ondemand

[show intro video – “Theology of Rebirth”]

The resurrection that tells us that no matter what happens today, no matter if the worst comes, something unimaginably wonderful has already happened, and will keep on happening, and will swallow up even the worst in its glorious goodness. Ever since some dumbfounded dudes discovered an empty tomb, seven simple words have been echoing around us - I daresay we can hear them today - and they are growing into a gathering thunderous roar whose rumble we can already feel. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead!

Everything in the universe, everything that’s ever happened in history, everything in your life and mine, turns, hinges on those words. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. Everything hinges on whether that’s just a fluffy romantic notion with no basis in reality, a placebo we swallow to fool ourselves into thinking everything is going to be O.K…

Or whether that’s truth with a capital T.

Because you know what it like to live in this universe. You know it can be filled with light, birds chirping and sun shining and breeze blowing, solid ground beneath your feet. But you know those birds can poop on you. And you know the clouds can cover the sun and turn the day dark and drown you in cold rain or hail or snow. And you know the breeze that cools you down on a hot day can blow sand in your eyes or spin into a hurricane or a tornado and suck the very oxygen out of your lungs. And you know the massive tectonic plates beneath your feet can drift and shift and lift and rift, and everything you’ve built on that once solid ground can turn to dust, taking your very life with it. How can we know if the final state of everything is lively order or deathly chaos?

Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.

You know what it’s like to live in this time in history. You know our times can be filled with light, with flushing toilets and HDTV’s and horseless carriages and Ben & Jerry’s and the rule of law and equalities and medical care and Dolby Digital Sound and scientific knowledge that probes further than ever before the beauty present in the deepest oceans and in the smallest building blocks of matter and energy and in the furthest reaches of space. But you also know about the darkness, the stockpiles of weapons that could wipe life off the face of the earth, the suffering of those in extreme poverty in every forgotten and lawless corner of our world, the new and deadly plagues born daily in labs and through adaptive mutations, those commercials with Gangnam style, the overuse of auto-tune vocals in pop and hiphop, the pollutions and environmental destructions that are the byproduct of our advances and lust and greed, the disintegration of life-giving and life-sustaining relational structures the centuries old conflicts that have only taken deeper roots over time, the evil brewing in those who’ve had power stripped away unjustly and in those who would take it without regard for justice. How can we ever know the trajectory of this history and whether the curve ultimately goes up and to the light or down and into darkness?

Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.

You know what it’s like to live in these bodies. You know they can be filled with light, with the pleasures of invigorating exertion and graceful movement and laughter and good food and refreshing drink and delightful sensations and peaceful rest and joyful, transcendent endorphin-driven emotions. But you also know how quickly injury or illness or accident or famine or a child waking in the night to interrupt your sleep or a phone call with news that takes away your peace or some bad Chinese food or even too much of almost any good thing can drive all that light right out of you. Leaving your body home to darkness, to fear, to pain, to discomfort, to agony, to anxiety, to depression, to adrenaline-fueled angry rage. How can we ever know if the last tears to stream down our faces will be tears of joy and laughter or tears of despair and discombobulation?

Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.

You know what it’s like to live these lives. You know they can be filled with light, with hope and optimism and good will and selfless devotion and creativity and nobility and compassion and song and benediction and perseverance and wonder and grace and love, love, love. But you also know they can be seduced and co-opted and strangled by darkness, by bitterness and pessimism and ill will and selfishness and apathy and meanness and judgment and cursing and giving up and giving in and despair and stumbling and addiction, addiction, addiction. How can we ever know if the last chapter will make the story a comedy or a tragedy?

Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.

Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

1 Corinthians 15:1-8

All our leaps of faith boil down to this. Is Jesus risen from the dead, or is he not?

Because if he is, well then. Well then our leaps of faith will not be in vain. Our faith will be rewarded with life, abundant life, overflowing life. Just as Jesus’ leap of faith on the cross was rewarded.

The reports of Jesus’ resurrection come to us first as a rumor to be wrestled with. No video evidence. No voice recordings or medical examiner reports. Just verbal reports. Preached = announced. Received means believed. Gospel = good news. Word = words or report. And the thing we are hearing from Paul is something he heard from someone else. Just like most rumors.

But unlike most rumors, rumors aren’t all we have to go on. The risen Jesus is perfectly capable, and apparently quite willing, to appear. To show up. To make himself and the reality of his resurrection known. This rumor’s power isn’t like most rumors that stay alive because scandals are juicy, exciting, titillating. No, this one stays alive because Jesus is actually alive. And kicking. The best evidence for the truth of the rumor of resurrection is living Jesus himself. [Jerry McGuire, “Show me the Money” video clip]

Now, there are other reasons to believe these reports, and perhaps for some of us, they are, or have been, enough.

For example, maybe you were told so by someone you trusted. The people first hearing this letter knew Paul and trusted him as a stable, reasonable, trustworthy fellow. Maybe for you the reports that Jesus is resurrected came from a parent or grandparent or teacher or mentor or friend whom you trusted.

Or maybe you’ve examined the evidence. Dug into the historical record, examined the claims, decided for yourself whether the reports were credible or convincing.

And then of course there is the “ring of truth” test. The idea that the rumor of the resurrection is the kind of news that resonates with the truth in such a way that everything begins to make sense. In such a way that hope buried deep within us is powerfully released. In such a way that something in us says this just has to be true.

In other words, when some look at the world around them, when they see its brokenness and its beauty, and they hear the story of the God of Israel, and the story of Jesus of Nazareth, and the story of the radical new community of faith that sprang up around the rumor of his resurrection, they have an intuitive response that says: that’s the truest story I’ve ever heard. If that’s true, life is worth living.

That may sound, at first flush, like little better than a silly romantic notion, but don’t knock it too hastily. Brian Greene, a physics professor at Columbia University, describes how scientists probe some of the most elusive truths in the universe:

It is certainly the case that some decisions made by theoretical physicists are founded upon an aesthetic sense – a sense of which theories have an elegance and beauty of structure on par with the world we experience. Of course, nothing ensures this strategy leads to truth…Nevertheless, especially as we enter an era in which our theories describe realms of the universe that are increasingly difficult to probe experimentally, physicists do rely on such an aesthetic to help them steer clear of blind alleys and dead-end roads that they might otherwise pursue. So far, this approach has provided a powerful and insightful guide.

Brian Greene, The Elegant Universe, pg. 167

Einstein himself, after working out his theory of general relativity – which many years later has been proven over and over again experimentally – thought that the theory had such a deep inner elegance, with such simple yet powerful ideas, that it was almost too beautiful to be wrong.

That kind of elegance is surely present for many, including myself, in the resurrection rumors. Brokenness gathered up into beauty? A God of such love that he’d trade his life for the life of his creation? A God of such justice that he’d deal personally with Evil, suffer it himself, and offer costly forgiveness freely to anyone willing to receive it? A king and a kingdom bringing repair and renewal and restoration to the world? God-space and creation-space fused together in new creation? I’m not sure why, but everything in me says that has to be true. And I’m willing to go all in on the promise that it is.

[Life of Pi…which story do you prefer?]

However, regardless of your path to faith, faith is always a leap, and it’s always a gift. [teaching kids to dive…] John writes in his gospel that he and Peter came across the empty tomb and believed, even before they understood why. Like faith leapt and landed on them the first moment it could. Pure grace. As Jesus himself said later, “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

It seems from the scriptures, in fact, and from my experience, that Jesus’ strategy is to provide the opportunity to trust in his resurrection – to take that leap of faith – before the most convincing evidence becomes available. Perhaps because there is some kind of richness in the treasure you find at great risk, some kind of openness to the presence of the spirit that comes with the leap. [Kind of like when you’re learning to ride a bike…]

But maybe you haven’t received that gift of faith yet. Or maybe you have, but you’ve lost it somewhere along the way. Or you’ve got it, but you want more. Thankfully, that’s not the end of the story. It’s only begun. There is more to the rumor, and there is more to faith in the resurrection. There is always more with Jesus. More and better and glorious surprise.

Because if Jesus is risen from the dead, he’s risen from the dead. Alive. Not dead anymore. He can show up whenever and wherever he chooses… And he seems especially interested in showing up to people after they’ve heard the rumors of his resurrection and already begun to consider them. It’s like the rumors are the lightning and Jesus is the thunder. One lights up the sky and the other shakes the earth. It’s like the rumors are his shadow, and Jesus is between you and the sun, approaching you. One suggests the shape of things to come, and the other is the shape of things to come. Only no matter how eagerly you hope for him, expect him, he’s always a surprise when he arrives.

(Matthew 28, page 683) The women hear the report from the angel, and run to tell the disciples, and Jesus meets them on the way.

(John 20, page 743) Mary hears from the angels, doesn’t quite believe it, crying, and Jesus shows up: “Mary.”

(Luke 24, page 724) Cleopas and Mary are on the road to Emmaus, troubled by the rumors of resurrection, and Jesus – unrecognized – meets them and walks with them to Emmaus. Along the way, they tell him about the rumors, and he explains to them that the rumors must be true because of what the scriptures have been pointing too. Shows them how it all rings true. They ask him to share a meal, he breaks bread with them and, in a holy moment, they recognize him. And then he disappears.

(page 725) So they go running back to Jerusalem, tell the other disciples a new rumor, the story of what happened to them. And whoosh, there’s Jesus among them. They think it’s a ghost, Holy Out of Nowhere Guy, Batman! So he lets them look him over, eats some food in front of them. Explains the scriptures. Serious patience, he displays. Untroubled by their doubt. Hangs out long enough for them to really get it.

(John 20, page 744) Thomas hears about that, but says I’m not buying. Let me see for myself. A week later, Thomas and the others are together in a locked room. Holy Out of Nowhere Guy arrives again. Offers himself to Thomas for inspection. “My Lord and my God!” Show me the money!

(Acts 9, page 751) Months later, after Jesus has ascended and released his Spirit to his church, Saul of Tarsus is completely unconvinced of the resurrection rumor. He thinks it’s a dangerous fraud, so he’s killing those who are spreading it around. He’s on his way to Damascus, when a flash of light arrests his attention…

As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.

Jesus is clearly not intimidated by our doubts, and not critical of our slowness to believe. He’s also clearly interested in letting us see him for ourselves, so that our doubts and slowness don’t remain a barrier to his agenda for our lives and our world.

Yes, trusted people passed on the news to me. Yes, I’ve examined the available evidence. Yes, the news rings true in every fiber of my being. But when you get down to it, the reason I trust the resurrection rumors is that the risen, living Jesus has showed up in ways that I cannot deny. Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, he keeps appearing and surprising me.

Praying for a sick woman with simple words and an inexperienced team of prayers. In Jesus’ name, taking authority over the condition that was afflicting her. And seeing something happen. Seeing her made well in the course of a couple of minutes. Seeing her husband’s astonished look. Not Jesus in the flesh, no. But only the sort of thing a living Jesus could accomplish. Surprising, even though it was what I theoretically was hoping for. It had to be Jesus, because no one I’ve ever known could do that.

Praying with someone demonized, afflicted by the personalized presence of evil, expressed in strange voices and sounds and words and expressions. Someone struggling to move forward in their life, continuously dragged down, experiencing all kinds of icky, fearful dreams and strange experiences. Commanding that personalized presence to scram in the holy name of the risen Messiah, and seeing that wicked something loose its hold, let go, leave. Seeing the relief and freedom and wonderful joy of the precious person. Being surrounded by Peace itself, like a blanket. Love, like a river coursing and surging in the room. Not Jesus with hands I could shake, no. But Jesus with power that shook me up. Surprising, all around. It had to be Jesus, because there’s no way the demons were afraid of me by myself.

One year, not too long ago, on Easter Sunday, an engineer with a physics background here from overseas, part of a high tech start up firm. A skeptic about the resurrection. Not a believer. An atheist. Just here because a friend invited him and he was being nice. During the singing, senses an orb of light before him, and from his heart, he heard a single word. “Hi.” That was his conversion experience. Jesus saying hi. Because really, that’s all it takes to demonstrate that you’re not dead anymore, isn’t it? Surprise! Now he’s an Anglican priest.

[Leap of faith stories… also comment on “failures”, now & not yet of kingdom, in the end, faith is faith is faith, and it’s always personal, so no one else’s story will be convincing to you; but perhaps they will encourage you enough to taste and see yourself…]

The risen Jesus is the real deal. So say I. So say many of us. But it’s not my job to convince you of that. Only to announce it to you. Only to tell you what I’ve seen, and encourage you to keep your eyes open. Maybe with some expectant hope. So that if he shows up, you might see him.

I’m betting all that I have and all that I am that he will. And praying with all that I have and all that I am that you will.