Wandering Heart: And I Hope
Easter Sunday
Watch the Sermon on YouTube / View the Bulletin
Happy Easter! It is a blessing to worship with all of you this joyous Easter morning. It has also been a blessing to journey with many of you through the last 47 days of Lent. Our wandering hearts have been making their way toward God, learning about ourselves and discovering more about our faith together. And it has been a blessing. Today we continue to do more of the same! The Easter story is full of mystery, grace and wonder. A Pastor was doing a children's sermon when a young boy, four or five, raised his hand to ask a question. "Pastor," he asked, "if they dusted the stone that was rolled away from Jesus' tomb, would they find God's fingerprints?" And the Easter story has God’s fingerprints all over it!
First, let’s start with the women because that’s where the gospel starts today. I think it’s a pretty good place to start too. In the Gospel of Luke, the women come to the tomb where Jesus’ body had been laid just a few days before, and to their surprise, instead of finding Jesus, they find angels. The angels tell the women, “Jesus is not here,” and when that answer is met with confusion, the angels say, “Remember what he told you.”
Remember. It’s one of the words Jesus used at his last supper, and it’s one of the first words we hear at the empty tomb. Remember. I can’t help but wonder, there in that garden as the sun rose over the trees, if they remembered it all.
I wonder if they remembered Jesus telling 5,000 people to sit together in the grass, passing out baskets of fish and bread.
I wonder if they remembered how he stopped in the middle of the crowd to ask, “Who touched my robe?”
I wonder if they remembered how he ate with Zacchaeus or scooped up the children onto his knee.
I wonder if they remembered him teaching in the temple, telling people, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
I wonder if they remembered how the wind stopped with the sound of his voice.
I wonder if they remembered how he washed their feet and said, “This is my body, broken for you.”
I wonder if they remembered it all. . .
The women returned to where the rest of the disciples were and told them everything---Jesus was not there. He had been raised from the dead (just like he told them). This might come as a surprise but the men didn’t believe them. It seemed like an idle tale---and that saying it nice. The actually word in Greek is rubbish—garbage. It seemed like garbage. But Peter knew better. Perhaps Peter, remembered all that Jesus had said and despite all odds.
“Could it really be true?” is the question I think Peter asked himself, and with hope on his heels, he ran to the tomb to see for himself. (Dr. Karoline Lewis, A Sanctified Art Commentary)
And that is resurrection hope. The hope of an empty tomb even when one hasn’t encountered the risen Christ yet. (That story is for next week!)
The last 6 weeks we have been following Peter-one of Jesus’ disciples. We have been figuring out faith with Peter. Peter has shown us that a life of faith isn’t perfect-it’s a journey with twists and turns. It is a journey that will have some highs and lows. It is a journey where we are constantly learning and growing. During Holy week we journeyed with Peter and his guilt (denying Jesus-abandoning Jesus) and his immense grief. That is where we left Peter just 2 days aga on Good Friday. I have to say, I heard the Good Friday readings in a different light this year. Maybe you did too. I feel like I know Peter a little more than I did before Lent began. All this time trying to understand him and his faith, really made me hear his story in a new and powerful way on Friday. And as I heard the gospel read and I heard the way he denied knowing Jesus and being one of his disciples---my heart broke. Did yours?
Peter—the Rock on which Jesus would build the church.
Peter—the one with enough courage to walk on water---and to ask Jesus for rescue.
Peter—the one boldly proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah—Son of the Living God.
Peter—who has been following Jesus for 3 years witnessing miracle after miracle—healing after healing—including his mother-in-law---watching Jesus retore life where there was despair, isolation and death.
Peter—who saw Jesus transfigured.
Peter—who watched Jesus set his face toward Jerusalem—and not turn back.
Peter—who had his feet loving washed by Jesus.
Peter—who drew his sword, denied Christ three times, who was not there when Jesus died.
Maybe the reason my heart broke because I can see a lot of myself, my faith, my journey in Peter’s story. Maybe you too?
We might expect that, after denying Christ, Peter would cower in shame—or perhaps even run away in an attempt to leave his past behind him. Instead, when he hears the news from the women, he doesn’t dismiss them like the other disciples. He gets up and runs to the tomb. I wonder, really, if Peter runs to the tomb because he believes the women or because he doubts the women’s story? And then maybe it doesn’t matter why he goes—for the tenacity of hope drives him there.
Even after the biggest failures, even after the worst-case scenario has happened, can we run toward hope? Like Peter, will we keep going? Will we keep looking for God in our midst?
Just when we think that Peter’s story might be a tragic one—one that maybe he won’t bounce back from—we hear that Peter ran to the tomb.
Our theme song/hymn this Lent has been: Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. We’ve used phrases from there to parallel Peter’s story---and our story. There’s a line in the 2nd verse---- “Here I raise mine Ebenezer; hither by thy help I’m come; and I hope, by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.”
And I hope. And I hope.
Peter shows us that we can always begin again. We can add an “and” when we think our stories have come to an end. Friends, the end is never the end. Not the way we think. The story didn't end for Peter at the courtyard, nor for Jesus at the cross. Not for us. We can always begin again.
Peter was in awe at what he saw. What he experienced. Peter goes home wondering and it’s in that wondering that the meaning of the resurrection lies.
The resurrection only makes sense when we remain amazed, marveling and wondering at the love of God that reversed death itself. We are not asked to explain the resurrection, offer proof for the resurrection, or make a case for the resurrection. Instead, like Peter, we live in wonder—for how belief in the God of resurrection truly can change the world. (Dr. Karoline Lewis, A Sanctified Art commentary)
Can truly change us. Perhaps that is what resurrection is all about. The holy “and”. A new beginning? A new life? New beginnings. Transformation. The end is not the end. The resurrection shows us that is true –for Jesus, for Peter and us.
May the words/song on our hearts and our lips this Easter be…And I hope. “And I hope, by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.”
Thanks be to God. Amen.