Biblical faith is born in the desert. Wherever we are, we are in the desert when we feel God’s absence, when we believe that God has abandoned us. The desert is not a place where we can expect to dwell secure. It is a place in which to wander.
I remember holding my son for the first time and it literally taking my breath away. It's an amazing thing to have new life placed in your hands. But that's exactly what Easter offers — the gift of new life in our very own hands, resurrection life here and now as well as in the age to come.
John Rosen was a doctor in a psychiatric hospital. Unlike all the other doctors who were aloof and separate from their patients, he moved into the ward with them. He placed his bed among their beds. He lived the life they lived. Isn't that what God did through Jesus at Christmas?
So, let's see … a good place to look for the risen Christ is in scripture … among God's people … in the beauty of nature … in service to the poor. And, if that weren't enough, another good place to look for Jesus is wherever you happen to be, when you least expect it.
(This sermon was delivered to a group recovering from alcohol and drug addiction.) If one of the four gospel writers was an alcoholic, my money's on John. That's not because he's the only one of the four who writes about Jesus turning water into wine! No, my money's on John because: John felt – he felt things deeply.
A primitive tribe was shown the Jesus film. They saw Jesus arrested and beaten--and became very upset. But then came the resurrection. The gathering spontaneously erupted into a party. The people were dancing and slapping each other on the back. Jesus had risen from the dead!
It occurs to me that the question with which I began this sermon is the wrong question. Rather than asking “what would you like to do?” perhaps I should be asking “how would you like to be remembered?”
The tomb is a bit actor in this Easter drama. It has its moment of glory, and then it's gone. The Gospel leaves it behind . . . and we need to leave the tomb behind. If we continue to gaze at the tomb, all we'll see is dark emptiness. We'll miss the blazing brightness of the risen Lord.
It's an age-old question: If Jesus came up to you today, would you recognize him as your Lord and Savior? As importantly, would he recognize you as one of his devoted followers?
Mary and Joseph have their child circumcised on the eighth day. Thus he becomes a participant in the covenant, a son of Israel. Circumcision brings with it the shedding of blood--the first small step in the shedding of his blood for the redemption of the world.