follow the leader

from my sermon on Easter, 4/24/11 from Matthew 28:1-10

Where are you going? I know you are here in worship today on Easter, but where are you going? Maybe you are going out to brunch, but how about tomorrow? Are you going to work, to school, to heaven? Where are you going?

Zan Holmes was one of my professors of preaching in seminary. He said, "In reading the scriptures, it is always a good thing to see where God is going in the passage....and to go that same way too. Where are you going?

Let's look at the Gospels to see where Jesus was going. He went to heal the sick, to touch the untouchables, to eat with the outcasts (prostitutes, tax collectors, and sinners), to feed the hungry, to forgive those thought to be unforgivable, and to love those thought to be unlovely and unloveable. He wasn't so busy that he would withdraw, go apart, and pray with his Father.

On this Easter Sunday, where is Jesus going? Now I know you were expecting John's account, but let's get a second opinion from Matthew this year, another perspective. First, Jesus goes to the women as the first witnesses of the resurrection. This broke all social and religious conventions. I hate to tell you this but women in that context were not counted as reliable witnesses. Their testimony did not count in court. Still today, I have heard some people, both men and women, say to me that they would not have a woman for their pastor. For others, we will not trust the word of a person because of their race, class, dress, political stance, sexual orientation, or fill in the blank with your favorite prejudice. Jesus breaks through the tomb of stereotyping and goes towards including all people as witnesses to his resurrection.

Second, Jesus is going beyond worship. The women want to hold onto him, they grasp his feet, and worship him. We too may want to keep Easter to just one hour on this Sunday morning in this sanctuary. I am glad that you are here today. The music, the flowers, the crowds--it is wonderful, but Jesus holds much more for us. He is going on....he says...to Galilee...there we will meet him. He is going on, and we are called to follow him.

Third, Jesus says, "Do not be afraid." Just breathe that a moment. Sometimes we get stuck in our fears. It may be a past hurt, "I will never forgive him. I can't believe what she did to me." It may be a grief, "I will never get over dad's death. Losing my wife was the worst." It may be an addiction, "You don't understand. I need this drug." They are all fear based. The only safe life, the only sane life is following Jesus. How is it that we can give more power over to our fears than to His resurrection? Jesus is leading us to life beyond our fears.

Fourth, the tomb is empty. I have been to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre 3 times. There are 7 congregations that fight over that holy ground. One says, "here is where was buried." Another says it is a few feet over this way. But beyond all of the incense, and icons, and marble, I am here to tell you, He is not there. The tomb is empty. Jesus is going on. We can put truth in the ground, but He won't stay there. It is like the child said, "Jesus really died, but He didn't stay dead too long."

I cannot tell you what to do. I can tell you what God is like. The God revealed in the resurrected Christ is always going on, always leading us to a new place. He will not stop. He will keep pestering you, inviting you to follow.

A man named Ron on our Futures Committee said that we Christians were called to be leaders in the community....in the schools, in business, and in the neighborhoods. I believe in order for us to be good leaders, we must first be good followers of Jesus. We follow the leader.

Let me tell you what this looks like today. On Monday, I had a memorial service right here. Gerard came as a friend of the family. Gerard has led the building of 26 houses for Habitat for Humanity. After the funeral he told me about a guy named Mark. Mark said, "I am an athiest, but I like what Habitat does---building homes for the needy, no interest loans, sweat equity." Gerard tries to keep harmony on his crews. He said, "We say a prayer at the beginning of the day and over our lunch." Mark didn't like it. He groused and complained. But he kept coming back. He saw what the workers did. He heard the prayers. After 3 years, Mark started attending worship. He professed his belief in Christ, was baptized, and became a member of a Lutheran church. It is just going with Jesus, following his lead.

For the past 2 summers, our youth director JD has taken youth to a camp called ReCre in North Carolina that his dad runs. They do home repair there. This coming summer 3 of our youth, Emily, Ben, and Helen, are going to spend a month there before our youth arrive. They are going to work at the camp. They will not get paid. In fact they have to pay their way. They will get up at 5 a.m. to make breakfast for others, pack lunches for others, lay out the tools for others. They will be the last to go to bed. They will servants to others. I know you parents are wondering how you can get your kids up to make your breakfast at 5 a.m. It is just going with Jesus, following his lead.

Hector is retired. He has been a captain in industry, the head of a Fortune 500 company. Now he says that he is going to spend his life working to make sure that Hispanic children get a good ecucation. He is traveling, writing, speaking, putting together groups to that end. He says that we cannot afford to lose a generation of children. It is just going with Jesus, following his lead.

Linda was featured in the United Methodist Women's magazine called Response. Linda has helped put together the Storybook project in Texas. Women from our church and many other churches and even other faiths travel to the women's prisons in Gatesville. There, they help the inmates read a book into a recorder so that their children at home may hear their voice. The book and the recording are sent to the children so that they can go to sleep hearing their mothers' voices. It is just going with Jesus, following his lead.

Fred came to visit us in worship last Sunday. I called this young man to ask how he got here. He said, "The week before, I was down on Lady Bird lake, under the MoPac bridge, where I saw a bunch of people in red t-shirts that said Rethink Church on them. They were passing out these bags of grace with food, water, socks, and a prayer inside for us to give to the homeless. I wanted to be a part of a church like that." It is just going with Jesus, following his lead.

Then last night we had our Easter vigil service of baptism, our "wet and wild" service. Five children from infant to 12 years old were baptized. In preparing some of the children for the service I went over the vows with them. There was stuff about sin and salvation. The parents asked if I could include a vow of cleaning up their rooms. I asked the children to remember how God has saved us through water down through the ages. They said, "the water of creation, Noah and the flood, and Moses parting the Red River!"

During the service a read a passage about Jesus welcoming the little children 3 times. I asked the people who they were in the passage. One of the little girls to be baptized said that she felt like she was one of the children that Jesus blessed. It doesn't get any better than that. One of the fathers said, "I never really paid attention to scripture before. It took me to hear it the third time before I understood that we are called to receive the kingdom like a child." It doesn't get any better than that. It is just going with Jesus, following his lead.

Where are you going? There is a quote from Lewis Carroll. I want to say it is the Cheshire cat that says it in Alice in Wonderland. If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there. In this congregation, we have vision statement that says, "Following One, Serving All." We are going with Jesus, following his lead.