Good morning all!! 2 services this morning I am sharing with the folks in Ballinacor Methodist and then on to Bluestone, so up and showered and ready to go. Now to get my wife moving......(only joking). As I sat in my study yesterday pondering over my sermons for today, I again realized as I have many times before that the words of the New Testament leap for joy first of all, most of all, and last of all over the empty grave!!! The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is most certainly the hinge on which the doorway of history swings. It is also the hinge on which the doorway of so many lives swing! What hinge does the doorway of our lives swing on? What gives us hope and meaning? What makes this nearly unbearable life, worth the living? It’s worth noticing that the first person to see the Risen Christ was Mary Magdalene. For her, maybe more than anyone else, Jesus Christ was the hinge of her life. It’s more than likely that Jesus was the first person to ever treat her like a human being, a person of sacred worth, someone as worthwhile as any one else. Someone worth loving. And so Mary, loved Jesus right back. These words stood out to me. And after the disciples went back to their homes, Mary stayed “outside the tomb crying.” How many of us have found ourselves standing outside the tomb of our lives crying? Feeling all alone, betrayed by the world, with no hope? As Mary wept she peeped her head inside the tomb for another look. Could this really be happening? Could things really be this bad? Have you ever felt this way? Have you ever felt as if things were so bad you had to take another look, just in case, just in case? And it was then that Mary “saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.” Sensing that someone was behind her, Mary “turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she didnt realize it was Jesus.” “Woman,” He said, “Why are you crying? Who are you looking for?” “Thinking he was the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’” And as soon as Jesus called her name, she knew that it was Him!!! For all her searching, it wasnt really Mary Magdalene who found the Risen Christ, it was Christ Who found her!!! And this is the normal experience. Is this not the whole point of the Gospel, that God is seeking us and that it is God Who finds us and calls our name! When God found me, I wasnt even looking for Him and at first, I wasnt even sure I wanted to be found. It was only when I allowed Him to come into my life and begin the journey of the Christian life that I realized how glad I was that He had searched me out!!! “Here I am!” Jesus declares in Revelation chapter 3: “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him [or her], and [he or she] with me.” Do you hear Jesus knocking on the door of your life? Do you hear the Risen Christ calling your name, asking to come in and live in you? This is how it works with God. As we are told, it is God Who first loves us, not the other way around. Remember the parable of the lost sheep? It is Christ, the Good Shepherd, Who goes after that lost sheep until it is found. Or how about the parable of the lost coin? It is Christ Who lights a lamp, sweeps the house, and searches carefully until He finds it. We are the lost sheep. We are the lost coin. If you are lost, you might very well know it. What we dont always understand is that Christ is searching for us, and that, as the Scripture promises, He searches “until he finds.” So are we willing to allow ourselves to be found? “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’ All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations. Isaiah 65: 1-2.
Posted on: Sun, 29 Jun 2014 07:29:52 +0000
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