FROM DEATH TO LIFE – NOW!
Rev. Dr. Dennis Winkleblack
Prospect United Methodist Church
Bristol, Connecticut
John 10: 22-30
Psalm 23
Acts 9: 36-43
I had an incredible experience driving to church this morning. Coming down Burlington Avenue I was blinded by something in the sky, so much so that I had to stop my car. When I opened my eyes there was this incredible flying saucer right in front of me. Then a couple of funny looking guys got out and began taking photographs. They then got back in their saucer and took off! It was incredible!
Do you believe my story? Why do I think you don’t? Okay, you got me. But, what if it were true? What if what Stephen Hawking, whom some say is the smartest man in the world, and who this week said there is definitely life on other planets out there somewhere, what if Hawking is right and the above scenario were true? How could I possibly tell you about it? How would I go about making you believe me? It would be hard! You’d be on the phone to the bishop within the hour! He’s had a breakdown! We finally got to him and he’s cracked up!
For better or worse, we all have these censors in our brains that censor out the plausibility of most experiences unless they’ve happened to us. For the most part, these censors serve us well. We tend not to fall for bizarre stories and that’s usually to the good.
However, what holds in regard to incredibly unusual reports like ET on Burlington Ave., also holds true for religious experiences. We’re very skeptical of religious experiences that we haven’t had. As a result that we don’t talk about any unusual ones that we might have had. And that’s not to the good.
Still, in the course of nearly 40 years as a pastor I’ve been privileged to be told a few miraculous stories of religious experiences which, according to the tellers, they either have never told anyone else or very few others.
For example, there was the woman alone in her bedroom still grieving inconsolably months after her husband had died who saw Jesus standing beside her telling her that her husband was safe. It changed her life.
And then there was the man whose lung cancer was in remission although doctors told him he would die within a year. But one day while praying he said he received a sense of peace and he just knew he’d be okay. And at least until a few years ago he was alive.
These are what might be termed visionary or miracle stories. But on top of these are all the unexplainable coincidences that we all have that we may not have thought about as miraculous. I’m talking about when things happen out of the blue, pieces come together, people meet in a way which only God could have arranged.
People like you and I feel funny talking about this kind of personal experience with God. We may eventually come to dismiss it as a mere coincidence. Well, maybe we shouldn’t. Someone has suggested that Christians should never use the word, “coincidence.” Instead, we should say, “God-incidence.” In fact, I would bet this morning’s offering (I can do that can’t I?) that in this sanctuary are many God-incidents, unexplainable, maybe bizarre stories about you and God which you’ve never told anyone because you thought someone would think you were silly or having a breakdown.
Our biblical account this morning takes place in the town of Joppa in Israel which archaeologically speaking is underneath the present city of Jaffa on the Mediterranean Sea shore. Seems there’s an older woman named Tabitha, the only woman in the entire New Testament to merit the feminine form of the word, “disciple.” Her discipleship was in her “good works and acts of charity.”
Specifically, Tabitha had been caring for the widows of the town, women whom no one else would care for, making them clothes. You may recall that widows and single women in general were among the lowest status in biblical times.
Tabitha becomes ill and dies. When Peter arrives at the scene of death, he’s greeted by the weeping widows who show him the clothing that Tabitha has made for them. They’re very concerned: With no one left to protect them, to see to their needs, what will happen to these poor, vulnerable women? Tabitha, their protector, is dead, so now these widows are as good as dead. Indeed, death is very much in the air in this account that is true in more ways than one.
But, surprise! Death will not have the last word. Peter says, “Tabitha, get up!” And she does. Jesus had raised Lazarus; Peter has now raised Tabitha. Lo and behold! Easter wasn’t just a few days back in April. The Easter story of new lives in exchange for old continues! Do you believe it?
Time magazine reported that a survey shows that 69% of Americans believe in miracles. They also reported that clergy tend to distrust miracle stories more than anybody. I can understand the reason that most clergy give for this. Because when clergy talk about miracles happening to some folks, we must also be prepared to explain “why” miracles don’t happen to others.
My childhood best friend, Tim, and his wife Karen had a son named Darren born about the time that our son, Grant, was born. When he was 15 he contracted leukemia. Tim and Karen and their church prayed for a miracle. There were many remissions, but ultimately Darren died.
I went to St. Louis to visit Tim and Karen the summer following. It was certainly not the time to talk about other people’s children being healed from leukemia. When, as a pastor, you’ve been asked the question of “Why?” a zillion times as most pastors have been, you tend to kind of want to stay away from much talk about miracles happening to other people.
But, of course, it’s not only pastors who want to avoid much miracle talk. It’s most Christians. As I was saying before, there’s something in our brain that won’t let us seriously consider that God can be a powerful, wonder-working presence in our lives. We’ve seen too much; know too much. We believe in God, but, frankly, we don’t expect all that much from God.
And it’s not because we’ve studiously studied the matter. It’s not that we are really doubtful abut God because we’ve weighed the evidence and have an intellectual problem with God because God doesn’t behave consistently in regard to miracles. No, let’s call lit for what it is: our problem is that we’re really unsure that there is, in fact, a power let loose in the world, a power in our midst that moves toward life rather than death.
But, let’s get even more honest: I think it’s closer to the truth to say that the problem with this story for us may not be that we doubt Peter could raise this dear old woman to life, but rather that we are unsure WE could be raised to life – now.
Think with me. Where in your life are things fixed, closed, settled, seemingly hopeless, dead and you wish they weren’t?
Where in your life is something that you think is over and done with. Something that you have given up hope on. Maybe someone you have given up hope for. What is coming to mind?
I beg you to hold on to that thought because it might just be that God has put that awareness there. Even though you’re likely already deciding it was a silly thought. Or an avenue not worth going down. Because, see, that’s the way our brain works. We discount the unexplainable. We dismiss the possibility that God may have an astonishing rebirth to give us precisely where death is in the air.
I urge you to let whatever idea or image or possibility that came into your mind stay there – for this day at least. Chew it over. Mull it over. Think about it again. See what insight comes. Even if it’s painful, don’t run from it. Trust yourself. Trust God.
For when one is open to and aware of the presence of the life-giving, risen Lord Jesus Christ, what has been dead rises; the future is re-opened; and, God-incidents are everywhere. Do you believe it?
