BECAUSE GOD KNEW ABOUT YOU
Rev. Dr. Dennis Winkleblack
Prospect United Methodist Church
Bristol, Connecticut
April 4, 2010
Acts 10: 34-43
John 20: 1-18
I love how the gospel writer, John, tells the story of that first Easter morning. What a scene it must have been when it first dawned upon Mary that Jesus might not be dead. That, could it be? This man in the garden might not be a gardener, but – Jesus? And then she is sure she is hallucinating because she hears her name called: “Mary.” Jesus says, “Mary.” He calls her name: “Mary.” And THEN she recognizes him!
Do you like it when someone uses your name in conversation? I think most people do. One of the very big differences I notice when shopping in one of the finer department stores is that the salespersons look at my credit card and then call me by name. “Thank you, Mr. Winkleblack.” In lesser places, you’re lucky to get a “There you go, now step out of the way.”
Even though I suspect they’re highly trained to be personal in the exchange of money and goods, I like it, although they usually butcher the name Winkleblack.
Our world is so impersonal, isn’t it -- and getting more so. We’re numbers or email addresses to everyone. So it’s very nice to hear someone say our name, whatever their motivation.
I think this sad reality about our times plays into our head in our thinking about God and ultimate issues also. We get so used to being just one more number in a crowd that it may be hard for us to really believe that the God who created the cosmos cares personally about us.
I mean, how many billions of people are alive just right now? And the cosmos is still expanding with our tiny little planet so seemingly insignificant among the billions and billions of other stars, planets, universes. And God cares about little old me? Nah!!
One of the greatest spiritual giants this earth has ever known is Roman Catholic priest and theologian, Henri Nouwen, who died a few years ago. My very favorite of all his books is titled “The Life of the Beloved.”
Nouwen speaks directly to this issue of how personal God is with us. He writes, “Even as God spoke to Jesus at his baptism and called him his own beloved son, so God speaks to each of us. We are the Beloved. We are intimately loved by God long before our parents, teachers, spouses, children and friends loved us or wounded us. That’s the truth of our lives. And at the center of our lives we can hear the very words of our maker: ‘I have called you by name, from the very beginning. You are mine and I am yours. I look at you with infinite tenderness and care for you with a care more intimate than that of a mother for her child. Wherever you go, I go with you, and wherever you rest, I keep watch. Call on me and I will give you food that will satisfy all your hunger and drink that will quench all your thirst. Nothing will ever separate us.’”
Isn’t that beautiful? And, more: it’s the truth.
If we didn’t know this before, we know it because of what God did at Easter. God so loved me, you, that God, knowing we were just not going to get it unless he did something drastic, entered human life and endured a humiliating crucifixion. But that wasn’t the last word. In raising Jesus from death’s dark domain as a first example of what he will do with all who follow Jesus, God declared forever his love affair with humankind, with me, with you -- his beloved.
Go back with me many years, to 1932 when Eleanor Wheeler celebrated her fifth birthday. America was still in the grips of the great depression, and, according to Congregational pastor, Barry Johnson, Eleanor was extremely grateful for the chocolate bar she received from Mom and Dad. The first thing she did was cut it into four pieces in order to share it with her brother and two sisters.
Easter was less than 2 weeks away and, as the children sat eating the chocolate, Eleanor heard her mother say she was very, very sorry, but because they didn’t have money to spare there would be no new Easter clothes for the 4th year in a row. So, when Easter morning arrived, the girls were surprised to find Mom standing in their bedroom with 3 brand new, ruffly, green dresses.
Upon closer examination, they noticed a strange similarity between the cloth in the dresses and the drapes which once graced the dining room. But that didn’t matter. All 3 scrambled to put on their new Easter dresses. When everyone was dressed, Mom instructed them to wait in the living room while she got ready for church.
And that’s when it happened. Eleanor, the baby of the family, had this terrible habit of chewing on her collar. And, as the minutes passed, she thoroughly destroyed the collar on her new dress. When Mom entered the room, Eleanor was in tears. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry Mommy,” she sobbed.
Her mother leaned over and hugged her close. Then, with a single motion, she whisked the chewed up collar off the dress. The little girl didn’t feel or hear a thing except 3 little clicks. Astonished, she waited as her mother went back to the sewing room.
Almost immediately her mother was back, carrying a new collar exactly like the old one. As she bent to put it in place, she said, “My precious Eleanor, I knew about you so I made several replacement collars complete with snaps just in case. Now, let’s go to church.”
My dear brother and sister beloved children of God: God says to us, “I knew about you. I knew how hard it is for you to do right, to be good, to love one another. I knew about your habits of self-destruction. Your addiction. Your bad temper. Your inferiority complex. Your battle with depression. Your great fear. Your great anxiety. Your past. I knew about you.”
So, out of love, God walked the earth in Jesus of Nazareth to reveal what real life looks like. Then, when that horrible crucifixion and death interrupted God’s plan, God raised Jesus from the dead as an example of the beginning of a whole new reality in which his very personal care for you, for me could be shown and known forever.
Because God knew about us, his beloved, because he provided for us a Savior, a Redeemer in Jesus Christ, we are now free to live and love as if we will never die.
How is this possible? How can we let go and let God? How can we live so bodly, so courageously? How can we hold on during the tough, tough times? How can we fulfill God’s unique plan for us?
Because of Easter. Because Jesus, our savior, our redeemer lives.
