Now and Not Yet

This sermon was delivered at the regular 11:00 worship service on Easter Sunday at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas.

Isaiah 65:17-25
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
1 Corinthians 15:19-26
Luke 24:1-12

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.

One of the main attractions of funny video TV show is the pet video. It doesn’t matter whether you’re watching “The Planet’s Funniest Animals” or “America’s Funniest Home Videos” or even “Country Fried Home Videos,” the pet clip is a staple. One that has made a splash lately could be called “the obedient dog.”

These videos begin with a dog sitting. The pup’s owner puts a dog biscuit on its snout. Then on command the dog snaps its head, flips the biscuit into its mouth, and eats. It’s a pretty cool trick. The dog has to be well trained to balance a Milk Bone on its nose and agile to flip it off and into its mouth without it hitting the floor. But that’s only half the trick. The other half of the trick is the dog patiently waiting for the command to eat the treat. That’s what makes this an obedience trick. The dog knows the treat is coming. It’s right on the end of its nose. But there is no snacking on the tasty treat, at least not yet, not until the voice of the master is heard and the command is given. Frankly, if you put a biscuit on my nose, my only impulse is to eat it, not to wait on a command. Obedience is what makes this trick special.

But what puts this trick on the funny video shows is a touch of owner cruelty. Sometimes the owner teases the dog with an extra long wait before giving the command to eat, extending the not yet.

And then like Pavlov has taught psychology students since the early 1900’s, like any good dog, you put a treat on its nose and because of the anticipation of getting to eat the thing you get a salivating dog. So the dog on the video begins to salivate. But that won’t get you on the funny video program. What gets you on the show is the dog not just salivating, but drooling. Soon the dog’s snout is dripping with slobber. There is a pool of drool spilling at the paws of the pup. The dog just gets this forlorn look on its face. It knows the biscuit is there now, but it can’t eat it, not yet, and the wait is excruciating. So when the command is given, there is a sense of joy and relief that the reward for obedience is finally given.

Our reading begins with several of Jesus’ women disciples going to the tomb at early dawn with spices to prepare his body for the grave. He has been in the tomb since the crucifixion, and he has been there with only the most rudimentary of preparation. I don’t know what they imagined they would find in the tomb. But they came prepared. They came with the spices. They came with devotion. They came with fortitude. They probably came with fear. And looking at the passage, I don’t know how they expected to move the massive stone from the mouth of the tomb, but I imagine they came prepared to take care of that too.

So they arrive and we are presented with the most glorious words in Christendom, “they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body.”

He is risen! He is risen indeed! These are the words of an ancient liturgy of the church. He is risen! He is risen indeed! Jesus has risen from the grave. Jesus lives. Death has been conquered. The devil is on the run. He is risen! He is risen indeed! But consider this; we say this with joy and relief because we know what follows. But this rising has a twinge of uncertainty for the women at this point in our gospel reading. He is risen, the tomb is empty, but where is he? Was his body stolen? What happened here? They were perplexed.

He is gone, he is not there now, and they don’t know where he is, not yet.

Then the voices of two men ask “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, he is risen.” They were then reminded by the men that this was just as Jesus said it would be. He was handed over to sinners, crucified, and on the third day he is risen again from the dead.

This is tougher than Matthew’s or John’s gospels. In those gospels, Jesus is at the tomb and he reveals himself quickly. The whole “not yet” element of waiting is very short. The tomb is empty and Jesus is present. The anxiety of “not yet,” the anxiety of “where’s Jesus” is gone. But in contrast, Luke’s gospel is like asking “Where’s Waldo?” Luke gives us all of the news of the Lord’s resurrection without any physical appearance. He is risen now, but we do not see him, not yet.

As difficult as this is, the women recognize the command. They know what they have been told is the truth. They have faith. They have faith in Jesus. They have faith in the two messengers. They have faith in the words Jesus spoke.

Then they respond to the word of God. They respond in faith. And they share the good news of the resurrection of Jesus with the apostles and the disciples. They share the good news with the friends of the Lord.

And how was their word taken? Well, the translation I read this morning calls the news of the resurrection of Jesus the Christ an idle tale.[1] Other translations call it nonsense.[2] Either way, everyone thought that what the women said was devoid of anything worthwhile.[3] They completely disregarded the women and everything they had to say.

The only exception to this was Peter, Peter who toddles to the beat of a different drum. He might have thought these were just idle words like everyone else, but he wanted to see for himself. Then, coming to the tomb, he sees the linen cloths by themselves. Jesus is gone, he is not here. Did Peter believe the women? Maybe, maybe not. He was amazed, but was he amazed by what his eyes showed him or was he amazed by what the women said and his eyes confirmed. Truly, scripture doesn’t say what amazed him. In the end, we can all guess for ourselves and be just as well informed as the most famous bible scholar.

What is interesting is how the people react. He is risen! He is risen indeed! These words ring through the sanctuary today as they rang in the room with the apostles and the disciples. The women took the word they received and shared it with the world. Most of those who heard the word sat like a bump on a log. Peter went, investigated, saw that at least part of it was true, and went home. These three reactions are not so different from how many deal with the news of the gospel today.

Some will leave services just like this one and think that what we testify today is so much foolishness. We’ve seen the news on the “Today Show,” we’ve seen the Discovery Channel. We know there’s an ossuary, a bone box with the names Yoshua bar Yosef and Mariamne and Yehuda bar Yoshua carved into them. And if Jesus has bones and a family, then the story of the resurrection is just nonsense. Others will leave worship services today thinking that’s interesting. Some may even read over their bulletin, or a church newsletter, or even holy writ amazed at what happened, and then go home not to be bothered by the church again until Christmas. The trick is to not just hear the word. The trick is to be obedient to the word.

As the reconciled people of God, what we are reconciled to is life and life in the Lord through the atoning work of Jesus Christ. This work begins with his existence, it continues through his birth, it is shown through his life, is completed in his death and resurrection, and continues through his ascension. Since the day of the first Adam, we have been separated from the Lord by sin. Since that day, it has always been the intention of the Lord that we would be brought back to life in God through the work of God in the person of the second Adam, Jesus. And we wait for the day that Jesus will return again in glory. And as the reconciled people of God it is our duty to respond by gathering and welcoming the broken people of the world and through God’s love make us one. This is our call. This is our vocation.

We testify that Jesus is risen and death is conquered. But in the now of this reality, our world shows that it is not realized in creation, not yet. I would be blind to tell you that the work of the Lord is finished on earth. We don’t have to look deep into the past to see the way God’s people have been treated. We do not have to look far to see people acting unjustly toward one another. Looking at the news, we can see the big examples—genocide in Darfur, war in the Middle East, unrest in Indonesia, drug abuse on the streets. Looking at the paper we find evidence of violence and abuse in our community. We see the effects of poverty and hunger. We see the response of a helpless and hopeless world, we see it in our community and we see it all around us.

But the nightmare of Good Friday is transformed into the Easter miracle. The way has been opened for all of the nightmares to be swallowed by the dreams of Easter. The resurrection allows us to dream of plenty in the midst of poverty; compassion in the midst of violence; justice in the midst of inequity; holiness in the midst of hell; love in the midst of hate.[4] All around us is the cold reality that Jesus is risen, but the world is not able to follow his lead.

Jesus is risen, this is the truth. The victory over sin and death is won. This is what we know now. But the world is still mired in the mindset of loss and hopelessness. He is risen, but like the apostles and disciples, the world hasn’t seen him, not yet. Friends, we need to dream the dreams of the women, the ones who have seen and heard and believe and responded. We need to take the good news with us and share the love with the world. It is our right. It is our duty. It is our greatest joy.

This is the trick. In the midst of a world of temptation, we are called to be obedient. We have been given the command. Now let’s get that dog bone; taste and see that the Lord is good.

[1] Luke 24:11, New Revised Standard Version
[2] Luke 24:11, New International, New American Standard, and New Living Translation
[3] Theological Dictionary of the New Testament
[4] “Easter Dreams” from HomileticsOnline.Com, published April 16, 1995, accessed March 26, 2007