SERMON OF THE WEEK First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu October 25, 2009 A Sinful, Grateful & Committed Life (Gospel of John Series) Rev. Dr. Dan Chun John 20:1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. John 20:2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him. John 20:3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. John 20:4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. John 20:5 He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. John 20:6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, John 20:7 and the cloth that had been on Jesus head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. John 20:8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; John 20:9 for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. John 20:10 Then the disciples returned to their homes. John 20:11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; John 20:12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. John 20:13 They said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? She said to them, They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him. John 20:14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. John 20:15 Jesus said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for? Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away. John 20:16 Jesus said to her, Mary! She turned and said to him in Hebrew, Rabbouni! (which means Teacher). John 20:17 Jesus said to her, Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. 1 John 20:18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, I have seen the Lord ; and she told them that he had said these things to her. Mary Magdalene was her name; meaning Mary from the area called Magdala on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, known today as Migdal. The Bible said she was demonized by seven demons. Maybe they called her Weird Mary or Wicked Mary. Was Mary traumatized as a child and demons came upon her to harass her for most of her life? Or was she outwardly normal but taunted from the inside with voices and beings telling her she was no good, or were there visible signs from the outside that she was different and maybe weird. The Bible says she had seven demons in her. The number seven was sometimes seen as a number of completion. So was the writer saying she was completely demonized? Or did they represent the seven cardinal sins? Who knows? Maybe she was an outcast or crazy as some of the other demoniacs were seen in the New Testament. As an aside, yes, there are demons in this world. The state of Hawaii, more than most states, understands demonic activity. I have blessed many homes, and many people have encountered ghosts and things or have been bothered by supernatural beings.
But be of good cheer! One hundred percent of the time, the beings leave after we call in an air strike, so to speak, from God and His angels. And don t worry. No Christian can get possessed by a demon, but we can get oppressed or they can attach themselves to us at times, and it s often because of an unresolved trauma in our life. Like rats going to garbage, demons sometimes feed on emotional wounds that have become infected over the years. So these demons can play on our insecurities. But that s another sermon. If you do suspect that your loved ones are getting hassled by demons, we do have church prayer teams that can pray for healing. But nothing brings healing more powerfully than a full-fledged obedience to Jesus. And we see that in Mary Magdalene. For some reason, many history books and documentaries falsely say that Mary was a prostitute. But there is no evidence that she was a prostitute or, as some claim, that she was in poverty. Actually what most people don t know is that two gospel stories say that she financially supported Jesus and His ministry, so she was probably a woman of some wealth and resources. There were also women looking on from a distance; among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. These used to follow him and provided for him when he was in Galilee; and there were many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem. (Mark 15:40-41) For whatever reason, Mary at one time was troubled by seven demons. And then one day she met Jesus. He delivered her from demons. She was accepted, and not just into the Christian community but even became part of Jesus innermost circle. She went from perhaps societal zero to spiritual hero. The Gospel writers obviously felt she was important and honored in their community. They noted her among the few women present at the crucifixion. It would not surprise me if she was there in the upper room for the Last Supper. In Jesus, Mary Magdalene found acceptance. In Jesus she found meaning among Jesus friends. She found people who saw her as she really was: not as a demoniac but as a woman who loved people and loved God. So imagine her horror on the night she heard that Jesus was arrested and beaten. Imagine, if it were as true in Franco Zeferelli s film Jesus of Nazareth, that Mary Magdalene was there when Pontius Pilate asked the crowd who shall he save from execution: Barabbas, a known bandit, or the innocent Jesus? And she screamed with all of her might, Jesus! Jesus! But the crowd, which was probably paid off to yell Barabbas, shouted, Barabbas! Barabbas! Mary Magdalene must have felt a shiver down her spine and a wrenching in her stomach. How could they possible want to save Barabbas? Jesus was the one man who gave her hope. He showed her real love. He healed her. 2 Knowing that she was outnumbered she shouted with all her might, Jesus! Save Jesus! How could they possibly save anyone else but Him? So she shouted the name of Jesus until she was punched and hit to the ground. Imagine her distress and despair in seeing Jesus pummeled, whipped, beaten, and then nailed to a cross. The one man who really loved her as a friend. The man who healed her. The man who finally gave her the hope, joy and fulfillment that she longed for. And on the two nights following the crucifixion maybe she walked to a quiet place, maybe even the Garden of Gethsemane and sang this song to herself. (Mary Hicks sings For Good from the musical Wicked.) What does this say about Jesus who loved a demoniac, an outcast woman and brought her into His innermost circle? Not only a woman, a gender seen as a second-class back in first-century Palestine, but a demonized woman to boot. What does this say about God who knew from the beginning of time that when He came to earth in the form of a man that He would choose this woman (yes, this woman) to be the first person to see Jesus resurrected on that early Easter morning? Let s see that dramatic scene, starting with Jesus burial, word for word from the movie Gospel of John. (Video clip of John 20:1-18 is shown.) The very first human being to utter the words, He is risen, came from a formerly demonized woman, Mary Magdalene.
What does this mean for you and me today? It means three things: 1) Get in touch with our sin. Ouch! Sin is not a very PC (politically correct) word. We live in a world where David Letterman uses sin as joke material. This is a world where we produce Hollywood films and video games about sin to make money. This is a world where we sell products that are imperfect and say it is a good thing. Take this shirt that I am wearing. You like my new shirt? I walked into a department store yesterday and bought this new shirt for a price that was drastically reduced by 50%. The shirt actually came with a tag that said that the imperfection of the shirt is a good thing. The tag reads: This luxury garment inherits the beauty of imperfection. Variations in the thickness of fabric, texture and slubs are considered natural characteristics than defects. (A slub is a thick place or lump in yarn or thread. (I love Nordstrom! Everything is so positive.) But I want to say that until we really understand our deep sinful, slubby nature until we really understand how selfish we can become until we realize how much we have screwed up life, and have a potential for messing up even more until we realize how much we push God out of our life and want to be self-centered and be our own boss and not have Him as Lord. we will never find the fulfilled life that we deeply want. We will never know the love of God nor really love God. We will never fully appreciate Him. We will never give up control to God and let Him be Lord. We will miss out on the destiny He had for us. I would hope and pray that our church community would always know in the essence of our soul how sin-prone we are. We don t naturally ache for the things that God wants. Rather, we just want what we want. We re selfcentered. As I told you, I love being at our Divorce Care ministry meetings because we all know why everyone is there; a marriage has gone wrong and we need help. No masks. No artificiality. I love recovery groups because it demands such honesty about ourselves. It starts off with a person saying something like, I m Dan, and I have been an alcoholic for X years. Or, I m Dan, and I have been a sex addict for X years. Recovery groups really show the church what community is about. Right at the start, here s my name, I am going to take off a mask, and declare to everyone the essence of my struggles. And isn t that what church community and being a follower of Jesus should be all about? Being honest about who we are, what we struggle with, and being humble enough to turn to Jesus for help, healing, love, acceptance, forgiveness and grace? And you know what? Whatever condition we are in, Jesus accepts us. He takes us in. He doesn t wait for us to do anything other than say, Hi, my name is Dan, and I am (and you fill in the blanks). It might also be, I am a deceiver. I am angry inside. I am a cheater. I don t feel loved. I have hurt people. 3 When we do that, Jesus comes in and cleans out the hurt, corrects the lies, forgives the wrongs. He fills in the blanks and we become whole. And we become better everyday because after all, folks, we have to admit that we need Jesus every day. When we see what Jesus can do, when we see our own life before and after there is no better feeling. Those of us who have experienced our own BEFORE and AFTER know what happened and who did it. And for that we are grateful. We understand gratitude. It s only when we know our sinful nature can we truly be grateful. There s a story in the Bible that depicts that same story. Luke 7:36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee s house and took his place at the table. Luke 7:37 And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. Luke 7:38 She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. Luke 7:39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him that she is a sinner. Luke 7:40 Jesus spoke up and said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. Teacher, he replied, Speak.
Luke 7:41 A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Luke 7:42 When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more? Luke 7:43 Simon answered, I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt. And Jesus said to him, You have judged rightly. Luke 7:44 Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. Luke 7:45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. Luke 7:46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Luke 7:47 Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little. Luke 7:48 Then he said to her, Your sins are forgiven. Luke 7:49 But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, Who is this who even forgives sins? Luke 7:50 And he said to the woman, Your faith has saved you; go in peace. Jesus said that unless we know there is a lot that He has forgiven about us, we will not show a lot of love to others nor will we love God. It is that kind of faith that saves us. You see, I am calling us to: 2) Be Grateful. I just hope that deep in our hearts, deep in our souls, deep in our gut, deep in our stomach we would know how sinful we are and how much God loves us. Because if we know how sinful we are and how forgiving and grace-filled Jesus is we will be so grateful. We won t work so hard to be so sophisticated and cool. We will want to love God and love people. We will want to tell everyone about this God who loves us for who we are with all our demons, our failings and our hurts and to say that we have finally found the love we have been looking for. We will want to shout that out to the world. And we don t care what others say about us. If they yell, Barabbas, we will yell, Jesus! If they think people who go to church are weird, we say, I don t care I am going. If they say, Only goody two shoes go to church, we say, Then you don t know me. I go to church as an addict goes to a recovery group. I need it desperately. I am desperate to hear God s word and to be with other recovering sinners. I go to church not because I am superior or better than others, but because I desperately need God. Hear this: I follow Jesus not because I think I am good or perfect but BECAUSE I KNOW I AM NOT. Jesus showing Himself to Mary Magdalene on Easter morning is Jesus saying, Mary, I came and lived and died for people like you. I came not for the people who think they are well or hot stuff, 4 those who are sophisticated or respectable, but for those who know they are sick. I came for people like you who love Me so much that they will do anything to show appreciation, even bring me an alabaster jar of expensive perfume. Can we live only for God and not for people s acclaim? But we say, But Pastor Dan, can this grace be really for me? You see, I am an addict, an adulterer, an embezzler, a liar, a murderer, I m really selfish and hurt the people I love. Can Jesus love me too? Yes, He loves you, too, even if you did all that and have seven demons. Some might ask, Will Jesus love me even if I was raped or molested? Yes, He cried and was so angry when that happened, and He calls you to healing today. You know what happens when we realize how much we need Jesus in our lives and we don t care what people say? Jesus said, Those who are ashamed of me and of my words, of them the Son of Man [Jesus] will be ashamed when He comes in His glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. (Luke 9:26) That makes sense to me because when we realize that Jesus would die on a cross for us, forgive our sins, heal us, give us the Holy Spirit to comfort and counsel us in this life, we will be so thankful. We started out saying how we need to get in touch with our sin. Then we said we need to be grateful. And now it is time to say:
3) Get Jesus. So, here is our chance to say I want to make my life all about Jesus. Some of you have never done that, and God is speaking to you today to make that kind of commitment. We don t do this very often, but I feel moved by the Spirit because of you to do this. I have seen over the years that those who WALK FORWARD to make a statement that they are now dedicating their life to make it all about Jesus somehow strengthens that decision for them. As we sing this last song, I am going to ask those of you who want to make a first time commitment to make your life all about Jesus to come forward and meet me here on the floor in front of the stage here. Maybe for some of you it s not the very first time, but you realize that over the years or decades it s time to make a recommitment from a childhood or early adulthood decision that you once made but have strayed from. We want to pray for you so that God s Holy Spirit might flow in you like it has never done before. By coming forward you are saying, I am a sinner. I want a new life in Jesus for only through Him will I be able to change this addiction in my life. I want to be a fully committed follower of Christ I accept His forgiveness and grace. I want Him to be my Lord for I am powerless to make the necessary changes in my life for true long lasting health. selfishness to Him and accept His grace and forgiveness. No need being ashamed for a follower of Christ doesn t care what people say when we are declaring how happy we are to receive the love of Christ and to say we are dedicating our life to him. And right after the service ends, there will be elders and staff up here to pray with each of you individually or in small groups to bless you or help in any way. And if no one walks up, don t worry about me. I will not be ashamed. And if it is just you who walks up, then it will be you and me declaring that we are not ashamed to say that because of Jesus, we have been changed. We are declaring our life to Jesus for all to see. We are not ashamed of the Man who was tortured and died for us so that all of our sins will be washed away and so that we might live in heaven with Him forever. So come forward as we sing about God s Amazing Grace. ******** Sunday worship sermons can also be heard on Strength for the Journey, First Prez s weekly radio show. Sunday mornings at 10 on KGU 760 AM. Sermons can also be downloaded from itunes or from www.fpchawaii.posterous.com And when you come forward I want to say a short prayer and seal your decision by walking forward that you declare your desire to become a true follower of Jesus and give up all your addictions or 5