CELEBRATING:
SERMONS
12 - April 2009
A sermon delivered by Rev. Gordon How
April 12, 2009 Easter - "Way Beyond AWESOME"
(John 20:1-18)
Prince of Wales High School. 1923. It wasn't where
it is now - but rather in what is now called Shaughnessy
Elementary School. And there in a small hut, gathered
the Sunday school that grew into our congregation which
eventually built a new church here. But that was 1923.
I want to talk about 1922. It was quite a year.
In Toronto in January, 1922, Banting and Best made
their first insulin treatment; in Paris, in February,
Ulysses by James Joyce was published; in March, in Bombay,
Gandhi was sentenced to 6 years for sedition; in June
1922, Nanook of the North, the first full length documentary
film was released in New York; in August, Nova Scotia,
Alexander Graham Bell died; in 1922 the premier of B.C.,
John Oliver, lobbied the Gov't of Canada to reduce freight
rates from BC so that Okanagan produce, apples and cherries,
could get to prairie and eastern markets. He had a city
named after him for that! In 1922 construction of Yankee
Stadium began, the Lincoln Memorial was dedicated, the
BBC was formed, Mussolini took power in Italy and the
USSR was created. What a year, 1922.
But the most important was yet to come… for it
was on November 26, 1922, that Howard Carter, after
seven fruitless years of searching and archeological
digging in Egypt, made a momentous discovery just two
months before his benefactor was planning to cut off
his support. Carter and his assistants uncovered a stairwell
of sixteen steps that led down to a sealed door. They
broke through the sealed door and found a passageway
filled with rubble. They cleared the passageway and
found another sealed door marked with royal insignia.
Carter drilled a hole into the door and started to chip
away at the opening, until the hole was large enough
for him to push through a candle and peer inside. "Can
you see anything?" asked his companion. "Yes,"
replied Carter "wonderful things." They enlarged
the hole until it was big enough to squeeze through
and entered the burial chambers of King Tutankhamen
- a tomb that had not been opened for over 3000 years!
And everywhere the glint of gold! They saw the gold
mask across the face, one of the most beautiful art
pieces in the world. They saw the gold sarcophagus.
They saw the winged jewels. They were breathless. It
was, as Carter described, "the day of days, the
most wonderful that I have ever lived through."
The discovery of King Tut's tomb fascinated people around
the world and created international interest in Egypt,
for it revealed the incredible wealth, culture, and
art of ancient Egypt. The tomb was overflowing with
artifacts, among them a solid gold statue of a lion,
another of a hippo, and 415 statues of servants who
were to do the chores in King Tut's afterlife. The king's
mummy was found with fifteen rings of various sizes
on his fingers, thirteen bracelets and assorted amulets
and earrings - a tomb overflowing with magnificent treasures.
There are times in life when the common word, "surprise"
is insufficient to describe an amazing discovery. You
need stronger words - powerful words like "awestruck"
and "amazed". Words "Way Beyond Awesome"
in their power.
Some nineteen centuries earlier, a discovery was made
at another tomb, albeit a humbler tomb, with no treasures,
no gold, and no statues of servants. In fact, the tomb's
occupant had dubbed himself a servant and he had to
rely on the generosity of one of his followers to even
get a temporary tomb. The discovery was made by Mary
Magdalene, who was taken aback when she arrived at the
tomb, for someone had removed the stone that had been
rolled across the tomb's entrance. She was shocked,
and ran to tell some of the other disciples that Jesus'
tomb was empty! An empty tomb meant grave-robbers! It
was horrible! They had lived through the awful reality
of Good Friday, and in their minds Jesus was dead and
gone. This was the final indignity in a long line of
indignities. That the authorities would disturb Jesus'
final resting place to further humiliate him and punish
them was too much. The other disciples went home. Who
knows what they were feeling! Three years wasted on
a man who died a horrible death by a notorious and cruel
method of execution! Their hopes and dreams were shattered,
their leader was dead, and they could well be next.
We find them later hiding together off in some out-of-the-way
room.
The other disciples went home, frightened perhaps, that
the authorities would look for them at the grave site,
but Mary lingered, overcome with sadness. Mary "stood
weeping outside the tomb", and as she wept she
bent over to look into the tomb and she thought she
saw "two angels sitting where the body of Jesus
had been lying". One of them asked her, "Woman,
why are you weeping?"
Then a man behind her asked her the same question, "Woman,
why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?"
She assumed him to be the gardener, but answered him
anyway, thinking, perhaps, that he might have been the
one who moved Jesus' body. The man said to her, "Mary!"
And in what someone has called "the greatest recognition
scene in all literature," Mary replied, in Hebrew,
"Rabbouni!" "Teacher!"
Now this was a time for superlatives. You know the
Old Testament philosopher tells us that "for everything
there is a season, ...a time to be born, and a time
to die; ...a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time
to mourn, ...a time to keep silence, and a time to speak"
and a time, I would add, to speak in superlatives. When
the archeologist peered into King Tut's tomb, he said
he saw "wonderful things". The treasures in
the tomb were astonishing! The amount of gold staggering!
It was, as the archeologist described it, "the
day of days, the most wonderful that I have ever lived
through."
There are times in life when you need a constellation
of superlatives to describe the indescribable. Some
might use words like "astonished" and "astounded,"
"dazzled and dumbfounded," "awestruck"
and "amazed". But we must be aware of exaggerations
and hyperbole. Writers and speakers are supposed to
avoid superlatives. They should be reserved for occasions
that merit their use, and even then should appear infrequently.
It's conventional parenting advice to tell your children
they're "special," but it didn't take long
at all for one child to spot the inherent fallacy, and
ask, "If everyone's so special, then what's so
special about being special?" There's a thin line
between authentic praise and hype.
But it seems to me that Easter is the one occasion in
the Christian year when even superlatives are inadequate.
I know we all tend to understate things, and I know
we're Canadians, eh? And I know that faith is not a
function of verbiage and the volume with which it is
expressed. And I know there is a time to weep - but
Easter is not that time! This is a day of exuberant
joy and delight! This is the day for Hallelujahs and
brassy-bold exclamations. It is a time to express the
delight of the parent who welcomes their prodigal child
home and throws a feast in their honour … expressing
joy in every way possible and with the biblical words:
"..this child of mine was dead and is alive again;
was lost but is now found!' And they began to celebrate,"
says the Gospel.
Whenever there is a story in the news of a missing
child as in Ontario in these very days, the public gets
immediately involved. A frantic search begins. Code
Amber, isn't that the term? Years ago I had a friend
who knew a family that lost a son. He just disappeared
one day. His whole family, including the two other brothers
searched for him. But he was gone without a trace. Some
twenty-five years later he surfaced and made contact
with his family. Whatever his reasons for disappearing,
they were buried under the family's joy and celebration
at his return.
A similar story occurred, at the time of the Vietnam
War, when a family received notice that their only child
had been killed. His dog tags were sent home to his
parents, who held a service to mark their tragic loss.
Imagine their surprise, when after the war the telephone
in their home rang, and when the mother picked it up
the voice said: "Mom, it's your son!" He had
been a prisoner of war, and with the war's end gained
release. Can you imagine her surprise? Words do not
even begin to express her astonishment. I imagine some
superlatives and a whole lot more were expressed in
that home that day.
The New Testament Gospel writers wrote their Gospels,
not as biographies of Jesus, but as appeals to our faith
and imagination! They were dealing, not with information,
but with a life-giving story. Their purpose was to paint
such a compelling portrait of Jesus that the reader
would be moved to take Jesus as the Way of life for
themselves and offer it for everyone else. The plot
of the Jesus story leads relentlessly to a tragic end
... only to end in another surprise. To the reader's
astonishment and delight! Jesus is alive. The Gospel
writers heralded the news of Jesus. It is a story to
be celebrated with Hallelujahs! The good news was -
is - so good, so important, so profound and life-changing
that were one to do Jesus justice, said John, the whole
world could not contain all the books about him. The
Gospel is witness to the hope that whatever wonders
we have experienced, they are as nothing compared to
the wonders we will experience. The love of Christ is
so limitless that books, whatever their number, whatever
their format, medium, or language could not possibly
do him justice.
All the "word-smithing" in the world can't
find words to sufficiently describe and express the
Easter mystery. The Bible tries with: "boundless
riches". "glorious inheritance", "immeasurable
kindness and grace" and "indescribable gift".
But no prose, no poetry can express the Easter mystery.
It is indeed, way beyond "awesome". We started
with King Tut's tomb in 1922. We finish with Frances
Bacon in 1622 who created the scientific method. An
English philosopher, scientist and author said "Of
faith, hope, and love there can be no excess."
So we can and should bring our superlatives to the Easter
Joy.
With praise and hallelujahs, with joy and with song
we are reminded that if God can turn the crucifixion,
our darkest hour, into the resurrection, our greatest
hope, surely God can and will turn our own dark experiences
into stories of hope and praise. So, let's be Superlative
- let's stand in "Hallelujah" for the Hallelujah
chorus. Amen.
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Shaughnessy Heights United Church
congregation is a Christian faith community respecting
each other in our diversity and reaching out to all
who seek God’s love.
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West 33rd Avenue,
Vancouver, BC V6M 1A7
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