"Go quickly and
tell his disciples he has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.
This is my message for you." (Matthew 28:7)
Where on earth is Jesus?
Such
is a question that rings throughout the gospels time and time again. Where is Jesus?
As a boy His parents took Him to Jerusalem to visit the temple. On the way home they find out He’s missing. His mother is in
a panic. Where on earth can Jesus be? He was with us a couple of days back. We thought He was still with us! Where is that
boy? We know. He was way ahead of His parents. He was preparing Himself for His mission later in His life. He was in His Father’s
house.
Years later His disciples go on a boat trip. The wind starts to blow and the waves get a
little wild. They start to panic. They start to ask themselves, “Where on earth is Jesus? Doesn’t He realize we’re
sinking here?” And Jesus is seen walking on the water, making like this was no big deal and as if He was just passing
by. To calm their fears He gets in the boat and talks to them about faith. He
was way ahead of them.
Another time He starts to teach them that the Son of Man must be betrayed and murdered and
that three days later He would rise from the death. They protest. Peter gets mad and says that there was no way things could
turn out like that. Jesus rebuked Peter and said, “Get thee behind me Satan.’ Later on Peter realized that he
had been talking out of fear, not out of faith. Jesus was way ahead of him!
Some women go early on a Sunday morning to a tomb to anoint the dead body of one they had
loved with all their hearts. They had seen Him crucified and laid in the grave. Things had become scary. Earthquakes. Soldiers
fleeing from the scene. A huge stone rolled away. Rumors of grave robbers. An empty tomb. Where on earth was Jesus? An angel
offers direction. Matthew 28:7 Go quickly and tell His disciples, “He has been raised from the
dead, and indeed He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him.” This is my message for you." So they go.
Eleven disciples make their way up a mountain, confused, looking for Jesus. Where on earth
was He? What was this resurrection business all about? What were they to do next? All at once He is with them. Matthew’s gospel tells us that He knew exactly what they should do. He was way ahead of them. “Go therefore and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything
that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
Beckley Presbyterian Church at the beginning of Lent decided to study a book by Rick Warren
called “The Purpose Driven Life.” They meet in each others homes, in Sunday School Classes, at Wednesday Night
Dinners, watch videos, pray together, study together, worship together, listen to sermons. They think about the deep questions.
“What on earth are we here for?” they ask. They consider the notion that they are here to Worship God. That God has created us all for the purpose of knowing His love and that when we return to
the love God has given us something wonderful happens. God smiles. Our lives take on a new significance.
Jesus knew that all along. He was way ahead of us. In fact that’s one of the reasons
He came amongst us. To let us know how much God loves us. “God so loved the world
that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life.” (John 3:16). Worship just seems
the only adequate way to respond to such love! Those old Westminster Divines got it right. The chief end of humankind really
is to enjoy God and worship Him forever!
Together Beckley Presbyterians have been throwing around the idea that another one of our
purposes for being here is that God created us to be a family. A big family. A worldwide family known as “Church”.
We gather together. Sometimes we get on each other’s nerves, but God says, “Carry on loving each other
and I’ll knock some of those rough edges off of your lives.” We call that Fellowship.
Jesus again was way ahead of us in this. He called together twelve guys and informed them
they were going to change the world by the love they would grow to have for Him and for those who were around them. This was
both a surprise to them and the ultimate challenge! It wasn’t going to be easy. But here we are, celebrating being the
family of God 2000 years later, so it worked. Jesus was way ahead of us.
Together we’ve considered the process of becoming the people that God wants us to be.
We call it by the name of Discipleship, and it surely is a trip. Yet once
we take the journey on board, it seems like everything that comes our way can be part of the process. Even the not so good
things, like our troubles, and our temptations, and our hurts become opportunities to grow closer to God, not to mention the
obvious things like studying God’s Word and opening ourselves up to the influence of God’s Holy Spirit.
Of course, again, Jesus was way ahead of us. In a lonely garden called Gethsemane, He prayed to
His Father that there might be an easier way than having to deal with all that life throws at us, particularly life’s
dark side. But ultimately He insisted “Not my will, but thy will be done.” So today we will be invited to remember Him by sharing together broken bread and drinking
poured out wine, symbols that remind us He died to save us and poured out His life that we may truly live.
One way we can truly live is to recognize that we have a Mission.
SHAPE is an acronym for the unique way we are created by God to serve His Kingdom. God graces our life with Spiritual
gifts, God gives us a Heart; a passion for different tasks. God has created us with certain natural Abilities,
and unique Personalities, and we each have unique Experiences in our lives that we can use to
help others.
The final purpose we looked at was called ‘Evangelism’
which despite popular opinion has nothing to do with ranting TV preachers with unusual toupees, but everything to do with
sharing the love of God with those closest to us, as well as those in our communities and beyond. As St. Francis of Assisi instructed his
monks; “Preach
the Gospel always… and if necessary use words.” And again, in this, Jesus was way ahead of us. He healed the
sick, cast out the demons and calmed the storms as well as preaching and teaching and instructing.
Now maybe you’re
visiting this morning and haven’t been part of the ‘40 days of Purpose’ journey that many in this congregation
have been making. Maybe you’ve come here this morning with all sorts of different questions swirling around your mind.
Maybe you are facing some struggles or challenges that you are afraid to even talk to anybody about. Let me say to you what
the angel said to the women. “Christ has been raised from the dead, and indeed He
is going ahead of you… This is my message for you."
As we meet together around this communion table I want us to remember that one of the wonderful
messages of the resurrection is that Jesus always goes ahead of us. In life and in death Christ always leads the way. We’re
still alive and well here on planet earth. He died and God raised Him from death.
As we open our hearts to His presence the Holy Spirit is able to bring the things of eternity
to bear upon our lives. If we go forward in the faith that God’s love is the living reality that the gospel claims,
then we can look forward to meeting Him in many places along the ‘yet to mapped out’ road of our future.
Where is Jesus? Way ahead of us. Waiting to meet with us. Creating opportunities for us to
experience His love in this life and preparing a place for us in the next. Calling us to be His disciples today and promising
to be with us always, even unto the end of all ages.
Remember how Jesus called the first disciples? He said to them, “Follow me.”
We can only follow somebody who goes ahead of us. Jesus goes ahead of us. We follow. And along the road we are offered nourishment
and refreshment. As we journey together we are reminded of what is central and recalled to the values that change everything.
So this morning I invite you to place your faith in the risen Jesus Christ who goes ahead
of you by breaking bread and drinking wine in the way that He bid us remember Him. Remember Him not as some past and gone
hero, but as the ‘Resurrected One’ who is calling us forward to meet with Him in places common and places unexpected,
in situations of need and circumstances of joy.
Where is Jesus? Hear again the angel’s word: Matthew 28:7 Go quickly and tell His disciples, “He has been raised
from the dead, and indeed He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him.”
