Skip to main content

Plot Twists

Easter Sunrise Message - 4/20/14

There are those who are calling the times that we live in a new golden age of television.  Their claim is based on the number of TV shows that are breaking viewing records and the fact that many of these shows cannot be found on the major networks but on cable and pay channels.  These were once the poor step sisters of the big networks that have turned into Cinderella. 
But don’t confuse this new golden age of TV with the Golden age that most of us grew up in.  For in our golden age, the good guys always won!  The Lone Ranger never lost his hat.  Marshal Dillon always got the bad guy. Beaver’s parents always had the right answer. And although Gilligan always managed to foul up every plan to get off the island, we still loved him. I could go on, but you get the idea.
 In today’s golden age, this is not the case.  If you are a fan of such shows as The Walking Dead on AMC, the Game of Thrones on HBO, Sherlock on PBS Mystery Theater, or Hell on Wheels also on AMC;  (just to name a few), then you know that not only does the good guy, one of the stars of the show, not always win, but can also be killed off.  Yes, today’s drama writers have no hesitation to do what was unheard of in the past; killing off some of the most beloved characters and people still turn in to watch what will happen next. 
Now in the past, we have seen great characters killed off.  But those events were caused by necessity; an actor’s decision to leave a show, or through a contract dispute with the producers, or because the actor becomes ill or dies.  Today’s sudden demises are part of the story line and are often kept as a tight secret until the show actually airs. Due to the success of these shows one can expect this to become more prevalent, even on the traditionally big network shows.
But this is really not a new concept, because what these writers and producers have found is a variation of what took place in the life and death of Jesus.  Jesus was a great teacher that drew throngs to hear him.  Jesus was a great healer that drew even more people looking for relief.  Jesus was a great advocate for the poor and the outcast and that won him the love and admiration of those who felt put down by the establishment.  Jesus was the hero of God’s story.  But God, the writer and producer, had a plan that would mean that the hero would have to be killed off.  And so Jesus walked the path from the raising of Lazarus in Bethany, to the Triumphal entry into Jerusalem, to the temple, to the upper room and the garden of Gethsemane, to the trial, to the beating, to Golgotha, to the cross, to the grave.
And all those viewing this drama were speechless and bewildered by these turns of events.  The Hero, their hope, was dead.  What happens now?  How does the story go on?  Where do we go from here?  It was the same emotions that many feel when their hero goes in their favorite TV show. Except for those in Jerusalem that day were not just watching a TV show.  This was their life.  This was their Master, Teacher, Healer, and last hope.  Today we can move on and look forward to a new hero taking the place of the one we lost or waiting for retribution for our loss.   For the poor, the sick and the hungering for the word, they had nothing to look forward too.  As far as they knew there would be no second season for this drama.  They lost their master. They lost their teacher.  They lost their healer.  They lost hope.
But the reason we gather here so early this morning is because God is also the creator of the plot twist and no one, not even the best read fiction writers in history can hold a candle to.  And this particular plot twist is the greatest of all time.
Early in the morning on Sunday, the women went to the tomb to continue the burial process.  They were going that Sunday morning to mourn. They expected to find a guarded, stone blocked tomb.  They worried about how they would get in.  They expected a dead body, already starting to stink.  They expected to use the perfumes they carried to help cover up the smell of death.  They had expectations.  They were going to mourn one who had performed so many miracles before them, but they did not expect a miracle this time.  They were trapped in despair.  They were stuck in the mud of sorrow.  They never expected what would happen next.
What they found was an open tomb and no guards to be found.  They found no body in the tomb, just the cloth that had been hastily wrapped around the dead body of Jesus just days before.
Now to be sure, this finding did not immediately change their outlook, instead it brought even more questions.  Who has taken the body of our Lord?  Where have they taken Him?  They still could not grasp the great plot twist of God.  It took a visitation from an angel with commands to go and tell the others that Jesus was raised from the dead and will be with them soon.  And still they could not grasp what was happening. 
What had happened was this: their master, their teacher, their healer had become their Savior and in doing so brought hope to the hopeless, help to the helpless and light to the darkness.
It was too big for their minds to comprehend.  It is too big for our minds to comprehend. 
We thank God for the gift, but the mystery remains. 
Many here may be in a “Good Friday” place in your life.  It is dark and gloomy.  Your heart is breaking.  Your body is aching.  You are alone and feel like no one knows how bad you feel.
The good news for you this morning is that God has a plot twist in your story.  A Risen Savior.  And even if we cannot possibly see it coming, God’s plot twists always work in our favor.
So we trust in God.  We believe that God will turn our mourning into dancing.  We can believe it because God has done it before.  Good Friday is not the end! The greatest plot twist in history is still being written in the lives of you and me.  So stay tuned!  Who knows what will happen next.
Amen!


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Hard Words

The sixth chapter of the Gospel of John spends a lot of time dealing with bread and eating.  But it isn't till the end of this long chapter that Jesus gets to the meat of the lesson.  Everything is going along fairly smoothly, even if not fully understood. Then Jesus announces that his flesh and blood is the main ingredients of the saving meal. Jesus said, "Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever."   John 6:56-59 NRSV This is one of the most difficult text to read.  It is disquieting, even gross.  No wonder many of those who were following Jesus at the time walked away. People walked away because they could not see beyond the hard words.  Up to this point, they enj...

Favorite Bible Stories - Jonah

Sermon excerpts from Sunday, January 25, 2015 Last week I told you there were two topics that people don’t want to hear.  One was evangelism.  We discussed that last week.  This week we are going to look at that other subject – Stewardship.  Or for today message, using your talents as God desires. God came to a man named Jonah and told him to go to Nineveh, a wicked city, and “preach against it because its wickedness has come up before me.” In other words, his assigned task was to proclaim God’s judgment on Nineveh’s sins.   But Jonah  didn't  want to go to Nineveh. Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, the historic enemy of Israel. In the eighth and seventh centuries B.C., the Assyrians plundered Palestine, looted and burned its cities and deported its inhabitants. In 722-721 B.C., it was Assyria that destroyed the Northern Kingdom.   Just like most of us, Jonah had his reasons for not wanting to use his talents as God wanted. We giv...

Foolish Things - Excerpts from February 2, 2014 Sermon

Foolish Things: There are some very strange laws on the books concerning churches and here are just a few: young girls are never allowed to walk a tightrope in Wheeler, Mississippi, unless it’s in a church.  In Blackwater, Kentucky, tickling a woman under her chin with a feather duster while she’s in church service carries a penalty of $10.00 and one day in jail.  In Honey Creek, Iowa, no one is permitted to carry a slingshot to church except police.  No citizen in Leecreek, Arkansas, is allowed to attend church in any red-colored garment.  Swinging a yo-yo in church or anywhere in public on the Sabbath is prohibited in Studley, Virginia. And, finally, turtle races are not permitted within 100 yards of a local church at any time in Slaughter, Louisiana. (2) There is a lot of foolishness in the world—and that foolishness includes you and me. That’s right. Paul calls us foolish. He writes in I Corinthians 1: 26-29, “Brothers, think of what you were when yo...