See and Believe

Introduction-Awareness Test

I think I’ve done this before here, so in addition to being an awareness test, it’s also a memory test!

So if you’ve seen this before or you remember the answer, keep it to yourself.

But for everyone else, let’s see how good your awareness is!

<play awareness test>

It’s easy to miss something you’re not looking for.

And so today we have to ask…are we looking for resurrection?

Can we see it?

John’s Story- Three Seeings.

Every year when I preach for Easter, I’m always hoping to stumble upon something new, something that I hadn’t noticed before.

And this year I found it!

John in this story uses the word “see” three different times.

And what we miss in our English translations are that there are three different and distinct Greek words happening each time John uses that word.

So let’s take a look at what John’s writing for us.

Mary and John see- Bleppo.

This is the first level of seeing, kind of the most basic level of seeing.

What are your eyes showing you?

Already, some of our alarm bells should be going off.

Because even though this is the most basic level of seeing, this can also have some complications to it, right?

Like these optical illusions.

Our eyes are showing us something…but we’re not seeing it right or we’re not seeing it the same way everyone else is.

What are you willing to let your eyes see?

There’s also the obvious truth that we won’t ever see what we won’t allow our eyes to look at.

John stops outside the tomb, because he doesn’t want to see death.

Even though he totally gets there first.

I love that John includes that…three digs to make sure that Peter always remembers that John’s the faster runner…

But John won’t go in the tomb, because for him and his Jewish tradition, you don’t expose yourself to death.

If John had stayed there, he wouldn’t have seen the cloth on Jesus head.

He wouldn’t have seen the angels Mary notices later.

He wouldn’t have seen anything about the resurrection, because he was so intent on avoiding death.

It’s worth mentioning because, the truth of the matter is, if you want to see resurrection, you’re probably going to have to see some death.

Peter, John, and Mary were all there with Jesus at the cross.

There’s not much good in a happy ending that doesn’t come with a little bit of conflict.

Peter sees- Theoreo

Even though he got there second…

Peter is brave enough to go inside the tomb, and Peter “saw the linen wrappings there.”

The word here is not Bleppo, it’s Theoreo.

To observe, to notice, to behold.

This is a layer deeper than just your eyes falling on something.

My commute is about 45 minutes to an hour during construction season.

My eyes “see” a lot of things on that commute.

But pretty frequently I’m the guy who gets home and cannot remember any part of the journey that got me there.

Anyone else like that?

I might have seen, but I didn’t behold.

To behold something is to possess it in some way.

It’s to see something, and to have a bit of possession of something.

Or maybe, maybe it’s to let it have possession of you.

I think that’s what’s happening for Peter here.

I think he’s soaking in it all right now.

John tells us later that they didn’t understand what was going on in this story, but I think when Peter leans in and Theoreo’s those empty grave clothes, the gears start clicking a little bit.

Maybe a good word for this here is to “wonder.”

To behold something with a sense of awe, with a sense of <gasp sound>.

To see in this way might literally take your breath away.

John again- Eidon

Finally, even though he totally got to the tomb first, John summons the bravery to walk in and see what’s going on.

Here, John is writing about himself, and he says that when he went in to that tomb he “saw and believed.”

It’s the Greek word Eidon.

To perceive, to take note, to understand.

John had to move from one kind of seeing to another.

This is bigger than just letting your eyes fall on something, kind of five senses seeing.

It’s even a little bit bigger than beholding, or a sense of wonder.

This is a seeing that comes with a certain level of understanding.

Again, maybe not complete understanding.

One verse later John admits that he didn’t totally get it.

Maybe we never will.

But still, he believes.

He sees, and it stirs something in his soul.

This is the kind of seeing that belongs to the realm of faith and spirituality.

This is the seeing we want to get to with resurrection.

I want to see resurrection this way.

With a kind of stirring in the soul.

Yet, sometimes there are obstacles in the way of our seeing, aren’t there?

Mary can’t see through grief.

The story continues with Mary just outside the tomb.

She too summons the courage to look in the tomb, and sees something completely different.

Mary here “Theoreos, beholds with wonder,” two angels.

She still thinks that someone has busted in and taken the body.

And John keeps using this word to describe what she’s going through.

She’s weeping.

The difference between weeping and crying.

This is not skinned my knee, shed a tear here or there, Stoic Presbyterian crocodile tears.

I think she’s in the throws of grief.

Ugly crying.

Convulsing.

Disoriented.

Off balance.

When some folks ask me how it’s possible she didn’t recognize Jesus, I legitimately don’t know if she had awareness that he was there.

I don’t know if she could see through the tears.

I don’t know if she could see through the pain.

I don’t know if she could see through her grief.

There are a lot of things that can get between us and seeing resurrection, huh?

Jesus brings her back to herself all in one word.

Jesus says her name.

Mary.

That’s all it takes.

She knows exactly who it is.

She sees differently now.

The grief is washed away, and a new day has started.

When the savior says your name, all of a sudden you can see resurrection clearly, can’t you?

How do we get there?

Maybe, just maybe, there are skeptics out there.

There’s some reason for that.

Dead folks tend to stay dead after all.

So maybe you’re sitting there thinking “Ok Pastor. But I’m just not sure I believe in this resurrection thing.”

What I want us to do is be able to see all the little resurrections of our daily lives, because I think they ultimately point to that grand resurrection to new life in Christ.

How can we see resurrection in our lives today?

See it all.

We have to be open to see death.

So often, we like John don’t really want to get too close to death at first, do we?

We don’t want to watch the news, especially not when they’re telling us about the suffering of others, because we don’t want to be depressed.

When we come across the beggar on the street looking for change, we do everything we can to avoid eye contact and try to look busy.

We don’t go through certain parts of town because we know how ugly things have gotten lately there.

We don’t want to engage in the mission work that Christ has called us to, because of the suffering that might be around us.

But we have to be brave enough to look at the little deaths that are all around us, because we might just find something on the other side.

And we have to be on the look out for the resurrection that follows.

Sometimes those news stories find their end with compassionate neighbors who look after their brothers and sisters, or folks who gather together to boldly and proudly demand justice in an unjust world.

Sometimes when we engage with those beggars everyone else passes by, we can offer them the smallest of human contact and comfort, and if we’re really careful, really seeing, we can notice the twinkle of resurrection hope in their eyes.

Sometimes Christ is calling us to certain parts of town that everyone else wants to avoid, because we’re called to make life better for people, and we’re called to raise them up.

Sometimes we don’t just see resurrection. Sometimes Christ invites us to participate in it with others.

But we’ll never see it if we are too afraid to see death too.

For that, we ask Christ for strength.

We have to behold what’s around us.

I am constantly shocked at my lack of wonder in the world.

I think too often I’m just passing through this life.

We as Christians should be champions of beholding our world with wonder.

Behold the places around us.

Yesterday the boys had hockey practice (which is in no way a confession about when I finished this sermon).

We’ve been at that park at this point oh I don’t know, a thousand times.

But this time, I decided to walk around a little bit while they were with their coaches.

And you know what, there are like a million little trails and paths around that rink.

I saw woodpeckers.

I saw a red tailed hawk.

I saw a snake (which I tried to behold with something other than fear and trepidation).

I beheld the places around me.

Places that at least to this point, I had far too much taken for granted.

Behold the things around us.

Or what about the “stuff” we own?

There’s a dangerous game to be played here.

We can let our possessions possess us, and that’s not great.

But I also think when we don’t behold the things around us with wonder, we have a tendency to become too comfortable with the buy, take, throw it away attitude of our age.

What do you own right now that brings you joy?

What do you have in your possession that truly and rightly feels like a gift from God?

What is it that you own that is a blessing?

I think the more we cherish those things, ironically it will lead to us buying and owning fewer things.

We wind up caring more about a few things, rather than needing to have everything.

Behold the people around us.

I love holidays around here, because so often we have out of town visitors and family members joining us in worship.

Lots of us are going to travel and visit family today.

Or maybe we’re getting together with someone else’s family.

Or maybe we’re hanging out with our friends.

Don’t just let today be an opportunity for eating and obligation.

Let today be a chance to see, and to appreciate the people in our lives in a fullsome way.

Let today be a chance to behold and love the ones that God has given to us.

Let today be an opportunity to call that person you’re not going to see today and tell them how much you love them.

Let today be an opportunity to wonder at the people God has placed in our lives.

Let resurrection stir your soul.

I think one of the things that John has done for us here is to help correct something in the Christian faith of a few believers I know.

I think sometimes we take Hebrews a little too seriously.

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

Coming out of this, I think we convince ourselves that we don’t need to see to believe.

I don’t need to see angels to know God’s taking care of me!

I don’t need proof to know that all of this is true!

I don’t need to see resurrection, I just believe it in my heart!

And to be sure, you won’t see everything.

There are still some parts of this life where faith has to do the heavy lifting.

But John saw and believed.

John saw the empty grave clothes and knew exactly what that meant.

Mary saw the angels and heard her name.

Peter saw the folded up linens, proving once and for all that Jesus is a make the bed in the morning kind of guy.

They all got to see resurrection, and they all allowed it to stir our souls.

I think you can do the same today.

Have you ever been counted out? I bet you have seen resurrection.

Have you ever been at the end of your rope? I bet you have seen resurrection.

Do you know what it feels like to have no one who believes in you? I bet we can show you resurrection.

Have you ever seen life come from hopeless situations? Then you know exactly what it looks like to see and believe.

My every hope and prayer for all of us in this life is that in the days and weeks to come, we can see the resurrection of Christ in our every day lives.

Not just with our eyes.

Not just with a sense of wonder.

But to allow it to stir in our hearts the hope of resurrection.

Where are you on this journey?

Need to see it for the first time.

Maybe you’re here and thinking “Pastor, I want to believe this.”

I want to believe there’s resurrection, but I’m not sure.

I want to believe that there’s hope, but I’ve been burned before.

I want to believe in Jesus, but I need more.

Please come talk to me after the service today.

I’ll stay until everyone has gone home.

I love nothing more than pointing to resurrection for those who have never seen it before.

Need to see it anew.

Maybe you’ve been coming around the church for a long time, and this has turned into more of an intellectual exercise than a soul-stirring seeing.

Maybe you can list all the names of the disciples, but forget that yours should be one of them.

Maybe you count yourself a good person, but still can’t shake that sense that death is clinging on.

Maybe you have seen more church hurt than resurrection hope.

I hope that you too can wipe your eyes a bit, and see something new.

I hope you see that new life springing up all around us in this season of ministry.

I hope you see the signs of vacant tombs and empty grave clothes as Christ stirs your soul.

I hope you see resurrection all over again, no matter how many times you’ve seen it before.

Need to see through your grief.

Maybe the angels have a similar question for you today:

Why are you weeping?

Why are you cast down?

What’s holding you back?

How has this world dug its claws in to you?

So often the church doesn’t know what to do with those who are walking in the throws of grief, but I hope that we can walk that journey with you.

I hope that we can point to the empty tomb of Christ.

I hope that we can wipe away those tears together.

I hope that you too can see resurrection, and that you can find a new community of faith to see it with.

Need to hear him call your name.

Because if you listen close, I think he’s calling all of our names, isn’t he?

(Go around and say a few names you see)

Some people would tell you he’s calling you out when he’s calling your name.

That’s not true at all.

When we’re still, when we can see, when we can behold, when we are stirred, we can see what he wants when he calls our names.

(Say a few more)

He wants us to know that his resurrection isn’t for him alone.

Christ became like us, so that we can become like him.

So there’s a tremendous power when we say the truth to each other:

He is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

May we see that resurrection with him!