“COME. GO. TELL.” Here’s an Internet story. It could have taken place while our Savior’s body lay in the tomb: Jesus and Satan were having an argument about who was better on the computer. They had been going at it for days, and God was tired of the bickering. So God said, "That's it. I’ve had enough. I’m going to set up a test that will run for two hours, and from those results, I will judge who does the better job." So Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away. They moused. They faxed. They e-mailed. They e-mailed with attachments. They downloaded. They did spreadsheets. They drafted reports. They created labels and cards. They made charts and graphs. They imported graphics. They researched genealogies. They did every job they could think of. Then, ten minutes before time was up, lightning flashed, thunder rolled, rain poured, and, of course, the power went off. Satan stared at his blank screen and screamed every curse word known in the underworld. Jesus just sighed. Finally the electricity came back on, and both of them rebooted their computers. Satan started searching and screaming: "It's all gone. I lost everything when the power went out." Meanwhile, Jesus quietly started printing his files from the past two hours of work. Satan became irate. "Wait a minute," he screamed. "That's not fair! He cheated! How come he has all his work and I don't have any?" God just shrugged and said, "JESUS SAVES." Just about everybody loves a good story. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a three-part story: “His disciples come looking for his body even though he had repeatedly told them God gave him power over death. They left overwhelmed with joy when they realized Jesus wasn’t a misguided, charismatic liar. They ran excitedly to tell others.” That’s what Simon Peter, John and Mary Magdalene did. COME. GO. TELL. Simple, and yet so profound that today Christians stubbornly struggle and even rebel against this mandate from the lips of the one whom we say we follow. We know that most people love to hear a good story, whether it’s a fable, myth or real. But the greatest story ever told? The greatest miracle in history. Nah! Well, the church of Jesus Christ has a story to tell, and ours just happens to be true: God came to us in the form of a human being. He showed us how to live in the will of God. He received capital punishment for it. If ever there was a case of an innocent person receiving cruel and unusual punishment, this is it. And yet he willingly endured humiliating pain to bring salvation to the world. He was dead – as in no pulse and no brain activity. Dead! You can’t get more real than that church. (pause) But early on the third day, LIFE somehow re-entered his body, and he got up. And the angels rolled away the tombstone. And off came the grave clothes. Mary Magdalene stood there crying her eyes out. She believed during the night some grave robbers stole Jesus’ body. She was the first human being to encounter the risen Christ, and what did she think. “Maybe the cemetery gardener knows what happened.” How many of you know what really happened? Are you still searching for Jesus among the dead? He’s not there? Jesus asked her the same question, “Why are you crying? Don’t you remember I said you’ll see me again in three days?” Then she recognized him and in her joy wanted to hug him, like we all do when we are happy to see someone. But instead Jesus told her to go and share her experience with him. And she did. She shared her encounter with the other disciples. What a story. To tell the disciples, “I just saw the Lord!” How many of you really believe that the resurrection story is true? Really? So do I. As your pastor, I want us to believe it so much, until when we have an opportunity to meet someone who isn’t a Christian we’ll share our faith. The message of the risen Christ isn’t just his story. It’s our story. Our challenge today and every day, is not just to read, study and believe the gospel. Not to keep the glorious message to ourselves, but to share it when we can. What a story! Come. Go. Tell. |