April 20, 2014 ~ Easter from John Knox Kirk on Vimeo.
A sermon preached at preached at John Knox Kirk of Kansas City, Missouri, on April 20, 2014.
John 20:1-18
and Matthew 28:1-10
The Disciples Peter and John Running to the Sepulchre on the Morning of the Resurrection by Eugene Burnand.
I want to tell you,
there is rarely a time that I am more unsettled about the life of faith
than when someone asks me the question:
Come on, man! Do you really believe it?
Do you really think its true?
It doesn’t matter if this question is coming from someone I love
or from those who I think are out to test me, test my mettle.
The interrogation could come from someone
who is so FIRM in their conviction
that they are trying to probe my doubt and prove my heresy,
or from someone who is searching for God
who is suspicious of all the hypocracy
and the judgement
and the rules and requirements…
and they might be looking AT ME
for some glimpse of something they themselves
might latch on to.
Or maybe its your average Joe,
who reads these beautiful resurrection stories with the eyes of faith
but who sometimes…. wonders….
Unsettling.
But I also gather, since we are not so different, you and I,
that you might also have this experience sometimes.
Where you are asked that question: do you really believe it?
Or, maybe, ask your self that question: Is it true?
And maybe you find yourself, on an Easter Sunday morning,
with flowers and bonnets and plans for Brunch whirling about
when you are struck by the profound questions of faith
and your heart races just a little bit more than what is comfortable. [Read more…]
