Sermon for
April 11, 2004
Easter Sunday
“Life on Mars? Life on Earth?”
Acts 10:34-43; 1 Corinthians 15:17-26; John 20:1-18
[The
full text of the message is printed here although its preaching
was abbreviated due to time limitations in the worship service]
A great stone—that’s what started it all. 13,000
years ago a huge stone fell from the sky and impacted the earth. This
huge stone that fell from the sky was a meteorite and it struck the earth
13,000 years ago with such force that it scattered pieces of itself across
the Antarctic. Pieces of this meteorite were discovered in 1984 and as
scientists have studied these pieces they have discovered that this great
stone is a fragment of the planet Mars. Broken loose into space some 15
million years ago by a similar impact—a fragment of Mars that traveled
through space until its journey violently ended in that ice field. When
David S. McKay and Everett K. Gibson, Jr., of NASA were assigned to study
one of those pieces of this huge stone, do you know what they discovered?
Embedded in this small fragment of the planet Mars are chemicals and
compounds, they said, that are only produced as the byproducts of the
process of life, fossils, if you will, of microorganisms that may have
existed on Mars some 3.6 billions years ago. They raised the issue then
based on this empirical evidence that life may have existed on Mars. Now
the interpretation of this empirical evidence is still in dispute among
scientists but that, in part, is why those two robot rovers, Spirit and
Opportunity, are scurrying around on the surface of Mars, one on one side
and one on the other side of the planet, bumping into rocks, digging
holes, and gathering data. As you know that exploration has confirmed
that the surface of Mars once held water—a stream or a marsh existed there
millions of years ago. Life needs water. As I speak this morning these
two visitors are roaming the Martian surface in search of still more
empirical evidence of life.
Now, scientists are far from any conclusions
concerning the existence of life on Mars. Based on the empirical evidence
it cannot be proven yet. So much empirical data has yet to be gathered
and analyzed. But it is not so much the empirical questions that draw us
to this mystery. It’s just fascinating, isn’t it? Life is fascinating.
We are somehow drawn to its mystery. What draws us to this mystery is our
sense that there might be more to the universe than we first thought.
There might be more to life than what we now experience. This is not so
much an empirical questions as it is a heart question. We are somehow
drawn to the mystery—the mystery of life. Was life on Mars?
A great stone—that’s what started it all. 2,000
years ago early in the morning on the first day of the week, a woman came
to a tomb and saw that a huge stone that once sealed the grave had been
rolled back. Frightened, full of fear, she too was drawn to the
mystery—the mystery of life. She ran to tell friends of Jesus and they
raced to the gravesite, went inside, and found the linen burial wrappings
lying there and the cloth that had been about the head rolled up in a
place by itself. They were drawn to the mystery. The woman is so
shattered by the experience that she sobs and weeps until finally through
her tears she cries out to one she thinks to be the gardener, “Sir, if you
have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will
take him away.” Then Jesus called her by name, she recognizes him. She
runs and announces to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!”
On this Easter Sunday, aren’t you drawn to the
mystery? The fascinating mystery of life. Is what draws you this morning
is your sense that there must be more to the universe than you first
thought? There must be more to life than you now experience. You are
somehow drawn to its mystery—the mystery of life. Is life on Earth? Real
life? Not just day-to-day survival? Not just pain and suffering and
disappointment but hopeful, meaningful, fulfilled life…even eternal life?
These are not so much empirical questions but heart questions. You are
here because there is something going on in your heart. You are drawn to
its mystery this morning by the Easter message.
The Apostle Paul says it well in his letter to the
church at Corinth. He says,
If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all
people most to be pitied.
You see, he addresses some folks in the community
who are having a hard time believing in the resurrection. They were
called to its mystery. Their hearts yearned for its truth. They believed
that Jesus rose from the dead but some of them had a hard time believing
that the life now flourishing among them in Christ could actually
transform their everyday, day-to-day, down to earth existence. Some of
them thought that that life in their midst brought about by the
resurrection somehow separated them from the hard knocks and hard choices
of daily life. They felt there just had to be more than this—they knew
there must be more to life than what they experienced. Some of them
believed that the power of Jesus somehow elevated them to an insulated
plain of otherworldliness—a place where God takes you away from the
difficulties and ordinariness of life; a place, you know, where God is.
For God certainly could not be in the very muck and mire of life as we
know it. God must be at another higher place apart from this mess we live
in.
They were drawn to the mystery—the mystery of
life. And some of them concluded that the Christian life meant an
existence which denied the reality of everyday life. Day to day living,
they said, was an illusion. Real life in God is a life filled with
spiritual ecstasy and enthusiasm requiring special knowledge which leads
you to this truth.
The Apostle Paul was so concerned about this
misunderstanding, this aberration of the Christian message that he
wondered aloud whether these folks actually believed in the resurrection
at all. Paul knew that in the resurrection of Jesus, everyday life was
transformed by the real presence of Christ in the world right now. Christ
was raised from the dead, so life now is different, new, and that
new life lasts forever. Paul takes great pains, then, to display all the
empirical evidence he can that confirms Jesus’ resurrection: Jesus
appeared to Peter, the twelve, to more than 500 at the same time, to
James, then all the apostles, then to Paul himself.
As Paul’s letter is read to you in your hearing
today do you believe in the resurrection? Is there life on earth right now
for you? Real life? Not just day-to-day survival but hopeful,
meaningful, fulfilled life; even eternal life? He is alive, you know.
You already know that. That’s why you are here this morning. And you
have a hunch that this resurrection—this life does more for you than just
fill you with spiritual ecstasy and enthusiasm now and them. You want to
believe that this life does more for you than simply make you religious.
You are drawn to its mystery because deep down inside you know that
eternal life has got to be more than the same old thing that just lasts
forever.
Like some of the Corinthians perhaps you believe
Jesus rose from the dead but you misunderstand what his resurrection
means. You experience of that resurrection life has not been what it
should be. You, too, perhaps, would worry Paul as to whether you really
believe in the resurrection at all. He would write to you as he wrote to
the Corinthians, listing all the evidence and naming all the witnesses of
the resurrection.
But in the end all the empirical evidence in the
world will not convince you. You know that. Paul knows that. That’s
because the questions the Corinthians asked then, the questions you ask
this morning, are not empirical questions, they are heart questions. No
amount of empirical evidence can ever really satisfy the heart.
In the movie Contact Jodie Foster plays the
part of an astronomer whose father died while she was still quite young.
Her father instilled in her a love of the stars. She also learned from
him the value of empirical evidence. Her scientific mind would only
consider the truth of things proven by the scientific method. Her
approach to life always had the connotation to it: “Prove it to me.” One
evening she and her boyfriend were gazing up at the stars she as an
astronomer had grown to love so much. He had often chided her about her
obsession about proof that led her to even seek scientific proof for
things that can only be known through faith. As they looked skyward she
asked him, “Do you believe God exists?” “Yes,” was his reply. She looked
at him and said, “Can you prove it?” In response he looked at her and
said, “Let me ask you a question. Do you believe your father loved you?”
“Yes” was her reply as tears came to her eyes. He said, “Can you prove
it?”
It is not an empirical question. It’s a heart
question. It’s what’s going on in your heart that counts. Listen to your
heart this Easter Sunday. Your heart tells you there’s got to be more
than this. There has got to be more to life than
The disappointment in not making the
grade you worked so hard for
The hurt when your friend turns her back on you
The depression when life does not seem to go your way
There has got to be more to life than
The limitation of mind and body brought on by the reality of age
The daily financial struggle when social security doesn’t pay
the bills anymore
The void left by the death of a loved one
If the resurrection of Jesus Christ only serves to
make you more religious…there’s got to be more to it than that. That’s
why you are drawn to its mystery this morning. Jesus Christ became a
human being just like you. The Son of God lived life just like yours.
Jesus of Nazareth was disappointed, hurt, and depressed just like you. He
knew your limitations and your struggles. He felt that void in his own
heart. Upon the cross of Calvary all the forces that serve to beat you
down every day utterly defeated him and he died there in their clutches.
But this morning as the sun rose, amid the tossed and rolled up garments
Jesus calls a woman by name and she declares, “I have seen the Lord!” In
her announcement the very power of the forces of this world that would
beat you down every day are defeated forever. They have no more ultimate
power over you no matter how frequent or how strong their hold in your
life. Through the resurrection Jesus lives in your heart if you’ll
let him, transforming your everyday life for now and forever. It
really is a heart question.
Is there life on Earth? Real life? Not just
day-to-day survival, not just some kind of religiosity that merely
accompanies or simply makes more bearable a life of pain and suffering and
disappointment, but hopeful, meaningful, fulfilled life, even eternal
life? What’s going on in your heart this morning? As you sift through
the evidence what is your life like?
A great stone—that’s what started it all. 13,000
years ago a huge stone struck the earth carrying with it possible
empirical evidence that primitive life may have once existed on Mars. As
I speak this morning two robot visitors are roaming the Martian surface in
search of still more empirical evidence of life. Life is so fascinating.
There may be more to the universe than we first thought. We are drawn to
its mystery—the mystery of life. Was life on Mars?
A great stone—that’s what started it all. 2,000
years ago early in the morning on the first day of the week a woman came
to a tomb and saw that a huge stone that once sealed the grave had been
rolled away. As I speak this morning our risen Lord Jesus Christ is alive
and present in our very midst. On this Easter Sunday, aren’t you drawn to
the mystery—the mystery of life? The real question for you and for me
this morning is this: Are you merely fascinated or are you empowered?
Are you just curious or are you transformed? Yes, there must be more to
life than you now experience. There is life on Earth!
This is not an empirical question. This is a heart
question. It is a question that only finds an answer when you finally
hear your Lord speak your name, and you finally recognize him, and your
heart cries out, “I have seen the Lord!”
