“EASTER MEDITATION”

Sermon Delivered at Columbine United Church

By the Rev. Dr. Stephen Poos-Benson

On Easter Sunday, March 31, 2002 at the 8:00 am service

It is a story that we have heard, and we have heard, and we have heard … my fear is that we have heard it so many times that we have forgotten the power and miracle of this story. As you step into the story, as you listen to it, be one of the women, feel what it would have felt like to meet Jesus when you thought he was already dead!

Listen to the Gospel According to John, chapter 20, verses 1 through 18.

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said, to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

May God add blessings to these marvelous words.

Isn’t today a grand day! Don’t you just feel the hope when you see the flowering of the cross? I’ve seen this flowered cross go up nineteen times! Actually, it’s nineteen times three because we’ve had three services every Easter Sunday! Every single time I have seen it I am so moved I almost cry. It’s awesome!

This morning I couldn’t wait to get here. I couldn’t wait to tell you about this week. I thought we would have really bad news because I know all of you weren’t here for the events of this past week.

You see, I know that many of you might not know that our Associate Pastor, David Hartman, died this past week. (laughter because David is actually sitting in the front row of the sanctuary … now I know he looks pretty good for a dead man.) But it was tragic. On Tuesday, right in the middle of our staff meeting, he was talking and he grabbed his chest and fell off the couch and collapsed on the floor. Immediately we thought about a heart attack … and all those Good Times double cheeseburgers that he loves to eat.

We rolled him over, ripped open his tie, and I started doing compressions on David’s chest; Bill started breathing into his mouth. Michael ran and called 911. We were working as hard as we could and I kept saying, “David, don’t you die on me. Don’t you die.” The paramedics came screaming in with the sirens on, carrying their equipment. They ripped open his shirt and hooked up an EKG machine and there was just this little flat line! They pulled out the paddles and greased them up and yelled “Clear” and they set the paddles down on his chest and the whole body of David just bounced as the current hit him. Still a flat line. So they greased him again and they yelled "Clear" again … still nothing. They did it a third time and still nothing. So they started doing compressions.

I yelled at Michael to bring my cell phone. I have Linda’s number speed dialed in on my phone. I called Linda, David’s wife, to tell her what had happened. She was crying, I was crying. After thirty minutes we made the decision to let David die, and I told the paramedics to back off.

Then the staff gathered around him and we let David go. He slipped right from our hands into God's hands. It's so humbling when one moment someone is there and the next moment they are gone! What were we going to do. We knew what we had to do. So I called Bob Drinkwine at the Drinkwine Mortuary and we decided that we would make this a priority. They came and got David’s body. Linda came down to the church. We said, “Let’s try to do the service before Easter.” We tried to get the word out to as many people as we could, but we know we missed some of you. If you didn’t get to the service because you didn’t know about it, we apologize.

It was phenomenal. If you weren’t here, you missed the funeral of the century. Since we knew that not everyone was going to be able to be here, we made the decision to have David embalmed. We had the beautiful oak casket right here in front of the church, open for everyone to say goodbye to David. He just looked like he was sleeping. Haven’t you been to funerals where they had an open casket and the people just looked like they were sleeping?

I looked at him and said, “Thanks. You died on me! Now I have to do another pastoral search! Way to go.”

The sanctuary was packed; people were sitting all the way out into the narthex. Michael played the keys off the organ; the whole choir was here. Wasn’t it a great service? (choir and Michael agree).

Afterwards, everyone was singing and crying. We had everyone file by the casket. Afterwards the staff were the pall bearers. We all carried him out to the hearse. The procession out of here took forever because there were so many of us. Linda had a plot picked out at Littleton Cemetery. It’s up past Arapahoe Community College, through the big metal gates. Every single plot there has this view of the entire front range. Linda had picked out the most incredible plot. There are a couple big oak trees right next to it and you could see from Pikes Peak to Longs Peak. I know David would love this place.

They had a little tent set up and we all gathered around. I did the committal service: “ashes to ashes, dust to dust; yea, though we die, if we believe, yet shall we rise.” That was it. Everybody left except for the staff and Linda and some of his best friends. We had to stay. We stayed and watched the casket being lowered down into the ground. They asked if I was going to leave, and I said, “No, I can’t leave yet. He’s been so good to us. I want to stay here until it’s done.” So they brought out the backhoe and dropped dirt down on top of the casket. They mounded it up and his headstone said: David Hartman, and I thought, “Yes, a man with a heart.” It was so awesome.

Then I had to think about the rest of the week. It was Holy Week. There was so much going on. Maundy Thursday services, sunrise and the rest of the services. I told the staff that we just had to get going and do our jobs. We would grieve on Monday. We had work to do. It’s Easter Sunday. It will put a real damper on things, but come on, guys, we have work to do. So I got everybody going again and got everyone going and to their credit they pitched in. But in all of our minds we were thinking of David up on that hill. Through all of the confusion I didn’t really have time to write my Easter sermon until yesterday, but it wasn’t any good anyway. The staff called me and asked me if we could all meet at the cemetery before sunrise service on Sunday to have our own service, real early at 5:00, at David’s grave.

I thought that would be pretty meaningful, so there was about six or seven of us that agreed to meet there. As I started driving down Prince Street, I started thinking about the big iron gates. Who would open them? They usually have a big lock on them. As I drove up to them, I could see that the gate was ajar, and the lock had been exploded. I kind of wondered about that. We pushed open the gates and drove in. The rest of the staff who weren’t very familiar with the cemetery couldn’t figure out where the plot was, but I knew right where it was. So we drove around and got out of the car and immediately I could sense something was up. There was a huge pile of dirt where David’s grave was.

I went running up and looked down into the grave and that beautiful oak casket had been sort of exploded, it was in splinters! I wondered WHO HAD DONE THIS! David was not only my colleague, he was my friend! Someone had busted into the cemetery, dug him up … what did they think they were going to find? A Rolex watch? Not David! He’s been driving the same car for twenty years! There’s nothing buried with David! At least they could have left his body. Then I wondered if maybe the cemetery had put David in the wrong place and I wondered why they had to break the casket.

Someone seemed to be coming up right behind me. I turned around and saw the gardener. “Hey, come here,” I yelled. “One of you guys come over here and help me. I’m looking for my friend. Did you put him in the wrong place and then move him?” I heard him say, “Steve.” The guy knew my name. How did this gardener know my name. “Who are you? The sun is in my eyes.” He said my name again. “David? David? DAVID, is it you?” It was David! He was alive! I couldn’t believe it at first! Oh, my God, it’s his ghost! I’m out of here!

It was David! I gave him a big huge hug, and I felt him. “DAVID! DAVID! DAVID! YOU’RE ALIVE! I CAN’T BELIEVE IT! EASTER SUNDAY! IT’S REAL! THIS RESURRECTION THING IS REAL! IT’S REAL!”

David said, “Did you ever doubt it?” Well, no I never r-e-a-l-l-y doubted it, but, you know, this has never happened except once before and that was two thousand years ago! Now with you here it changes everything. It changes everything. We don’t have to just have faith anymore; with you here, David, we can throw faith out the window because you’re proof. You’re living proof. I have been saying it for years and years and years; the church has been saying it for two thousand years: “the dead will rise in victory.” But nothing has ever happened before and we’ve never seen it. With you here, David, it changes everything! We no longer have to wonder. It’s true. It’s fact. I love it.

The whole staff gathered around, and they were hugging David and we were celebrating. I grabbed my cell phone and called Linda and I asked her if she knew who I was talking to right at that moment. She said, “Who?” “I’m talking to David. Your David! He’s real. He’s alive. Talk to him.”

Can you imagine that, the guy who was dead is alive? I told the staff to hurry on back to the church. This will be fantastic. This will be incredible. Right when we flower the cross and we raise the cross up and we sing, “Christ the Lord is risen today!”, I will stop everyone and say, “He’s not the only one who has risen!” I’ll stop everyone and tell them I have great news. We don’t have to have faith anymore because it is proof positive, it’s a fact, David is alive!

(David walks out of the sanctuary) David! David! God, not today! God, don’t take him today! I am so frustrated! God, bring him back NOW.

I know you think I’m nuts, but you know what, now that David isn’t sitting here in the front row, you have to take my word for it! Now, it’s back to faith. I don’t have the proof anymore.

All I can do is tell you that it’s real, and He is alive.

Amen.