ES 61 | Coffee Connect | The Promise of Resurrection

Katie Langston:   0:16
you're listening to an extra shot episode on the Project Zion podcast, a shorter episode that lets you get your Project Zion fix in between are fooling episodes. It might be shorter time wise, but hopefully not in content. So regardless of the temperature at which you prefer your caffeine, sit back and enjoy this extra shot.

Linda Booth:   1:01
Good morning Coffee Connect, listeners. My name is Linda Booth, and I served as a Community of Christ Apostle and Director of Communications for 22 years, and one of my favorite parts of being a human and also being a minister is listening and capturing stories. So get your favorite brew and sit close and listen toe one of my real life stories. It has to do with resurrection. About 10 years ago, in preparing for an Easter sermon, I continue to read John the 20th chapter versus one through 18 every morning and every evening for several weeks, and I've learned over the years when I intentionally focus on a Scripture for an extended period of time as a spiritual discipline, it causes me to experience the story of the Gospel in a new way, and during this preparation for the Easter sermon, I continue to read the story of Mary Magdalene's Journey to the Tomb on Easter morning. In a very personal and real away. On the Saturday before Easter, I woke up with tears in my eyes as I relived again in my mind. Mary's walked to the tomb all that day as I cooked and baked and cleaned and preparation for family coming after the service for an Easter celebration, I thought about Mary and her tears, and I realized that nothing had turned out how Mary thought it would. When the Romans arrested Jesus, she thought he'd be rescued and released. When he went to trial, she thought he would be rescued and found not guilty. And when he was nailed to the cross, she thought God would surely rescue Jesus and save him from death. But there was no rescue, and so she walked the tomb crying, perhaps even sobbing. Her eyes were filled with tears. When the two angels ask her woman, Why are you weeping? And she cried out. They have taken my lord, and I do not know where they have laid him. Through her tears, she saw a man whom she thought was the gardener and he asked her woman, Why are you weeping? Who are you looking for? And she told him she was searching for Jesus body, and she pleaded with him to tell her where the body was so she could go and get the body and return it to the tomb. But Jesus simply said her name, Mary. She turned and finally saw through her tears that Jesus was alive standing right there before her. Mary had been hoping and praying for a rescue, and instead God had given her and all of creation something far greater and transformative. God had given all of us resurrection.

Linda Booth:   4:28
All during that day, I thought about the many times in my life when I had prayed to God to rescue me or my children or someone our new or some situation. And then I thought about all those times when God hadn't given a rescue, but instead the gift of resurrection. New hope, new ideas, new beginnings, new understandings, new life. Over the evening meal, I excitedly shared with my husband what I have been thinking. And Doug didn't seem like he was listening to me, so I continued to talk on about the experience of that day and how I was going to incorporate our human desire for rescue and the divine gift of resurrection into my Easter sermon the next morning. And as I continued to chatter, I realize that Doug hadn't heard a word. I said it wasn't because he was ignoring me. It was because his blood sugar's had plummeted. Doug has been an insulin dependent type one diabetic since he was 26. He's a brittle diabetic, which means that his blood sugar's could drop. Suddenly, his brain shuts down, and when it does, he can fall into a coma, which he was doing in that moment. So I rushed to the refrigerator to retrieve orange juice, something I had done many times before to bring up his blood sugar's. But this time I couldn't get him to drink the orange juice. He put his head back against the wrong of the dining room chair. He closed his eyes and he clenched his teeth. His breathing became erratic and labored, and perspiration began to run down his face and begin to saturate his shirt, his pants in the chair cushion. So I ran and grabbed the portable phone, and I stood by his side as I dialed 911 I explained the situation to the woman who answered the emergency call. She told me to stay on the line in case Doug stop breathing so she could guide me on what to do. And as I said beside the man that I loved, I began to pray for God to rescue him, to bring him back to me. And in that moment, Mary's journey and experience filled my soul and changed my prayer because I knew God would bless us with resurrection in this life and the next. And I knew with a certainty that have Doug had died that evening, he had the promise of resurrection, and so did I and our family.  

Linda Booth:   7:17
I can testify when a person dwells in God's word. God's word can infuse your life with life changing understandings. And when the gospel story and your story emerges, you live the words of the gospel story in new ways. God with us is felt tangibly and realistically experienced, and the Holy Spirit makes us vulnerable to God's grace. So as you prepare to celebrate Christ's resurrection as you worship on that Sunday morning and celebrate what God did in the midst of those people and continues to do in our lives. May you remember that God offers you something more than a rescue, and God offers you resurrection for God so loved the world that he gave his only son so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the son in the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him God's blessings to you in this resurrection time of Easter.

Josh Mangelson:   8:54
Thanks for listening to projects. I am podcast. Subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcast, Stitcher or whatever podcast streaming service you use. And while you're there, give us a five star rating. Project Zion Podcast is sponsored by Latter-day Seeker ministries of Community of Christ. The  views and opinions expressed in this episode are of those speaking and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Latter-day Seeker Ministries or Community of Christ. Music has been graciously provided by Dave Heinze.