Three Steps to a Miracle
Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins
Matthew 28 (Easter 2017)

Resurrection is a recurring theme in the bible. Throughout scripture, we see people who are dead, who feel dead, or who are thought to be dead experience life again, or their loved ones experience them beyond their death.

Elijah is said to raise a widow’s dead son back to life, and Elijah’s disciple, Elisha, later does the same thing. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus raises widow’s dead back to life.

A dead body is tossed into Elisha’s tomb and when the body touches Elisha’s bones, it comes back to life.
Ezekiel sees his whole community as being lifeless, but he has a vision of it being renewed, brought back to thriving life.

Jesus raises Jairus’ dead daughter back to life, and in another story, he raises Lazarus as well.

Eutychus in the book of Acts falls out a window and breaks his neck, but is resurrected.

In Matthew 27 a whole bunch of people are resurrected and just start walking around.

And, most famously, Jesus is resurrected in all four gospels. We tend to focus on the stories of Jesus’ resurrection, but it happened several times before Jesus in our sacred stories, and a few times after. The concept of resurrection isn’t unique to Jesus, but it does seem to be a key element in the faith tradition that Jesus both inherited and shared.

Resurrection is the greatest miracle in our scriptures and in our lives; but before I say more about that I want to define what I mean by resurrection and what I mean by miracle.

1. A Miracle is a change of perception, particularly a change that moves us away from fear. Every time we embrace hope, every time we summon courage, every time we experience gratitude, every time we are able to forgive, every time we share love…our lives are altered for the better. The change of perception that moves us away from fear is a miracle.

2. Resurrection is the experience of transformation that reminds us that life can be renewed, dignity can be restored, joy can be experienced in new and life-giving ways.

Whenever we see miracles in scripture, and for that matter, whenever we see the supreme miracle of resurrection, we see fear being dispelled and renewal being experienced. No wonder these symbols were so important to our ancestors and remain important to us.

Now, if miracles represent liberation from fear, and resurrection symbolizes renewal in our own lives, what can we do to experience miracles for ourselves, maybe even the miracle of resurrection? Today’s gospel reading from Matthew gives us a three step pattern that we can follow, or we could say, three steps to a miracle.

A couple of Marys (you know the type) are the ones in this story to experience the miracle of Resurrection. They discover that Jesus isn’t really dead…but, we might have guessed that.
We know that life is energy and energy can’t be destroyed, it only changes form. We know that our loved ones live on in echoes of their actions and in the loving memories we hold of them.
We trust that we all live forever in the heart of God.

So, Jesus not being dead isn’t a real shocker…the surprise is how people experienced him (and experience him still) beyond his death. It is one thing to know life is continuous; it is another to be blessed by a life that seems to have been taken from us.
Mary and Mary, somehow, experience the living Christ, that was their miracle of overcoming fear…in fact, the angel and Jesus both tell them to not be afraid…to not give in to fear during a terrifying time is a great miracle indeed! And how did they get to this resurrection miracle?

1. They looked for it. Other gospel stories show women going to the tomb to embalm a body, but Matthew’s Marys have no spices, no linens, no incense. They’re not there to embalm. They just go to the tomb, looking, but for what? Maybe they don’t even know, but they do know that the tragedies they’ve witnessed and endured cannot be the end of the story. They know they have reason to keep looking.

When we pray, when we ask questions, when we peruse the scriptures, we are looking for an experience of the Sacred. We may not know what it will look like, but we know it’s worth looking for and like Matthew’s Marys, we search. Jesus said, “seek and you will find.”
Like the Marys, if we will seek out an experience of the Sacred, we are very likely to find it.

2. It’s one thing to look for something, but we might not make much headway if we don’t listen while we look. Others have probably been looking too, and they may have discovered some things along the way. On our search there are divine messages offered to us, but we won’t benefit from them if we don’t receive them. The angel tells the Marys to not give in to their fears. The angel tells them to talk to the other disciples, share their experience. The angel tells them to keep moving forward – don’t give up the search for the Sacred. Luckily, they took the wise counsel and benefited from it.

As they followed the counsel to go share their story with other seekers, (which is what the church is…a community of seekers sharing our hopes, our weaknesses, our discoveries, and our resources so that together we can be more than we would be alone), as they continued to follow the advice of the angel…they experienced the Resurrected Christ, the symbol of renewed life. The faithful search for the sacred will give us at least moments of profound renewal. They followed the advice they were willing to hear.

3. Mary and Mary looked and listened, which means they learned and then they put their learning into action. They labored. The story says they RAN…that’s exertion, that’s purpose, that’s determination, that’s focus, that’s energy…they ran to share the hope they had discovered and the joy they had experienced. They labored to make sure others could have miracles, particularly the miracle of resurrection. It wasn’t just about them…they needed to share.

Mary and Mary never say a word in this story. They don’t have to. St. Francis of Assisi supposedly said, “Preach the gospel at all times; when necessary, use words.”

And today, we see the Marys, looking for miracles, listening to wisdom, laboring to share hope and joy, we see them looking, listening, learning, loving, laboring…but they never say a word. God talk is fine; God action is better.

Do you need to overcome some fear in your life, that is, do you need a miracle?
Would you like to experience dramatic renewal, a resurrection in your life?

Try the Marys’ 3 point plan. Look for miracles, listen for guidance, and lovingly labor to achieve and share your miracle. And like the Marys, that can best be done in blessed community.

As the community of Christ, let us look, listen, and lovingly labor for miracles…I believe they are at hand. And this is the good news. Amen.
© Durrell Watkins 2017

I give thanks for Resurrection Power.
By it I am continually renewed.
Alleluia!
Amen.