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Mark 16 "Blown Away"

"Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they said among themselves, "Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?" But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away -- for it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed."

A tragedy had taken place. The Lord had been brutally executed. When tragedy strikes it has the power to either tear people apart or bring people together. It also has the power to either tear people away from God or bring them closer. You will find people who are torn out of their normal routine by tragedy and also people who clutch to that routine even tighter because of it. The two Marys and Salome, not knowing what else to do fell back into the familiar pattern of traditions surrounding the burial of the dead. They woke up early on the third day and went to the tomb to anoint His body. As they walked one of them mentioned that the stone was heavy and they wondered how they could move it. But when they got to the tomb it was not as they expected. The stone was already moved and a strange man was there.

But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples -- and Peter -- that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you."
So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

These women were totally blown away by what God was doing. They never imagined that this would happen. They weren't prepared for what the Lord was doing. I know their feeling. I often find myself in the position of these three who went to the tomb worrying about how to move the stone, so that they could annoint a body that wasn't even there. I tend to get ahead of God. Preparing for things that God does not intend me to do. When I was in seminary I wrote long papers on what I was going to do once I came to Japan. I wrote long papers on mission strategy and what is the best way to go about evangelism and church planting. But when I got here, God had other plans. You see, I was worrying about how to roll away a stone, so that I could annoint a body that had already risen.

Sometimes I get angry with God for not following my plan. I think Lord! I have been faithful to study, I have been faithful to plan, I have been faithful to come, I have been faithful to work! Why aren't you faithful? Those women on Easter morning were faithful too. They got up at sunrise. They came even though they might have been persecuted by the authorities for being His followers. They might of gotten angry at Jesus, "We went to all the trouble to come and annoint you, and you don't even have the common decency to stay dead!", "You could of at least told us before we came and saved us the money we spent on spices!" Of course that is ridiculous. They were not angry. They were blown away. Because in that instance they saw that God was not limited by the things that we are. God has His own plan, not dependent upon us. Have you ever been blown away by God? It can be quite frightening.

I love to ski, I started skiing when I was 3 years old, and went skiing often when I was a high-school student. I would drive my mother's car up to the mountain after school to go night skiing. Once on the way up the mountain, as I came around the curve of the snow covered road, the car just continued to turn around. Although I was steering the correct direction, the car had a mind of its own. I had hit black ice. The tires no longer were holding to the road and I had a terrible feeling. But, praise God the car simply spun around a couple times in the middle of the road and then came to a stop. I think this is the closest feeling to being blown away by God. The difference, is that unlike nature that is just a force, God is our Father. The ice doesn't care whether I live or die, but God has promised to me that "all things work together for my good."

This last month I have been blown away. I had my plan and God had His plan and I have lost. It was no contest. My plan was to be a tent-maker. I have been able to support myself quite well since I came to Japan through working part-time jobs without relying on churches back home for money, and without burdening the church here. My plan was to pastor this church and sooner or later become a university professor. But suddenly as I was busy pastoring and working and thinking about how to roll away the obstacles between me and my goal, God went and changed the plan. I got a phone call asking me to start a new church at the Westin Hotel in Ebisu Garden Place. When the call first came I must have looked like the three women at the tomb. My jaw was on the floor. Nobody has ever heard of a hotel coming and asking a church to do a service in their chapel. We struggle so much just to get a place to meet, renting out places like this just for Sunday services, and then suddenly here is a place that is beyond what we could even think of just placed in our laps.

At that point I was praying Lord, what do I do now? Is this what you want me to do? And everything I heard said yes! Go for it! But there were a couple of voices that said, "But are you going to have enough time?" I thought, "Sure, I will make the time. So what if I have to work a little harder, we can't pass up this opportunity." And that is when God blew me away. The plans for the Westin were moving along. We were about ready to leave for the Cambodia mission, and the day before we left, my boss at work called me into his office and said that my company would not be able to renew my contract from October. Wham, the car was starting to spin out of control! I had actually been writing my own contracts with that company for the last two or three times. I broke the news to Rie that night and then left for a week to Cambodia. Thinking about what was going to happen to us, how we were going to pay the bills, I was afraid. I was not in control. Jose told me a couple weeks ago that he feels like he is in a typhoon of blessings. Looking at my brother, I can see that he has been through both the typhoon and the blessings. He also has been blown away by God. We both are learning that God has His own plan, not dependent upon us.

"Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe. After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country. And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either."

The incredible thing about our Lord, is that He is the God of the Second Chance. The angel told Mary Magdalene to go and tell the disciples, especially Peter. But she was too afraid. She didn't tell anyone but just hung around the garden. And then Jesus appeared to her. We often think that Jesus only appears to those who are really spiritual, the super Christians. But actually Jesus appeared first to those who had messed up. Mary who was too afraid to go and tell that He had risen. The two on the road to Emmaus, who were probably giving up on Him and going home, and Peter who had denied him three times. I rarely see Jesus congratulating the ones who are perfect. Instead Jesus spends his time encouraging the ones who are down.

"Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen."

The disciples didn't believe Mary when she first told them. They didn't even believe the two who had met Jesus on the road. But when Jesus did show Himself to the disciples, and rebuked them for being so slow to see what He was doing. Then he also encouraged them.

I am convinced that sometimes it is absolutely necessary to be blown away by God. It is not always pleasant, but if we are to be doing things God's way it is essential. I am very glad that I was fired last month. When I wasn't ready to listen to God, He went over my head and took control of my life. And I know that this is for my good. From this month I will be full-time pastor of this international service and the new congregation at the Westin. I am going to trust in the Lord that He will provide for the needs of my family. Let me share with you an experience with God that happened in late September right before I found out about my contract. I was taking an early morning walk in the hills behind my home and I was praying about the church and my family, when a flower caught my eye. It was a single lily, beautiful by the side of the road. I knelt down by this flower and as I praised God for the beauty of it, the Lord brought into my mind, "Consider ye the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed as one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?" (Matt 6:28-30) And then the Lord said to me, "turn around" And when I turned around I saw that the whole hillside was covered with these beautiful lilies. I cried, I simply cried. Jesus was saying to me, I love you this much! Don't worry about it. I can take care of you. I am going to hold onto this promise of God and trust Him.

"And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."
So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen."