"Surprised by Life"
Mark 16:1-8
April 23, 2000 (Easter)
David Beckett, D.Min.

Peter Larson tells a great Easter story which I'd like to share with you on this very special day in the life of our church. When Peter was 6, his uncle gave an Easter duckling to him and his brothers. His parents politely let them accept the gift, assuming it would die in a week and that would be the end of it.

The duckling was a yellow ball of fuzz with webfeet. They put it in a washtub full of water and watched it swim in circles...a toy that did not need batteries. It was cute, all lively and bright, like a picture-perfect Easter morning. And it was a picture-perfect day...sunny, not too hot, with flowers blooming and the world bursting with new things.

But, unlike Easter morning, the duck did not go away. It just got bigger and bigger. Soon they moved it from a cardboard box to a chicken-wire pen that their dad built in the basement. They still put it in the washtub each day, although it had less and less room to swim. Then the duck started biting. By now its feathers were white, and it had developed a very loud quack. When it swam in the washtub, the duck kicked water across the room with its powerful webfeet. And despite their best efforts to clean the newspaper in the pen, the duck smelled badly.

In short, the Easter duck was a pain. It had outlived its sunny usefulness and refused to die or disappear. It’s somewhat like the story of the ugly duckling, only reversed. The cute duckling that everyone wanted grew up to be a nasty obnoxious duck that everyone wished would go away. Or, to be more honest, the duck was simply being a duck, trapped in a suburban basement.

The problem with the Easter duck was that it was alive, and life makes its own plans. Life grows and changes. It wants things, needs things. Life makes demands and often bites the hand that feeds it. Isn't this a part of the problem with Easter? The power of Easter is the power of new beginnings and new life. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are only the introduction to a story that opens with the Resurrection. And we're not sure we are ready for Easter any more than we are ready for someone to give our children an Easter duckling.

Are you ready for Easter, for new life, for all the changes this event can mean for you? Are you ready to open the locked closets of your life to the healing power of Christ...places where you stuff your hurts and woundedness? Are you prepared to admit that you don't have the control over your life and others that you thought you had? Are you ready let go of the pride that keeps your heart from being softened?

I have a friend named Chris. Chris is a divorced mother of two who lives in Tennessee. I came to know her over a period of two years when we were a part of a covenant group. Chris is a very remarkable woman with a tragic past. She grew up in an alcoholic home and was abused as a child. What I found to be quite remarkable about Chris was her decision and her commitment to face the pain of those dark days. She could have denied it. She could have locked it deeper into her closet. But in the presence of Christ and Christians who loved her, she chose to face the hurt.

I'll always remember the day Jerry and I drove Chris to the top of a mountain to help her feel her pain. She said it felt like going to the cross on Calvary. But there on that mountain in Alabama, Chris became a terrified little girl once again. She felt the gripping fear and terrible pain of her many childhood days of abuse. And then, the surprise of God revealed a gift. It had been a sunny day, but suddenly a cloud appeared out of nowhere and a brief rain shower drenched Chris at a critical moment. It was as if God was cleansing her with baptismal waters. It was an incredible gift of healing for the three of us on top of that Alabama mountain.

Have you experienced similar pain in your life? Have you been a victim of some kind of abuse? Can you face the darkness of your past with Christ? It's not easy, is it? It's not easy to be surprised by new life. It's not easy to walk with Christ. When offered the prospect of new life and a fresh start, we shy away. Like the rich man who could not give up his wealth to follow Jesus, we are unable or unwilling to give up our settled ways. We are afraid that new life will get out of hand, and bite and have a loud voice. It might be too embarrassing or worse, too demanding. To open up too much of our lives to the Easter power of God is too risky. It might take us places we're not prepared to go.

With four children in our family life has been an emotional roller coaster for Kim and I. The highs have been incredible. When Lauren or Ryan laugh and enjoy life, the sun rises. When Jeremy or Jenny hug me, I feel that I am the most loved person in the world. The lows have been equally dramatic. I wonder when our kids will stop the bickering and complaining. Sometimes I feel guilty when I get angry with them. I worry about making time for my marriage. This new life named Jenny, Ryan, Lauren, and Jeremy has overwhelmed me. I have never been more strained. I have never been happier.

And I would not have it any other way. My children are not here to fit my needs, to be cute on demand, and to disappear when I am tired. They are growing, changing, giving, and demanding according to their own schedules. And they are leading me...sometimes dragging, sometimes skipping...into that new life with them.

As a child in the White House, Alice Roosevelt Longworth shocked staid Washington society by her antics. Once, a visitor objected to Alice's wandering in and out of the president's office as the visitor discussed important national business with Alice's father, Theodore. The president responded, "I can be president of the United States or I can control Alice. I cannot possibly do both."

Many of you are parents of toddlers. You already know about the surprises this new life brings to your family. Here’s a list of toddler truths. Some call it evidence of original sin.

1. If I like it, it's mine.

2. If it's in my hand, it's mine.

3. If I can take it from you, it's mine.

4. If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.

5. If it's mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way.

6. If I'm doing or building something, all the pieces are mine.

7. If it looks just like mine, it's mine.

8. If I saw it first, it's mine.

9. If you are playing with something and you put it down, it

automatically becomes mine.

10. If it's broken, it's yours.

A dad was in a store with a screaming child in his cart. He was embarrassed and utterly helpless in controlling his toddler’s tantrum. People were looking at him, making matters worse. Finally one shopper overheard the dad saying, "It’s okay, Jason. It’s okay. Everything’s going to be alright, Jason. Be calm, Jason." This shopper said to the dad, "I have to say that you are doing a remarkable job trying to calm little Jason here." "Lady," the dad said, "His name is not Jason. I’m Jason!"

New life can take many forms: a child, a job, a home, an inner peace, a death, a divorce, a friendship, even a duck. We are experiencing new life here at St. John United Methodist Church. I want us to go back for a moment to an earlier time in St. John’s history. Let’s go back to the 1960’s when folks worshipped in the St. Matthew wing. It really must have been a close-knit family of faith…cozy and comfortable…everyone knowing everyone else. I suppose you could say it was a lot like an Easter duckling…warm, fuzzy, and cute.

But the duck grew up. New people wanted to be a part of this new life and those early St. John members were faced with a decision. Should they make more changes to grow or should they try to thwart the growth and hold on to their close-knit fellowship? We all know their decision. They stepped out on faith to build new space to include those new folks. To not change to welcome and include new folks would be like trying to keep an adult duck confined to a cage. The problem is that we are not a cute little duck anymore. Like the duck we are growing and we will continue to grow. What changes do we need to make in order to be a welcoming family for the new folks who want to be a part of this new life in Christ? This newness of life is here, not as that which would change our past, but one which would make whole our present, and offer hope for our future!

For those who may be here for the first time I invite you to be a part of this community of faith as we seek to live as Easter people in a Good Friday world. At Easter we celebrate the gift of new life in Jesus Christ. Fortunately for the likes of you and me, God does not ask if we have enough energy or time for rebirth. It is a gift to know that new life will move ahead whether we are ready or not, and that we need not make it happen.

Back to the Easter duck story. When summer came Peter and his family took the duck, who was fully grown, to a farm. Right up to the last the duck was a pain...biting, flapping, and quacking as they bundled it into the back of the station wagon. In the barnyard they opened the rear door of the car. The duck was out like a shot. It never looked back, never turned to say thanks. With a high-speed waddle that would have made an Olympic race walker proud, the duck rounded the corner of the barn and disappeared.