And so it is that this morning we observe another Super Sunday. And why not? It's my granddaughter's third birthday. Of course it's Super Sunday. It's the birthday of Lois, the chairperson of our altar guild (truth be known, she's somewhat north of three). It's Boy Scout Sunday and the young men of Troop 174 honor us with their presence and feed us pancakes as well, so - of course: it's Super Sunday. And rumor has it there's even a football game to be played.

Truth in advertising: I'm a football fan. I'm here to tell you in the unlikely event my Cleveland Browns ever make it to the championship game, then it will be Super Sunday! But of course, even that couldn't hold a candle to Easter, the most Super Sunday of them all!

I want to travel back this morning, some six hundred years before that first Easter, some six hundred miles east of Jerusalem. It is the time when the Jewish people were in captivity; Babylon - modern day Iraq - is the place. For over fifty years they lived some six hundred miles from Jerusalem, far from the center of their world. Over fifty years of continuous 9/11s - this was how traumatic their experience in a far off land. Some felt that God had let them down; that God had forgotten them; that God had abandoned them. Because of the impossible circumstances in which they find themselves, many in that exiled Jewish community find it impossible to believe that God has the power to act on their behalf.

Perhaps this morning some of you can relate to this more so than others. You might be at an emotional distance from family members, or persons you once counted as friends. Illness might be knocking at your door, or you might be grieving the death of a loved one. Your faith may be shaken and the distance between you and Almighty God seems so great it can never be bridged.

The Jewish people in far off Babylon were in deep despair over their desperate situation. The phrase I used, "over fifty years of continuous 9/11s," is not over the top. Many of the captives had witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem, they had seen the temple crumble. The Psalmist acknowledged that Jerusalem was "their highest joy." That being said, separation from Jerusalem was surely their greatest pain. The Jews in exile in Babylon, those who had seen their city and Temple destroyed by an invading army, they were far from home with no hope of return. They feel abandoned and forgotten by God. Their weariness is not so much physical as it is spiritual. They are heartsick, helpless, hopeless, hapless, and sapped of strength.

And then, and then this beautiful reminder from God - speaking, if you will, through the pen of Isaiah. "Have you not known? Have you not heard?" Words spoken and repeated to a frightened and downtrodden people. "Have you not known? Have you not heard?" These are words spoken in order to lift up, not to put down. "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth." And then this promise: "... those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."

It's worth noting, even though it is so very obvious: the past cannot be undone. The suffering cannot be reversed. Old legs cannot become young again and strong biceps cannot lift what once they did. However, that is neither the intent nor the meaning of these verses. However, a broken heart can be mended; a broken faith can be healed. A mended heart and a renewed faith can make you feel as if you could soar like an eagle! It was Ernest Hemingway, who wrote, "The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places." Isaiah would say that the strength of the faith-full comes from God, and that "... those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."

And so it came to pass that after fifty-plus years in captivity, the Jewish people were set free. They returned to Jerusalem on weary legs, some of the older ones gasping for breath through ancients lungs. Yet they were strong in the broken places, the places of the heart; the places of the spirit. Strong in the broken places as they picked up the pieces of their lives and began to rebuild their lives as well as the walls of their beloved Jerusalem. A new day had arrived; their long 9/11 was over.

"Have you not known? Have you not heard?" A young Jewish rabbi has come on the scene, healing the sick, lifting up the brokenhearted, and yes, even raising the dead to new life. The powers-that-be have difficulty with his radical message of loving your enemies, and turning the other cheek, and sharing your possessions. He is a threat, this Jesus, a threat to the status quo of the hoi poloi (the common people). He is a threat to occupying power of Rome. He is a threat to the status enjoyed by the religious authorities. Small wonder that on a Friday they put him to death.

But wait just a minute. "Have you not known? Have you not heard?" Friday came and went and finally, Sunday arrived. Sunday arrived bringing renewed strength to the broken places of his followers. Sunday arrived and his tombstone has become a stepping stone and Easter becomes - far and away - the most Super Sunday of them all!