EASTER C 2010
Text: Luke 24:1-12
Since Priests only have to work one day a week, this week has been especially tough, since we had worship every night this past Holy Week! If this sermon is crummy, it is because I am tired from all this hard work! But what a wonderful week, and Lent it has been for me. What a challenge to read a book like The Hole in our Gospel, a book that points out my Christian responsibility to the poor and needy of the world. This past Monday I began a seminary class studying the book of 1 Peter and the rest of the week I was privileged to gather with my brothers and sisters and meditate on the last days of Jesus’ life, the days that changed the world, and are the reason we are sitting here this morning. On these Holy Days, I always think of my mom and dad. My mom would get dressed up for church, with white gloves and a fancy hat and some sort of powerful perfume, and I can remember sitting next to her during these services. My Dad would be all vested in his best vestments, and he would chant the service in a powerful and beautiful voice.. much better than mine…Now I get to stand before this congregation and proclaim the greatest message in all of history, that Christ is risen. I am truly blessed.
And yet, when I lie awake at night, thinking about what I am going to say in a sermon like this, I toss and turn and can’t come up with anything new or original to say. I always wish on days like this that I was a great preacher and could tell powerful stories that would make you weep and laugh, and then, with a great flourish of oratory, go for the heart so that the truth of the gospel would go deep. The greatness and miracle of this Easter story deserves a great preacher. But the amazing truth of the Easter story is that God has left it in the hands of people like you and me. From the very beginning, this was so. But the promise is, the Spirit of God is here, and God’s Spirit will work in our hearts, despite the sins and weakness of the one who proclaims the message.
All of the gospel writers begin the
Easter story in the same way. Early in the morning, on the first day of the
week, women get up early to go to the tomb where Jesus lay, to
anoint him with spices. But when they get there, the tomb is empty. In the Luke
account, there are two men in dazzling clothes who say to them: “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He
is not here, but has risen.”
Now not one of these women, nor one of the men followers of Jesus, thought that this was possible. Luke captures their amazement when he says that there were perplexed and terrified. When the women tell the men that the tomb is empty, they did not believe them and the story seemed like an “idle tale.” Of course this was their first response. No one comes back from the dead. They knew death just like we know death. They had seen death, just like we have seen death. People do not come back to life after they die, especially after being crucified by Roman soldiers, who knew what they were doing.
But it wasn’t the empty tomb that changed their lives. It was an encounter with a living Jesus.. Luke writes this:
Luke 24:36-48 ( NRSV ) 36While they were talking
about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with
you.” 37They were startled and
terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. 38He said to them, “Why are you frightened,
and why do doubts arise in your hearts?
39Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and
see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40And when he had said this, he showed them
his hands and his feet. 41While in their
joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything
here to eat?” 42They gave him a piece of
broiled fish, 43and he took it and ate
in their presence.
44Then he said to them, “These are my words that I
spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the
law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” 45Then he opened their minds to understand
the scriptures, 46and he said to them,
“Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on
the third day, 47and that repentance and
forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning
from
Now listen to the words of Peter in his sermon.
Acts 10:39-42 ( NRSV ) 39We are witnesses to all
that he did both in Judea and in
From these two accounts we have the reason we are sitting here today. These early disciples saw Jesus put to death on the cross. They then saw him alive. And thus begins the Christian faith. Only this experience could have changed these frightened early followers into men and women who willingly faced death. Who can believe that they went out and proclaimed a lie.. that Jesus was alive.. and then died for that lie? No, our Christian faith is based upon the testimony of these early witnesses, and their witness is true.
Today, as in days past, many people like to say that Jesus was a good teacher and holy man, just like many other teachers and holy persons. But it is not the teachings of Jesus that make Christianity. It is this day! On this day, we proclaim that death, and all that goes with death… the enemy of all humanity, has been conquered.
In 2 Timothy we read:
2 Timothy 1:10 ( NRSV ) This grace was given to us
in Christ Jesus before the ages began, 10but it has now been revealed through
the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life
and immortality to light through the gospel.
At the very end of the Bible we read this:
Revelation 21:4 ( NRSV ) 4 he will wipe every tear from their
eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
All of these passages are echoes of the great prophet Isaiah who foresaw that God, in some way, was going to take care of humanity’s greatest enemy, death.
Isaiah 25:7-8 ( NRSV ) 7 And he will destroy on this mountain
the
shroud that is cast over all peoples,
the sheet that is spread over all nations; 8 he will swallow up death forever.
Then the
Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from all faces,
and the
disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has
spoken.
These verses shout out a faith of hope, hope that all the pain and suffering of human existence will be destroyed.
As I have reflected on the Christian faith for almost forty years, what attracts me is that while it is a faith of hope, it is not a hope that ignores the difficult parts of our lives. To get to hope we have to go through the cross. The cross acknowledges the sinful and evil and painful reality of human existence. Sitting here right how are people in great pain and emotional struggle. While we may look good on the outside, within our souls and our families we know pain and suffering and weeping.
The resurrection, however, proclaims that this is not the final word. Just as spring overcomes the barrenness of winter, so does Easter overcome the darkness of our common human lot.
On Easter Sunday, there is always more people in church than any other Sunday of the year… even Christmas. Why is this? I think it is because, deep in every heart, there is a hope that the Easter message is true. I know that some of you were dragged here by family members, but still, I believe, all of us want to believe that life overcomes death, that good will overcome evil, that justice will overcome injustice, that beauty will triumph over that which is ugly and drab and boring, and that sorrow and pain and sighing will be no more. We all want to believe that our life matters in some way. We all want to have a sense that there is some purpose in all of this. We all want to believe that our existence does not simply end in the dust and ashes in the ground.
I think it was Thoreau that said something like “All men lead lives of quiet desperation.” There is a sense in which this is true for many of us. We strive to find meaning and purpose in things and experiences, in drugs and sex and money and fun and travel and sports and more.. all good things in and of themselves. We strive to find meaning in our relationships, but so many of them are a struggle and let us down. But it is precisely in the midst of the drama of human suffering that the Easter message shines so powerfully. We proclaim that our hope is in Christ and all other hopes are secondary. When we put our faith and our hope in a living Jesus, hope can be born even in the hardest and most desperate of hearts. I can remember as if it was yesterday, walking through a walnut orchard in district 10, north of Marysville, at the lowest point in my life, praying: “Lord Jesus, if you are up there, or wherever, please, please make yourself real to me… I can’t fake belief.. I can’t just go to church… I need to know, in my heart, if you are alive.”
I can’t tell you just how I came to believe, but that night faith was born in my heart. My faith was not based on doctrine.. on having the right beliefs about Jesus… or even knowing how a Christians was supposed to live..it was simply the awareness in my heart that Jesus was alive and I desperately wanted a new life.
And since that day, my life has been an incredible journey, one that I do not deserve, but that I am incredibly thankful for. The promises of Jesus have been fulfilled over and over again in my life. As I get older, I understand less and less, and I realize more and more how weak and sinful and selfish I am, but my hope and faith are stronger. As I get older, I am more aware of the suffering that life brings our way. I have known my own personal struggles, relational struggles, and personal loss of loved ones, and will face many more, but this is the whole point of Easter.
As a preacher, and thus a witness, my hope for you is to know the hope that Easter can bring to our lives.. All of us are in different places in our life’s journey. Some of you are young, just starting out. Some are young parents or newly weds, or singles in a career.. Some are raising kids, or sending them off to college. Many of our relationships are rocky and failing and many are doing great. Some are doing fine financially, and some are struggling. Some are older, facing declining health and some are enjoying the golden years.
But wherever we are in our life’s journey today, the Easter message is for us. We can have a living hope, not just based on positive thinking, but on the resurrection of Jesus from the dead…that good will triumph over evil, justice over injustice, peace over war, forgiveness over sin, love over hate, hope over despair, life over death. The Easter message can change our lives, whether we are old or young. All we need do is embrace it and accept it. We use words like put our faith in Jesus, or trust in Jesus, or ask him into our lives, or eat and drink Jesus… all of these are images which reflect a heart which opens up to the living Jesus.
As in any gathering like this, there are some of you here who feel a little tugging in your heart, not because my words are that great, but because the Spirit of God is speaking to you. Don’t ignore this working of the Spirit of God. Make a decision right now that you are going to open up your heart to God in a new and real way. Make this day your day of decision. Reach out and choose hope over despair, life over death…
For, Christ is risen… and this makes all the difference.! AMEN