Sunday, April 9, 2023

Resurrection Day
Easter Sunrise
Exodus 14:10-15:1
Psalm 118:15-29
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
John 20:1-18
Easter Day
Acts 10:34-43
Psalm 16
Colossians 3:1-4
Matthew 28:1-10

I have set Yahweh always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices. My body shall also dwell in safety.

It is hard to think about Resurrection Day when the calendar says we still have to get through the Three Days: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil. The forty days are almost over. We can see the end of our Lenten journey. Jesus entered into Jerusalem and He set into motion the culmination of His life and ministry.

So, how did you do? Did you manage to break an old habit or are you anxiously awaiting the moment you can dive into your favorite chocolate bar? Did you establish a new habit of prayer or Bible study over the past seven weeks, or did you fail during the first few weeks and never bother to try again? Did you even get around to making a commitment to do something new or give up something old? I have done fairly well, but I confess that I did give up on one promise. I didn’t finish the painting I wanted to do. I also cheated on my morning fast a couple days when I was traveling. I did learn that God is able to use a simple snail mail note to impact the day of a friend at just the right time and I managed to keep up with all my reading.

It doesn’t really matter. However you answer those questions is between you and God. You aren’t a bad person if you didn’t give up chocolate for forty days or take up a new prayer discipline during Lent. You aren’t any more a sinner if you ate meat on Friday or forgot to attend Wednesday night Lent services. God does not call us to do these things to burden us with more than we can handle; the Lenten disciplines were meant to be gifts to help us focus more clearly on our relationship with God. It does not help us to end this journey with a powerful guilt; guilt keeps us from seeking God’s grace because it makes us feel like we aren’t worthy.

Here’s the thing: we aren’t worthy. We aren’t good even if we have managed to keep our commitments this Lent. Our fasting does not earn us anything in God’s Kingdom and though good devotional practices and prayer will be to our benefit, they don’t make us any more worthy in God’s eyes for His grace.

We can’t be worthy. Ever. But God is not looking for worthy people to join Him in rejoicing at the empty tomb this Sunday. He is looking for humble people of faith who know that the only way to get to the empty tomb is through the cross of Jesus Christ. A prominent politician once said, “I am telling you if there is a God, when I get to heaven I’m not stopping to be interviewed. I am heading straight in. I have earned my place in heaven. It’s not even close.” He thinks he earned his way to heaven.

Did he? He said, “...if there is a God...” His attitude is no different than most of the world. We believe in good works. We believe that we have done enough to earn our way into heaven. The truth is this: whatever we have done, whichever “side” of any issue we stand, our work will not make us worthy. It is by faith we have been saved, and that too is a gift. It is given to us by the One who obediently and humbly and passionately went through the Three Days of pain, betrayal, denial, suffering, crucifixion, and the grave to defeat sin and death by rising on Easter morning.

It was ironic that the politician made that claim during Holy Week. Our minds are set on heaven during this time as we experience the miracle of God’s grace in Easter. We see the world come alive with the fresh new growth of spring. We celebrate the day by gathering with our family and friends. We break out our best clothes, and even go buy new dresses or suits for the occasion. Our churches will be filled with sweet smelling lilies, and we can once again sing “Alleluia” to our God. The stories of the Passion and the Resurrection turn our hearts to the God who has done all this for us. Yet in the midst of all this, there are many who have this understanding that their good works will earn them a place in heaven.

They miss it completely; they misunderstand God as much as those religious leaders in Jerusalem did nearly two thousand years ago. They continue to rely on their own strength and to see their own accomplishments as good and right and true. They are arrogant and ignorant. They don’t necessarily appear arrogant or ignorant. As a matter of fact, many people who think like this do wonderfully good works and are both humble and intelligent in the ways of men. However, their humility and knowledge are the very things keeping them from a good and right and true relationship with God. They act as servants to men while ignoring or rejecting or doubting the reality of God and thus raising themselves as gods in this world.

My daughter was in the play “Moon Over Buffalo” when she was in high school. It is a comedic story about a stage family who gets caught up in all sorts of hysterical circumstances. There is miscommunication, misunderstanding, and misdirection from all the main characters. In the end, their foibles leave us rolling in the aisles with laughter. My daughter played an older woman, the mother of an aging actress and grandmother to a young woman who decided to leave the theatre life behind to try to create for herself a “normal” life with an average guy and a stable home life.

When the directors were planning costumes and make-up, they asked Victoria to bring pictures of older family members, like her grandmother. By looking at how my mom aged, they could create a make-up design that would be real. She came home one evening with the theatre make-up still on her face. They were still developing the design, even so, I could not help but be amazed at how she looked. With her red hair (which comes from my mother’s genes) done up in a bun on her head and deep lines of age painted on her face, it seemed almost as though I was seeing my mother again. Victoria was young when my mother died and we always lived too far for the kids to get to know her very well, but Victoria shares some of her physical characteristics. As she pretended to be an old lady, images of my mom shone through her character, especially my mom’s orneriness.

My daughter didn’t become my mother, but for a few brief moments on stage, she was just like my mother. It is tempting to read the lesson from Colossians and think that Paul is suggesting that we reject the world and look toward heaven. There are many Christians who think solely about those things “above,” rejecting the things of the flesh. Yet, Christ calls us to live in the world even while we are no longer of the world. In other words, in Christ we have been transformed into His image and we now belong to His Kingdom, and yet there is work to do in the here and now. So, we are joined with Him and as we grow in faith and mature in grace, God shines through our lives in every increasing glory. When Christ, who is our life, appears, the world sees the work of God in our flesh and in our works. Like an actress on the stage, we become more and more like Him, and it is Him that the world sees when they see our life.

We are called to seek after the things of God, not only heaven, but also His kingdom here on earth. We are to look for the helpless and the hungry, the lonely and the sinners; it is in the suffering of this world that we find Christ. As we reach out to those who need to experience God’s grace, then God’s glory will be manifested in our lives.

It is easy for us to look at the Resurrection story with hindsight. We can imagine what it might have been like: the joy, the peace, the sudden revelation of everything Jesus had said. We look at the characters in the stories and think to ourselves, “Why didn’t they know?” “Why were they afraid?” We think these questions because we have twenty/twenty vision. We have seen the end. We have seen God’s work in its fullness. They didn’t have the same perspective. They were living it and they could not see what would happen next.

How do you feel when something exciting happens? Isn’t there a bit of fear when you have been blessed with something good? A new job is a wonderful thing, but everyone suffers a certain amount of fear and doubt. What if I can’t do the tasks? What if I fail? What if it is too hard? What if I can’t get along with my co-workers? We do this when we become involved in a new relationship. Will it last? Do we really have enough in common to make it work? What will happen if I’m left alone again? New mothers perhaps suffer the greatest fears. What if I can’t handle the responsibility? What if my baby gets sick? What if I do something wrong?

It might sound pessimistic, but it is a reality of our human nature. We face a certain amount of fear when we are going into something new. We face doubts and uncertainty when we do not know what is going to happen next. Those fears need not stop us from going forward, but we do have to learn how to cope with and overcome the fear.

The women went to the tomb after the sabbath day was over, at dawn the next morning. Matthew doesn’t tell us why they were going, but the other gospels report that they went to take care of Jesus’ body. He died while the Passover Sabbath was looming, and they did not have time to prepare His body properly for burial. Joseph of Arimathea took the body to a newly carved tomb but did little to give Jesus the honor due to a great friend and teacher. The women went to anoint His body and wrap it properly.

A great earthquake shook the earth as they approached the tomb. An earthquake would have shaken them, but they faced even greater surprises and revelations. An angel, whose presence would have been shocking and fearful, appeared before them and said, “Don’t be afraid.” I don’t know about you, but those words rarely have the intended effect on me. The angel told them to go and tell the disciples that Jesus had risen. After they saw the empty tomb, they ran to tell the disciples. Matthew tells us that they departed with fear and great joy.

Along the way Jesus appeared and said, “Rejoice!” They fell at His feet and worshipped Him. Now, more than ever, you would think that they would let go of the fear. There was their friend and teacher standing before them. However, Jesus knew that there was still fear. He said, “Don’t be afraid” and repeated the command to go tell the Good News to the disciples. The overwhelming fear might have caused them to ignore the angel’s command, but Jesus went to them in the midst of this extraordinary experience to give them peace so that they would go on and do what they were called to do. Jesus comes to us in the same way, giving us the courage to go forward to do what we are called to do in this world despite our fear.

The Old Testament story for Easter Sunrise is from the book of Exodus. It is the story of the Hebrews escaping Egypt. They had just arrived at the Red Sea when they realized that Pharaoh had changed his mind and was chasing them with an army. They had nowhere to go. They couldn’t go into the sea, and they couldn’t return to Egypt; the only outcome they could see was death. They were caught between a rock and a hard place. The people were afraid. They argued with Moses, “Isn’t this the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians?’ For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” They returned to this thinking over and over again as they journeyed to the Promised Land.

They wanted to escape the heavy hand of the Egyptians, but God’s plan was as frightening because they did not know where it would lead. They were ready to turn back at the first sign of disaster.

This is an interesting text for us to read at Easter sunrise. Imagine how the disciples were feeling after Jesus died on the cross. They did not know what would come next. Despite His repeated assurances, they felt like they were stuck between a rock and a hard place. Danger surrounded them. They couldn’t move forward, and they couldn’t go back. Their lives had been changed, but now everything was for naught. They scattered during the trial, only a few saw Him on the hill. Though some returned to the upper room, we know that Thomas was hiding elsewhere because he was not there when Jesus appeared to the rest.

The answer to the Hebrews was to trust in God. “Don’t be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of Yahweh, which he will work for you today; for you will never again see the Egyptians whom you have seen today. Yahweh will fight for you, and you shall be still.” At that, Moses raised his staff over the sea and the sea parted before them. They ran for their lives. The Egyptians followed, but when the last Hebrew was safely on the far shore, Moses raised his staff and the sea closed up again. They were saved by the power of God.

The disciples waited and worried and wondered. I’m sure they prayed, but they may not even have known what they should pray. They probably discussed what they did wrong, what Jesus did wrong, what they should do next. They grieved, they cried, they were angry and confused. How could it turn out so wrong? Did they think, perhaps, that they should have told Jesus to leave them alone three years ago? “For it would be better for us to lead our normal humdrum lives, than to die at the hands of the powerful.” I don’t doubt that at least some of the conversation revolved around returning home, going back to the way life was before Jesus. No matter how good it was to be with Him, the old ways are better than death.

But God said, “Don’t be afraid. Stand still, and see my salvation.”

He says the same to us today.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I am hesitant when I discover something great because on one hand, we want to share that great thing with others. On the other hand, we know that if too many people hear about that great thing it will become more difficult for us to benefit from it. I visited a place on Monday that is so filled with bluebonnets that you can smell them. I was there early, but by noon the fields were filled with people. Some made holes in the bluebonnets to get the perfect picture, destroying the flowers and future seeds in the process. I tell people about that place, but sometimes I wish no one else knew so that the fields would remain pristine, and others would not get in the way of my photos. We don’t want a favorite restaurant or a beautiful park to become too crowded, so we wonder if we should share our find with others. It is as natural for us to want to keep these secrets as it is for us to want to share our great find.

At first Peter thought it was right to keep the message was given for a very specific group of people and them alone. He thought Christ came for the Jews, for God’s chosen people. He was willing to allow others to join into the blessings if they followed the prescribed path of a proselyte. They could not be Christian unless they first became a Jew. However, Peter learned a much different lesson when he met Cornelius.

Peter realized that God’s mercy is not given just for those we want to receive it, but God desires all to turn to Him because He loves us all. Christ does not play favorites, nor should we as we live our lives of faith in Him. We are called to rejoice when God has mercy on the enemy who turns to Him in faith, for in Christ we are no longer enemies but brothers. The world would truly be a much better place if we all loved our enemies by sharing the Gospel of Christ with them so that they will become our brothers in faith. The number of people to whom Jesus was revealed on that first Resurrection was relatively small, but God chose them to be the beginning of something that would more to the four corners of the world one person at a time.

Resurrection Day reminds us that God was doing the unexpected. God did everything differently than they planned. Jesus was not the kind of Messiah they wanted; He didn’t teach the lessons they thought He would teach. He did not fellowship with the right people or do all the right things. I imagine it was tough for those first disciples as they discovered that God was doing something new in the world through them. God taught Peter an awesome lesson that day—that His love and mercy is for all men who hear and believe the Gospel message. Peter expected to minister to the Jews, to his own people. But when God called him to the house of Cornelius, he realized that God did not play favorites. The people who heard the Gospel were not all in the same circumstances. God provided the opportunity and the gifts for the apostles to share Him with all sorts of different people.

It is the same today. Those who need to hear about the grace of Jesus Christ come from all sorts of different place. Not all will be prepared for the message in the same way; not all will receive it with the same heart. But God does not play favorites. He does not care who they are or what they have done. It does not matter to Him if they are male or female, young or old. He does not look at a person’s credentials, their job or the people they know. He only sees the heart. His message is given for all those who will hear and believe. For those first disciples, it was a message of fear and great joy.

Have you ever had one of those moments when you experienced both fear and great joy? The most outstanding example of this would most likely be when women learn they are pregnant. What a joy it is to know that you are going to bring a new life into the world, but it is also an incredible responsibility. It can be frightening to face pregnancy, labor, delivery and then a lifetime of loving and caring for that new life.

In our modern age, we are not surprised or bothered that God used women as the first witnesses; women have earned the respect to be trusted. Yet, in that day and age it was quite unusual for men to take the word of women. In Luke’s account, the disciples even said the testimony of the women was nonsense.

The first time the disciples saw Jesus, they were startled and frightened. They thought He was a ghost. The first time the women saw Him they fell to the ground and worshipped Him. It is not that the women had greater faith. It is just that men look at the world from a different point of view. In general, women see the world through their hearts and men through their minds. Men need answers, explanations. They need to consider what is happening before acting. Despite the fact that the disciples followed Jesus for three years, they would probably have had a similar response to the visitation of the angel as the soldiers at the tomb, becoming like dead men. Jesus had mercy on them when He gave them time to prepare for His appearance. Even then it was troubling, but Jesus revealed Himself in a way that they could believe.

Though we see the story of Christ’s death and resurrection from a completely different perspective than those first disciples so long ago, we do not respond any differently than they did. Some want to run and hide, some need answers about what it means. Others receive the news with fear and great joy. Like the women, however, we are called to go and tell others about what we have seen and heard, so that they too might know Christ and believe.

The empty tomb was the sign that God did something amazing with Jesus, but as Jesus was revealed to all those witnesses everything became clear, not only to those who saw Him two thousand years ago, but us today.

On that first Easter God did something new and amazing; it was not the end but only the beginning for the disciples and for us. We know this because we can look back on the story and see God’s work finished in Jesus. He gave us a peace that we could never know without Him. Peace of heart. Peace with God. Peace that changes the world. We are now called to join with the first witnesses in sharing that peace, preaching that Christ died but was raised by the God who keeps His promises. We might feel like we have been backed into a corner, or caught between a rock and a hard place, but God has delivered us from sin and death when Jesus, the right hand of God, parted the sea so we could cross into heaven and dwell with our God for eternity.

When you believe in the Risen Christ, you will be raised with Him, and when you have been raised with Christ you are called to a new life. God will make Him manifest to others through you. You are called like those first disciples to be His witnesses, revealing Christ in your words and in your deeds. There may still be moments of waiting and worry and wonder, but God says, “Don’t be afraid. Stand still, and see my salvation.”

We may be excited about the coming of Easter because it means we can set aside our Lenten fasts for another year. During these weeks of fasting, we have learned lessons and some of us have failed in some ways. But we are forgiven and have the peace that helps us move on as new people of faith, transformed not by our works by God’s grace. Now we are called to a life of thankfulness and praise that leaves behind the old ways to trust in His promises. No matter what obstacles you face, in front or behind, He will always be faithful to lead you to the Promised Land. He is our God, let us give thanks and exalt Him for His loving kindness endures forever.