A pastor writes:
“A
friend of mine who worked for a mortuary, had a number of responsibilities in
his job, including traveling to small rural communities to conduct funerals
where there were no churches. He would
go out with an undertaker and they would drive together in the hearse. One
time, on their way back from a funeral, my friend was feeling tired. He decided to take a nap and went to lie
down in the back of the hearse.
The undertaker pulled into a service station
to gas up. The attendant started filling up the tank and was kind of freaked
out, when he saw a body stretched out in the back. While he was filling the tank, my friend woke
up, opened his eyes, knocked on the window and waved at the attendant. My friend said he never saw anybody jump so
high and run so fast in his life.”
Yes, when you’re expecting death
and you see life; it startles you, it shakes you up, it shocks you. So it was on that first Easter. Everything turned upside down. The women and disciples thought they were
going to see death, but instead they saw life!
Jesus' followers were shattered, grief-stricken at seeing Jesus
crucified and buried. But all that
changed on Easter. Jesus’ appearances
transformed his followers; they were now hope-filled and bursting with joy and
passion and power and began to witness to others in His name. Easter is proof that all lives, any life,
every life, can be changed when one meets the Risen Lord, when one hears the
truth and power of the gospel.
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary
went to the tomb early in the morning to anoint Jesus' body with oil and spices
as was the Jewish custom. The women
encounter an angel who says to them: “Do
not be afraid; He is not here, He has been raised as He said. Come and see; go
quickly and tell the disciples Jesus has gone ahead of you to Galilee ,
there you will see him.”
The Risen lord suddenly appears
to these two women as they are leaving the tomb. Jesus utters his first word “Greetings.” No, not “I’m
back.” But rather, Greetings! And our Risen Lord says greetings to you
this morning as well.
The resurrection of Jesus is the
foundation of the Christian faith and hope; it’s the historical basis for the
celebration of Easter. Easter is a
shining light in the darkness of this world.
Critics argue that the resurrection is a hoax. But if this is true, if there is no hope, if
we are earthbound, if aging, suffering, pain and death is all there is; well,
listen to this scripture from I Corinthians: “If the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is
futile and you are still in your sins. If for this life only we have hoped in
Christ, we are to be pitied more than all people. But in fact Christ has been raised from the
dead.”
Easter declares Jesus is
alive! The tomb was empty! The stone was not rolled back so Jesus could
get out, but so people could enter the grave and see for themselves that Jesus
had risen from the dead. As a pastor,
I’ve seen people who by grace through their faith, have been saved from tombs
of grief, from tombs of self-loathing, from tombs of shattered relationships,
from tombs of aimlessness, from tombs of addiction, from tombs of hopelessness.
The Risen Lord changes,
transforms, sinners, nihilists by grace and power. You may have heard the song, “I Can Only Imagine,” written and sung by
songwriter and vocalist, Bart Millard, lead singer in the Christian band
MercyMe. The story behind the song is
that when he was young his father, known as Bub, was extremely abusive toward
him, verbally and physically for years.
When the beatings slowed down in Bart’s early teens, the father told
Bart: “Do what you want, I don’t care
anymore.” Bart said those words hurt
almost worse than the beatings.
His father became ill and
something miraculous began to occur, Bub unexpectedly began praying and reading
the Bible. He encouraged Bart in his
church youth group, rather than berating him for going to church. Bart and his
father became friends. They prayed and talked together daily for hours. Bart saw God transform his father’s heart
before his very eyes. He said: ”If the gospel could change that guy, the
gospel could change anybody.” His
father died of cancer when Bart was in his late teens. At the gravesite, Bart’s grandmother, a woman
of faith, said: “I can only imagine what
Bub’s seeing now.” Those words
penetrated Bart’s soul and inspired him to write the song “I Can Only Imagine,” in 2001.
It’s been released as a movie this year.
Easter announces that there is no
grave deep enough, no stone heavy enough, no evil strong enough to keep Christ
in the tomb or to keep us, whoever we are, and despite whatever we have done,
from meeting the Risen Lord and finding grace, mercy and forgiveness in His
name. The question is: Is evil stronger
than God, hate stronger than love and death stronger than life? Christianity says no! Why?
Because on Easter God raised Jesus to life, because Jesus is alive and
the Risen Lord said: “Greetings” to a
world that believed he was finished.
Easter declares there is hope for tomorrow, there is the promise and
assurance of new life.
Easter further points to an
afterlife, an eternal life, a life beyond this temporary earthly life. A new heavenly life awaits those who
surrender their lives, who trust, who believe in Him. Scripture promises: “Everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Life begins when we discover this truth for
ourselves and act upon it. The
resurrection shows that even the seemingly indomitable power of death is
inferior to the will and power of God.
Easter announces that Jesus' resurrection opens up the future.
I ask you two questions: Do you
have hope for the future? What is the
basis for your hope? Christians around
the world today are not declaring: "The
stock market has risen. It has risen indeed." "The
dollar has risen. It has risen indeed." "Google
has risen. It has risen indeed."
The hope that has ignited the hearts, stirred the souls, and uplifted
human beings across the centuries is: "Christ
is risen. He is risen indeed."
So where do we place our ultimate
trust, in our President and our politicians?
In ourselves? I’ll let you answer
that question. Because of Easter, I
place my ultimate trust in Jesus, the Son of God, the Risen Lord. Let us place our trust in Christ alone. Jesus says:
“I have come to bring life and
life abundant.” “There are many rooms in my Father’s house, I
am going there to prepare a place for you, I would not tell you this if it were
not so, and I will come back and take you to myself, so that you will be where
I am.” Jesus says: “I am the resurrection and the life, whoever
believes in me, even though they die, shall live.”
Jesus is Risen, Jesus is
Lord. The first word Jesus spoke on
Easter was “greetings” to those who
believed he was dead. On this Easter
Day, Jesus looks into your heart and says: “Greetings”
to you as well. Alleluia. Amen.
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