Happy Resurrection Sunday
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Disclaimer: I didn’t use AI to write this sermon—BUT. I had the basic idea of where I wanted to go, but I was struggling with how to put it together. So I told an AI what I was thinking, and asked it to generate an outline for me… and it was great, and I adapted that outline for myself
So if you find yourself following my train of thought better this morning than usual, you might be a computer
Have you heard of CEO Christians? Christmas and Easter only—show up two days/year
I haven’t observed a lot of that here. Numbers swell, mostly family in town
But those aren’t the only differences: There are those who think Christmas and Easter are so important those are the only days they go to church, and then there are those who think we shouldn’t observe them at all
I love the Puritans. I think we can learn a lot from them. But if we were in Puritan New England, this sunrise service would be against the law. Now why would they do such a thing? In our own time, why are there Christians who love Christmas and Easter, and Christians who basically try to avoid them? And how should those with differences of opinion on holidays relate to each other?
Turn w/ me to Romans ch 14. Yes, I’m continuing in our study through Romans—but I’m going to skip a few vv and come back to them, and today focus on a v and a half as we think about Resurrection Day
It’s easy to understand why a Christian would celebrate Resurrection Day: I mean, it’s the resurrection. It’s the central fact of our whole religion. It’s the most important day in the history of the universe. Why would we not set aside a whole day to observe it?
But why would a Christian not choose to celebrate? Hint: it’s not because they’re not excited about the resurrection. Instead, to understand, it will help to consider
A Brief History of Easter Celebration
A Brief History of Easter Celebration
Celebrating the resurrection. When did the resurrection take place? Around Passover:
Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”
Jesus is even called our Passover lamb (1 Cor 5:7)
No indication in Acts that the early church observed the resurrection annually. Instead, they observed it weekly. Jesus was raised on which day?
Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.
The Jewish people, of course, went to temple and later synagogue on the Sabbath, the last day of the week. Early Christians met in synagogues, presumably on the Sabbath, but they also began meeting on the first day:
On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight.
That seemed to become the standard practice for Christians; meeting on the first day, which they called the Lord’s day, in observance of the resurrection
On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.
But sometime after Acts, apparently there came to be an annual observance of the resurrection as well. Appears initially tied to Passover festival, since that’s about when it happened
We don’t know when that tradition started exactly, but we do know it was widely practiced within the first 300 years after Christ. How do we know?
Because it was getting to be a problem, because different churches were observing resurrection day on different dates
When the Council of Nicea met in 325, one of their tasks was to settle on one date that every church could use. They settled on the first Sunday after the spring full moon.
And all the Easter conspiracy theorists said, first Sunday after the spring full moon? Sounds kinda pagan to me
But what else do you know about the Council of Nicea? That’s where we get the Nicene creed. You might remember it—we’ve read it here together many times. Is the Nicene creed pagan? Absolutely not—it’s not just orthodox; it’s the standard for trinitarian orthodoxy
So why’d they pick that date? Short version: passover. Some churches wanted actual day, some wanted the first Sunday after
So they picked a day, and Christians have been using that day ever since
That explains the date, but what about the name, Easter?
Favorite theory: Easter comes from a Babylonian goddess named Ishtar. What’s the connection? Spring fertility rituals, name sounds similar. But that’s all, and they’re from totally separate cultures from different parts of the world and different eras of history
It’s a fun conspiracy theory, but I don’t think you’ll find an actual scholar anywhere who thinks Easter came from Ishtar
So where did the name come from? Nobody knows for sure. Some scholars think there were Anglo-Saxons who honored Eostre, because a monk in the 8th century said the Anglo-Saxon month of April was named after a goddess called Eostre, and we got the name from that
The name might be derived from a very old word for Dawn or East
It might be an English adaptation of the word for Passover. In fact, most Euro languages except Eng and German use words derived from the word for Passover to speak of Easter
Bottom line: don’t know. It *might* be pagan in origin, and it very well might not be
Same kind of thing with the trappings around Easter, especially bunnies and eggs. Might come from pagan associations with spring and fertility, but we don’t have any good evidence: we really don’t know
So, with all that said, I can easily imagine two Christians:
loves the spring associations of the holiday. The earth waking up from winter reminds him of the resurrection of Christ, and he’s happy to celebrate with all the eggs and candy and pastel colors he can
is deeply suspicious of the origins of the holiday. Jesus commanded us to remember His death in the Lord’s Supper, but He didn’t say to observe His resurrection annually. And besides, it might have pagan associations. And besides, he celebrates Jesus’ resurrection every day; he doesn’t need an annual holiday to do it
And I can imagine both of those Christians in the same church. So what should they do?
That brings us to our text: turn to Romans 14
We are sort of continuing our study through Romans, but I’m going to skip a few verses and zero on in just a verse and a half
Read (don’t stand)
One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord.
This text is part of a broader argument, and Paul’s main point is
A Call for Unity
A Call for Unity
Remember what you’ve already learned about the churches in Rome:
started out mostly Jews, who heard the gospel when visiting Jerusalem for Pentecost, brought the good news back home to Rome
Gospel spread, starting in synagogues, but also brought in Gentiles, starting with Gentiles who were already worshiping the God of Israel with the Jewish people
Then, emperor Claudius kicked all the Jews out of the city of Rome—overnight, churches in Rome went from mostly Jewish to exclusively Gentile
When Paul writes Romans, Jews have started to come back to the city, but their churches have totally changed—Gentiles have stepped up to lead, no doubt a more Gentile flavor, including what foods they ate and what days they observed
So with that context, why would Paul say what he does about some observing special days, and some not?
He doesn’t spell it out, but you can easily imagine: when the Jews were in charge, no doubt observing Jewish holy days and feasts
When the Jews left, Gentiles might have said, why don’t we observe the holidays from our culture, since we’re not bound to the law of Moses? Or some might have thought, maybe we shouldn’t be observing any holidays at all, just the weekly Lord’s Day
Paul doesn’t tell them which way is correct. If you were looking for Paul to settle the issue between the Christian who observes Easter and the Christian who doesn’t, he doesn’t do that here. What does he do instead?
“Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.”
You want to ignore the Easter holiday, and not decorate, and not do egg hunts, because you’re worried about pagan origins? Fine. Decide that for yourself, and stick to it
You want to go nuts with bunny decorations and have an egg hunt for the kids? Fine. Decide for yourself, and go all out
Either way is okay—with one key provision:
“The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord.”
He’ll make clear with others of these debatable issues, the one who doesn’t observe, also does so in honor of the Lord
So what’s the provision? The key is intent: why are you observing, or not observing? Do whatever you do or don’t do on Easter, in honor of the Lord
Okay then, if I decide I’m going to celebrate Easter in honor of the Lord, then I’d better get away from those people who don’t celebrate it, right?
And if I don’t celebrate Easter, I’d better shun anyone who does, since I’m fully convinced in my own mind, right?
Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
That church member who doesn’t do Easter, while you do? He’s not a legalist, out to spoil a fun holiday. You know what he is? He’s your brother in Christ
That church member who has her kids color easter eggs, when you think they’re pagan? She’s not worldy, indulging in pagan holidays. You know what she is? She’s your sister in Christ
Don’t upend 364 days of love over one day of disagreement
Lots of things are crystal clear in Scripture, and they are worth fighting for. If you find someone in your church who doesn’t celebrate resurrection day because he doesn’t believe in the resurrection, that’s worth dividing over
Lots of things, like the resurrection, are crystal clear in Scripture. But celebrating special days is not one of them
That’s a matter of discernment. And once you’ve decided, you do what you do—and you love the brothers and sisters who decide differently
Those who celebrate Easter with joy honor Christ’s resurrection.
Those who don’t celebrate may still honor Christ daily, seeing every day as sacred.
Judging either side breaks the unity Christ died to bring us
We’re after unity, not uniformity. We’re to love and respect each other despite our differences in disputable matters, like honoring certain days, like Resurrection day.
If you go home to eggs and bunnies, I pray you do that to the glory of God, in honor of our Lord’s resurrection
If you go home to a normal Sunday afternoon, because you’re not sure observing a special day is a good idea, I pray you do that to the glory of God, in honor of our Lord’s resurrection
And whichever group you’re in, I pray you find a brother or sister who sees it differently from you, and you embrace them as a fellow servant of the same Master. As Paul says it in the next chapter,
May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus,
that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Pray
Father, that is my prayer for your people this morning—that regardless of how we feel about this holiday, we would with one voice glorify you, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. If we celebrate the day, let it be because we’re fully convinced that the resurrection is worth celebrating every week, every day, and in a special way once a year. If we don’t celebrate, let it be because every day is a joyous celebration of the resurrection, where our enemy death was fully defeated and our right standing before you was earned, not by ourselves, but by our great Savior, in whose name we pray, amen.
Invitation
That message, and that prayer, assumed that you belong to Christ and you’ve already tasted the resurrection. If not, I have a different prayer for you, from Paul’s letter to the Philippians. My prayer for you is that this very resurrection Sunday you would
be found in [Christ], not having a righteousness of your own that comes from keeping the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that you may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible you may attain the resurrection from the dead.
