Easter is a New Day
Text: John 20:1-18
Title: Easter is a New Day
Thesis: The resurrection of Jesus Christ makes each day new.
Time: Easter, C; Sunrise Service
There were three men who died, all of them from the orient. They were being interviewed by St. Peter to get into heaven. St. Peter asked them one at a time, “Tell me what you know about Easter.” Well, them knowing that Easter was celebrated in America, they knew it was an important American holiday. The first guy responded to St. Peter, saying, “Easter was a big holiday, kids dressed up funny, then went to all their neighbors houses to get candy.” “No, no, no, that’s Halloween, St. Peter replied back.” The second guy said, “Easter was a big holiday, when all the family would get together and have a big turkey dinner.” “No, no, you’re also confused, that’s Thanksgiving,” St. Peter replied. The third guy says, “Easter is when we celebrate Jesus, how he died for us on the cross.” Finally, impressed, St. Peter said, “Very good, now tell me more!” The man continued, “Jesus was buried in the tomb for three days and came back to life.” “Excellent! Finish the story, please,” exclaimed St. Peter. The man then said, “The third day Jesus came out of the tomb, saw his shadow and went back into the tomb, so we get six more weeks of winter.”
How do we finish the story? “Jesus was buried in the tomb for three days and came back to life.” But the Easter story doesn’t stop there, how does it continue? Let’s see how it continues in the life of Mary Magdalene.
John’s Gospel tells us that early in the morning Mary went to the tomb of Jesus. The reason, we are told in Luke’s Gospel, is because she had prepared spices for the dead body of Jesus. But immediately, something was wrong, the stone had already been moved. She runs to Simon Peter and John and tells them that someone must have stolen the body. We find her in John 20:11 at the empty tomb weeping. She isn’t even allowed to show her respect to Jesus in death, his body is missing.
But something happens in Mary’s life, the way the Easter story continues for her is she hears one word. It’s a word that will melt away all her sadness, her grief. It’s a word that will forever confirm for her that Jesus is the Messiah, the one who came to bring peace. In John 20:16, Jesus speaks to her and says this one word, “Mary!” Immediately, she knows that Jesus is no longer dead, his body hadn’t been stolen, Jesus has been raised from the dead. The Easter story continues for Mary as she goes to the disciples, excited and says, “I have seen the risen Lord!”
So how does the Easter story continue in our lives? It’s when we have that experience of Jesus approaching us and saying our names, “John,” “Cathy,” “Mary.” It’s knowing that the reason Christ died was so we could have peace, sins forgiven, relationship with God restored, a personal invitation that moves us from death and separation to victory. We continue the Easter story as we go to others and say “I know the risen Lord.”
At the 1994 Winter Olympics, held in Norway, the name Dan took on very special meaning. At his first Olympics in 1984 as an eighteen year old, Dan Jansen finished fourth in the 500 meters, beaten for a bronze medal by only sixteen one hundredths of a second, and he finished sixteenth in the 1,000. At the second Olympics in Calgary in 1988, on the morning he was to skate the 500 meters, he received a phone call form America. His twenty-seven-year old sister, Jane, had been fighting leukemia for over a year. She was dying. Dan spoke to her over the phone, but she was too sick to say anything in return. Their brother Mike relayed Jane’s message: She wanted Dan to race for her. Before Dan skated that afternoon, however, he received the news that Jane had died. When he took to the ice, perhaps he tried too hard for his sister. In the 500 meters, he slipped and failed in the first run. He had never fallen before in a race. Four days later, in the 1,000, he fell again, this time, of all places, in the straightway. At his third Olympics in 1992, he was expected to win the 500 meters, where he had already set world records. For four years he had been regarded as the best sprinter in the world. But he had trouble in the final turn and he finished fourth. In the 1,000 he tied for twenty-sixth. At his fourth Olympics in 1994, Dan again was expected to win in the 500 meters, which was his specialty. Again tragedy struck. He didn’t fall, but in the beginning of the final turn he fleetingly lost control of his left skate and put his hand down, slowing him just enough to finish in eighth place. Afterward, he apologized to his home town of Milwaukee. He had one race left, the 1,000 meter. One more race and then he would retire. At the midway point of the race, the clock showed he was skating at a world-record pace, and the crowd, including his wife and father, cheered. Dan Jansen slipped. He didn’t fall, but he slipped, touched his hand to the ice, regained control, and kept skating. When Dan crossed the finish line, he looked at the scoreboard and saw WR beside his name –world record. In his last race, Dan Jansen had finally won the gold medal. Later that day as he stood on the award stand, Dan looked heavenward, acknowledging his late sister, Jane. Jansen was asked to skate a victory lap. The lights were turned out, and a single spotlight illuminated Dan’s last lap around the Olympic track, with a gold medal around his neck, roses in one arm, and his baby daughter –named Jane –in his other arm. In the closing ceremony of the 1994 Olympics, Dan Jansen was chosen to carry the U.S. flag. “Late in the afternoon of February 18, 1994,” said writer Philip Hersh, “after Jansen had won the gold medal that eluded him in seven previous races over four Olympics and a decade, someone put a hand lettered sign in the snow on the side of the main road from Lillehammer to Hamar. The sign said simply, “Dan.” It spoke volumes about what the world thought about the man whose Olympic futility had finally ended in triumph.
Jesus has competed for us. Jesus has come so that we can have victory. In his competition Jesus suffered, he died, a cruel death on the cross, he was buried and placed in the tomb. Jesus did all of this so that he can speak our names, so that we can personally experience God’s forgiveness and invitation to live in relationship with God.
Easter morning is all about one name, it’s all about the name of Jesus. Say that name with me, “Jesus.” So let’s leave here this morning, continuing the Easter story by telling others, Jesus is not dead, Jesus is alive. I know for Jesus has come to me, alive not buried. And Jesus has come so that you too may have peace.