Sermon 08 03 23 Easter Sunday YJ
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Does Easter mean more to you than just a long weekend? I saw a poll on the internet yesterday asking that question, do you know what the progressive score was? 50/50!
That probably needs to be taken into context though, how many people who would normally respond to a poll like that are off enjoying their long weekend rather than sitting in front of their computer? Or on the other hand what about those people who’ve been too busy attending worship services to have the time to look at their computers. Maybe that would balance it up?
What will this Easter mean to you? For me it’s been really hectic, probably the busiest Easter I’ve had so far, lots of organising and preparing to do for the seven services, sermons to write, people to visit, little crosses and butterflies to make.
This is the last worship service of the Easter festival for me but it’s a case of last but not least! In one particular way it’s the most important, because it’s the only service where there’s been a Baptism. In this service we’ve seen and experienced new birth, a resurrection of sorts.
This afternoon Cleiss has become a member of God’s family, of our family, through the water and the Word, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
But wait there’s more, we heard in the second reading that we’ve been raised with Christ too. What does that mean, we didn’t die on Friday with him, and we didn’t rise again from the dead this morning! How can this be?
I think the Colossians must have been asking similar questions, so the apostle Paul had to write them a letter to sort them out. There were some among them who had come up with some strange ideas about how they could be saved, how they could be raised to life after their death.
They made the same mistake that thousands of people have made throughout the centuries. Perhaps you and I are included in that. They thought that by not eating certain foods, or by having a deep knowledge of their faith, or treating their bodies harshly they could win the favour of God, but Paul was reminding them that they had it wrong. Earlier in his letter Paul wrote, “when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.”
At their baptism, just like Cleiss this afternoon, and at our own baptism, we were all buried with him, our sinful selves were put to death in God’s eyes, drowned in the waters of baptism. In that same moment we were all raised with him too, given new life through him.
In so many things in our lives we become self-centred, we worry about what’s important for us and care little about what affects other people. The post-modern mindset is that we do whatever feels good for us, in whatever way works best for us. Easter is a great chance to be Christ-centred, to shift the focus off of ourselves for a little while and remember what he did. Funnily enough he was so focussed on us that he wasn’t at al focussed on himself when he suffered and died, it was all about us, not about him. Pretty much the reverse of what we do isn’t it.
Last night I was listening to a bit of country music before going to bed and heard the song, “I saw God today” It reminded me that in everything that happens, God is there, even when I’m not really taking much notice, or you’re not, he is there, sometimes it takes a miracle, like seeing a child baptised to see God’s hand at work.
I’ve spent a lot of this weekend so tied up in the mechanics of making worship services happen that I haven’t had a lot of opportunity to actually hear the message of the gospel. I’ve been serving Christ but perhaps not taking enough time to really hear his message for myself. But I’m called to serve you, to do exactly what I’ve been doing; proclaiming the gospel to you, and administering the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion it’s through these things that we see God at work, what a blessing it is to be able to serve in this way! What a humbling experience it is. For me Easter has been a LONG weekend, but in a different context to the way the question was asked on that website!
We all need to be reminded to set our minds on things that are above, rather than always on earthly things, things that will last forever rather than things that will rust and decay. That’s what Paul was reminding the Colossians and its just as important for all of us to hear that message too!
So should Easter be more to all of us than just a long weekend? Yes I think it should be! This weekend we remember and celebrate that Christ died for our sake, to restore our broken relationship with his Father, through taking our sins on himself.
It’s also a time for Baptisms and to remember our own Baptism. When we celebrate that Christ is risen, we can also celebrate that we have risen with him, and also that through him we have already begun to live our eternal life, and one day, when Christ returns, we will be revealed with him in Glory.
Christ is risen, He is risen indeed!