Void

A. Church as we journey through this very special and traditional day of Easter better theologically known as Resurrection Sunday, we have to wrestle with a lot. Can I take my time just for a moment? We have been through a lot church. Resurrection Sundays will always be a day that is peculiar to me. 6 years ago around this time I received a call from a friend of mine. He called and we had small talk and such then he dropped a bomb on me, and said hey I just wanted to let you know I am resigning from my church. I was in shock and asked him if he was ok, and if there was anything I could do. He said no just pray for us all. I have done all I can and taken them as far as I can, and it is time for me to get out of the way. He then asked me if I was available to preach next Sunday? I quickly responded that next week is Easter and he said yes I know and I know you will do a good job. Church I was so nervous! In obedience to God I said yes. As we ended our conversation he said to me and I recommended you for the position. I said what?!?!? He quickly said God bless you brother good bye, and hung up the phone quickly. That Sunday I walked into a church that was void. The roof was leaking all over the building. The carpet was marred rolled up and stained. There was no real sound system. There was really no choir, no musician, no drums, no Joy. People were sad and confused. It was void. Void of Leadership, Void of a friend, Void of a Pastor, Void of joy. This year has been filled with void. Many people have not seen each other. Church has been shut down. Jobs have been lost. People who you thought were friends no longer call you or come see you. People who was family seems like strangers. Pastors and sheep no longer know each other it just seems void. People are upset saying why haven’t you called, and I am upset saying why haven’t you called? Pastor why didn’t you check on me? I wasn’t aware that you needed checking on. On the other hand why haven’t you check on me? I am human too. I have pain too. I have anxieties too. Church can we be honest just for the first few minutes of the message and just say it’s been void! Look at someone and say it’s been void!

I. Text Work

A. Coming out of Women history month we can’t help but notice in the Lucan account of the text that the women got up early on Sunday Morning the first day of the week to go and embalm the body of Jesus. What had just occurred was the most horrendous murder of an innocent man by the hands of a crooked court system and executed by the Roman Police. Let that sink in. Jesus was arrested by his own people, and handed over to the enemy. It is amazing how your own people will arrest you and accuse you, I am talking about the church, then turn you over to a crooked court system maligned with unjust values and injust ways. Before we get to the grave a lost has occurred. Jesus disciples can’t stay awake and pray with him in the garden of Gathsemene. Jesus is betrayed by one of his disciples in Judas, and bargained for 20 pieces of silver. Peter cuts off one of the temple policeman’s ear, Jesus puts it back on and they still arrest him. I am just saying church if Jesus put my bloody ear back on I would have probably said hey let us leave this man alone! The scene was like that in which many African American men experience they sent a whole army of officers for one man. You see it all the time a Black man gets pulled over for speeding or making a right turn on red, and the next thing you know there are ten police cars with their lights on as if they have a mass murderer pulled over, and I digress. All of this has to occur, because Jesus was dealing with a void. After they arrested him they drug him from the court to court. Peter Denies him three times as predicted. Jesus is mocked and beaten by his own people. They hit him in the face and then said come on prophesy and tell us who hit you. His own blood kinfolk. His own Jewish brothers did this church. He went before the Sanhedrin the supreme religious authority composed of 21 or 23 rabis or elders. This would look sort of like the council of Bishops or The executive committee of the National Baptist church, or like these mock committees in Congress who ask questions and make political moves, but don’t do anything important. They interrogated him trying to get him to lie or say something crazy. They asked him if he was the Christ, and Jesus responded with if I answered you would not believe me anyway. Jesus then calls himself the son of Man, and they lost it saying so you call yourself the son of God? He said you said that didn’t you, and they convicted him of heresy.

B. It was the Passover, and they knew they couldn’t do anything to Jesus. The law did not permit them to put him to death, but they knew his triumphal entry on Palm Sunday, his healing of the sick and being called the king of the Jews, and him whipping and running out the money changers all caught the attention of the Romans. So they took him to Pilate. Saying he calls himself a King and stirs up trouble. You know crooked governments don’t like people who think for themselves. They said he is Galilean, and Pilate hurries up and says send him to Herod, because that’s who is over that district. Herod thought Jesus was going to be a magician and do tricks for him, but Jesus didn’t say a mumbling word. All the while the chief priests continued to accuse him of heresies. Herod and his soldiers mocked Jesus. They put a nice robe on him and sent him back to Pilate, because they knew this would upset Pilate. Pilate tries to wash his hands of this situation, but the chief priests wouldn’t give up. See the chief priests controlled the money of the temple, and Pilate didn’t want to upset his money. He gave them a choice of Barabbas or Jesus, and they chose Barabbas. This is why I am leery of church votes The church doesn’t have a good voting record. They voted to crucify Jesus! They shouted crucify him! Pilate said I find no fault in this man, and they yelled Crucify Him. The same folks that was yelling Hosana Hosana are now yelling Crucify him Crucify him. We all know that folks will switch up on you! Even in church folks will switch up on you. They took my Lord and your Savior and they beat him unrecognizably! They place a crown of thorns on his and beat it into his skull. They beat him with a leather whip laced with bone, shards, and metal pulling skin and tissue from his body. We have to remember church he did nothing wrong. All he did was preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed. All he did was cast out demons, and provide free healthcare in the form of divine healing. But he also shook up the status quo, by choosing the unchosen, and qualifying the unqualified! This upset those who were in authority! He drug that old rugged cross up Galgotha Hill the place of skull or the place of death. He stumbled but Simon from Sirene helped him. The nailed him to that old rugged cross. They placed stakes in his hands and in his feet. They lifted him up between two insurrectionist, and he still had a revival and gained one more soul. He said seven things that we elaborate on, but I will always remember Father forgive them for they know not what they do. The sun refused to shine. Other accounts say that the earth shook, and even the sinners who were killing him had to witness that this truly is the Son of God! They pierced him in his side and out came blood and water. Water for Baptism and Blood for redemption! It was a blood mess. There was blood all over the prison. There was blood all over the streets. There was blood all over the cross! He hung his head and died.

II. Close

A. At that moment the whole world was void. God the father had turned his back. It looked like the enemy had won. They finally got rid of this troublemaker. He was placed in a borrowed tomb. Isn’t that something church born in a manager because there was no room in the inn, and when Jesus died they placed him in a borrowed tomb!?!?!?! He stayed there Friday Night and Saturday Night, but hold on hold on before I close I was reminded of something from one day when I went shopping. Once day while shopping I gathered some items and went to the counter to pay. Sometimes when you shop people will move things and what you think is one price is actually more than you expect when you get to the checkout counter. So I had some items that was considerably more than I had expected. Truth be told I couldn’t afford to pay for it. I was a little embarrassed, and the situation was a little awkward. I looked at the lady and I said I am sorry, but I didn’t know that this was this price and so on and so forth. She said how much did you think I said well it was over there and the price said that. She said oh someone must have moved it. I said that’s ok I just won’t get those items. She said wait just a minute Mr. Tharpe, I have a coupon. I said ok. She said let me VOID out all of these transactions and re-ring them back up and apply the discount. I was thankful the items then was within my budget, and I gathered the bags and left Once she did this she handed me this real long receipt. On that receipt written in Red it said VOID then it would show the item again and the discount was applied. At that moment I thought about Jesus. When they went to that grave is was void. It was dark and gloomy, but most importantly it was empty! Thank God for Jesus, because we couldn’t afford to pay for it. We didn’t have the means for it, but he applied his Blood discount on our sins and Voided out the price we should have paid! That’s why we still shout He Got Up one early Sunday Morning! That’s why we still celebrate his grave victory! It’s because everytime he was beaten He bruised for our iniquity and the chastisement of our peace was upon him! He was voiding out some things with his bruises. He was voided out some things with his blood He was voiding out our sins when they mocked him. He was voiding out some losses, voiding out some issues, voiding out some cost, voiding it all in his blood. That’s why the grave was empty, because he was busy paying our price, and because he paid or price he also gave us the victory!