05 Easter 1 Easter Sunday
My friends, I greet you today in the name of our risen lord and savior, Jesus Christ. Our lesson comes to us from the tenth chapter of the book of Acts.
He is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! What a wonderful and exciting celebration this is. Today is my favorite day of the whole year. And not just because we are beginning to see the springing of spring. Not just because Lent is now over. But because of the peace, and hope, joy and assurance that comes with today. All because; He is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
A Sunday school teacher was talking with her class of five year olds. “Can anyone tell me what Easter is?” The teacher asked. One little boy raised his hand, “Easter is when you go door to door and ask people to give you candy and eggs.” “No.” The teacher responded. “That is Halloween when you get the candy. Who knows what Easter is?” A little girl spoke up. “Easter is when you get the tree and decorate it with lights and everyone gets presents.” “No.” The teacher said. “That is Christmas. Who knows what Easter is?” Finally another little girl said, “Easter is when Jesus comes out of the tomb.” And before the teacher could say anything the little girl added, “and if he sees his shadow there will be six more weeks of winter.”
The little girl is half right. Easter is when Jesus comes out of the tomb. Not to look for his shadow, but to show that he is victorious. In his victorious resurrection we see that Jesus has destroyed the power of sin, death and the devil. And he gives life everlasting to all who believe. This is the message of the Gospel. This is the good news. This is the message of the church, of you and me, and of Peter in our lesson. The is the message that comes into our lives and is so profound and life changing that you are not the same person you were before you heard it. This is what happened to the hearers of Peter’s message.
Peter gives this sermon in the house of a man named Cornelius. Cornelius is a centurion in the Roman Army. He commanded a group of 100 soldiers. Cornelius was well respected amongst people, especially Jews. He was devout and feared God. He would give generously to the poor and spent time in prayer. But as good of a man as Cornelius was, as much good work as he actually did, it was not good enough. Cornelius, like all people, still needed a savior, he still needed Jesus.
So an angel appears to Cornelius one day and tells him to send for Simon who is called Peter. So Cornelius obeys and viola, a few days latter Peter is standing on his front step. Now this is a very big deal. Because Cornelius is not a Jew. He is a Gentile. And for Peter to be in the house of a Gentile, well such an act would make Peter unclean. But before Peter left for Cornelius’ house he had had a vision in which God told him that nothing which the Lord has made should be called unclean. So Peter goes and he proclaims to the house of Cornelius the Good News of God’s love for everyone in Jesus Christ. While Peter is speaking to them, the Holy Spirit falls on the hearers and they praise God and are baptized. And their lives are never the same again.
Ok. Well that’s all interesting and everything, but what does it have to do with Easter? Why aren’t we talking about the story of Easter? Well two reasons, first though this text doesn’t give us a detailed account of the resurrection, it does shed some light on living after the resurrection, it tells about living life in and with Easter. The second reason, is I wanted to give you a good reason for coming to the third or fourth services.
This sermon of Peter’s is one of the best sermons ever written. And this isn’t true because it is so short. It’s true because it is all about Jesus and what it means to be in relationship with him. It’s true because it’s all about Jesus and what it means to live in and with Easter.
Living in and with Easter is living in and with the love that God has for all people. He doesn’t play favorites. There is not one group of people that he loves more than the other. I am no better in God’s eyes than you. And you are no better in his eyes than me. For we are all in need of salvation and forgiveness. We all like sheep have gone astray, each one to his own way. But God has acted in our lives, not because of our own worthiness, but because of his great love and mercy. And so as we live in and with Easter we seek to show this great love and mercy that our great God has shown to us, to the people in our lives whether they are friend or foe, family or enemy.
Living in and with Easter is knowing and proclaiming peace by Jesus Christ. For it is in and through him that we know Peace with God. He paid the price for our sins. We have forgiveness through him. He reconciled us to God. Restored our once broken relationship with him. Through Jesus we have access to God and we can approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Living in and with Easter is reminding one another and holding before each other this wonderful truth. And then sharing this truth with those who do not know it.
Living in and with Easter is being a witness to the grace of God in Christ Jesus. Now this isn’t just standing on a street corner and yelling at people. This isn’t condemning people and telling them why they are wrong and going to hell. This is sharing with them the life of Jesus. We do this as we tell his story, how he was anointed by God with the Holy Spirit and with power. How he went about doing good and healing those oppressed by the devil and evil. How because Jesus is God and Man that the salvation he won on the cross is true and certain and for you.
We tell that Jesus really did die. And he really was resurrected on the third day by God. And we know this because he appeared to witnesses chosen by God. Our epistle lesson tells us that the number was more than 500 people. And not only did he appear to them, but he ate with them and drank with them. Things that he could not do if he were merely a ghost or a spirit. But He is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Sharing the life of Jesus with people isn’t just limited to telling them about him. It is also showing them Jesus in our lives. It is the witness that is made as we take time out of our busy schedules to come and worship in God’s house and to spend time with the community of faith that he has blessed us with. It is lifting up the people in our lives in prayer. It is spending time with those who society has forgotten or deemed unworthy for whatever reason. It is simply loving some one even when they refuse to love you.
And we do these things not because we have to, not because they will make God love us more, not because they will earn us more brownie points with him. Indeed nothing we can do will make God love us more, nothing we can do will earn us points him. But we do these things because we are his Easter people, and we are living in and with Easter.
We are not perfect. We don’t always do the things we know we should. Our priorities are not always in the right order. We don’t always refrain from doing the things we know we shouldn’t. But that is the point where we go to our God and receive from him forgiveness. We receive from him grace and mercy, love, restoration and strength. Strength so that the next time we are faced with temptation we can resist it. Living life in and with Easter doesn’t mean living the perfect life. That would be impossible and unrealistic. But it does mean living life forgiven. It means we know that when we mess us, we can run to our God. Ask for forgiveness and then receive it, knowing that our sins have been removed from us as far as the East is from the West. That is what this wonderful day is all about.
As we live our lives in and with Easter then we bring glory to our God who has loved you, me and the whole world so very much. We do this out of our love for him. Not so that people will see our lives and say, “Wow, look at what they do, there goes a great person.” But we do this so that when people look at our lives they will say, “Wow, look at what they do, what an awesome God they have.” In this way our lives truly are the Alleluia that gives praise to our risen and living Lord.
He is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! And may he richly bless you with the peace, hope, joy and assurance that come with this glorious day as you and I together live in and with Easter. Amen.