Easter Sunday - Not Without Hope

04.17.2022

Scripture: Luke 24:1-12

Luke 24:1–12 NRSV

1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in, they did not find the body. 4 While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. 5 The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. 6 Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” 8 Then they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.

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God's strength is greater than our weakness.

The season of Lent is a season of struggle. It’s not just giving up sweets or fast food. It’s more than rushing to put in that extra bible reading or prayer time. And it is more than the weather that is trying to make up its mind each week whether it should be winter, spring, or summer during this season. It is a recognition that slowly dawns upon us that when we decided to follow Jesus, we give up our worldly citizenship and take on the mantle of God's kingdom.

Wouldn't it be nice if following Jesus was just like graduating from elementary school to middle school, or maybe middle school to high school? Everyone could stand up and clap as they call your name, cheering you on. And afterward, there would be a big party. After a few days, life would return to normal, perhaps with a few new lessons to learn.

That is not how following Jesus works. The world wants to keep us forever like a kindergarten teacher who will not let us go or teach us how to grow. The world reminds us of our weakness by telling us there is nothing that can be done about it, so just ignore it. Just accept it. Find something else to worry about.

We see hunger, pain, sickness, and sin in the world around us and we hear that our weakness prevents us from doing anything about them. In the twentieth century, we thought we had come close to eliminating hunger, poverty, war, sickness, and the lack of education and opportunities in life. We watched our control over each of those issues falter and fade into a mystery of why we can't all get along or why we can't stop doing wrong ourselves. We are weak and there's no question about it.

The mystery is what to do about it, especially death. We can reproduce a lot of miracles with technology, but we have yet to defeat the power of death. Death continues to be a mystery we cannot fathom, and as much as it seems to be the biggest problem we face in life, it is still the symptom, not the cause.

Sin is the weakness we can't seem to shake, outgrow, or overcome. At our best, we simply trade one version of sin for another. Sin itself though is a constant weakness.

Thankfully, God's strength is greater than our weakness.

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Found and Lost

Like the mystery of sin and death, today's story is also a mystery, like a detective story. The women who were closest to Jesus went to find the body and do the work to help honor and preserve it the way they might do for a close family member. Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and others went with them. Under more normal circumstances, it might not have taken that many to go into the tomb, making themselves ceremonially unclean. But this tomb was guarded by Roman soldiers and the women might have been harassed by them. There is safety in numbers.

Perhaps more importantly, they knew that the tomb was sealed by a great stone, and they were not sure, even with their small band of women disciples, that they would have the strength to roll it aside.

When they arrived though, there were no Roman soldiers at the tomb. Instead, they found it had become a crime scene. They found the stone already rolled away. Two of their biggest concerns this day were already, albeit mysteriously, dealt with. No guards. No great stone. Nothing to stand between them and their Jesus. But that excitement was quickly smothered when they looked inside the tomb. There they did not find the body of Jesus. No guards, no stone, and no Jesus.

This looked like someone had come in, scared away the guards, pulled away the stone, and stolen the body of Jesus. It looked like a crime scene, a desecrated grave, whose grave-robber politely folded the grave clothes before heading away with the body. There were no riches to be taken though, so what possible use would they have with Christ's body? Nothing good, for sure.

Here in the midst of shock and grief, trying to puzzle out what kind of bad situation they had walked into this morning, two men suddenly appeared. They had dazzling white clothes, clothes. The original word used to describe it was "Lightning clothes" It was the same description that Jesus had at the Transfiguration. The last time it happened, the disciples heard God's voice from heaven and they were visited by Moses and Elijah. I wonder if they had come back to see this great event, or if these were angels from God's heavenly court.

It didn't matter to the women. Lightning clothes signified something powerful and holy, and they were unclean in a tomb. They were terrified and bowed to the ground. I'm sure they were thinking (Do not look them in the eyes.) They gave off a sense of Royalty, majesty, power, and might. Were they heaven's police come to investigate this crime scene and find out who to blame? It was a further mystery to the women. But it was not a mystery to these strange visitors from heaven. They were confused about why the women were there.

"Why do you look for the living among the dead?

He is not here, but has risen."

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Remember

"Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,

that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.”

Remember. Put all the pieces back together. Not just the ones from the past few awful days or weeks. Can you remember back to the stories of Bethlehem, when the angels showed up before, or Gabriel knocking on Mary's door? Can you remember how Jesus taught that the prophecies of the scripture were being fulfilled all along the way? Can you remember?

Then they remembered His words. And some of the words which they thought were just too deep for them to understand started to come alive. They wouldn't sit on a shelf or look pretty on a wall anymore, they were words that were meant to be used, to be lived.

Matthew 5:3–12 NRSV

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Without the resurrection, proving God's strength is greater than our weakness, these words might as well be Green Eggs and Ham. But because these women saw the empty tomb and believed, these words became new ways to live.

They told others but they did not believe them. But they were curious, nervous, disturbed, and afraid. This wild tale of Jesus coming back from the dead sounded more like a crime scene to them. So Peter went to check it out for himself. He would not come back as the same man who left, who denied Jesus, who ran and hid from the Romans. He too, would remember the teaching of Jesus and see how God's strength was greater than his weakness.

Why do I go to church?

To remember. I forget every week. Others remind me.

Why do I seek God the rest of the week?

So I can move from remembering stories to believing them.

Why do I serve God?

So I can move from believing in God to living with God. Seeing an empty tomb was a powerful experience. Seeing the angels was incredible. But it was nothing like being able to spend time with Jesus again. It makes the mystery of our faith: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again - no longer a mystery. It is a promise. It is what we rest our hope and our lives upon.

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What do you lose and what do you gain?

The resurrection does not make us suddenly lose our weakness. Nor does it mean they just don't matter anymore. It means they matter differently. Instead of being our excuses for not living the life God intends for us, they become ways that God shines through us.

As sin loses its grip on us, others recognize that we could not do that on our own and it must be God at work in us.

As death loses its reign over us, we lose our fear of it and that fear stops controlling our lives.

What we gain is not new personal strength. We gain Jesus. We gain the one thing those women at the tomb would have traded anything for. We gain His Holy Spirit to lead and guide us, to give us the words we need for the right moments, and to help us keep in step with where Jesus is leading us each day.

We can trust in Jesus because He is not dead, He is alive, now and forevermore. We put our faith in Him and follow Him because He is more than a way of life. He is here with us.

He has conquered the grave, vanquished sin and death, death has lost its sting, and has become a gate we pass through into eternal life with Christ.

He is our King, our Savior, our Risen Lord.

Will you remember what He has done for you? Will you follow Him today?

THE GREAT THANKSGIVING FOR EASTER DAY OR SEASON

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts. The pastor may lift hands and keep them raised.

We lift them up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

It is right, and a good and joyful thing,

always and everywhere to give thanks to you,

Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

You formed us in your image and breathed into us the breath of life.

When we turned away, and our love failed, your love remained steadfast.

You delivered us from captivity, made a covenant to be our sovereign God,

brought us to a land flowing with milk and honey,

and set before us the way of life.

And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven

we praise your name and join their unending hymn:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,

heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

Holy are you, and blessed is your Son, Jesus Christ.

By the baptism of his suffering, death, and resurrection

you gave birth to your Church,

delivered us from slavery to sin and death,

and made with us a new covenant by water and the Spirit.

By your great mercy, we have been born anew

to a living hope through the resurrection of your Son from the dead

and to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading.

Once we were no people, but now we are your people,

declaring your wonderful deeds in Christ,

who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.

When the Lord Jesus ascended, he promised to be with us always,

in the power of your Word and Holy Spirit.

On the night in which he gave himself up for us, he took bread,

gave thanks to you, broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said:

"Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you.

Do this in remembrance of me."

When the supper was over he took the cup,

gave thanks to you, gave it to his disciples, and said:

"Drink from this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant,

poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."

On the day you raised him from the dead

he was recognized by his disciples in the breaking of the bread,

and in the power of your Holy Spirit your Church has continued

in the breaking of the bread and the sharing of the cup.

And so, in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ,

we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving

as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ's offering for us,

as we proclaim the mystery of faith.

Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again.

Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here,

and on these gifts of bread and wine.

Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ,

that we may be for the world the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood.

By your Spirit make us one with Christ,

one with each other, and one in ministry to all the world,

until Christ comes in final victory, and we feast at his heavenly banquet.

Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church,

all honor and glory is yours, almighty Father (God ), now and forever.

Amen.