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April 20,
2003 LECTIONARY
READINGS Acts 10:34-43 or [Underlined text will take
you to a sermon on the lectionary text underlined] Two New Easter
Meditations Previous Easter Sundays “SON-RISE” There are very few statements which are absolutely true for every single human being. One of these statements is this, “Everybody dies!” The oldest book in the Bible - the book of Job - asks a question which applies to everyone. “IF A MAN DIES, SHALL HE LIVE AGAIN?” It is this one question which separates us from all the rest of God’s creatures. Made in the image of God, our hearts turn to the heavens and ask the question of Job, “When I die…shall I live again?” The animals don’t do that. (Wondered about my German Shepherd one morning, but he was just looking at a squirrel.) We gather this morning to celebrate the absolute core of our faith. The answers to Job’s question and ours. Jesus said of His followers, “I give them eternal life and they shall never parish.” In other words, Jesus said, “Yes, the one who trusts in Me will live again.” BUT…I’ve seen countless numbers of people whose faith and trust vanish like a morning mist when the reality of death sets in close to home. And that’s understandable --- it is one thing to believe in eternal life in principle, but something else entirely when death comes in person! That’s when we are stripped down to the “bare bones” of faith. It was like that for the earliest followers of Jesus Christ. For Peter and James and John and the rest. When the darkness of Good Friday covered the earth, and the disciples had abandoned Jesus to cover themselves in the anonymity of the crowd; they heard the mocking cries: “Ha! He said He would save others and He can not even save Himself. ‘If you are really the Son of God, come down from the cross and save yourself!’” Jesus had predicted His rejection, crucifixion and His resurrection. But, when the time came, the disciples couldn’t handle it. All the hopes and dreams they held seemed like, “pie in the sky by and by” when they saw His lifeless form on that cross. His heart stopped, His breathing stopped, the blood no longer showed in His veins…and as it had been through the ages, so it was again. Death was the last word and they just could not believe it. He was gone! Was there really going to be a SON-RISE? (That is, the rising of God’s son?) Jesus had said that He would rise from His grave. If He did NOT rise from the grave, Paul’s words in 1st Cor. tell the effect. 1 Cor. 15:17 “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.” In the period between Friday’s crucifixion and Sunday morning, Jesus’ followers were devastated and concluding that the whole thing was indeed futile. Peter made plans to go back to his fishing career --- and though he was in grief, he had at least put distance between himself and Jesus with his Thurs. night denial that he even knew Jesus. Two followers of Jesus were on their way back to Emmaus to patch up their lives. The disciples moped around in the Upper Room with the doors locked for fear of reprisal. Thomas went back home. The women who had followed were preparing embalming spices. Caiaphas, the High Priest, and the Pharisees slept peacefully for the first time in over a year. Here’s why:
Would there be a SON-RISE? Staring the reality of Jesus’ death in the face --- images of the ugly crucifixion plaguing their minds --- Jesus’ own cry of despair ringing in their ears --- the followers of Jesus had pretty much given up hope. In the chronology of what took place on that first Easter, our scripture reading from Luke shows how deep the despair had been driven. The announcement of Jesus’ resurrection is first made to the women who brought the embalming spices to the tomb. (VV. 5-7) They immediately take this good news to the Apostles, but look: V. 11! AND YET, THE TRUTH WHICH CREATED the Christian Church was the truth first announced by the angels, “He is not here, He has risen!” Have you even gotten up before the sun and waited / watched for the first rays of the sun to strike the earth? I have … what an incredible transformation takes place! Birds begin to sing, mist begins to lift, finally flowers open to the sun. And so with the rising of the Son of God, death’s dreary night is defeated and hearts are drawn in faith to the Son!
“SON-SHINE” There was a popular song a while back, which said, “You are the sunshine of my life!” When you think about it - that’s a very profound statement, because it is the sun which gives life to our world. Even when the earth rotates and we find ourselves in the night time, the sun is still critical. If the sun were to burn out, the plant would immediately become cold and dead. Three words in our scripture reading from Luke represent the sunshine of the Christian Faith. They are on the front of your bulletin. HE IS RISEN! The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the absolute cornerstone of our faith. It is the SON-SHINE of the Christian life. But, let me ask you a question. What actual difference does the resurrection of Jesus make in your life? (Let this question sit in the back of your mind - we’ll come back to it). <> <> <> I want to tell you a true story about a little boy who came in to the hospital when I was a hospital chaplain taking my turn at night duty. This is a Christmas story in that it took place at Christmas, but it is really about Easter. The young lad came to the hospital with an extremely aggressive form of leukemia. The prognosis was not good at all. His mom asked, “What do you want for Christmas?” Like many children, he wanted a white Christmas and he answered, “Snow.” But the weather was warm that December and the chances of snow were slim to none. His mom and dad both suggested all kinds of alternatives to snow they thought he might like, but he insisted he wanted a white Christmas and affirmed that he was going to ask Jesus for snow. And Jesus could certainly bring snow no matter what the weather was, because Jesus is the Son of God! Not wanting him to be disappointed, parents tried to explain all about warmth and snow and all that. But you don’t reason things like this with children! That night - Christmas Eve, the weathermen on local television stations were explaining a “freak” snowstorm---while this little guy was jumping up and down, looking out the window of his hospital room yelling, “Atta boy Jesus! Atta boy!” The saddest part of the story is that this little boy died on Christmas night. His father said, “This boy was the sunshine of my life – I don’t know what I will do without him.” There are never appropriate words to bring peace in times of great grief, but the question seemed to come from out of the blue, “Who was the sunshine of your son’s life?” I asked. He just looked at me for a moment and then something seemed to come over him, “I guess it was Jesus!” he answered. “I think it is really important to understand,” I said, “That your son’s sunshine is Jesus – not was Jesus.” You see, the point is that Christ is risen and the Jesus this man’s son believed could deliver snow on a warm December day is the Jesus who is still the sunshine of your boy’s life.” [As an aside – is it possible that an Almighty God who hung the stars in space would bring a weather anomaly to grant a little boy’s Christmas wish?] *** Let me ask once again, what actual difference does the resurrection of Jesus make in your life? I was reading this past week about millions of dollars sitting unclaimed in state lotteries around the country. Officials theorize that there are people who never checked their tickets, or threw them away without ever looking. It occurred to me how similar this is to people whose lives are basically untouched by the resurrection power of Jesus Christ. They have never checked their spiritual treasures. Martin Luther said, “It really doesn’t matter if Jesus rose from the dead if He isn’t risen in you!” That old song, “You are the sunshine of my life,” could well be the title of a hymn to Jesus Christ. And as the sunshine makes all the difference in the world in a physical sense - so the resurrection of Christ makes all the difference in the world for our spiritual lives. Here’s the connection: 1. NOTHING CAN GERMINATE without the sun. No plant would ever get started … the sun provides the beginning of life. So also, it was the resurrection which provided the germinating power of faith for those discouraged and defeated disciples on the first Easter morning! Look at the last verse in our reading from Luke. YET, THE VERY NEXT LINE in Luke 11 reads, “BUT … Peter got up and ran to the tomb!” And you? Can you - deep within your spirit - get up and run to the tomb? It is when you personally reach out to the Risen Christ that the fact of His resurrection becomes the faith of a relationship with Him! 2. NOTHING CAN CONTINUE TO GROW without the sun. When a plant germinates from a seed, it needs the continuing warmth of the sun to continue to grow. A human being must grow physically … a baby is cute … but if it doesn’t grow, it’s a tragedy. Peter - who ran to the tomb - would later write, “As newborn babies, crave the milk of God’s word so that you can grow by it.” Jesus Christ is not confined to the pages of the Bible - He is the sunshine of the life of every growing Christian person. 3. EVEN THE DARKEST DAYS are manageable because in spite of the clouds, the sun still shines behind the clouds. Even though you encounter downright stormy days, it is the Risen Christ who says to you as He did in the gospel of John, "In this world, you will have trouble - but take courage, for I have overcome the world! <> <> <> This past week, while I was working on an outline of this meditation, a funeral procession went past my office window. I saw the hearse, the cars going by --- some weeping. And I though --- what difference does the resurrection of Jesus Christ really make in my life? The basic, foundation answer is that even death is no longer the bottom line in my living because Jesus Christ is the sunshine of my life! There is a hymn we frequently sing that goes: Joyful,
Joyful we adore thee, God of glory, Lord of love,
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