Easter Sermon
March 23, 2008
6:30, 9:00, 11:45

Christ is Risen!
He is risen indeed.  Alleluia!

This morning we hear the good news
that Jesus is alive,
that death could not hold him down,
that he has risen from the dead,
that he was crucified,
but rose again.

(Christ is Risen!
He is risen indeed.  Alleluia!)

I got this book off my shelf.
“The Rhyme Bible Storybook for Toddlers.”
It’s good to hear the story
in very simple words.
(That even rhyme.)

It’s titled “Jesus is Alive!”

In the garden Mary cried.
She was sad that Jesus died.
“Do not cry,” an angel said.
He’s alive, He isn’t dead.

When she saw Him
Then she knew
That what the angel
Said was true!

All His friends
Were happy then.
Jesus was alive again!

That’s the good news.
Jesus is alive.

(Christ is Risen!
He is risen indeed.  Alleluia!)

We heard a slightly longer version
of the Easter story
from the Gospel of Matthew.
Would you turn to that,
keep it open,
(we’ll be coming back to it from time to time),
and read with me the first verse.

After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning,
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary
went to see the tomb.

It was sunrise.
And it was “Son Rise”.
It had been dark.
Night time.
And dark time.
Time of fear.
Time of grief.
Time of sadness.
Time of wondering.
What was next?
How could it be?
How could Jesus have died.

But the sun was about to rise.
And even though they didn’t know it,
Jesus, the son, had already risen.

During this Lenten season,
we’ve been talking about the Psalms.
And the Psalm I’ve been thinking about this week
is Psalm 139.

O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You discern my thoughts from far away.

Where can I go from your spirit?
Or where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.

And the verse that has been in my mind this week, verse 11:
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light around me become night,”
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
We’re sick,
and we see it as darkness.
We worry,
and the darkness creeps in.
We are afraid,
and the world seems dark.

We see death,
and we see it as darkness.

But the Psalmist reminds us
how God sees it.
“Even the darkness is not dark to you…”

And here on Easter morning,
we catch a glimpse of God’s reality.
Death is not in control.
Darkness is not in control.
God is in control.
And God brings life.
Even where we see darkness and death.

There is light on Easter morning.
The light that God brings.
The light of resurrection.
The light that comes
because God never gives up on us.
God is always with us.
And neither life nor death,
nor anything else in all creation,
can ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Christ is Risen!
He is risen indeed.  Alleluia!

Would you read verse 2 of the Gospel with me?

And suddenly there was a great earthquake;
for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven,
came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.

Why did the angel roll back the stone?
(You could also ask why he sat on it.
But that’s not my question for the morning.
Perhaps it looked comfortable after descending from heaven.)

My question is,
why did the angel roll back the stone?

Was it so Jesus could come out?
No, the angel tells us—“He isn’t here;
for he has been raised.”

Jesus was already raised and gone.
So, why roll back the stone?

Could it be that it’s for the women?
And for us?

I think the angel rolled back the stone for us.
The angel knew that Jesus was gone.
But the women needed to know.
The disciples needed to know.
We need to know.

The stone is rolled back for our sake.
To show us that Jesus is alive.
To show us that we have no reason to fear.
Just like the angel said:
“Do not be afraid.”

We don’t need to be afraid,
because death is not the final word.
Death hasn’t won the victory.
We are not captives of death.
Death is not a period,
but a comma.

The final word is God’s.
And God gives life.
Life abundant.
Life forever.
Life filled with love.

As verse 6 says:

He is not here;
for he has been raised,
as he said.
Come, see the place where he lay.

Don’t be afraid.
Look in the tomb.
The angel has rolled the stone away—
--for you.
And the grave is empty—
--for you.

Christ is Risen!
He is risen indeed.  Alleluia!

And would you read verse 7 with me, please.

Then go quickly and tell his disciples,
“He has been raised from the dead,
and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee;
there you will see him.”
This is my message for you.

And what did the women do?

So they left the tomb quickly
with fear and great joy,
(I like that—fear and great joy—
that’s the way it often is,
fear—could it really be true—
--it’s too amazing,
too hard to believe,
and great joy—because it’s so wonderful)
and ran to tell his disciples.

And what happened
as they ran,
doing what the angel had told them to do?
Jesus met them.
And they worshiped him.

One of the commentaries I was reading,
found that significant—
--and I like it, too.

It was as they were following,
doing what God’s messenger had told them to do
that Jesus came to them.
It was while they were following
that Jesus appeared to them.

So often,
we don’t have all the answers.
We have doubts.
We have questions.
We have struggles.
We have pain.
We have fear.

And God can come to us anytime.
God can speak to us anytime.
But this time,
Jesus appears to the women
as they were following.

God calls us to follow.
The first two words of our mission statement are:
Following Christ.
And as we follow,
we meet the living Lord.

When we fill sandbags
to help hold back the floodwaters.
When we take bread to the city.
When we care for the homeless
in St. Louis and around the world.
When we worship together,
proclaiming the risen Lord side-by-side.
When we gather
to listen,
to serve,
to worship,
to pray.
Jesus meets us.
And we worship him.

Christ is Risen!
He is risen indeed.  Alleluia!

And finally, verse 10.
Would you read it with me, please.

Then Jesus said to them,
“Do not be afraid;
go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee;
there they will see me.”

Do not be afraid.
The angel said it earlier.
Now Jesus says it.

We have nothing to fear.
Even the darkness is not dark to God.
There is life.
Life abundant.
Life forever.

So, Jesus says,
“Filled with my love, GO.”

In Jesus’ name,
Amen

Christ is Risen!
He is risen indeed.  Alleluia!