Acts
10:34-43
Matthew
28:1-10
There are a lot of things in this world that are unexplainable,
but the human condition is very understandable and explainable. We're sinners.
At the deepest level of the human condition we are sinners that hurt each other
and ourselves without compunction. And it's not because we're evil. We're
broken. We are a broken people that cannot seem to put ourselves back together.
And that's where Jesus enters the story.
Jesus is the mystery that we think we understand, but
we don't because when we truly start to think about what Jesus is we realize
there is no way to fully grasp what he has done for us. Jesus is God. Jesus is
God made flesh. Jesus is both God and a human being. THINK about that for a
moment. Think about how weak we are as human beings, think about how weak this
body is and how quickly it falls apart when we put stress and age upon it.
And now picture trying to stuff the magnificent
awesomeness and almighty power of God into those bones, flesh, and sinew. Head
hurt yet? Mine sure does!
But this is what we proclaim as Christians. Jesus is
both God and human. Jesus is the bridge in the gap that separates Creator from
creation. Jesus is the perfect human being and I'm not talking about today's
idea of perfection with our unhealthy preoccupation for body image and
popularity. Jesus is perfect in a much more profound way - his heart and soul are
without blemish or sin. He never gave into temptation, not even the little
temptation of eating the extra piece of chocolate cake when he's already had
one piece. Or for him, turning a stone into bread after a 40 day fast in the
desert!
We are left wondering how it is possible because it
certainly wasn’t probable that God would decide to become a human being and
then spend 33 years teaching and helping us to become better people. And as if
THAT wasn’t enough, God decided we needed more than the bridge that Jesus
became for us. God decided that human beings were worth saving after having
lived with us and seeing the worst parts of what it means to be a human being.
We cursed God. We threatened to throw God off a cliff. We accused him of
terrible, awful crimes. And still Jesus forged on, riding a donkey into
Jerusalem knowing that he was riding to a horrific death. For us.
The scriptures tell us the night before he was
crucified he had dinner with his disciples, including the one that was to
betray him. And unlike what we would have done, Jesus did not ask his disciples
to avenge his death. He did not confront the one that was to betray him by
asking the disciples to kill him or anything else vengeful. Jesus’ meal with
the disciples was one of peace. He ate with them and when a dispute arose among
them about which one of them was greatest, Jesus taught them one more lesson.
He told them that if we want to be recognized as Jesus’
disciples, as Christians, then we are to put the least first and the greatest
last. We are to be kind to everyone because our perceptions of who is greatest
and who is least are skewed. We tend to think those with power, money, and
prestige are the ones that are great. We think the ones that are being served
are the ones that we should emulate. And yet, Jesus served up his very life for
our sake. Jesus took on the role of least to make us great. Jesus is God. Do
not judge a man or woman by their outside appearance, but judge them by their
works.
The words we say, the image we present is just what we
want the world to think about us. The things we do tell the world who we truly
are. Jesus understood that. It’s time for us to understand that as well.
Some of you are probably thinking this doesn’t sound
like a very Easter-like sermon. Easter is not just one day. Easter is every
day. Every day we go through our lives knowing that Jesus did not stay in the
tomb. He did not stay dead. We are to live our lives understanding the legacy
and love of Jesus Christ did not die the day he breathed his last on the cross.
Jesus is risen and without the resurrection there would be no Christianity.
We are a people that not only have a God that became a
part of us to understand us better, but we are a people that have a God that
cannot be coerced, contained, or controlled. Jesus’ haters wanted him to go
away forever. Jesus did not even stay dead a full week. Three days and he rose
from the dead to cause more headaches for all those who wanted him silenced.
Jesus’ first words to his people, after being raised,
were to not be afraid. This was unlike anything any of them had ever
experienced and that’s the truth for us as well. Every time we give ourselves
over to Christ, things begin to happen that have never happened to us before. And
just like the disciples that saw him first, Jesus comes to us and says, “Do not
be afraid.”
Do not be afraid to be the person God has created you
to be. Do not be afraid to struggle with the mystery that is Jesus Christ. Do
not be afraid to question this idea that God can be three persons, but still
one God. Do not be afraid to look at the scriptures, particularly some in the
Old Testament and wonder how they can apply to your life. The more we question
and ponder and struggle, the more we give the Holy Spirit a chance to change us
and help us grow.
Today is Easter Sunday. Today is the day we proclaim
that our God cannot be killed. That death did not defeat God and instead God
defeated death because Jesus is very much alive. Jesus is here with us today in
the power and presence of the Holy Spirit! To the uninitiated and to even the
long time believers, when we take the time to truly think about the things we
have proclaimed for so long, it makes us wonder how it is possible.
Faith is what makes our belief possible. Faith is what
got the disciples through the three scariest days of their lives. Faith is what
helps us to face the horrible things in our lives and the many temptations we
are confronted with and somehow still maintain our hope in Jesus. It helps when
we understand that God truly gets what we are going through. That Jesus stood,
dripping drops of sweat as big as blood drops as he prayed in the Garden of
Gethsemane because he was nervous. He knew unspeakable pain was about to happen
to his body, but it wasn’t just about the physical pain.
Jesus suffered emotional and spiritual pain as well as
he died on that cross. The very people he had come to love and cherish deserted
him. His mother and siblings had to stand by and watch him be accused and
killed. His Father in heaven could not stop this because it had to happen. The
angels wept while Jesus was flogged. Jesus bore the weight of everyone’s pain
as well as his own as he hung on that cross.
And still he prayed, “Father, forgive them for they
know not what they do.” If we have any doubt to God’s love for us we need to
remember those words and what Jesus was experiencing in that moment. Think
about the last time someone hurt you horribly. Were you praying that God would
forgive them? Through the agony of betrayal, did you stop to think about what
has brought this person to treat you so horribly? Jesus did and Jesus does.
This is the beauty of our claim today. In the power of
the Risen Christ, we are told that our lives have meaning and purpose because
God loves us. We are told that even though our bodies weaken and eventually die,
our souls will continue on and eventually we will be raised from the dead. We
are told today is the day when we may accept that death and sin have no hold on
us because we have been claimed by God. We are God’s children because of the
blood Christ shed in our honor.
Rejoice!
