St Marks Lutheran Church Dubbo

Text: Matthew 28:5,6
The angel spoke to the women. “You must not be afraid,” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has been raised, just as he said. Come here and see the place where he was lying.

FOR US AT EASTER
Insurance companies often get some interesting stories on claim forms. This is one that is said to be true from Canada about a four wheel drive that was write off.

This is what happened in the words of the owner.
“A couple of friends and I went fishing but the lake where we intended to fish was frozen. I parked my four-wheel-drive on the edge and instead of making a hole in the ice one of my mates lit a stick of dynamite with a long-burning fuse and threw it out onto the lake to break up the ice.

Unfortunately the dog thought it was a stick and ran out on to the ice.
Fortunately the dog retrieved it in record time but unfortunately he started back toward us.
Unfortunately when we yelled at the dog to drop it, the dog ran under the four-wheel-drive with the stick of dynamite in his mouth.
Fortunately the dog got burnt on the muffler, ran out from under the four-wheel-drive.
Unfortunately he dropped the dynamite under the vehicle. The dynamite went off, transforming the four-wheel-drive into a pile of junk.

That is supposed to be a true story, well, according to the person filling out the insurance claim.

If you think that story is a bit far-fetched the disciples must have really thought that the women were pulling their leg when they arrived out of breath with a story about Jesus having risen from the dead.

They had seen him late on the Friday afternoon when he was taken down from the cross. He was as dead as anyone could be. They accompanied those carrying the body of Jesus to a tomb that had been freshly hewn out of rock. They laid his body to rest and quickly paid their last respects. It was almost the Sabbath. A huge rock was rolled over the entrance to the tomb and Pontius Pilate made sure that a seal had been placed on the rock and guards were posted at the grave. And now the women returned from Jesus’ tomb saying that an angel had said to them, “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has been raised, just as he said. Come here and see the place where he was lying” (Matt 28:5,6). And when they looked, sure enough, Jesus’ body wasn’t there.

There is saying that goes, “If a thing is too good to be true, then it probably is”. In fact I wonder if they even thought that Jesus coming alive again could have been remotely possible. They thought the report of the women who had come from Jesus’ tomb was a pretty tall story and we are told how they reacted. “They thought that what the women said was nonsense, and they did not believe them” (Luke 24:11).The story of the resurrection is even more unbelievable than the one about the four-wheel-drive, the dog and the stick of dynamite.
Why is the story of Easter so special and precious to us?
Why have we come here to celebrate this day when the rest of the world ignores the resurrection of Jesus and enjoys a long weekend holidaying, camping and lying on the beach?
There are those who call this story a legend and a myth that requires a huge leap of faith to accept as fact. It’s a story that defies all logic. When a person is dead, he or she is dead.

We do hear of people being resuscitated after their heart stops beating and people talk about after death experiences but all this happens within minutes of the person’s death. That’s nothing like coming back after being a couple of days in the grave. There are just too many unanswerable questions the least of them being how did a man who was so weak from the beatings and whipping and the actual crucifixion roll away the heavy stone that blocked the entrance to the tomb? How can a body that is completely devoid of all life come alive again?

I don’t have all the answers to these kinds of questions but the Bible is quite clear about what happened on the first Easter morning. The angel said it plainly and clearly, “He is not here! He has risen!” and that message has been echoed throughout the scriptures and down through the centuries to us today. We believe it because God had promised that this would happen, because God’s Word declares so boldly what seems to be impossible, and because so many people walked, talked and ate with the one who had once been dead but is now alive. “Jesus is alive” – there is no doubt about it.

It’s easy to view the whole story about Jesus’ life, death and resurrection as interesting religious facts. Maybe some of us who have known these stories since childhood, and we know them very well, but somehow they just remain nice stories – stories that happened a long time ago but have little consequence for this day and age.

But the apostle Paul would strongly object to this kind of thinking. He says, “Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” The sadness and solemnity of Good Friday are gone. The resurrection of Jesus isn’t just an interesting historical fact – something that happened a long time ago and irrelevant today. Paul talks about God giving us the victory. Jesus’ resurrection affects us now – today – in 2008! The tomb is empty! Jesus is alive! This was a victory – not just for Jesus – but also for you and for me.

Jesus died and rose from the dead for us. That “for us” is an important part of what Easter means. We can easily say ‘Jesus died on a cross and rose again’, but when we add the words “for us” what Jesus did takes on a whole new meaning. That statement then tells us that what Jesus did, he did it for us. There is a personal aspect to Good Friday and Easter.
He died for us to give us forgiveness.
He suffered for us so that we might be made right with God.
He rose again for us to give us the confidence that we too shall rise as he did.

“Thanks be to God who gives us, yes, us the victory.”

That is something that simply blows us away. Jesus’ victory is our victory. Death couldn’t hold him and it’s not going to be able to hold us either!

There is no way that I would want to trivialise death as if it were a minor irritation.
Death is devastating.
It intervenes in people’s lives and severing the special relationships we have with those who are close to us.
Death means no more time with your husband or wife;
no more time with your parents or children;
no more smiles and laughter; not even the pain and the tears that are part and parcel of relationships.
All this is brought to a halt through death. Death can bring with it such pain and heartache that you wonder how you will ever be able to cope in the future. Even for the most committed Christian the grief and anguish that death brings can be ever so painful. It’s not that they doubt Jesus victory over death but it’s the separation, the lost years, the loss of a future life together that causes the deepest pain.

Yet into this kind of sadness and grief comes a word of hope. This is not the end. There is still more to the story! Because of Easter, that separation will not last. It will be temporary. Just as Christ was raised from the dead – so you and I and all those who die in Christ – we will all be raised from death and welcomed into eternity and separation will be no more. God gives us the victory through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

This makes a huge difference to the way we live now and the way we face death at whatever time in the future. There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God that we have in Jesus Christ, not even death. No one likes to think of death and what that means for us and our families, yet people who know Jesus and his love are able to confidently say something like this, “Whatever God has in mind for me, I know it will be for the best”, or “I’m ready to go whenever God wants me”.
There is a peace, confidence and hope that trusts God’s love and goodness whatever may happen, even if it means dying.
There is the peace, confidence and hope that comes from knowing that even if we should die, there is a new life and a new home and a new body waiting for us in eternity.

How can we be so confident that death’s awesomeness and terror have been overcome? How can the Apostle Paul be so sure that death will not just swallow us up and that will be the end of us? He simply looks toward the cross and the empty tomb.

In the resurrection of Jesus we see God’s announcement to the world that everything that separates us from God has been overcome. The power of sin to condemn us has been done away with; death has been defeated. Death itself has been swallowed up in victory. When it comes to our day of dying we can confidently say, “I’ve been forgiven. I’m accepted and now I am being called home.”

May this glorious Easter victory that we are celebrating today fill you with hope and confidence and joy.

Amen.

Don’t hold on…Jesus is risen John 20:1-18

He has risen!  We can only imagine what someone would say and do if they suddenly saw a dear friend alive, whom was thought to be dead.  We can only imagine what Mary did when she first saw her dearest friend and saviour Jesus, whom she was certain, was dead, now risen and standing before her.  What would you do if you thought someone you loved was dead, perhaps after a terrible accident or after being lost, and then you suddenly saw them? 

Of course you would run and give them a great big hug and hold onto them tightly in great joy.  You would hold onto them, never wanting to let go, thinking, ‘Now we are together, nothing will separate us.’  Naturally, we would want things to return to the way they were before the incident, wanting everything the same, wanting the relationship to be the same, wanting the future to be a continuation of the past. 

Mary of course acted in the same natural way we would if our dear friend whom was dead, but now stands before us alive!  She grabbed hold of him, she hugs him and does not want to let go of him.  Things were going to be the same again; going to return back to normal.  Jesus was once again going to be walking with his disciples and caring for them again, teaching about the kingdom of God; by his very presence, his victory over death, shows that he is right in his claim to be the messiah, the resurrection and the life.  What a joyful future it will be, now that the future is going to be the same as the past.

But can it ever be?  Can the future be the same as the past, now that Jesus has risen from the dead?  Can the past be held onto, now that Jesus has over come the past?

As Mary clung to Jesus, he said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’  With these words Jesus announces that the past is finished with, there is no going back or holding on to the past.  His death and resurrection dealt with the past.  Things are not the same the other side of death and resurrection.  Here, where Jesus lives forever, dawns a new life forged in forgiveness and sustained by his presence with us through his word and sacraments. 

Jesus’ telling Mary ‘not to hold on me, I’m going back to my God and your God’, is not a word of rejection, but a word of hope and acceptance.  A word that tells us that the past is over; there is no need to hang onto it anymore.  Our God, because of Jesus atoning death on the cross, does not hang on to our past sins, as Psalm 103 announces ‘The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.’

Mary certainly understood Jesus’ words in this way and released her grip on Jesus, knowing she will never lose him again, even in her own death; for he is the resurrection and the life.  She does not have to hold onto him for fear of losing him again, because from now on he is going to be present in a different way.  He is to return to the Father, in order to be present always and at all times and in all places, bringing forgiveness and peace through his word and sacraments.  Jesus is giving her the freedom to now go and live without hanging onto burdens of the past.  Guilt and shame of the past, are forgiven.  Now she has the freedom, courage and hope to announce ‘I have seen the Lord!’

Today we witnessed the baptism of Logan and Gus.  Baptism brings the cross and the resurrection to us now.  Through his ascension to his Father, Jesus is present now by his living word and holy sacrament, giving victory over sin, death and the devil, as his word promises ‘whoever is baptised and believes will be saved.’ 

Here today, in the waters of baptism, Logan and Gus died to sin, went to the grave with Jesus where the old sinful nature was put to death, and now by the power of Jesus resurrection, the living word of God brought Logan and Gus to new life in Jesus.  St Paul says ‘We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. ‘   You can go from here today and say ‘I witnessed a death and resurrection!’

Each baptism is a new Easter miracle, a new death and a new resurrection to life in Jesus.  From this moment on for Logan and Gus, and from the moment of your baptism on, the past is finished with; we no longer hang on to the past or live as we did in the past.  We may want things to be the same and naturally, we still try and hold on to our sin or grievances, like we hold on to a friend.  But in baptism the old sinful nature was put to death with Jesus and our new self, which is brought to life in Christ, now lives.  

Jesus words ‘do not hold on to me’, give you and me the freedom to let go of past guilt, to let go of past hurts and sinful ways, let go of fear and of anxiety, because in letting go, we are confessing our sin and allowing Jesus to forgive.  Our future is now no longer a continuation of the past, but is a new freedom, forged in forgiveness and sustained by his presence with us through his word and sacraments. 

In fact, every time we confess our sins to God and to each other, and receive a word of forgiveness from God, either through the pastor or when in private, through another Christian, the miracle of a new Easter happens; a new death to self and a new resurrection to life in Christ is enacted upon us by the very words of Jesus, ‘If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven.’ 

The life of a Christian is always about the cross and resurrection.  Going to church always revolves around our dying and living, and discipleship is always centred on Christ’s call to let go of the past and to live in the forgiveness of Jesus, just as the prophet Micah said  ‘And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.’

Our life is a life worth dying to live for, because Christ died for us and now lives in us by faith.  His resurrection is ours through baptism, his life is ours, his righteousness is ours, all that is his is ours by faith, trusting in Jesus very words to you and me today ‘I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.’  Amen