Not for graveyards
Commentary
No doubt you have heard me say it before, "Easter is not for graveyards."
Easter is more than a proclamation that someday those who now lie dead in the grave will break forth and be caught up.
Easter is a proclamation of the presence of the power of God in our midst. That power works to overcome the powers of death in this life. Those powers that come and destroy our best intentions. Those powers that rob life of meaning, that set us at odds with our fellows, that bring chaos where we covet order. In the Bible death is more pervasive than just present in a casket. Death thrives in our midst wherever meaning is made meaningless and life loses its purpose. Easter is a proclamation that the power shown forth at the resurrection is the same power that was present at creation. Little wonder the best theology links creation and salvation. They are inseparably linked by the same power. One of the tragic mistakes the church often makes is to separate salvation from creation by talking of "saving souls." When the Bible speaks of salvation it speaks of all creation.
I know of no better place where what I am talking about is to be found in the Scriptures than in Romans 8:18-25. Check that out and broaden your concern for salvation if it has been limited. The early church could talk of taking salvation to the world but the church of today must have a greater concern, all of creation. That includes space of course. What have we to say about the way we have begun to use space? Are we aware that the one who commanded the New Testament church to go to the whole world is the one who is confronting us these days with a concern for all creation? See what you can do with that in a sermon on ecology.
OUTLINE I
The meaning of judgment
Isaiah 25:6-9
Introduction: There are those who claim to speak words of judgment and then speak only of wrath and destruction. The prophet Isaiah never allowed himself to fall into that trap. Alongside the declaration of judgment to come was the theme that even in that judgment God was working for redemption. One should never deliver the bad news without the accompanying good news . Even in the midst of moments there is the silver lining of the intent of God to use those dark days to refine, to reclaim, to make all things new. That theme is in today's lesson.
A. The meal. Everywhere one turns in the Scriptures there is the scene of the heavenly banquet when all will sit as equals, children of God, around his table. This is the ultimate symbol of inclusion and acceptance.
B. Death is gone. Here death is understood not only to be that death that delivers us to the grave, but that death which pervades our lives and robs our living of meaning. That death can be worse than the other and it is escape from the power of this death over life that we need and are promised.
C. No more tears. Now that would be something. No occasion for regret, for hurt, for sorrow. God restores his people and puts a smile on their faces.
D. Witness. Those who have received these gifts are not silent. They stand up and they speak up for the God they worship is a God who keeps promise.
Conclusion: Never speak a word of judgment without offering the extended hand of grace. Judgment is real, but it is meant to drive us to grace.
OUTLINE II
The present resurrection
Colossians 3:1-4
Introduction: I would suggest that most of the talk about resurrection that we hear in the church is that which speaks of resurrection out there sometime in the future when the dead in Christ will rise and be taken with him to heaven. It is important to always remember that there is another dimension to this resurrection which is constantly mentioned in the Bible and that is so in today's lesson.
1. Raised with Christ. This is a good baptismal symbol. We have died to sin. We are raised to new life. That is already present. We do not have to wait. We are already redeemed. We are already included in the kingdom. We can live new life now.
2. Seek things above. I know, the usual thing is to plead our inadequacies, to make it plain that we are not heroes of the faith and that we have more to deal with than is possible. Not so! Here we are reminded that we are not alone in our struggle. So we can, if we will, set our minds on things above with hope.
3. Read on. As is usually the case Paul has three parts to his letters. 1) He offer; free grace, 2) he calls to new life and 3) he he tells what that new life is meant to be. Read the rest of the chapter.
Conclusion: The essential message for Easter is not only that Jesus is raised from the dead but that we too are raised. We come to church on Easter to be reminded that we are already the resurrected ones, that we are no longer in bondage to sin and death, and that there is a power available to us, the resurrection power, which we can have in our lives and which will enable us to be new creatures in Christ.
OUTLINE III
The evidence is in
John 20:1-18
Introduction: Remember, John is seeking to make his story about Jesus plausible to his readers in the early second century. Still the struggle with Gnosticism goes on and there are those who think that John was almost gnostic himself. The point to be made, however, is that he takes language that would be familiar to the Greek reader and the gnostic and manages to tell the essential story and keep his main points secure. There must have been those in his church who had bought into the explanation that Jesus only seemed to be real and that there was really no body to be concerned about.
A. The empty tomb. Bodies don't just melt away. Of course, some had spread a rumor that he had been stolen but that story did not stick. The key verse is verses 8 and 9. They believed even though they had no verse to quote. They went on the evidence. The time would come when they would understand it all but for now the empty tomb was evidence enough.
B. Mary. Jesus appears to those who have known him. Here we are reminded that he looked like he always did. This is no apparition but one who would cause one to speak in recognition. Moreover, Mary is so sure that it was him that she went to tell the others. You can bet she did not want to be viewed as a fool, that she knew what she was talking about.
Conclusion: The evidence is in. Re-read the opening verses of 1 Corinthians 15 in which Paul notes that over 500 saw him. These people were not overwhelmed by some vision, nor were they just hallucinating, nor were they just imagining him to be alive. They knew. And they witnessed to that knowledge in their day and to this day their experiences witness to us.
Easter is more than a proclamation that someday those who now lie dead in the grave will break forth and be caught up.
Easter is a proclamation of the presence of the power of God in our midst. That power works to overcome the powers of death in this life. Those powers that come and destroy our best intentions. Those powers that rob life of meaning, that set us at odds with our fellows, that bring chaos where we covet order. In the Bible death is more pervasive than just present in a casket. Death thrives in our midst wherever meaning is made meaningless and life loses its purpose. Easter is a proclamation that the power shown forth at the resurrection is the same power that was present at creation. Little wonder the best theology links creation and salvation. They are inseparably linked by the same power. One of the tragic mistakes the church often makes is to separate salvation from creation by talking of "saving souls." When the Bible speaks of salvation it speaks of all creation.
I know of no better place where what I am talking about is to be found in the Scriptures than in Romans 8:18-25. Check that out and broaden your concern for salvation if it has been limited. The early church could talk of taking salvation to the world but the church of today must have a greater concern, all of creation. That includes space of course. What have we to say about the way we have begun to use space? Are we aware that the one who commanded the New Testament church to go to the whole world is the one who is confronting us these days with a concern for all creation? See what you can do with that in a sermon on ecology.
OUTLINE I
The meaning of judgment
Isaiah 25:6-9
Introduction: There are those who claim to speak words of judgment and then speak only of wrath and destruction. The prophet Isaiah never allowed himself to fall into that trap. Alongside the declaration of judgment to come was the theme that even in that judgment God was working for redemption. One should never deliver the bad news without the accompanying good news . Even in the midst of moments there is the silver lining of the intent of God to use those dark days to refine, to reclaim, to make all things new. That theme is in today's lesson.
A. The meal. Everywhere one turns in the Scriptures there is the scene of the heavenly banquet when all will sit as equals, children of God, around his table. This is the ultimate symbol of inclusion and acceptance.
B. Death is gone. Here death is understood not only to be that death that delivers us to the grave, but that death which pervades our lives and robs our living of meaning. That death can be worse than the other and it is escape from the power of this death over life that we need and are promised.
C. No more tears. Now that would be something. No occasion for regret, for hurt, for sorrow. God restores his people and puts a smile on their faces.
D. Witness. Those who have received these gifts are not silent. They stand up and they speak up for the God they worship is a God who keeps promise.
Conclusion: Never speak a word of judgment without offering the extended hand of grace. Judgment is real, but it is meant to drive us to grace.
OUTLINE II
The present resurrection
Colossians 3:1-4
Introduction: I would suggest that most of the talk about resurrection that we hear in the church is that which speaks of resurrection out there sometime in the future when the dead in Christ will rise and be taken with him to heaven. It is important to always remember that there is another dimension to this resurrection which is constantly mentioned in the Bible and that is so in today's lesson.
1. Raised with Christ. This is a good baptismal symbol. We have died to sin. We are raised to new life. That is already present. We do not have to wait. We are already redeemed. We are already included in the kingdom. We can live new life now.
2. Seek things above. I know, the usual thing is to plead our inadequacies, to make it plain that we are not heroes of the faith and that we have more to deal with than is possible. Not so! Here we are reminded that we are not alone in our struggle. So we can, if we will, set our minds on things above with hope.
3. Read on. As is usually the case Paul has three parts to his letters. 1) He offer; free grace, 2) he calls to new life and 3) he he tells what that new life is meant to be. Read the rest of the chapter.
Conclusion: The essential message for Easter is not only that Jesus is raised from the dead but that we too are raised. We come to church on Easter to be reminded that we are already the resurrected ones, that we are no longer in bondage to sin and death, and that there is a power available to us, the resurrection power, which we can have in our lives and which will enable us to be new creatures in Christ.
OUTLINE III
The evidence is in
John 20:1-18
Introduction: Remember, John is seeking to make his story about Jesus plausible to his readers in the early second century. Still the struggle with Gnosticism goes on and there are those who think that John was almost gnostic himself. The point to be made, however, is that he takes language that would be familiar to the Greek reader and the gnostic and manages to tell the essential story and keep his main points secure. There must have been those in his church who had bought into the explanation that Jesus only seemed to be real and that there was really no body to be concerned about.
A. The empty tomb. Bodies don't just melt away. Of course, some had spread a rumor that he had been stolen but that story did not stick. The key verse is verses 8 and 9. They believed even though they had no verse to quote. They went on the evidence. The time would come when they would understand it all but for now the empty tomb was evidence enough.
B. Mary. Jesus appears to those who have known him. Here we are reminded that he looked like he always did. This is no apparition but one who would cause one to speak in recognition. Moreover, Mary is so sure that it was him that she went to tell the others. You can bet she did not want to be viewed as a fool, that she knew what she was talking about.
Conclusion: The evidence is in. Re-read the opening verses of 1 Corinthians 15 in which Paul notes that over 500 saw him. These people were not overwhelmed by some vision, nor were they just hallucinating, nor were they just imagining him to be alive. They knew. And they witnessed to that knowledge in their day and to this day their experiences witness to us.
