2011 04 24 JESUS IS ALIVE!!!
Psalm 118:1, 14-15a, 19-24, Colossians 3:1-4, Matthew 28:1-10
The resurrection of Jesus Christ. Finally…we have made it. It is Easter Sunday. We have come to the completion of Holy Week, and the end of our Lenten journey. I don’t know about you, but the last 40 plus days of Lent and the past 7 days of Holy Week, have been most difficult. April 19 was my sister’s birthday. Ordinarily, a birthday is a source of joy, but I remember turning on the TV that morning and finding out that April 19 is not a highly celebrated day.
This past Tuesday was the 18th anniversary of when the Branch Davidian’s compound was destroyed in Waco, TX. It was the 16th anniversary of the terrorist bombing Oklahoma City, and the one year anniversary of the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, leading the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history. That’s just one day. Since Ash Wednesday, our country has seen blizzards, tornadoes, and out of control wildfires. We have witnessed the damage to Japan by an earthquake and tsunami, followed by terrible radiation coming from one of its nuclear plants. There has been unrest and civil war in most of the Middle Eastern and North African nations.
We have seen and been reminded of a lot of death, damage, and destruction in the past weeks. One morning this past week as Jen and I were praying, I was reminded of a simple but powerful fact. Evil and death are very real. Now, I know that this is no big surprise for most of us. We open the newspaper, turn on the news, or surf the net and find all sorts of tragic happenings occurring every day.
Now I am not 100% sure if the times are becoming more evil, or maybe we are better today at spreading bad news than we were 100 years ago. One thing that is happening is that we are missing out on the message that was first shared less than 2,000 years ago on the first Easter morning. JESUS IS ALIVE!
From our reading in Matthew this morning, we know that the women waited until Sunday to go to Jesus’ tomb. The day before had been the Sabbath, and they were not permitted to do any work or touch a dead body on that day. So they waited. As they came to the tomb, there was an great earthquake. The stone had been rolled away from the tomb, and an angel sat upon it.
3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. With all of the storms we have had recently, we all know what lightning looks like, but I doubt that any of us have seen anything like this. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. I can believe that.
But to the women, the angel spoke, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you." 8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. JESUS IS ALIVE!!!
You see, the women did the right thing. Fear hinders. Fear halts. Fear keeps our minds from working, and our hearts from acting the way we know that we should. These women could have frozen dead in the steps just like the guards, but that would have kept them from doing what was really important at that exact moment…” go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee.”
The human heart can be paralyzed by fear, and the mind can be distracted by unnecessary distractions. Can you imagine if the resurrection of Jesus had taken place in modern times? If this sort of thing had happened today, the women might have gotten out their cellphones to record the video. Then they might contact the news outlets, giving interviews or even selling their story to the highest bidder. Tonight on Inside Edition -- Angels…servants of God or aliens from outer space, we have shocking footage of two women and their encounter.
These women had their hearts in the right place. Although their hearts were afraid and their minds rushing, they ran off to tell the disciples… JESUS IS ALIVE!!! It wasn’t all that important that there had been an earthquake or that the stone had been rolled away. It wasn’t even all that important that they had encountered an angel. The most important fact…was that JESUS IS ALIVE!!!
As they rush off with to share with the disciples this good news, suddenly Jesus appeared to them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."
Their faithfulness is rewarded. Although they had not seen, they believed the message the angel had given them. Now, Jesus appeared to them. When they would go before the disciples, the women would testify with 100% certainty. Jesus’ body had not been stolen. It had not been misplaced. Their faith of the hearts would now be accompanied by the knowledge of their minds. They had seen him. They had heard him. They had even touched him. This was no fluke, hallucination, or apparition. JESUS IS ALIVE!!! He is really alive…and no distraction will prevent them from telling the disciples what they know to be true.
It is easy for us today to become distracted. The world we live in today sensationalizes the evil that surround us. The world in fact celebrates that darkness. At Christmas just a few short months ago, we celebrated how the birth of Jesus brought light into the world. Jesus is that light. With his death, the world wanted to stifle that light, hide that light…destroy that light, so that we might not see it.
The world wants us to be distracted from the message those ladies shared that first Easter morning. JESUS IS ALIVE!!! But Paul reminds us where to focus our lives.
Colossians 3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
We get so caught up in what is going on around us, that we miss what God is doing for us. We keep our eyes to the ground and our noses to the grindstone. It’s not too surprising that our minds end up in the gutter. It is not surprising that we watch the news waiting for the next epic tragedy or colossal disaster.
Paul tells us that if we believe in Jesus Christ…if we believe that JESUS IS ALIVE, then we need to lift up our hearts to him. How can we live a Godly life when our hearts are worldly and filled with the garbage and filth of this world? How can we live the life he has for us, when we fill our minds with every bad thought that comes across the TV or internet. I am not calling you to change you hearts or minds. That is impossible. When we fill ourselves with darkness and evil, that is the kind of people we become.
Paul is telling us to give ourselves to Christ. Give him our darkness, our sadness, our struggles…all of it. There is no heart or mind too evil or filthy to give to him. Jesus went to the cross for that exact purpose. In his death, we are hidden. In his death, we die too. But his death overcame the sin of the world. As we die in him we also rise in him. Because Jesus is alive…so too can each and every one of us be alive.
Easter is not the completion in our Lenten journey, it is the beginning of our walk with Jesus Christ. That is why we come to Church. Each Sunday is a one week anniversary of Jesus resurrection. Every Sunday we celebrate the risen Christ as we worship. Every Sunday is Easter (minus the bunnies, baskets, and bonnets). Every Sunday, we gather in worship to celebrate what God has done, not only to Jesus, but to each of us who follow him.
JESUS IS ALIVE!!! Do you believe it? Do you believe it enough to give him your sins and ask for forgiveness? Do you believe it enough to follow him? Do you believe it enough to share this news with others, just as the women did that first resurrection morning? I hope that you do, but if you don’t…or if you’re not sure…listen to you heart. Is God speaking to you? Would you like to say something back? Then you should pray.
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