"The Good News of Easter"
Sermon Transcript for March 31, 2002Scripture Reading: Matthew 28:1-10
By Rev. Mike Beck
"I serve a RISEN Savior, He’s in the world today."
We gather on this Easter Sunday not to give allegiance to a religious philosophy, not to lift up some form of secular spirituality that can help us realize the divine potential within us. We come not to learn a set of rules and regulations that if we keep them will somehow earn God’s favor. We gather not to cling to some vague hope of the power of the "idea" of resurrection. But we come this morning as followers of Jesus Christ – the one who was fully man and also fully God, who through His life showed us how to live, through His death atoned for our sins, and through His literal resurrection from the grave defeated the powers of sin and death in our behalf.
I believe the Apostle Paul was right in I Corinthians 15 when he said, "If Christ has not been literally raised from the dead, our faith is futile." But because Jesus indeed rose from the grave, the same power that transformed those eleven scared disciples and allowed them to go out and turn the world upside down—that same power is available to you and to me for we serve a risen Savior!
"I know that He is living, whatever FOES may say."
We live in a day where Christians are under attack in many ways. In a culture where persons want to set themselves up as God, where relativism reigns, it is in that kind of world that we are called to live out the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are called to be salt and light in a world that prefers darkness. We are called to proclaim truth in a world that says there is no absolute truth. But in the midst of many foes, I want to remind you of a lesson from Christian history. It has not been those times when the government has mocked religion that we have been our strongest. In fact, it’s in those times that Christianity has fallen prey to horrible abuses, but it is when the Christian faith has many foes that then she’s been strongest!
The songwriter says, "I see His hand of MERCY, I hear His voice of cheer."
God has given important guidelines for our lives. How we live is important. Those who name the name of Jesus Christ are called to reflect His life through our words, through our actions. And as I visit with persons who are struggling with life, struggling with personal failure, what I find they need most to hear is Jesus’ words of mercy and grace. Just what is that voice of cheer made known in Jesus? It is forgiveness when we don’t deserve it; it’s unmerited favor; it’s encouragement and understanding and hope when we’ve messed up for the umpteenth time. That’s what God offers to each of us on this Easter morning. And that’s why, my friends, it’s "good news".
"And JUST THE TIME I NEED HIM, He’s always near."
Friends, God’s grace (and in this context Grace means the strength that God offers to us) is never given in advance. It is poured out in our time of need. But what you and I are called to do is to draw close to God so that we will be able to appropriate that grace when our day of trial and difficulty comes. Janet Donovan, a young mother in our congregation whose gone through some awfully difficult times in recent months. She was singing the praises of God’s grace and Grace church in her letter to the newsletter. But when I talked to her on the phone I said, "Janet, one of the reasons you’ve been able to feel that grace and strength so strongly is that you’ve aligned yourself with a small group here at Grace. You became a part of the "caring ministry". You had a group of ladies and men who knew you personally, and because of that you can appropriate so fully God’s grace in your time of need."
"In all the world around me, I SEE HIS LOVING CARE."
Our world, friends, is filled with violence and evil, tragedy and suffering. All you can do is look at the land that Jesus lived and what’s going on right now to see that in all of its fullness. If we’re not careful we’ll fall prey in the midst of all of that and say, "Where are you, God?" But a wise person once taught me this profound truth. A person said to me, "Mike, whatever gets your attention ultimately gets you." Yes, evil and tragedy are a part of the world we live in, a fallen world marred by sin; but, friends, in the midst of it all is a loving God, if only we have eyes to see.
What gets your attention as you look at the world around you? Are you a part of the problem or are you a part of the solution in providing God’s loving care to a world in need? I’ve had the privilege twice of traveling to the Congo in Central Africa. So filled with despair and hopelessness. But yet, in the midst of all of that despair and hopelessness, there are lights that burn brightly and in almost every case where those lights burn in the midst of that country are because of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
"And though my heart grows weary, I NEVER WILL DESPAIR."
Life does at times get wearisome, doesn’t it? Some of you are in those lonesome, wearisome valleys right now. As we’ve journeyed this Holy Week, I’m reminded life got pretty wearisome for Jesus too. And perhaps we need to hear this morning His words of hope. He said, "Come unto Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. In this world…" he said to His disciples, "…you will have problems." But I love the "buts" of Scripture, He said, "…but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world."
The songwriter said, "I know that HE IS LEADING, through all the stormy blast."
And my gosh, we’ve certainly had stormy blasts in our country since last Easter. And some have wondered where was God the morning of September 11th? To which I must remind all of us that God is not the Master Puppeteer pulling all of the strings of life. There are many things that happen in this world that are not God’s will. But I suggest that we have seen marvelous examples of the truth of Romans 8:28 in the aftermath of September 11th…that in the midst of the worst evil the world can perpetrate, God is at work bringing good. On this cross, friends, was the worst that evil could do to the only man whoever ever lived without sin. What did God do with that cross? He turned it into bread and bought the salvation of all who believe!
"THE DAY OF HIS APPEARING will come at last."
Bob Fortier so wonderfully sang last week, "The Holy City". And I’m looking forward to that day when Christ returns, He will usher in a new heaven and new earth where pain and suffering and heartache and death will be no more. The question is, "Will we be ready when He returns?"
"REJOICE, REJOICE, O Christian, lift up your voice and sing!"
Wait a minute. Jesus’ tears in the Garden of Gethsemane were very real. Have you ever thought how heartbroken Jesus’ must have been when He was on trial for His very life and the disciple who said, "But maybe all the rest will leave you Jesus, but I won’t." He sat there in the courtyard and a servant girl said, "You knew Him didn’t you?" To which Peter replied, "I never knew Him." How much Jesus’ heart would have been broken! Jesus was mocked; He was stripped naked—something, I think, we are trying not to think about. He was nailed to two rough beams; and He hung on that dark afternoon to literally suffocate under His own weight.
And if you were standing in the shadow of the cross that day rejoicing would have been the farthest thing from your mind. But in the words of that great Easter sermon by Tony Campolo, he said, "It’s Friday—but Sunday’s coming"! And today is a day of rejoicing because on that first Easter morning, when the ladies went to embalm the body with spices, there was no body to embalm. Fifty years from now, my children and grandchildren may visit my grave. And I hope they put flowers on it on Easter. But they can rejoice as they do that because I’m not going to be there. For I have claimed Jesus’ promise that "because He lives, I too shall live."
"Eternal hallelujahs to JESUS CHRIST THE KING!"
We’ve already in this worship service today several times claimed Him King of Kings and Lord of Lords. But I wonder if our actions all too often don’t reveal that our allegiance to Him is pretty weak and shallow? If I proclaim Christ as my Savior and King today, then what I’m saying is, that He has some rightful claims on my life—on how I live and what I value. We don’t have the option, my friends, of calling Him King and then continuing to sit on the throne of our lives. If He is indeed Lord, then I’ve got out from behind the controls of my life and told Him sit down, take over. The message of Easter is also a call for a transformation of our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit.
He is "The hope of ALL WHO SEEK HIM, the help of all who find."
There’s a message here at Grace Church that we try to proclaim loud and clear. And that message is this – that the church isn’t here for persons who think they have their lives all together and therefore qualify to come and play some kind of religious games. No, our clarion call is all of us, preachers included, are fallen sinners saved by grace. And this church is a place where persons who are hurting and wounded, feeling hopeless and knowing full well their sin and failures, can come and find the love of God "with sin on it" through you and me!
A couple of weeks ago we had a newcomer’s gathering on Sunday evening. A single mother came, three young children. That Sunday morning had been the first Sunday she’d walked through the doors of Grace Church. And at those newcomer gatherings we often ask, "What caused you to take that hard step to walk through those doors for the first time?" Her reply was a simple one. She said, "Preacher, my life’s a mess and I need to know God." That’s why we’re here. Every single one of us when we come through those doors on Sunday morning in one way or another, our life is a mess. But here is a place we find, help, hope and home. If you are seeking after God, you are welcome here. The name of this church, as Dan has reminded us often, is "Grace".
"None other is so LOVING, so GOOD and KIND."
I wish I could stand here this morning and offer you a world free of problems. But I would be lying. Heartache and suffering and trials are a part of all of our lives just as they were a part of Jesus’ life. But as you come to know Christ you find that in Him is one who is loving, good, and kind. And I like to be around people like that. When we accept Christ as Savior, we are grafted in to His body called the church. And thus all of us who are part of His body are called. We need to be loving, good, and kind.
"He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today! HE WALKS WITH ME AND TALKS WITH ME, along life’s narrow way."
We’ve just finished an eight-part sermon series, "An Ordinary Day with Jesus". And the essence of that series was that God revealed to us in Scripture, made known to us in Jesus Christ, that God who is seated right there next to you this morning in the person of the Holy Spirit, that God is a personal God that wants to be a part of our everyday life. I ask you this morning, "Do you know that kind of walk with God that’s found in a personal relationship with His Son, Jesus Christ?"
"He lives, He lives, SALVATION TO IMPART."
What a great job Dan and I have got to get to proclaim to you the "good news" every Sunday. The good news of salvation being that whatever sin you have committed, no matter how grievous, God can forgive and forget. That whatever sins I might commit in the future, God’s forgiveness covers them. That I can have and you can have a plan and purpose for your life; that we’re not here by accident just floating down the stream of life. That we can be given grace for the hard parts along the way; and that there is power so that my life can be transformed to become more like His life.
But, friends, we have to receive the gift. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." But I simply ask you, "Have you done that? Do you know personally the words of this great hymn we have spoken of this morning?"
"You ask me how I know He lives? HE LIVES WITHIN MY HEART."
And I hope those words are true for you. If not, why not ask the risen Christ right here with us now, to come in to your heart through trust and repentance even as we sing the words of this great hymn. Let’s stand and sing together in praise to our risen Lord!
E-mail Comments to: Reverend Dan Sinkhorn