Sermon for Easter Day
April 8, 2007
Acts 10:34-43
Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24
1 Corinthians 15:19-26
Luke 24:1-12
Year C
I.N.I. (In the name of Jesus)
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Did you ever see anyone raised from the dead?
Did the women on that day coming at the crack of dawn loaded with spices see Jesus bursting from the tomb?
How did they expect to roll the stone away, anyway?
It's a puzzle, for sure.
The women saw him die, at about noon on Friday. After the spectacle of crucifixion was completed, the crowds went home. The women, Luke writes,
who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
The women saw him buried, some hours later, in a new tomb, as the Sabbath was beginning (that would be at Friday sundown). Luke tells
us the women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments.
The women did not see him rise. They did not expect to find an empty grave, but a full one.
The question hurled at the women by the bright-colored messengers that scared the bejeebers off of them is also our question:
Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, he is risen.
They weren't looking for the living among the dead. They were looking for the dead among the dead. They expected a dead body, they brought spices, they had no idea what they had come for on that Easter morning at the crack of dawn, and they saw nothing.
But they heard. They heard the reminder of what Jesus had told them that they previously promptly forgot when looking at him on the cross and at his body being put in the tomb.
The core, deep-rooted message about Jesus is that he died on the cross, and that on the third day he was raised.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!
The women started it. They told it to the apostles, silly apostles, who did not believe the witness of the women because they were women?! And Peter, silly Peter, having to see it himself ran to the tomb, and he too saw nothing, and had to scratch his head about it.
But the women remembered, and told the story. They told the story of Jesus' terrible end and his glorious if mysterious new beginning.
Someone must have believed it, because we're still telling it today.
But it's not just a story to be told, like a fairy tale with a happy ending. It's a story to be lived, like how sometimes our expectations and our experiences are overwhelmed by something new breaking in and breaking out and breaking open.
St. Paul says Christ being raised from the dead is just the first fruit. It's the first picking of what's ripe. Together, you, and I, those startled women, the silly apostles and silly old Peter, and all those who belong to Christ are included in that harvest, are made alive in Christ.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!
In this community of Christ, we have kept the 40-day observance of Lent that leads to Easter rejoicing. Forty, as you may know, is the biblical number for a
long time. For any who gave up sweets, or alcohol, or something that they really love, for any who gave extra to support Heifer Project, who gave extra time for prayer, who worked hard to love their neighbor, forty days is a long time!
Remember though, while we were sacrificing in order to come closer to God, during Lent and even before Lent there was also one who was getting ready for his joining with Christ's death and resurrection at baptism at last night's vigil named Paul Thompson. We rejoice at this breaking in and breaking out and breaking open a new way of being and living for Paul. We welcome him into our community and to the bread and wine of new life. And if anybody asks him, "hey Paul, what's new," he can say
"I am!"
Remember though, during Lent, there were also nine children who learned of the joy in the meal of the baptized. During our time of learning, we ourselves remembered the story of the Passover, of how Jesus fed thousands who were hungry with five loaves of bread and two fish, and how Jesus' disciples at his resurrection with amazement recognized him at the breaking of the bread. We rejoice at sharing this meal begun last night, and can say with them,
taste and see that the Lord is good.
And if anybody asks them, "hey Riley Olivia Monika, James, Elijah, Paige, Stephen, George, and Melanie, what's new," they can say
"we are!"
Remember though, during Lent, thirteen give or take people new to the CtK community or rejoining the community heard about the ways we worship, live, and serve as those who believe in Jesus as crucified and risen Savior. They will renew their lives as we pray God's Spirit on them next Sunday. We welcome them into the life we share, the means of grace, and with us striving for justice and peace in all the earth.
Remember though, during this Holy Week, on Maundy Thursday we commended Mildred Kulakowski, ninety-year old fixture at CtK to the new life in Christ after her death during Holy Week. During her illnesses or recuperation whenever I would visit her, Mildred would cherish being here the most, and wish she could be a part of our community. When at the hospital or rehab unit or at her home, she would ask Judy Converse or me, "so are you going to give me communion or not?" She lived for the meal that is more than meets the eye, but joined her to those of every time and place that celebrate Christ's victory over sin and death, like how sometimes our expectations and our experiences are overwhelmed by something new breaking in and breaking out and breaking open.
.
So you see new life is breaking in and out and open is happening all over our community.
It makes a difference that Jesus set the world free from the bonds of sin and death. How can this be trumpeted throughout the earth, so that war and despair, poverty, and shame will cease?
Easter is not just a day, but a fifty-day season. If the forty days of Lent is a long time, and Easter is seven times seven plus Pentecost, our paschal celebration is longer. It's forever and for all time.
Martin Luther, dear brother Martin, said all of our life is a crawling back to the font. He really and truly wanted everyone to know the new life Christ offers. Martin Luther, dear brother Martin, said that through baptism we die every day to sin and rise to new life. Every day, as the sun rises, we remember Easter again!
Our opportunity and our challenge is how to live every day as Easter. Where are the new life stories going to emerge in you, in us, in Palestine and Israel, Iraq and Iran, in Washington DC and Nashua, NH, in the world that Jesus set free?
In just over two weeks, I am returning to the land of Jesus' death and resurrection, to join with others on a Stations of the Resurrection Pilgrimage in the Holy Land. I have a tremendous opportunity to see the Christian witness to Jesus battle political and religious conflict in ways that bring about new life, give voice to peace, and pave the way for a new Jerusalem. I am grateful for your prayers and continuing conversation about connecting with our Lutheran brothers and sisters who today are celebrating Easter with us.
It all started with the women at the tomb. It continues with new life breathed into those around us. It will increase as today we remember, tell, and live as those who are no longer afraid, but filled with hope.
Al Masih Qam! Haqan Qam!
That's Arabic for:
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!
I.N.I.
The Rev. Timothy J. Keyl, Pastor
Christ the King Lutheran Church
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