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Sunday Sermons
3-23-08, Easter
Pastor Phil Lee
Title: "Easter ‘Greetings!’"
Text: Mt.28:1-10
Theme: joy in the resurrection victory of Jesus over sin and death
Introduction
Good Morning!…Jambo!…Guten Tag!…Hola!…Ciao!…Bonjour!…Happy Easter! Today, across the world, Christian sisters and brothers joyfully greet one another: “Christ is risen!” (Christ is risen indeed!)
Or, as the risen Jesus said on the first Easter: “Greetings!”
It was a happy, upbeat, joyful greeting that abruptly interrupted the fearful and joyous retreat of the two Marys as they left Jesus’ empty tomb.
And “Greetings!” is the way Jesus speaks to us today. It’s a joyful Easter “Greetings!” to each one of us, lifting us out of our routine lives, reviving our spirits, renewing our faith, and causing our hearts to beat just a bit faster with the notion that Jesus lives, and because he lives, we shall live also!
Point
B ut, let’s revisit Matthew’s Easter story – Mt.28:1-10 – for just a moment…
After Jesus’ horrific crucifixion, the two Marys visit his tome. There’s been an earthquake of some sort, a dazzling angel is present, and the tomb is empty. With all that in mind, the angel said to the women: “…do not be afraid…” Come on! I would be afraid…and you would, too!
And then it gets even crazier, and better, when the angel makes the grand announcement that “…he has been raised.” This is the Easter Gospel!
Of course, just like you and I would do, the two Marys beat a hasty retreat from the tomb in “fear and great joy.”
And it’s there, during their retreat, that the risen Jesus greets the women with a joyful, upbeat “Greetings!” (Gk. Chairete means joyful greetings, hail – from chairo, meaning joy)
If Jesus had been speaking Swahili, he probably would have greeted the women with: “Jambo, marafiki! Habari?” (“Hello, friends! How are you?”)
And it’s at that point, after this Easter “Greetings!” that two paths begin to diverge: 1) The way of unbelief and skepticism, and 2) the way of faith active in love.
ref. “The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost:
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both…
I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.
Problem
In Mt.28:11-13 (not in text) we read that guards from Jesus’ tomb went and told chief priest about what had happened, and they devised a plan to create a deception/lie that Jesus did not rise from the dead. Sadly, may have come to believe that lie.
The 34th Annual Conference of American Atheists is going on right now as I speak, in Minneapolis (March 21-23), timed to coincide with the Easter celebration.
A new survey of 35,000 adults released by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life takes stock of current demographics about American beliefs. American Atheists President Ellen Johnson said that the results of the new study show that those unaffiliated with religious groups and ideology now represent 16.1% of the population. “Many of these people consider themselves to be skeptics when it comes to religion, and use terms like Atheist, Freethinker, Humanist, Bright, Rationalist or some other label to describe their lifestyle and personal philosophy,” said Johnson. “The study indicates that the segment of Americans ‘unaffiliated with any particular religion’ has grown faster than any other category.”
Athiest Robert M Price, in his book Christ a Fiction, writes: “‘You ask me how I know he lives?’ asks the [Christian] revival chorus. ‘He lives within my heart.’ Exactly! A figment.”
19th century German Jewish poet, Heinrich Heine, who once converted to the Protestant faith, wrote: “In dark ages people are best guided by religion, as in a pitch-black night a blind man is the best guide; he knows the roads and paths better than a man who can see. When daylight comes, however, it is foolish to use blind, old men as guides.” (Gedanken und Einfalle)
There is a joke told about the Three Canadian Blonds (I’ll probably get in some trouble because this is not a PC joke!). However, this joke can inform us because it accurately represents how much of the world views Easter.
Three Canadian blonds died and found themselves standing before St.Peter. He told them that before they could enter the Kingdom, they had to tell him what Easter represented. The first blonde said, “Easter is a holiday where they have a big feast and we give thanks and eat turkey.” St. Peter said, “No,” and he told her she could not come in.
The second blond said, “Easter is when we celebrate Jesus’ birth and exchange gifts.” St. Peter said, “No,” and he told her that she, too, could not gain entrance.
The third blond said she knew what Easter was, and St. Peter said, “So, tell me.” She said, “Easter is a Christian holiday that coincides with the Jewish festival of Passover. Jesus was having Passover feast with his disciples when He was betrayed by Judas, and the Romans arrested Him. The Romans hung Him on the cross and eventually He died. Then they buried Him in a tomb behind a very large boulder.”
St. Peter said, “Very good.”
Then the blond continued, “Now, every year the they roll away the boulder and Jesus comes out. If he sees his shadow, we have six more weeks of hockey.”
St. Peter fainted.
Power
God has planted us in the midst of a world of serious atheists, skeptics, and cynics, who claim that Jesus’ resurrection is just a figment. And God has planted us in the midst of others (like the Canadian Blonds – please pardon me!) who simply disregard or don’t have a clue about the Easter truth we believe. And, it is into that kind of world that God has called us to go with joy-filled Easter “Greetings!”.
After Jesus interrupted the fearful and joyous Mary’s with Easter “Greetings!” he told them to “…go and tell disciples to go to Galilee and there they will see me.” We are called to move forward into life as a witness to the world of the truth of Jesus’ resurrection (ref. Acts 10:34-43)
Like the women who left Jesus’ empty tomb, we go in fear and joy because life has some serious challenges, and we are not immune from struggles and sorrow.
Like the women who left Jesus’empty tomb, we go in fear and joy because we know that the history of the Christian Church includes too many terrible mistakes where God’s people have failed to pursue justice and neglected to show the compassionate love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Yet we go, just like the two Marys left Jesus’ empty tomb on the first Easter. We go in fear and joy because our faith and hope are firmly rooted in the forgiveness, redemption, and salvation won for us, and for all people, through the crucified and risen Jesus.
We go into the world confessing that it was for us and for the salvation of the world
[that Jesus] came down from heaven, and became truly human.
We go into the world confessing that it was for our sake, and the sake of the world, that Jesus was crucified, that he suffered death and was buried, and that on the third day he rose again.
It is the testimony of our faith to the world that “…all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell [in Jesus] and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.”
It is the testimony of our faith to the world that “you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, [Jesus] has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before [God]. (Col.1:19ff.)
We come here to worship, saying: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…” (1Peter 1:3)
And we go into the world (Burien community, schools, work places, families, across the ocean) in fear and joy, with Jesus’ joy-filled Easter “Greetings!” on our lips, because Christ is risen! (Christ is risen indeed!)
Conclusion
And so, on this Easter I say to you: Jambo!…Guten Tag!…Hola!…Ciao!…Bonjour!… “Christ is risen!” (Christ is risen indeed!)
On this Easter we hear the risen Jesus say to us: “Greetings!”
It was a happy, upbeat, joyful greeting that abruptly interrupted the fearful and joyous retreat of the two Mary’s as they left Jesus’ empty tomb.
And “Greetings!” is the way Jesus speaks to us today. It’s a joyful Easter “Greetings!” to each one of us, lifting us out of our routine lives, reviving our spirits, renewing our faith, and causing our hearts to beat just a bit faster with the notion that Jesus lives, and because he lives, we shall live also! Amen.
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