Sermon for Easter Day - March 23, 2008
“ And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. And they saw that the stone was rolled away. A young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here. ”
THERE had never been such a day. There had, of course, been other Sundays. In fact, the first day of creation, when time began was – in our reckoning, on a Sunday. Six days followed and on that 7 th day, God was done and He rested. Genesis tells us in the first chapter. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” Gen 1:1-3
Day One : Darkness and void and vast space, a vacuum—then Light. Light out of nothing. Light from a Word spoken by God. The first thing created was light, and it exploded from nothing into all the energy and radiance, power and potential that make our universe today. That was Day One.
He went on to create stars and planets, our own earth, with waters above and below. He made life on earth: plants, fish, birds and animals. And on Friday He made a man. Knowing mankind, one might figure God had made His first mistake. He said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them .” v 26-27 It wasn't a mistake, and He looked and said, It is Good .
On the 7 th Day, God rested and blessed that day. It's odd, isn't it, that number seven . Such a funny number to have days measured by. From that 7 th day onward, nothing new was made. Time passed, people fell from their original perfection, the creation groaned, a legacy of evil in a world of sin brought God's judgments, and His restoration from time to time through someone who heard Him. No new thing arose, however, no new creation. God was working with what He had made. He was looking for something, waiting for someone. And then He sent His Son.
From that day, the conception and birth of Jesus, the son of Mary, the world was given an announcement. Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward men . But it was still Saturday, still God had not made a new thing. This man Jesus lived as we do, walked and talked and ate and slept. He grew up and His life was controversial. He spoke of a kingdom very near and He healed sickness, raised the dead to life again, pointed out errors, and opened the understanding of God and His ways. He walked on water, turned a storm into clear sky, fed five thousand and shone like lightning on a mountaintop. Still, the old seven day week wore on. Human powers opposed Him, were threatened by this unbridled power, conspired to trap Him, maneuvered the governor to order His execution as a criminal, and watched Him die on a hilltop. Thus ended the old creation, with the death of the Son of God. It was a Friday, the day of man.
On Saturday He rested. Nothing happened that we could see. And then… “ When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the Mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.” Mark 16 The tomb had been disturbed, a great stone door was rolled away and the body of Jesus was not inside. Of course they thought the body had been removed. Their world did not include some other possibility. Only He had been able to raise another from the grave, and now He was dead Himself. He was dead: they'd seen the end. They had held His lifeless body and placed it in the tomb themselves. But an angel of God told them, “Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen.” Unlike the young men or the girl He had brought back to life, Jesus was dead was now resurrected. Resurrection means your old body is gone. A new body rises and you are alive forever.
It's a new beginning, a new creation of God, that came out of the old and at great cost, with much opposition. The stone, the guards, the enmity of human powers, the disbelief, the nails, the spear, the crown of thorns and whiplashes, and a cross that brutalized the Lord's body until He had to die. Yes, He had to die because He was to be resurrected. And once resurrected, He was beyond death. And it was Sunday.
The Gospel tells us it was the first day of the week, according to the way we count the days. But we might also call it the 8 th day of Creation, the day when God created the resurrected man, the fountainhead of a whole new creation. The old creation began with light and ended with a man. The new creation begins with a man and ends with eternal life.
Sundays are always new beginnings. The day light first shone in the darkness. It appeared without trouble, though the darkness was heavy, eternal and vast. Light! He commanded, and there was no holding it back. By the 8 th Day, another Sunday, a return to the 1 st Day, the darkness was intentional, it was in the hearts of people, and light hurt their eyes. They sought to put it out. On the hill where Jesus was dying, darkness reigned for three hours, even the sun could not shine. They defeated Him, and for all intents and purposes, it appears He and His mission utterly failed. Dead, they buried Him and His disciples fled. It was over.
God had intended to do something no one expected. Our failures had broken us. We are born broken, and there is really nothing that can remake people permanently, not here, not in this creation. And we have no right to expect God to take us into another perfect world. Not as we are. What to do? He loves us. It's His intention to save us out of this world into the next. Our sins prevailed against this, and something had to be done, a debt needed to be paid, and a new way forged to get us from the old creation into His kingdom. Christ is that way. He took all our sins upon Him on that cross. Up there all evil and all the darkness that was in this world were laid on Him and in His death He paid the debt in full. Rising from the tomb, He was the power of a new creation, a new first day, the 8 th Day, the day of Resurrection.
But it had to come from failure, darkness, pain and torment. First He had to be crucified. Then He could be raised to eternal life. See this pattern at work in your life, for it is working today. He came to give this power to you.
Yesterday's news displayed the smiling face of a 56 year old man with white hair and a grizzled moustache. He was smiling because after serving 23 years for a murder conviction, he had been set free. Once a petty criminal and drug abuser, Willie Earl Green was falsely accused of shooting and killing a woman at a crack house in 1983. His accuser has finally admitted Willie was innocent, and after 23 years, He is seeing the world again. Like a man taken from the tomb, after an unjust execution, he's alive again. But look at him. “I'm not bitter. I'm happy. The system that put me in here was the same system that got me out. It's not perfect, but it's the best system in the world. I want to get that jailhouse smell off me.”
The old Willie Earl, the petty crook, died. He let that old man die, and in that grave he became a new man, earned a degree, actually married and worked in its library. Without one accusation against those who improperly put him away for 33 years to life, Willie is happy. He's alive.
Now tell your story.
Once a drunk, a drug addict, a man or woman who couldn't tell right from wrong. Your relationships have all ended in ruin. You couldn't keep a job. You used others. You made mistake after mistake. You killed, you lied, you slept around. You were trusted, and you betrayed that trust, stole what wasn't yours. Your secret sins are a shame to you and yet you sat in judgment over others who simply did what you did yourself. We're all in this boat. It's the old creation. God knew that before He sent His Son. And He knew we'd kill Him. It was His unexpected plan from above.
Now His new Creation Explodes from the darkness of death, from the cold stone tomb. Like the Light on that first day, Jesus is alive and the darkness of death can't restrain Him. Christ is Risen! We were dead too, in our sins and trespasses, and doomed to remain in the darkness forever. This world around us has been crumbling for centuries. Others upon whom we base our security, our trust, bitterly disappoint us. Everyone lies. Even if we got clean somehow, we'd be here, and here is a ruined world. The longer you live, the more you know it. This world isn't going to get perfected. Anything powerful enough to force any improvement always becomes corrupted. We can't hope this world will ever be where a perfect person could live happily.
But then why is Willie smiling? Just the comparison between San Francisco and San Quentin? Just how much better Starbucks is to prison coffee? Or maybe he's a new man. He says prison did him good, though he didn't belong there. He's not complaining. He's a new man.
You could complain about the bum deals you've had dealt you. You could name names. You could gripe and blame and accuse. That's what the old creature does, that's about all he can do. But the new man, the resurrected man smiles. He isn't part of this world anymore. He's a new creation. It's his 8 th Day. No longer Friday, or even Saturday. It's the 8 th Day of your Creation and you are born anew, resurrected. The cross has had its way with your old life. You bear the scars, but with no bitterness. You at least deserved some of that, unlike Jesus. And His death wiped out your entire debt. You were in prison for your real crimes, but He has commuted your entire sentence. You're free. Don't turn back to accuse and blame. Before any resurrection there must be a crucifixion.
Your attitude, not your circumstances, make this a new day. You may still face adversity, opposition, injustice, the cruelty of others. That's going to happen until we die or kingdom come. But we are free. We live. This is no longer our world. Christ is Risen! He is Risen! And we are risen, new creatures, new people for a new creation we can't wait to see.
Jesus came, Jesus died, Jesus rose again. For “In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shone in the darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not… That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God… And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. ” John 1: 4-14 “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: therefore let us keep the feast, Not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” 1 Cor. v. 7. “He is risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” 1 Cor. xv. 20 We've been made alive, not to this world but to another. And we can only thank God for the resurrection of Jesus today. It's the 8 th Day of creation, and we are made new.
PFH+