Easter Means You Can Focus On Christ
May 6, 2007
Part 4 of 2007 series “Easter Means …”
The Lord has risen!
Alleluia! He has risen indeed!
The sign in front of the Church reads:
Come In And Discover The Secret To New Life
Come In And Discover The Secret To New Life
Come in.
Discover.
New life.
The Lord has risen!
Alleluia! He has risen indeed!
That’s the message of Easter.
New life.
The amazing message of Easter is a message that life can be filled with hope – you can be forgiven – you can have a life of joy — especially when it is least expected.
Easter means you can be forgiven – you can have hope – you can have joy — and you can have new life – especially when it seems that forgiveness is impossible – life is hopeless – there can never again be any joy to your life — and a new life is only a dream.
Come In And Discover The Secret To New Life
Come in.
Discover.
New life.
That’s the message of Easter.
But – you know — sometimes it’s hard to believe that the message of Easter – the new life – the hope – the joy – the forgiveness – that Easter promises us – can be true.
There are times in our lives when it’s hard for us to believe the in the hope – the forgiveness – the joy – the new life Easter offers us.
There are times in our lives when it’s hard for us to believe that – because of the event of Easter — God is up to doing something that is new and marvelous in our lives.
There are times in our lives when it’s hard for us to believe that – because of the event of Easter — God is changing us — and our world — by the resurrection of Christ.
There are times in our lives when it’s hard for us to believe that – because of the event of Easter — our lives can be changed and made new.
There are times in our lives when it’s hard for us to believe the message of Easter – the message of hope – the message of forgiveness – the message of joy — especially when these things are least expected.
There may be times in your life when it’s hard for you to believe that Easter means you can be forgiven – you can have hope – you can have joy — and you can have new life – especially when it seems that forgiveness is impossible – life is hopeless – there is no chance for joy — and a new life is only a dream.
Life can have a way of hitting you hard sometimes.
Circumstances beyond your control can seemingly take away any hope for a new life of joy – hope – and forgiveness.
But – here’s the truth –
In the midst of your pain – in the midst of your feeling that joy –hope – and forgiveness will never again be realities for you – in the midst of the feeling that you will never again experience anything new in your life –
Or – I think that it would be better to say:
In spite of your pain –
in spite of your feelings that joy –hope – and forgiveness will never again be realities for you –
in spite of the feeling that you will never again experience anything new in your life –
the truth is:
The Lord has risen!
Alleluia! He has risen indeed!
Easter means you can be forgiven – you can have hope – you can have joy — and you can have new life – especially when it seems that forgiveness is impossible – life is hopeless – and a new life is only a dream.
Yea – the sign out front is right – even in your most painful and joyless times — because of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ – we can say to each other – we can say to the world – and I can say to you:
Come In And Discover The Secret To New Life
Come in.
Discover.
New life.
I’m glad that Easter is a Season – not just a day!
We need to take some time to look at the wonderful news that Christ has risen – and the implications of joy – forgiveness – and new life the resurrection can have for our lives.
We’ve been spending the last few weeks looking at the way the resurrection changed the lives of the first believers in Christ – and how it can change our lives, also. We’re going to continue that today.
The amazing — life changing — fact of Easter is that:
God can make your new.
God is up to doing something that is new and marvelous in your life.
The Apostle Paul knew what the resurrection meant – and the hope – joy – forgiveness – and new life he had because Christ had risen from the dead – and Paul spent the rest of his life declaring the amazing truth that Christ had risen and hope – joy – and forgiveness was possible — because Christ has risen.
So did a man by the name of Cleopas who – along with an unnamed friend – experienced the hope – joy – forgiveness – and new life they had because Christ had risen from the dead – and that experience set their hearts on fire for Christ.
Listen to God’s word – first in 1 Corinthians 15:11-20 – then in Luke 24:13-35: Read Scripture
The sign in front of the Church for the Easter season proclaims:
Come In And Discover The Secret To New Life
Come in.
Discover.
New life.
Easter means you can be forgiven – you can have hope – you can have joy — and you can have new life – especially when it seems that forgiveness is impossible – life is hopeless – there is no more joy in your life — and a new life is only a dream.
Easter means that – in spite of the painful times in your life — in spite of the times you may feel that joy –hope – and forgiveness will never again be realities for you – in spite of the times you may feel that you will never again experience anything new in your life –
the truth is – Christ is risen – and God is doing something new in your life – even when you least expect it!
Easter means that you can have a new focus for your life.
Easter means that you don’t have to focus on the things in your life that hurt you – the things of life that can hit you hard and that seem to take all the joy and excitement and reason for living out of you – the things in your life that seem to take away all hope for anything new ever happening in your life again. You don’t have to focus on these things – but – in spite of these things – and I the midst of these things — you can focus on Christ.
Easter means you can focus on Christ.
Easter means you can focus on Christ.
Don’t you think that Cleopas and his friend must have felt that the crucifixion of Christ had taken away all hope for joy and excitement from them – and even taken away all reason for living – as they walked to the town of Emmaus? They had hoped that Jesus was the Messiah – the Son of God – the one who would redeem Israel and lead them to salvation. They had pinned all hope and meaning for their lives on Him.
They had seen Him heal the sick – they had heard Him teach God’s ways – they had at least heard that He had raised Lazarus from the dead — even if they had not seen it.
But all that had changed.
Jesus had been crucified.
Jesus had died.
And their hope and joy and reason for living had died with Him.
As they walked along that evening to the town of Emmaus and talked about the terrible events that had occurred in Jerusalem that week – their despair and sadness must have been apparent.
Even as the resurrected Christ came to them – talked to them – and shared the truths about what scripture said with them – they did not realize that it was Jesus. All they could focus on was that their faith in Christ now seemed futile. It had no meaning for them any more. The events that had taken place in Jerusalem that week were so painful for them that they could not even entertain the thought that anything good or new or different could occur.
But then something happened.
They experienced the risen Christ.
Christ broke the bread at the table – and they realized that He was with them.
They realized that Christ had risen!
They realized that Christ had been with them as they had walked along and talked about the tragic events that had shaken their lives.
They realized that – in spite of the tragic events that had hit them so hard that week in Jerusalem – Jesus had risen!
They realized that they didn’t have to focus on the tragic events of their lives – but they could focus on Jesus – they could focus on the fact that – in spite of the painful times in their lives — in spite of the times they felt that joy –hope – and forgiveness would never again be realities for them – in spite of the times they may have felt that they would never again experience anything new in their lives –
the truth was – Christ had risen – and God was doing something new in their lives – even when they least expected it!
They realized that they no longer had to focus on the painful times of their lives – the times that seemed to take away all hope for joy and new life from them – but they could now focus on Christ – and the new life – new hope – new joy – and new opportunities for living Christ offered them – in spite of everything else that might happen in their lives.
They realized that Easter meant that they could focus on Christ.
They realized that the message of Easter was they could be forgiven – they could have hope – they could have joy — and they could have new life – especially when it seemed that forgiveness was impossible – life is hopeless – and a new life only a dream.
I’m sure that – if Cleopas and his friend were standing out on the road today in front of the Church – they would be proclaiming – along with the sign out front –
Come In And Discover The Secret To New Life
Come in.
Discover.
New life.
Cleopas and his friend learned that Easter meant that – instead of focusing on the hard and painful times of their lives – they could focus on Christ.
Easter Means You Can Focus on Christ
Easter Means You Can Focus on Christ
But — there are times in our lives when it’s hard for us to believe the in the hope – the forgiveness – the joy – the new life Easter offers us.
There are times in our lives when it’s hard for us to focus on Christ – and the hope – joy – and new life He gives us.
There are times in our lives when it’s hard for us to focus on Christ – and the fact that God is up to doing something that is new and marvelous in our lives.
There are times in our lives when it’s hard for us to focus on Christ and believe that – because of the event of Easter — God is changing us — and our world — by the resurrection of Christ.
There are times in our lives when it’s hard for us to believe that – because of the event of Easter — our lives can be changed and made new.
There are times in our lives when it’s hard for us to focus on Christ and believe the message of Easter – the message of hope – the message of forgiveness – the message of joy — especially when these things are least expected.
There may be times in your life when it’s hard for you to focus on Christ and believe that Easter means you can be forgiven – you can have hope – you can have joy — and you can have new life – especially when it seems that forgiveness is impossible – life is hopeless – there is no chance for joy — and a new life is only a dream.
There are so many times that life can have a way of hitting you hard.
Like Cleopas and his friend, you may have circumstances in your life that are beyond your control and that can seemingly take away any hope for a new life of joy – hope – and forgiveness from you.
But – here’s the truth –
In spite of your pain – in spite of your feelings that joy –hope – and forgiveness will never again be realities for you in spite of the feeling that you will never again experience anything new in your life the truth is that Jesus has risen – God is doing something new in your life – and you can focus on Christ instead of the pain and sorrow that seems to take your attention away from Christ.
The truth is that
Easter Means You Can Focus on Christ
Easter Means You Can Focus on Christ
Several weeks ago the world was shocked as over 33 students were killed at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, VA.
How could such a senseless tragedy have occurred? people asked.
The lives of many people were shattered by the pain and confusion of the murders – and the more they focused on the pain and confusion they more they felt hopeless and confused.
At the Memorial Service that was held several days after the murders, the poet Nikki Giovanni led those assembled in a chant of hope and determination that seemed to change the focus of the event for the campus – and for the world. They would not let themselves focus on hopelessness – but – as the chant went:
“We will prevail, we will prevail.
We are Virginia Tech.
We are Virginia Tech.
We are Virginia Tech.”
Great words of hope and inspiration.
But – even greater – is the fact that this chant seemed to change the focus for the students, and faculty at Virginia Tech – what has been called “the Virginia Tech family”. They were not going to focus on the fact that the tragedy occurred – but they were going to focus on rebuilding and hope.
Easter Means You Can Focus on Christ
Easter Means You Can Focus on Christ
As long as Cleopas and his friend focused on the things that had happened in Jerusalem – the death of Christ and the feeling of hopelessness it gave them – they could not see that Christ was with them as they walked along. But – when they began to focus on Christ – things changed – and they realized the hope and the joy that Christ gave them – in spite of the events in Jerusalem or any other event in their lives.
Easter Means You Can Focus on Christ
Easter Means You Can Focus on Christ
You know – if you live your life focusing on the things that happen to you and that hurt you – you will never find the joy and new life God wants you to have. But – if you focus on Christ – you will discover that – in spite of the things that hurt you and the hard, painful times of your life – God is with you.
You need have the right focus in your life if you want to really discover the life God wants you to live – with all it’s joy, all it’s hope, and all it’s newness.
Without the right focus, you can be like the story I once heard about the best horse jockey in the world. He had been hired to ride one owner’s horse to victory over the horse of his greatest rival. One race day, the horses of both owners were heading toward the finish line neck in neck, when suddenly, a third horse went down in front of them causing all of the horses to fall. Well, the best jockey in the world quickly regained his composure, remounted, and rode on to victory. Returning to the paddock, the best jockey in the world thought he had done a good job – but he found the owner who had hired him full of anger.
“What’s the matter?” the jockey asked, “I won, didn’t I?”
“Yes you won, but you still don’t know, do you?” the owner fumed.
“Know what?” the jockey asked.
“That you won the race riding on my rival’s horse – not mine!”
In all the confusion of the fall, the jockey had lost his focus – mounted the rival’s horse – and won the race.
If you don’t have the right focus in your life, it can be like riding the wrong horse to victory.
You might “win” – but you’ll still “lose”!
If you let yourself focus on the events of your life – especially the ones that are painful and that hurt you – the ones that can make you doubt God’s presence in your life or God’s love for you – the ones that can make you feel that there is no hope for any semblance of joy or any semblance for new life – you will never be able to experience the new life God offers you.
But – if you will let yourself focus on Christ, you’ll discover that – in spite of the painful, tragic, and hurtful times of your life, God is with you – offering a new sense of joy, a new sense of excitement, and a new sense of hope.
Easter Means You Can Focus on Christ
Easter Means You Can Focus on Christ
Is there something in your life you are focusing on that keeps you from focusing on Christ?
Is there something in your life you are focusing on that keeps you from focusing on the joy – the love – the new life – that the risen Christ offers you?
Maybe you have had a serious tragedy in your life – and you just can’t seem to get past it.
Maybe there is something going on in your life right now – an illness or a setback or something going on at work or in your family.
Is there something in your life you are focusing on that keeps you from focusing on the joy – the love – the new life – that the risen Christ offers you?
If you will let God, God will help you change your focus. God will help you take your focus off of the painful things and put your focus on to Christ.
The Holy Spirit can help you turn your focus away from the painful events of your life on to God’s promises for new life and new hope. Ask the Lord to help you be filled with the power of the risen Christ so you can consistently refocus your thoughts away from the negatives and on to God’s positive work in your life.
Easter Means You Can Focus on Christ
Easter Means You Can Focus on Christ
The inspiring words Nikki Giovanni lead those assembled after the Virigina Tech tragedy :
“We will prevail, we will prevail.
We are Virginia Tech.
We are Virginia Tech.
We are Virginia Tech.”
took their focus off of the pain and put it on hope.
The message of Easter – that in spite of the painful times in your life — in spite of the times you may feel that joy –hope – and forgiveness will never again be realities for you – in spite of the times you may feel that you will never again experience anything new in your life –
the truth that Christ is risen – and God is doing something new in your life – even when you least expect it –
can take your focus off of the pain and hopelessness you may feel and put it on Christ.
Easter Means You Can Focus on Christ
Easter Means You Can Focus on Christ
To paraphrase Nikki Giovanni,
We will prevail
We will prevail
Christ has risen!
We are Christians!
We are Christians!
Yea – that’s the secret to new life!
We will prevail
We will prevail
Christ has risen!
We are Christians!
We are Christians!
Easter indeed means you can focus on Christ.
Easter means you can focus on Christ.
Amen.
