Revelation 5:11-14, Acts 9:1-20

Revelation 5:11-14

Acts 9:1-20

A New Way

April 18, 2010

Easter 3

Wow!

Can you imagine how confused Saul must have been?

He thought he had God all figured out!

He thought he knew what it meant to serve God!

He thought he knew what God wanted him to do.

He was a Jew – and not just a Jew but a leader of the Jews. He was from a well to do family and raised in the strictest of Jewish households.  As a young man he had studied the law under Gamaliel – something akin to going to Harvard or Princeton or Oxford Law Schools in his day – for Gamaliel was the best teacher of the law that there was.

Saul had risen in the ranks of Jewish leaders and was now a Pharisee – and not just a Pharisee but one of the leading Pharisees.

If you asked him any question about the law he could give you an answer.

If you asked him anything about God or how God wanted people to live or what God wanted people to do he could give you an answer.

Yea – he thought he had God and religion and serving God all figured out.

And not only did he think he had it all figured out – he thought he was living the way God wanted him to live.

Surely God disapproved of this radical teacher – this Jesus – who had claimed to be God’s Son and reached out to folks like sinners and Gentiles!

Surely God wanted him and others to kill anyone who held to Jesus’ teachings – just like they had killed Jesus!

Surely God would reward him for approving of the stoning of one of Jesus’ followers named Stephen – and would now reward him for going to Damascus to arrest and bring to trial anyone who followed Jesus’ teachings!

But now everything was changed.

Everything was different.

Now he was rolling on the ground – blinded by a bright light – and hearing a voice asking him:

“Why do you persecute me?”

“What?” he must have thought —

“What do you mean – Lord?”

“Why do you persecute me?” – “Lord – I’m not persecuting you – I’m serving you – aren’t I?”

Then the thought may have flashed through Saul’s mind – just as the blinding light had flashed before his eyes just moments before –

What if I’m wrong about who God is and what God wants me to do and how God wants me to live?

What if I’m wrong about God wanting me to persecute the followers of Jesus?

What if I’m wrong about who God is – and what God wants me to do?

And he cried out:

“Who are you – Lord?

I thought I knew – but maybe I was wrong.

Who are you?

If you don’t want me to be doing what I’m doing — what do you want me to do?”

Wow!

Saul must have been very confused indeed – but God was about to show him a new way to live – new things to do – and even new things to believe. God was about to show Saul a way that was more in line with God’s will – and a way that won people for Christ instead of killed people who believed in Christ.

God was about to show Saul a new way – and it changed his life – and changed the lives of so many others – and is still changing lives today!

As God told Annanias later – Saul was going to go from persecuting the believers in Christ to making believers for Christ.

God called Saul to try something new to win others for Christ.

Uncle Roy was a devout church member.

He had been raised in New Hope Baptist Church and was a devout member.  He had been baptized as a young boy in the river and given his life to following God.  He had learned his Bible verses in Sunday School and had row of perfect attendance pins he proudly wore on his jacket every Sunday.  He now taught Sunday School and worked with the teenage boys class – and he was a devoted Deacon.

The folks in the Church liked Uncle Roy. He was one of the ones you could count on to do whatever needed to be done.  He attended every service and sang the old hymns with gusto and enthusiasm – and would sit and listen as the preacher preached on and on about the evils of the world and the glories of following God.

“Amen, brother” he would say.

But – he would find himself thinking – “if only more people were here to hear this great message!”

You see – Uncle Roy knew what everybody knew – but were afraid to talk about.

It seemed that the new folks in the area and the young folks had no interest in church – at least not churches like New Hope.  Yea – there was that large church down the road that brought in a lot of people – particularly the younger ones – but it seemed to be catering to what they wanted and even had a contemporary worship service with music that sounded more like what you heard on the radio than what you should hear in Church!

Or – at least – that’s what Uncle Roy and others like him thought.

Some had suggested that New Hope try some of these new things the larger church down the road was doing and try to reach out to the young people – or at least that members of New Hope go and visit them. Uncle Roy and others had nixed that plan before it got very far, though.

There was no way their church was going to change what it was doing! They argued that these churches like the one down the road were diluting the Gospel and pandering to what the people wanted instead of sticking with what God wanted.

Uncle Roy and others were sure they knew what God wanted them to be doing and how God wanted them to worship – and nothing you could say or do was going to change their minds.

But – as he locked the doors and turned off the lights after worship or prayer meeting – he found himself wondering if there was any future for the Church. He had heard some folks laugh and suggest they change the name of the Church from New Hope Baptist to No Hope Baptist – and even though he would get mad every time someone said that – deep in his heart he wondered.

One night he locked the doors of New Hope and started home – and passed the larger church.  He saw that the parking lot was full. They were starting their service — and Uncle Roy decided to go in and see what was going on.  As he sat through the music and shook his head at how inappropriate it was – he began to listen. There were some words he actually understood – words like “Jesus” and “God” – and the folks seemed to truly be worshipping – not just going through the motions. And – when it came time for folks to tell what God had done in their lives that week – Uncle Roy was surprised to hear folks tell compelling stories of how God was making a difference in their lives.  He had not heard these kinds of stories from members of New Hope in a long time.

As he left that night, he began to think –

“Lord – could I be wrong?”

“Could it that you are using the things this church is doing to make a difference in people’s lives?”

“Could it be that our Church needs to try new things to win people for You?”

“Could it be that New Hope needs to try a new way – a way that may bring more people to You?”

“Is it time for us to try a new way?”

God was calling Uncle Roy to try something new to win others for Christ.

Easter is a season for us to celebrate the new life Christ gives us.

It is a season for us to celebrate how Christ can change our lives and make a difference in our lives. It is also a season for us to celebrate how we can show Christ to others and work to tell others about Christ.

Listen again to the passage from Revelation we looked at a few minutes ago where “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth” are singing:

“To Him who sits on the throne and to the lamb

be praise and honor and glory and power

forever and ever”

How true that is!

Praise and honor and glory and power belong to Christ – but what do you think it means to give Jesus the praise and honor and glory and power He deserves?

What does that mean?

I believe that one thing it means is to follow Him – even if following Him means giving up some of our ideas and some of the ways we do things so we can adopt different ideas and do things in new ways – and in the process help more people come to know Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Don’t get me wrong — I don’t believe in changing or doing something different just for the sake of change or just for the sake of being different – but I do believe that we can consider how we might change what we are doing – how we might try different things – so we can reach more people for Christ.

The story in Acts 9 may not be so much a story of conversion as a story of change – a story of Saul changing from thinking one way about what it means to serve God to another way of thinking about what it means to  serve God.  It’s not that Saul did not believe in God – it’s that he misunderstood what it meant to be faithful to God – and misunderstood what it meant to follow God.

Like Uncle Roy, God may have wanted Saul to find a new way live and a new way to serve Him – a way that may have included a completely different attitude and a completely different way of reaching out to others with God’s love.

God may have wanted Saul to discover an attitude that was more open to reaching out to others.

God may have wanted Saul to discover an attitude that that looked for new ways to show others God’s love.

God may have wanted Saul to discover a passion for finding new ways to bring others to Him.

Friends — what about us?

As I read this Acts 9 passage and the more I thought about it and prayed about it this week,  I started thinking:

Is God calling us try new ways to serve Him?

Is God wanting us to consider new ways to reach others for Him?

Is God wanting us to consider new ways to reach people who might not ever come to know Him if we just keep doing what we are doing?

Are we like Saul – or like Uncle Roy – refusing to accept new ways to do things or new ways to show God’s love to others?

Do we stifle new ideas instead of encouraging them – even though they may be what God wants us to do to serve Him and bring others to know Him?

These are indeed questions we might want to consider!

I read a story not long ago about a Church that was similar to the one Uncle Roy belonged to. It was a typical, traditional, Baptist Church – but like many typical, traditional churches it was having a hard time keeping the doors opened.  The attendance on Sunday morning was not what it had been “in days gone by” – and attendance at the Sunday night service was down to about 15 faithful folks.

Where is everybody? the members asked.

Where are the young people and the young adults?

Certainly not at church!

Well, instead of just sitting back and watching their Church die – and worse the folks in the community not know about Christ – they decided to find out where the folks were on Sunday night. They discovered that the skating rink was full on Sunday nights – so they decided to try something different.  They approached the owner of the rink and asked him if they could have a special skating time for an hour on Sundays nights. Folks could come and skate – but the Church would provide the music – some contemporary Christian music — and the minister would have a message about what Jesus could do for your life.  The owner of the skating rink agreed – and the Church began holding this community outreach service on Sunday nights that attracted over 100 instead of the service at the Church that brought in about 15.  Before long people were making professions of faith at these services and lives were being changed in powerful ways. All this happened because this Church was willing to try something new – try a new thing – to bring others to Christ.

You know — God had to do something dramatic to get Saul’s attention and change his attitude.  He had to literally knock him to the ground to show him that he needed to look for new ways to reach people for Him and serve Him.

I wonder — what is God going to have to do to get our attention?

Saul developed a passion for bringing others to know Christ – even if it meant doing things  he may have never thought of doing or may have never considered to be a part of what it meant to serve Christ – but these new things worked – and these new ways he tried brought others to Christ.

Friends – we can look for new ways to do things!

Let’s look for new ways to serve God – and have a passion for trying anything and everything we can to bring others to knowing Christ.  Amen.

Revelation 1:4-8, John 20:19-31

Revelation 1:4-8

John 20:19-31

Something You Can Believe In

Easter 2

April 11, 2010

The Lord has risen!

He has risen indeed!

As Christians, we confess that Christ has risen.  We believe that He has risen and lives in our hearts — but we also believe that He has truly and physically risen.

We confess that the tomb of Christ is empty.

We confess that the power of death has been broken – broken for Jesus and broken for us.

We also confess that Jesus is at work in the world through us and changes the world through what we say and do as we reach out to others in His name and with His love.

But – does our confession of the resurrection of Christ change us and really make a difference in how we live?

Does our belief in the risen Christ – and our belief that Christ is at work in the world and changing the world through what we say and do – really make a difference in how we live?

Does our belief in the risen Christ change how we live – and does it give us something to believe in – especially at those times in our lives when situations try to  rob us of hope and take away everything we thought was secure?

We all need something in our lives that we can believe in – something that we can have faith in.

Friends — we can believe in and have faith in the risen Christ.

We can believe in and have faith in the fact that He is active and is making a difference in the world through us.

We can let the risen Christ change us and take the change He is making in us into the world as we proclaim in word and deed that He has risen – that our lives have been changed – and the world can be changed – because Christ has risen.

The resurrection of Christ and His power in our lives and our world is indeed something we can believe in.

In our Gospel text for today – the story immediately following John’s version of the Resurrection of Christ – the disciples were looking for something to believe in – some sure sign of hope – something they could trust and have faith in.

Can’t you imagine how the disciples felt that first Easter night?

One by one they may have crept back to the upper room where they’d last eaten together with Jesus only 3 nights before. The aroma of Passover lamb and bitter herbs may have still lingered in the air.

They must have been a sorry, scared, and pitiful lot.

Some women may have been weeping in one corner.\

Mary may have stared down at her own hands and shuddered – wishing she’d held on to Him that morning — despite what He’d said.

Peter and John may have been sitting back from the others, lost in their thoughts.  Along with Mary, they’d been the first to go out that morning – and they had been the first to run back — incoherent with shock and grief and hope and a crazed rant about an empty tomb.  No one had believed them of course.  They hardly believed it themselves.

Others may have crouched by the wall near the locked door – flinching at every sound on the stairs outside.  It was not unheard of for a condemned man’s followers to be rounded up and executed also. The Romans were efficient at that sort of thing.

Maybe one whispered: “We can’t stay here — this is the first place they’ll look!”

Peter may have thought of the sword he’d struck one of the Roman soldiers with – then the fact he had denied Christ 3 times!

Others may have sat under the window and shuttered every time a sound came from the street below.

All of them probably sat in silence, unwilling to give voice yet to just how angry and deserted and ashamed they each felt.  They had loved Him.  They had trusted Him. But now – even though Mary told a wild tale of seeing Him and Peter and John a wild tale of an empty tomb – they could not bring themselves to believe that He had risen.

Some were missing from the room.

Judas had betrayed Jesus – and they had heard that he had hung himself.

Thomas was gone also.  Maybe he was seeking out the news in the streets –– were they being accused of robbing his body from the grave?  Were the gates being watched?  Had the two from Emmaus gotten through or were they already being held and questioned?

Then – a gentle breeze ruffled the air.  Suddenly the one they all were thinking of was standing in the room before them.

“Shalom,” He said — which means, “Peace be with you.”

He didn’t say: “Where were you?” or “How could you abandon me just when I need you most?” but He said: “Peace be with you.  Peace be with you.”

He said, “The work our Father gave me I now give to you.  Go out among my people.  What you forgive will be forgiven.  What you do not forgive will stay unforgiven.”

He said, “Don’t be afraid.  I’m not sending you out alone.  I’m coming with you.”

And He breathed on them all and they were filled with wonder and inarticulate joy — and the He disappeared — and maybe that’s when Thomas knocked on the door.

Maybe Thomas felt that he was stepping into a room in chaos.  The men shouting and the women wailing and everyone’s arms waving – some of them might have even snatched at his sleeve to snatch at his attention.

“Silence!” he may have shouted — then he may have shouted “You’re mad!” – and he may have added  ”You’re as mad as the women this morning!” and flung himself into the far corner to stare at the others in amazement.

Thomas had been a faithful follower of Jesus – in fact he had been one of the first to follow Him.  He’d been ready to lay down his life for Him.  He was faithful — he just wasn’t fanciful. He wasn’t going to pretend to believe in something just because he wished it were so.  He shook his head. They needed to get on with their lives if they were going to survive this — not open their wounds all over again with hysteria.

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” he may have whispered.

He may have desperately wanted something to believe in – but this wild tale of Jesus being raised from the dead was just too much for him to believe.

Well, a week passed.

The room was silent and airless.  They still huddled in fear behind the locked door.  Thomas may have now been thinking that it was a pity that what the others  had said was true a week ago so obviously wasn’t.  None of them had begun to do the work they claimed their Lord had given them to do.  None of them had gone outside to heal or to preach or even to feed a hungry child.  None of them stood straight and tall and confident like they really believed what they said they’d seen.  They looked the same sorry, scared and pitiful lot they’d been a week ago.

Thomas may have sighed.

But then – a gentle breeze may have ruffled the air – just as it had a week ago — and suddenly Jesus was again standing in the room before them – and this time Thomas was there!

“Shalom,” He said, “peace be with you.  Thomas.”

“Touch my side.  My hands.  This is what death feels like.  But Thomas, now feel life.”

But instead of touching Him, Thomas fell to his knees, and whispered, “My Lord and my God.”  And Jesus laid his hands upon him and said, “Friend, friend, do you only believe what you experience through your eyes?  How much happier are those who believe what they experience through my spirit.”

Then Thomas knew that Jesus had risen – and that he indeed had that something to believe in he so desperately needed.

The experience with the risen Christ changed the lives of Thomas the rest of the disciples. It gave them something to believe in when they desperately needed it. – something to believe in and hope in when it seemed that all hope was gone.

Their experience of the risen Christ – and their belief in the risen Christ – changed their lives – and with the power of the risen Christ they set out to change the world.

The fact that Christ had risen was something they could believe in and have faith in. Once they saw the risen Christ and believed that Jesus was at work in the world through them and that Jesus was making a difference in the world through them their lives were changed – and the world was changed.

You know — we all are like the disciples.

We all need something in our lives that we can believe in – something that we can have faith in – something that can help us keep going when the situations in our lives might dictate to us to just give up.

We all look for something to believe in when our lives seem to become much too difficult for us to handle – something to hope for when our lives seem to be hopeless.

We need something to believe in and hope for when we lose our jobs – because we know that it could happen to us at any time.

We need something to believe in and hope for when we become sick – or are diagnosed with cancer – or a loved one has a serious illness or dies.

We need something to believe in when we seem to be “swimming in debt” and don’t know how we are going to pay off all we owe.

We need something that will assure us that God is with us and we can have hope when our lives seem to be hopeless – because there are times when the situations in our lives don’t seem to give us much to hope for.

And – whether you realize it or not – others in the community are looking for something to believe in also – and might be looking at us and how we handle the times in our lives when things look hopeless to see if we or the Church has anything to offer them when they need something to believe in.

They might be looking for something they can believe in – something that they can have faith in – something that can help them keep going when the situations in their lives might dictate to them to just give up.

They might be looking for something to believe in when their lives seem to become much too difficult for them to handle – something to hope for when their lives seem to be hopeless.

They might be looking for something to believe in when they lose their jobs –or when they become sick – or are diagnosed with cancer – or a loved one has a serious illness or dies.

They might be looking for something to believe in when they seem to be “swimming in debt” and don’t know how they are going to pay off all they owe.

They might be looking for something that will assure them that God is with them and they can have hope when their lives seem to be hopeless.

Friends – it was the risen Christ and the power of the new life He gives that changed the lives of the disciples and gave them something to hope for and believe in.

It is the risen Christ and the power of the new life He gives us that can change our lives and give us something to believe in.

It is the risen Christ and the power of the new life He offers that can change the lives of those around us and give them something to believe in.

You can believe in the power of the risen Christ — experience it for yourself — and share it with others.

You can believe in the power of the risen Christ and let it change your life – and let it give you something you can believe in and hope for when your life seems to be hopeless. Then, you can share your hope and the difference Christ makes in your life with others – and help Christ make a difference in their lives.

Before the disciples really experienced the risen Christ and His power in their lives they let the situations in their lives fill them with despair.  After they experienced the risen Christ they were brave followers of Christ and worked to change the world with His power and love. That group that was huddling behind closed doors on Easter night and even a week after Easter was changed by their experience with the risen Christ. Once they experienced the risen Christ  the disciples became brave followers and brave witnesses to the world of the power of Christ – and did not let any threats against them stop them from witnessing about Christ or believing in His power in their lives.

Have you ever heard how the disciples died?

The Bible doesn’t really tell us about how most of them died – but legends have grown around the deaths of each of them.

The only apostle whose death the Bible records is James – who in Acts 12 King Herod has “put to death with the sword,” likely a reference to beheading.

Legend tells us that Matthew suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia, killed by a sword wound.

Legend has it that John faced martyrdom when he was boiled in a huge basin of boiling oil during a wave of persecution in Rome but was miraculously delivered from death then sentenced to the island of Patmos where he wrote his book of Revelation on Patmos. He was later freed and returned to what is now modern-day Turkey and died as an old man, the only apostle to die peacefully.

James, the brother of Jesus, who was not officially a disciple, was the leader of the church in Jerusalem after Jesus’ resurrection. Legend has it that he was thrown from the southeast pinnacle of the temple (over a hundred feet down) when he refused to deny his faith in Christ. When they discovered that he survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a club.

Legend has it that Bartholomew, also known as Nathanael, was a missionary to Asia and witnessed in present-day Turkey – and was finally killed for his preaching.

Andrew, legend has it, was crucified on an x-shaped cross in Greece.

Thomas, legend has it, was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips to establish the church there.

Legend has it that Matthias, the apostle chosen to replace the Judas, was stoned and then beheaded.

Peter, according to legend, was allowed to be crucified upside down because he refused to be crucified in the same manner Christ was.

The group of scared individuals became brave followers of Christ when they experienced the risen Lord. Their experience with the risen Lord gave them something they could believe in and hope for when their lives seemed to be hopeless – and gave them a message of hope that they proclaimed for the rest of their lives.

It is the risen Christ and the power of the new life He gives us that can change our lives and give us something to believe in.

But – you might ask – what it the best way for me to truly experience the risen Christ and the hope He offers?

The only way to experience the risen Christ and the hope He offers is to take Him at His word and believe Him. We can’t see the risen Lord as Thomas and the others did, but we can still believe Him.  We can take Him at His word and let Him change our lives so that we can have the hope and faith we need when the situations in our lives seem to lead us to hopelessness and despair. We can ask Him to be our Lord and Savior and ask Him to change our lives so we can be bold witnesses to Him and the hope He gives us.

The only way to experience the risen Christ and the hope we can believe in when we need it the most in our lives is by taking Him at His word and remembering His hope for our lives when the situations in our lives might dive us to hopelessness and despair.

The only way to experience the new life of hope the risen Christ offers is to live it. The only way for Christ to change you is for you to let Him change you. The only way to know the promises of Christ in your life is for you to take Him up on that promise and let Him show you His hope that you can believe in when situations in your life might try to dictate that everything is hopeless.

Active involvement in the work of Christ in the world is the best way I know of to find the hope Christ offers you for your life. Being actively involved in the worship, study, fellowship, and work of the Church is the best way to discover the new life and hope Christ offers.

Active involvement in the work of the Christ and living the life Christ calls you to live is also the best way to let others know the hope the risen Christ offers you and offers them.

John Chrysostom – one of the early Church leaders – once wrote:

“Let us astound them by our way of life.  This is the unanswerable argument.  Though we give 10,000 precepts in words, if we do not exhibit a far better life, we gain nothing.  It is not what is said that draws their attention, but what we do.  Let us win them therefore by our life.”

The resurrection of Christ and His power in our lives and our world is indeed something you can believe in.  When you find the situations in our life try to fill you with doubt and despair, you can let the risen Christ fill you with hope and faith. Like Thomas and the other disciples you can experience the life changing hope of the risen Christ by being involved in His work in the world — and you can share His life changing, hope-filled love with others.

We all need something in our lives that we can believe in – something that we can have faith in – something that can help us keep going when the situations in our lives might dictate to us to just give up.

It is indeed the life changing love of Christ that gives us something – in fact the only thing – we can truly believe in and share with others.  Amen.

Sermon: Isaiah 65:17-25, 1 Corinthians 15:19-26, John 20:1-18

Isaiah 65:17-25

1 Corinthians 15:19-26

John 20:1-18

The Greatest Despair And The Greatest Hope

Easter Communion Meditation

April 4, 2010

Easter is the most joyous day we have in the Church as we celebrate the resurrection of Christ and what it means for our lives.

You can tell the joy of Easter as we sing joyous hymns, partake of the Sacrament of Communion, and today have rejoiced as 4 of our young people have publically made their profession of faith and joined the Church.  All these tings add to our joy as we celebrate the resurrection of Christ.

Don’t you wish that every day could be as joyous as Easter?

That would be great – wouldn’t it?

But – there are things in our lives that distress us and bother us – things in our lives that worry us and upset us.  Many days are filled with worry and stress instead of joy and celebration. But—the beauty of Easter is that – even when we have great despair – we can also have great hope.

Even when we have the greatest of despair – we can also have the greatest hope – because of the promise of Easter.

Our Gospel passage tells the story of Mary – and how the first Easter moved her from the greatest despair she had ever known to the greatest joy she had ever known.

Let’s take a look at Mary’s story.

What a terrible morning the first day of the week was for her!

The disciples had spent the weekend in hiding.

Jesus was dead!  His movement was discredited!  Mary and the rest of Jesus’ disciples must have felt that there was no hope!

Mary could not sleep.

The cross had shattered her world!  Jesus had meant everything to her, and now he was dead.  She had spent the weekend grieving.  She more than likely looked terrible and felt worse!

The sun had not even begun to rise on that first day of a new week, but she was awake.   She figured she might as well get up – maybe she would visit the tomb.  She could not help Jesus now, but she could honor his memory.  She opened the door and stepped outside. People still slept in their houses as Mary made her way through the darkness to the tomb.

When Mary reached the tomb, she was startled to see that the soldiers were gone.  The stone that had blocked the entrance to the tomb sat off to the side and Jesus’ body was gone!

What had happened?  She could not imagine – and ran to get help.

She found two of Jesus’ disciples — Peter and John.

“They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,” she cried.  “We do not know where they have laid him.”

Peter and John raced to the tomb to see what had happened – and saw Jesus’ grave clothes lying where his body had been.  The clothes lay undisturbed, as if left behind by a person who had just vanished.

Peter and John did not know what else to do and returned to their homes — but Mary remained at the tomb and wept.

She didn’t know where to go or what to do.  She didn’t understand what was happening.

A man came and asked Mary who she was looking for.  Through her tears, she cried,

“Sir, if you have carried him away,

tell me where you have laid him,

and I will take him away.”

Then the man called her by name –– “Mary!”

That voice!

Even through the sound of her own sobbing, Mary recognized that voice.

It was Jesus!  It was Jesus!

She turned and spoke to him.

They talked.

It really was Jesus!

There really was a resurrection!

There really was hope!

Even in her greatest of despair – she realised that she could have the greatest joy and hope – because of the promise of Easter.

You know — we might wonder about such a story.

That first Easter took place over two thousand years ago.

Did it really happen, or was Easter simply a fanciful story invented to make grieving disciples feel better?

Did it really happen?

And – more importantly — does it have anything to do with us today?

What difference does Easter make in our lives?

Well, first, we must answer the question: “Is Easter true?

Was Easter invented just to make the disciples feel better?”

The disciples themselves provide the answer to that question.  The best evidence we have of Jesus’ resurrection is the behavior of the disciples after they saw the risen Christ.

The disciples had gone into hiding.  Most of them had not been present at the crucifixion.  They had been afraid.  They had locked the door of their hiding place for fear of the authorities.   Then, after the resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples.  They saw him with their own eyes – and when the disciples saw the risen Christ, their lives were transformed.

Let me say that once again –– when the disciples saw Jesus, their lives were transformed.

They were no longer afraid, but became quite bold.

A few weeks later, at Pentecost, they set up their soap boxes in Jerusalem –– right under the noses of their enemies ––the very folks they had hidden from when Jesus  was arrested and crucified — and they began fearlessly to preach the gospel of the risen Christ. Having seen the risen Christ, they were no longer afraid! The authorities arrested the disciples and put them in prison, but the disciples continued to preach –– fearlessly! They preached to their jailers and sang hymns of praise to God while in their cells.

After seeing the risen Christ, the disciples were no longer afraid.  They quit hiding behind closed doors and started putting their lives on the line day after day in behalf of their risen Lord.

For me, that is one of the most powerful evidences of the truth of the resurrection.  If those disciples had not seen the risen Christ, there would be no disciples today.  If they had not seen the risen Christ, there would be no church today.

The results speak for themselves.

The church spread rapidly, and survived every attempt to kill it.  The church has survived persecution from then until now.  The witness of the first disciples started a revolution which continues to this day.

Arthur John Gossip put it this way:

“It was Christ’s resurrection that made the Christian church,  that transformed a huddle

of dispirited and frightened disciples into that valiant band ready to dare anything.”

I believe that the witness of these first disciples –– and the witness of disciples through the ages –– speaks powerfully of the truth of the resurrection.

But – what does Easter have to do with us?

The answer has to do with the fact that Easter was God’s answer to Good Friday.

Good Friday, of course, was the day that they killed Jesus – the day of greatest despair for Mary and the rest of Jesus’ followers.

Easter is important to us because we all have our Good Fridays.

We all have days of great despair.

We all have days when the devil seems to be winning.

We all have days when the sun does not shine –– when it seems that hope is gone –– when we cannot see the way out of our troubles and problems and pains.  We all have days when grief pushes us to the edge. We all have days when we want to give up.  We all have days when we just want to go into hiding – close the door and lock it from the inside, just as the disciples closed and locked the door of the Upper Room.

But – the joy of Easter is that –when we feel the greatest pain and greatest despair – we can have hope – in fact the greatest hope – because God gives us hope and life through the event of Easter – the resurrection of Christ.

When we have the times of our greatest despair, we can rely on God and find our times of greatest hope. Even when we have the greatest of despair – we can also have the greatest hope – because of the promise of Easter.

That’s the hope – joy – and meaning of Easter.

I read a story some time ago in the June 1995 issue of Guidepost magazine that I would like to share with you.  It was the story of a woman caught up in her own Good Friday experience—her time of greatest despair and sorrow — that cut the foundation from beneath her life.  Her son had been killed in an automobile accident, and grief descended on her like the grief that overcame those first disciples when Jesus died.

A year later, still burdened by her grief, she saw that it was a nice fall day.  Before her son was killed, she had bought some jonquil bulbs to plant in your yard –– but then her son was killed, and she forgot about the bulbs — but now it was a year later, and she happened across those bulbs, and thought  it might brighten her spirits to get out in the sunshine and plant them. She proceeded to do just that.  She dug a hole in the ground and planted a bulb.  Then she dug another hole and planted another bulb. But then the bulb in her hand crumbled, and she found herself with a handful of dust.  “Dead!” she cried.  Her bulbs, having spent a year in storage, had died and were no longer good for anything.  Angry, she crushed the remaining bulbs and threw the dust into the wind. Well,

winter came and went.  Springtime came.  Then one morning the woman looked through the window –– and there she saw a field of yellow jonquils.  The bulbs that she had thought dead had come to life under the winter snow, and were now brightening her yard –– and her spirits.  She ended her story writing:

I stood still before this unexpected garden. And clearly, as if spoken aloud, I heard the promise: I am the resurrection and the life:

he that believeth in me,

though he were dead yet shall he live.

Now, each spring when the jonquils bloom, I remember,  and I answer, “Yes, Lord, I believe.”

This Easter, I would like for you to remember Jesus’ resurrection –– and the transformation that came over the disciples once they had seen the risen Christ.

My prayer for you this Easter is that God might fill your life with the brightness of his beauty –– and that every one of your Good Fridays – every one of your times of greatest despair — will be followed by His Easter – and the time of greatest hope.  Amen.