Easter Sunday

(I apologize for formatting challenges, I am still trying how to copy these over accurately)

The Feast of the Resurrection of our Lord

Easter Morning,

Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (March 23, 2008)

One Year Series

“He has risen”

Readings: Psalm 118, verses 1 to 29, Job 19:23-27, 1 Corinthians 15:51-57, Mark 16:1-8

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 16^th chapter of St. Mark, especially the following verses.

As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. ⁶ “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN

He is Risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

An angel in a white robe sat at the tomb and proclaimed to the Mary the mother of Christ that “He has risen” and that “He is not here.”(v. 6) There that morning others stood beside Mary, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. And the first words that they hear as they approached the tomb are words which are often first said by the angels, “Do not be afraid.” Can you imagine Mary’s reaction at that very moment? For scripture tells us that over thirty years before this very moment Mary stood in a place and in a time when she, “was greatly troubled.” And so many year before, an Angel spoke to then her saying, “Do not be afraid, Mary.”(Luke 1:30) Now she and the others stood at the entrance of Christ’s tomb and were again told by an angel, “Do not be afraid...for He has risen.”

“HE HAS RISEN”

And so today as we rejoice in the fact that the tomb of Christ was indeed empty and knowing that we repeat the inspiring words of the angel of God, proclaiming “He has risen!” The number and names of those who walked to the tomb that morning may become the fodder of games of trivia, but we shall never forget that Christ is the one who rose from the dead that day. And listen again to the words from the Prophet Job, “Oh, that my words were recorded, that they were written on a scroll, that they were inscribed with an iron tool on lead, or engraved in rock forever! I know my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand on the earth.”(Job 19:23-24) Those ancient words of Job, “I know that my Redeemer lives” we sang just moments ago. Those words which were indeed written on scrolls and engraved in our hearts, yet they are even more than all that. For those words, “I know that my Redeemer lives” are words which were engraved on our very souls penned with the indelible ink of Jesus’ blood. His very blood which dripped from His body which hung from the cross is the same blood which is poured out into the cups from which we shall soon drink in the Holy Supper of our Lord.

Roman Soldiers at the crucifixion of Christ pierced His side with a spear and water poured forth. It is not a coincidence that it is water that is combined with God’s Word in our baptism which poured out upon us. And just like this very day, just moments ago, when the water was poured out upon the blessed child Mallory in her baptism, and indeed the water was poured out upon us too when we were baptized. And so all who have been baptized are dead to sin, we too have risen from the dead. For we too were buried in our sin, yet in the waters of baptism as St. Paul told us that, “We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” [Rom 6:4] We are risen from the dead, because He is risen, He is risen indeed.

We who have been made perishable by the sin of Adam and Eve, and in our own sin, will one day be raised from the dead, “We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed.” Amen, Amen, means yes, yes it shall be so.

But sadly and all too often, our hearts and minds are stuck in the things of this world, the things of the here and now. We have seen too many times the asterisk on the advertisement that points to the small confusing weasel wording at the bottom of the page. Words which tell us all that we have been told or we have heard are not really true. We are steeped in a world which warns us constantly that “Past performance may not be indicative of future results. Therefore, you should not assume that your future performance will be equal to or correspond to past performance levels.”

We convince ourselves that these things like Christ’s resurrection, like our baptism, like Holy Communion don’t really effect our lives. For we have all experienced too much pain and too much misery in paths which we have walked and in world we see before us. And so we trudge along seeking for something different. Something which appears to us to have some sort of substance. Something real. We ask questions which demand answers. Like... How can you possibly offer any type of comfort to a mother who has lost a child? He is Risen. How can you comfort a wife or husband who has lost their spouse? He is risen. How can you comfort the sick or the dying? He is risen. How can you console the walking wounded, the down-trodden, or some who is depressed by what this world has dealt them. He is risen.

Listen closely, the answer to all your concerns and cares are in those very words. No need to look for an asterisk, look instead at the words which have been spoken all too many times already in this sermon. Look to the words which you have already spoken yourself. He IS risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia.

Alleluia, that Christ IS risen. The resurrection is not a onetime event like when we look somewhere back in time, somewhere in the depths of our minds to fondly recall a special memory of a meal, or toy, or of special place. No these three days, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday, remind us Christ is much more than all of that. For He IS risen, and He promised to be “with us always, even to the very end of the age.”

How do we provide comfort and consolation to all the challenges of this world? The answer is we don’t, and we can’t, but Christ does. For before Christ is, we are perishable. But, because He is risen we, “the perishable have been clothed with the imperishable, and (we) the mortal with immortality, the saying that is written IS come true....‘Death has been swallowed up in victory’” “Where O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” HE IS RISEN!

“He lives to silence all my fears;

He lives to wipe away my tears;

He lives to calm my troubled heart;

He lives all blessings to impart.”(LSB 461:3)

He is Risen, to impart His blessings to us, not somewhere back in time. He gives us His blessing each and every day. He gives us our daily bread, He forgives us our trespasses, and by His death and resurrection He delivers us from the evil one. He gives us His blessings in the waters of our Holy baptism. We peer out in time with our worldly eyes we fondly see a baby like Mallorie being baptized, but there is so much more going on than just water and a family gathered around a baptismal font. For wherever God’s Word is there Christ is, wherever Christ is there His church is. And whenever a person is baptized always remember that all of heaven is rejoicing at that very moment, all the angels and the archangels and all the company of heaven are singing and rejoicing. There can be no more beautiful lullaby for a beautiful child than to have the angels rejoice over one so small as this baby Mallorie, or for you too when you were baptized.

Whether you came here this day out of desire to receive the gifts of Christ, or out of a family obligation, or whether it is of fond recollections of Easter’s passed by. Know that whatever your reasons for being here, Christ looked down from the cross and knew that He would be with you in this place on this very day.

Know also that on the cross Jesus Christ said, “It is finished,” Your sins have been forgiven, and for “He who believes and is baptized (they) will be saved.” And know that the risen Christ is here with you this very day in His true body and His true blood which renews and refreshes our faith. As St. Paul said, “For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”(1 Cor. 11:26)

He comes to you this very day, for He is Risen. He comes to you in your baptism, for He is Risen. He comes to you in the Holy Supper of our Lord, for He is Risen. Alleluiah means, “Praise ye the Lord,” and because of Christs death and resurrection you are given the promise of spending eternity doing just that, praising the Lord.! He is Risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluiah and Amen!

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

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