“YOU CAN TRUST THE GOSPEL”

I Corinthians 15:1-11                                                                                    Easter Sunday, April 16, 2006

“Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received in which also you stand, through which also you are being saved, if you hold

firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain.  For I handed on to you as of first important what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.”

GRACE TO YOU AND PEACE FROM OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST—HE IS RISEN. AMEN.

It’s no surprise to anyone—Easter is on Sunday this year!  What should be a surprise-if you know your Bible at all, you know that next week, and every week through the next year, we gather for our worship on Sunday, not on Saturday.  If you know something about God’s command in the Old Testament, it may surprise you a little that Bible believing people throughout the world set aside a clear commandment of God.  And we meet on the first day of the week, instead of the seventh day of the week.

That should give us some hint as to the value, the important, the emphasis, that the early Church placed on this event, the resurrection of Christ, which we celebrate today.  They set aside a clear commandment of God, in order that they would NEVER forget that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead and NEVER forget that Jesus is Lord.  So that we NEVER forget that we can trust and believe the Gospel (the Good News) of Jesus Christ crucified and risen from the dead.  Believing and trusting the Gospel—that’s what this festival Sunday is all about! 

It’s possible to miss that!  You can miss that by oversleeping every year on Easter.  You can miss it, even if you come to this festival Sunday.  All you have to do is disassociate this day from last Sunday.  What was last Sunday?  It was Palm Sunday/Passion Sunday when Jesus came riding into the city of Jerusalem on a colt and the people shouted, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord”.  Or you can miss the message if you disassociate it from this past Thursday.

What was last Thursday?  It was Maundy Thursday when Jesus took the towel and basin to wash the disciple’s feet and gave a New Commandment.  “Love one another as I have loved you.” And you can miss it if you disassociate it from this past Friday which was Good Friday.  On that day we remember that the love of God was crucified for my sins, your sins, and the sins of all the world.  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.”

If you missed those three days or filled  them with stuff and pretended that nothing was happening, then today may possibly be nothing more than some vague, stirring of Spring. It becomes a day of bunnies, chickies, duckies, finery, buds, lilies, dinner out and more.  Those are all fun and wonderful things.  Enjoyable!  Family celebrations!  But, they are NOT the message of Easter.  And, they are NOT the Good News of Jesus. They are NOT the Gospel.  Most importantly, they do not –bring any sense of hope for a new life, a changed life, or a forgiven life.

We can miss the festival by doing what we all do so many times when we simply center this day on ourselves instead of on Jesus Christ.  When we do that, death still has power over us.  When we center only on ME, the focus gets fuzzy and we get hung up on “What shall I wear, what shall I eat today, how shall I spend the day, and will I be happy today and tomorrow?” 

The Apostle Paul wrote: “IF FOR THIS LIFE ONLY WE HAVE HOPED IN CHRIST, WE ARE OF ALL PEOPLE MOST TO BE PITIED.  BUT IN FACT, CHRIST HAS BEEN RAISED FROM THE DEAD, THE FIRST FRUITS OF THOSE WHO HAVE DIED.  SO ALL WILL BE MADE ALIVE IN CHRIST.”   That is so important as you remember that death no longer has power over us.  As we remember those saints who have died from this family of faith and we recall that death no longer has the power.

The message of this day is certainly, most certainly for you, for me, and for the world.  It is most certainly to make a difference in our lives so that while we don’t necessarily see a different world, we do see the world differently world.  The resurrection, the Easter Gospel, is “bigger than life.”  It calls forth from us a conviction of such assurance for the future beyond this life that we are free to live our daily lives with vigor and vitality, hope and humility, and a vision that cares deeply for this world.  Which makes us unafraid of not only being known as Children of God, but causes us to live as though we ARE Children of God.

Whether we realize it or not, Easter can be the most joyous festival and at the same time be the scariest one we have.  It’s the most greatly attended festival but could be the scariest. Why would I say that?   Because on this day, God says for all eternity, that Jesus’ way of living, being, and dying, is what being a real person is all about.  This is what it means to be truly alive.  The prophet they got rid of on Good Friday has become the model of all of life.  Good Friday is really NO surprise, is it?

What will happen to someone who says---“NEVER REPAY EVIL WITH EVIL!”

What could happen to someone who says---“RESIST NOT EVIL!”

What could happen to someone who says---“FORGIVE SEVENTY TIMES SEVEN!”

What could happen to someone who says---“IF THEY STRIKE YOU ON ONE CHEEK, TURN

              TO THEM THE OTHER!”

What might happen to someone who says---“NO ONE CAN SERVE TWO MASTERS,

              WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS, THERE WILL YOU HEART BE ALSO!”

They’ll be crucified! No surprise in that!  Be better if the story ends there.  Because then we can say, “SEE, THAT CHRISTIANITY IS NAÏVE, IT’S UNREALISTIC, IT’S IMPRACTICAL.

IT’LL GET YOU KILLED.”  What if I truly follow in the footsteps of Jesus?  Now that’s some-thing to put a chill in your spine.  It may cause you to question whether you really want to identify as a disciples/followers of Christ.

But what does happen on Easter?   GOD RAISED CHRIST FROM THE DEAD!   God says for all time, that what the world rejects and calls irrelevant is God’s way of living, being, and dying.  Jesus won’t stay dead.  Jesus’ ideas won’t stay buried in the ground.  Jesus ways of living can’t be destroyed.  The conviction of Easter for this day is---THAT YOU CAN TRUST THE GOSPEL! YOU CAN TRUST THE STORY!  YOU CAN TRUST THAT JESUS IS WHO JESUS SAID HE WAS!  Down through the centuries, since the time of Jesus’ death and resur-rection, the promise of salvation and new life has not changed.   It’s the same amazing story.  The most amazing story the world has ever known.  What has changed for many of us is our willingness to live the story and to witness to the story. What has changed is whether we are willing to stake our lives on the story; not only believing it but following it.

We’re more timid in proclaiming and living out our faith.  It’s important to remember that we live under the same divine command to share the story as those first disciples were.  Paul writes in I Corinthians, “I WOULD REMIND YOU, SISTERS AND BROTHERS OF THE GOOD NEWS THAT I PROCLAIMED TO YOU, WHICH YOU IN TURN RECEIVED, IN WHICH YOU STAND, THROUGH WHICH ALSO YOU ARE BEING SAVED, IF YOU HOLD FIRMLY TO THE MESSAGE THAT I PROCLAIMED TOL YOU—UNLESS YOU HAVE COME TO BELIEVE IN VAIN.”

Michelangelo once made the following remarks to his fellow painters and sculptors:

              “Why do you keep filling gallery after gallery with endless pictures of the

              ever-reiterated theme of Christ in weakness, of Christ upon the cross, Christ

              dying, Christ hanging dead?  Why do you stop there as if the curtain closed

              upon that horror?  Keep the curtain open, and with the cross in the foreground

              let us see beyond it to the Easter dawn with its beams streaming upon the

              Risen Christ, Christ alive, Christ ruling, Christ triumphant….

              For we should be ringing out over the world that Christ has won, that evil

              toppling, that the end is sure, and that death is followed by victory.  That’s

              the tonic we need to keep healthy, the trumpet blast to fire our blood and            

              send us crowing in behind our Master, happily upon our way, laughing and

              singing and recklessly unafraid, because the feel of victory is in the air

              and our hearts thrill to it.”

We need that conviction and purpose.  It’s that Easter conviction that “You Can Trust the Gospel.” That says, something extraordinary is loose in the world—CHRIST IS ALIVE!

              To be found with people who are ready to help one another through the difficult

              times of life.

              To be found with those who care for a friend and a stranger alive.

              To be found with people who work for justice and are willing to protect the

                            sacred rights of every person.     

              To be found with people who joyfully and willingly share the gifts of love no

                            matter what the circumstances or the costs.

We are called to be those people; helpers, caregivers, evangelists, tellers of God’s love, tellers of God’s truth, and trusting the Gospel.  At times it will be with a sense of self-abandonment.  Without always worrying about sounding or looking foolish…and with a bit of joy, frivolity, and holy hilarity.

Easter calls us to “Trust the Gospel”, trust the story.  And when we do that, we can rejoice, we can hope, we can encourage, and we can celebrate life.   What looks like Christ’s greatest failure turns out to be God’s greatest victory.  Jesus is raised from the dead! Death no longer has the power to hold us!  Sin has no final victory over us!  Life can begin again!  What God promises comes true!  YOU CAN TRUST THE GOSPEL!!  Not because I say so, but because God does! Jesus Christ lives---so can we!  SO TELL IT!  LIVE IT! SHARE IT!   Jesus Christ is risen!

Alleluia!  Amen.                                                                                    Pastor Clark Cary