Monday, April 1, 2013

EASTER 2013


EASTER SUNDAY

Isaiah 65: 17-25

I Corinthians 15: 1-11

Luke 24: 1-12

NOT AN IDLE/IDOL TALE

 

Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God, or Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  AMEN.

 

                It used to be that if you said, “It is finished,” on Good Friday, almost everybody, certainly all of your friends and companions, would know that you were quoting Scripture about the crucifixion of Jesus.  Today, however, you may post that message on Facebook and receive back the oblivious reply, “What did you finish?”  Really?  While it may be a sad commentary on our otherwise distracted society, it is a perfect opportunity to witness to your faith and share the story of Jesus – and that is precisely how I saw it being addressed.

                Imagine posting on Facebook on Easter morning, “He is risen!” and receiving back the response, “It’s about time that lazy husband of your woke up.”  It’s gotten to the point where many people don’t know what we’re talking about and many people don’t care.  Oh, they’re grateful to have an Easter bunny with eggs and candy, they’re grateful for the renewal of springtime, they even vaguely remember that this used to be a holiday with some religious significance.  But the Biblical message of the resurrection of Jesus from the tomb now seems to far too many and idle tale.

                Did you hear that in today’s Gospel reading?  According to St. Luke’s account of Easter, it was the women of Jesus’ company who went to anoint the body of Jesus at early dawn and were greeted, not by a sealed tomb, but by an empty space where his body had been laid and by two angelic messengers who asked the haunting question, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” and proclaimed the very first resurrection announcement, “He is not here.  He has risen!”

                The women returned to the gathered disciples and share the first Easter message.  “But,” Luke writes, “these words seemed to them an idle tale and they did not believe them.”

                Maybe today is not all that different from that first Easter morning.  We have this jewel of good news.  God has acted on behalf of human imperfection.  God has broken the cyclical pattern of sin and death.  God has defeated the meaningless finality of death and brought about a new creation.  In raising Jesus from the dead God has fulfilled the completion of divine creation and promises to each one of us the perfection of eternal life in the Kingdom of God.  Jesus Christ is risen today!  He is risen, indeed!  And to that many may add an “alleluia!” today, but tomorrow return to their typical response of, “so what?”

                Believing it to be a cute story, but nothing more than an idle tale, they run off to pursue their own idol tales.  And now I have switched words from “idle”, meaning lazy, worthless and meaningless, to “idol”, meaning placing other worthless pursuits as gods in your life.  If God is not supreme in your life and the resurrection of Jesus not important enough to give thanks to God on every first day of the week, then you are guilty of listening to one or many idol tales.

                These last few weeks of Lent have been devastating for us.  We have dealt with untimely death, with undeserved disease, with undirected futures.  Without faith in our crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ, there would be no promise to live on, no hope for the future, and no purpose for today.

                But for those who are alive in Christ, for those who have smashed their egotistical idols to the ground, for those for whom the good news of Jesus’ resurrection is not an idle tale, but rather the foundation of their faith, they see hope in despair, they see a blessed future in a confusing present, they see life even in the face of death.  We, like Peter, need to run to that empty tomb and enter into the experience of the resurrection of Jesus Christ for ourselves.

                From the small group of women on Easter morning to the less than dozen disciples on that Easter evening, the message had changed from an apparent idle tale to the best news of their lives: good news that would forever change, forever improve, forever fulfill their lives.

                Allow me to share with you several of my Good Friday experiences.  I had wanted it to be an idle day for me, maybe rake the lawn of the winter debris, or start up that car that had been in the garage all winter with a dead battery.  But it was not to be.  I spent the morning at the home of a dying woman in hospice care, surrounded by her family.  The woman had been struggling with the belief that she deserved her pain and suffering and family members were reliving their unresolved life situations in her dying process.  I asked them some basic questions:

                “Do you believe God loves you?”  The dying woman and her family answered with an emphatic “Yes.”

                “Do you believe that Jesus died for you on this day?”  Again, they answered “Yes.”

                “Do you believe God forgives you?”  And they all answered “Yes.” 

                A sudden peace surrounded that woman and her family.  I guess the message of Jesus was far more than some idle tale!

                Then I spent the afternoon at the Northern Dutchess County Hospital in Rhinebeck with Pastor Mark Frickey as the patient.  His kidney/liver disease has flared up overnight.  As acting Dean, it was my responsibility to make sure that Good Friday services for his four congregations were taken care of and arrangements made for their Easter Sunday worship. 

                They would need help for the Easter services at Christ Lutheran Church in Viewmont.  I turned to Duane and Phyllis Keeler who anticipated an unusual Sunday off from all their preaching and worship leading responsibilities.  Their immediate response was, “Yes, of course!  Nothing could be better than to get the opportunity to preach the good news of the Easter resurrection of Jesus.”  They were willing to give up their free Sunday because preaching the Gospel would be no idle tale for them but a life-changing, hope-filling, promise fulfilling message.

                Then came our Good Friday worship here in this place.  With Scripture and hymn, darkness and prayer, we entered into the experience of the death of Jesus on the cross.  But that story and all the events of my Good Friday would be nothing more than an idle tale if not for this morning when the story continues with shouts of “Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed!  Alleluia!”

                May it not be for you today or tomorrow, in joy or in sorrow, in health or in sickness, in success or in failure, in life or in death just an idle tale.  But may it be for you the reason for all that you do.  May it be for you the basis for all you believe.  May it be for you the support for all your days.  May it be for you the joy of all your life!  AMEN.

 

May the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.  AMEN.

 

Rev. James Slater

Emanuel Lutheran Church – Stuyvesant Falls

St. Luke’s Lutheran Church – Valatie

March 31, 2013

 

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