SPECIAL DAYS: Easter Sunday

April 23, 2000

LESSONS: Acts 10.34-43; 1 Corinthians 15.1-11; Mark 16.1-8

SERMON TITLE: God Will!

(Back to sermons for 2000)   (Back to sermons Home Page)     (Back to Shultz Home Page)

INTRODUCTION:

  1. M. Basil Pennington, in "He Rose Again"(1) in The Manual Of Life tells a story about a resurrection
    1. It was Holy Saturday morning, a clear, cold day.
    2. A little boy was standing in front of the old Italian tailor shop, his nose pressed against the glass.
    3. On display for Easter was a model of Jerusalem.
    4. The child was taking it all in, the wonderful reconstruction of Jerusalem, with its many buildings, narrow streets, sparkling pools and pastoral surroundings.
    5. A derelict, stumbling by, was caught by the child's excited attention and stopped for a moment to look on uncomprehendingly.
    6. The little boy started pointing out the different places and shared what he had learned about them in Bible class.
      1. There is the temple--Jesus taught there, and one day he chased out all the cheating traders.
      2. And there is the Pool of Siloam--Jesus cured there. There was a man there who had been sick for 38 years, and Jesus told him to get up--he was all better.
    7. The derelict reflected:
      1. It was over 38 years since he had left his home, wife and child.
      2. Wouldn't it be wonderful if he could be healed of his disease of alcoholism?
    8. The little boy pointed to the Upper Room--this is where Jesus had the Last Supper with his disciples and gave them Holy Communion. Jesus is still with us in the Eucharist.
    9. A hope flickered in the weary old heart--the Healer is still with us.
      1. Is it possible?
      2. And there is the high priest's house, and there is the fortress.

(Top)     (Back to sermons for 2000)   (Back to sermons Home Page)     (Back to Shultz Home Page)

    1. The boy went on to recount how Jesus was taken in the Garden, mistreated and falsely accused and given his cross to carry.
    2. Finally, he pointed to Calvary--and there Jesus died.
    3. The elderly man walked away, incredibly sad.
      1. One who could help and heal had been rejected and killed.
      2. What hope is there?
      3. Then he heard little steps come running up behind him.
      4. He turned and looked into a shining, excited little face: "Oh, mister, he rose again!"

MAIN BODY:

  1. Three women are making their way to the cemetery.
    1. It is very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen.
    2. Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and complete the preparations for burial.
    3. They were not thinking about a resurrection.
    4. There were other thoughts on their mind.
    5. Are they, in some ways like the derelict.
      1. The elderly man walked away, incredibly sad.
      2. One who could help and heal had been rejected and killed.
      3. What hope is there?

(Top)     (Back to sermons for 2000)   (Back to sermons Home Page)     (Back to Shultz Home Page)

    1. Their frame of mind is reflected in the question that they are asking one another.
      1. "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?"
    2. They arrive at the tomb.
      1. The stone is rolled away.
        1. Huge stone.
        2. 6 feet wide and 3 feet tall
      2. It is not as they expected.
        1. There is no body.
        2. There is only a young man with an incredible message.
          1. "Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.
          2. He has been raised; he is not here.
          3. Look, there is the place they laid him.
          4. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee;
          5. there you will see him, just as he told you."
      3. God accomplished what no human power could prevent.
      4. God moved the stone.
  1. God would help them move more than just the grave stone.
    1. Their pilgrimage with the Son of God is not over.
    2. There is a way to go but it will be productive.
    3. Christ will help his friends to remove:
      1. -- the stone of unbelief
      2. -- the stone of misplaced enthusiasm
      3. -- the stone of worldly possessions
      4. -- the stone of little faith
      5. -- the stone of clouded understanding
      6. -- the stone of confusion
      7. -- the stone of disappointment...

(Top)     (Back to sermons for 2000)   (Back to sermons Home Page)     (Back to Shultz Home Page)

    1. They are now filled with "terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid."
    2. Their lives will soon be filled with the greatest joy!
  1. Are we a little like the derelict?
    1. Perhaps you do not appreciate the comparison.
    2. We have to deal with our own stones.
    3. What stones are we talking about.
      1. The stone of arrogance.
      2. The stone of indifference.
      3. The stone of limiting habits.
      4. The stone of guilt.
      5. The stone of compulsive behavior.
      6. The stone of insecurity.
      7. The stone of misunderstanding.
      8. The stone of an unforgiving spirit.
    4. The old derelict walked away
      1. We know his desire
      2. We know his disappointment
      3. We know his discouragement.
    5. In the close of the decade euphoria, fickle enthusiasm, close of the millennium mania, it is easy to let the rock roll back in front of the tomb.
    6. It is easy for our lives to be sealed off to the evidence of resurrection and new life.
    7. It is easy to let the rock settle with a thud, barring us from enjoying the visible evidence of God's presence in our lives.

(Top)     (Back to sermons for 2000)   (Back to sermons Home Page)     (Back to Shultz Home Page)

  1. Who is going to help us remove the stones?
    1. God will!
    2. If God can raise Jesus Christ to life then he can help us to be raised to new life.
  2. And life will never be same.
    1. Howard Thurman served as Dean of the Chapel at Boston University until his retirement. In one of his books, he tells of a crisis that took place in his young daughter's life.

    2. Everybody in the family had made their summer plans. But just before Thurman and his wife were ready to leave for speaking engagements, they received word that a companion who lived with their aged grandmother in another town had died. Someone would have to go and be with grandmother during the summer.
      The family met and talked it over. Thurman's commitments could not be postponed. It was decided the daughters would take their turns and care for the grandmother until the parents returned from their conferences.

      When this decision was reached, the youngest daughter rushed from the table and ran up the stairs, weeping. The door slammed. Thurman followed her up the stairs, knocked at the door and found her stretched across the bed, weeping. He spoke these words to her:

      I didn't come up here to urge you to stop crying. I came to explain to you why I think you are crying. I don't think you're crying because you don't want to go away for the rest of the summer and miss the fun with your friends. You're crying because for the first time in your life the family is asking you to carry your end of the stick as a family member. Something inside you knows that when you get on the train tomorrow, one part of your life will be behind you forever. You'll never again be quite as carefree and unaccountable as you were before. (Thurman, Disciplines of the Spirit (New York: Harper & Row, 1963), 54-55)

(Top)     (Back to sermons for 2000)   (Back to sermons Home Page)     (Back to Shultz Home Page)

    1. On an Easter Sunday something inside us knows that after today one part of our lives in behind us forever.
      1. We will never be quite as carefree and unaccountable as we were before.
      2. We are part of the family of God.
      3. It is not for the first time in our lives that the family is asking each of us to carry our end of the stick.
      4. We may not always know how to do it.
      5. That's where Jesus come in for he can help us to understand.
      6. That's where Jesus comes in for he can share with us the power of accomplishment.
      7. All we are asked to do is to live as if Christ were alive.
      8. All we are asked to do is to live as if Christ were alive in us.

CONCLUSION:

  1. Hal Brady(2), of Dallas, Texas, tells a story is told of a rabbi in a European village, who one day summoned the townspeople to the village square.
    1. He said he had an important announcement.
    2. The people gathered, but not without much grumbling at the inconvenience.
    3. The merchant resented having to leave his business.
    4. The wife complained because she had so many errands to run.
    5. But, out of respect, they went unwillingly to the town square.
    6. When all were present, the rabbi said, "I wish to announce there is a God in the world."
    7. That was all he said. But the people understood.
    8. They knew they had been acting as if God did not exist.
  2. Let us act as if God does exist and that existence is powered by an Easter Sunday resurrection.
  3. Then we can exclaim with Samuel Medley (1738-99) who wrote:

  4. I know that my Redeemer lives!
    What comfort this sweet sentence gives!
    He lives, he lives, who once was dead;
    He lives, my everliving head!
    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.
    1. Alleluia, Christ is risen.

1. M. Basil Pennington, "He Rose Again" in The Manual Of Life: The New Testament for Daily Living (New York: Paulist Press, 1985), 21.

2. Hal Brady, Dallas, Texas

(Top)     (Back to sermons for 2000)   (Back to sermons Home Page)     (Back to Shultz Home Page)