Easter Changes Everything

Matthew 28:1-10

1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”

8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Easter Changes Everything

There’s a show on Disney+ right now called What If…? It is produced by Marvel Studios and explores alternative endings to the Marvel movies you know and love. What if instead of Captain America, we had Captain Carter fighting for the Brits? What if the Avengers lost? How would the story go on? How much different would the ending be if you changed one seemingly small detail or moment at the start?

If you like Marvel movies, you might find that series interesting. Maybe you’ve already watched it. If you’re not into comic book characters, have no fear! This will be my last mention of them. I’m here to talk about Jesus. But I do wonder what a Christian version of that TV series would look like. What if Adam and Eve never ate the forbidden fruit? What if Pharaoh never let the Israelites go? What if David missed when he slung that first stone at Goliath?

Or, more fitting for today: What if Jesus never rose from the dead?

Can you imagine a world without Easter? I can’t! And it’s not because there would be no Easter baskets or Easter egg hunts. It’s not because we’d have to come up with another reason to eat ham or lamb on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. We wouldn’t be here if there were no Easter. The Christian Church wouldn’t exist. What would a world without Easter look like?

Well, we got a glimpse of it for about 36 hours after Jesus’ crucifixion, and it didn’t look good.

The disciples who had all promised that they would rather die than desert Jesus did exactly what they said they would never do. They ran away and hid because they were afraid that the Jews would do the same thing to them that they did to Jesus.

The men and women who had spent the last 3 years of their lives following Jesus wherever he went and listening to whatever he said suddenly forgot everything he had said to them. He had told them on at least three separate occasions, with at least one of them coming in the last week, that he was going to die in Jerusalem and rise again on the third day. But nobody remembered.

The women who went to the tomb were lost. They had no idea where to go from here. So they prepared spices to go and anoint a body that wasn’t there. They had misplaced their purpose in life.

In a world without Easter, Jesus’ disciples were disappointments to God and to themselves. They were afraid. They had forgotten everything that was meant to give them hope and peace. They were aimless and without purpose. In a world without Easter, Jesus’ disciples were a mess.

But let’s be real for a second. How much different is our world even with Easter? And I don’t mean for all the non-Christians or the nominal Christians.  I mean for you. How different are you than those post-crucifixion, pre-resurrection disciples?  

Some of us have been privileged to have spent enough time as Christians that we have been confirmed in our faith. Whether as children or adults, we stood before a congregation like this and made an oath to our God that went something like this: The pastor would say:

Do you intend to continue steadfast in this teaching and to endure all things, even death, rather than fall away from it?

And then we would respond:

I do and I ask God to help me.

Now, whether you have been confirmed or not – whether you have sworn an oath like this or not – has anything short of death kept you from being faithful to God’s Word? Or is a sports practice or a late Saturday night or the opportunity to spend time with your family all that it would take to keep you from spending time with God and his Word in church on a Sunday? The disciples made and broke similar promises, but at least they were legitimately afraid for their lives. Can you say the same?

The disciples followed Jesus and listened to him for 3 years, but in the moment of hardship it was as if they hadn’t heard a thing. Believe it or not, you have something even more valuable than 3 years of personal devotions with Jesus. You have the whole thing in writing. You have the promises of God written down to give you hope. You have the will of God in black and white to give direction and guidance for your life.

Does it take a death threat to make you forget what God says? Or is the reason that you don’t start your day with devotion simply that you opened a notification on your phone and lost the next hour of your life? When the doctor gives you that diagnosis you’ve been dreading, even if you can remember God’s promises to you, do you put your trust in them? Or do you find yourself spiraling and flailing for answers from WebMD and your friend down the street who went through the same thing, instead of seeking solace in Scripture and your Saviour?

Do you remember your purpose in life? Or do you find yourself lost, or so preoccupied with the next thing that’s right in front – the next day or week or year of your life – that you have forgotten your place in eternal life?

We don’t have to look at the 36 hours between Good Friday and Easter Sunday to know what a world without Easter would look like. We live it all too often in our day to day life. But that’s why I appreciate the fact that we get to celebrate this holiday every year. Because at Easter, we get to see the tender hand of our God as he deals with sinners like us.

When the women got to the tomb, they had all the wrong expectations. They didn’t expect to find Jesus alive, just as he said. They fully expected to find him dead. And yet, when they got there, the angel that God had sent to them did not wag a finger and say, “O you of little faith! Stop doubting and believe!” He said:

“Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples.”[1]

What a gentle God we have, who works with us in our sinful weakness. He made it clear that these women should have remembered Jesus’ promises and that they shouldn’t have been ruled by fear or let anything else in life or death stand in the way of their faith in God, but he didn’t preach about it. He restored their hope and revived their faith by pointing them to Jesus, who had been crucified, but now was alive.

He had been crucified. But not for nothing. It was for me, and it was for you. Jesus died to forgive our sins, even for the times when we fail in our commitment to him or when we forget or doubt his promises to us. Jesus died to forgive us, and then he rose from the dead to give us comfort and peace and joy.  

Look at the way the Marys left the tomb. They hurried away “afraid yet filled with joy.”[2] There were still all those same reasons to hole away behind locked doors. There were still all those same reasons to forget or to doubt Jesus’ promises. The Jews were still angry and powerful. They would still face opposition and persecution and difficulty. But having seen the proof of Jesus’ resurrection gave them a joy that surpassed their fear.

That’s what Jesus does for you. That’s why I’m so glad that Jesus did rise from the dead and that we don’t have to imagine a world without Easter, because the resurrection of Jesus gives you a joy that is so much greater than your fear or worry or frustration. And I think that’s really important for you to hear. The resurrection of Jesus does not take all your fear or worry or frustration or distraction away. The resurrection of Jesus infuses you with a joy that is greater than all of them put together.

If it is guilt you feel – if you’re ashamed at how little it takes to keep you away from God and his Word – listen to what Jesus said when he met the women: “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee.”[3] Not, “Go and tell those traitors… those deserters… those promise-breakers…” He says, “Go and tell my brothers…”[4]

That’s how Jesus feels about you too. Even though you fail him – even when you are unfaithful to him – he still considers you family. He doesn’t identify you by your sin or your weakness. He sees you through the lens of his love – the same love that compelled him to die for you to forgive you and rise again to give you the hope of heaven. If you feel guilt, see God’s grace at his graveside that calls you his family.

If it is fear you feel – if you’re worried about the world around you or what the devil and his demons might do to you – look at the Roman soldiers. They were hired specifically because they were supposed to be fearless and formidable but they fainted and were lying on the ground like the dead man they were supposed to be guarding. They posed absolutely no threat to the women. Jesus’ resurrection proved that he was far more powerful.

Now, there may still be reasons for you to have fear in this life – and God may not make all of them shrink like these soldiers did – but God still has far more power than any of the things that cause you fear, and he can and does protect you for your eternal good. If you feel fear, see God’s power here.

If you feel distracted or aimless – if you are lost in an endless to-do list that doesn’t let you look past tomorrow – listen to what both the angel and Jesus said to these women,

“Come and see…[5] Go and tell.”[6]

That is the daily lifecycle of a Christian. Come and see what God has done for you. Occupy your heart and your mind with the message God has given you in his Word – and while your reasons for forgetfulness and doubt will not go away, you will be filled with ever-increasing faith that produces in you a joy to go and tell your spouse, your children, your neighbour the good news of Jesus crucified but raised to new life for you.

A world without Easter would be a world full of guilt and fear and distraction. But Easter changes everything. Now we live in a world full of forgiveness and power and purpose because of Jesus. Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.

[1] Matthew 28:5-7

[2] Matthew 28:8

[3] Matthew 28:10

[4] Ibid

[5] Matthew 28:6

[6] Matthew 28:10

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Do You Want to Be a Stronger Christian?

Romans 5:1-8

1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Do You Want to Be a Stronger Christian?

Back when I was in college, I worked on a dairy farm during the summer. I’d wake up at 3:00am to go milk the cows. That early morning milking was always tough. You’re barely awake. Half the time you’re bleary eyed and grumpy just for having to get out of your warm and cozy bed so early. The other half of the time it feels like the cows are grumpy; they refuse to go into the stall, they kick off the milking machine, they slap their manure-soaked tail across your face, which was always a special treat.

My boss was often in the parlour with me. He was a Christian too. He knew I was studying to be a pastor, so we’d talk about Jesus occasionally. On one of those days when the cows were extra-ornery, he just threw his hands up, turned around, looked at me with disgust in his eyes and asked,

“Pete, did you pray for patience today?!? ‘Cause you know the Lord’s gonna test you when you do!”

It was too early in the morning for me to fully understand what he was saying at the time. I get it now; it’s a lesson I carry with me to this day. His point was that people aren’t just born patient. You don’t just have patience one day and then you can put up with anything that happens to you for the rest of your life. Patience is born out of suffering. Patience is something you develop over time and with (often painful) experience.

It’s the same thing with anything you want to get better at. You want to play the guitar? Your fingertips are going to ache. But then you develop calluses and it doesn’t hurt so much anymore. You want to get better at math? You twist your brain into pretzels until you have a headache, but then you understand the formulas and algorithms. You want to get better at sports? You work out until you’re stiff and sore until you do it enough times that running a mile doesn’t make you want to die. You want to get promoted at work? You tackle progressively more difficult tasks. No one will just hand you the job if you don’t have any experience.

There are no shortcuts to progress or growth, and that holds doubly true for your faith.

Do you want to be a stronger Christian? Be careful what you wish for! There is one way to become a stronger Christian, and that’s to suffer. Paul said,

Suffering produces perseverance; perseverance [produces] character, and character [produces] hope. And hope does not put us to shame.[1]

Isn’t that what we’re all after? Isn’t that where we’d all like to be spiritually? Wouldn’t you want to be such a strong Christian that when you get that piece of bad news you don’t crumble and melt into a mess of tears and despair? Don’t you wish that you could just take adversity in stride and say, “I know that God will see me through, that he will use even this for my good, that even if the worst case scenario happens I can let it roll off my back like water off a duck because I have that much hope in the Lord”?

That’d be nice, wouldn’t it? But that’s not reality and that’s not where any of us start. In fact, when suffering comes, it’s often the opposite, isn’t it? My day is going just fine but then I hit the speedbump – I get bad news or something’s not working the way I wanted it to – and then I get irritable or impatient or discouraged.

Why does it have to be that way? I thought Paul said that suffering produces perseverance. I have plenty of suffering. Why don’t I feel like I’m persevering?

Luther had an interesting answer to that question:

Whatever tribulation finds in us, it develops more fully. If anyone is carnal, weak, blind, wicked, irascible, haughty, and so forth, tribulation will make him more carnal, weak, blind, wicked and irritable… Those speak foolishly who ascribe their anger or their impatience to such as offend them or to tribulation. Tribulation does not make people impatient, but proves that they are impatient. So everyone may learn from tribulation how his heart is constituted.[2]

That’s a blow to the ol’ ego, isn’t it? How many times have I blamed my impatience or irritability on my circumstances – too little sleep, too much stress, too little support? Too many times. Instead, Luther would suggest that we should use suffering – trials, tribulation, affliction, adversity, whatever word you want to use – we should use it kind of like a stethoscope to evaluate the condition of my heart. If I am irritable after adversity, it’s not that adversity made me irritable. It’s that I already was irritable; I just didn’t have occasion to show it. Adversity provided the occasion to demonstrate the weakness of my heart.

Ok. So if Luther says that suffering just amplifies and magnifies what is already inside of me, then that means that that I need to become spiritual, powerful, wise, gentle, humble, etc… to begin with. Then, when suffering comes, my wisdom and generosity and humility will shine through. It’s as simple as that!

There is some truth to that, but it begs the question, how do I become spiritual, powerful, wise, gentle, humble, i.e. a strong Christian…?

The Apostle Paul has an answer that takes all the credit and all the power out of your hands, and puts them where they rightly belong, in the Lord’s hands. Paul does this over and over again in the beginning of chapter 5. He says, “We have peace with God.”[3] Peace sounds nice. Where did that come from? How did we get it? “We have been justified… through our Lord Jesus Christ.”[4] We didn’t justify ourselves. We didn’t make peace with God. He made peace with us through Jesus.

Paul holds out all these appealing qualities that we’d all love to possess – perseverance, character, hope – but he makes it clear that they don’t come from us. We don’t pull perseverance out of thin air. We can’t pull ourselves up by our bootstraps to the hope of the glory of God in heaven. That’s something God accomplished for us and in us.

That’s why Paul is careful to explain:

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.[5]

God looked at you, and he saw a hopeless mess. He saw someone who would crumble and melt – whose knees would buckle – at the first piece of bad news. God looked at you and he saw someone whose default reaction to adversity is irritability and impatience or despair and fear. God looked at you when you were powerless and sinful, and he loved you. There were no redeeming qualities about you, but in love God decided to redeem you anyway.

And it was that incredibly rare, unique, once in a lifetime sacrifice that Jesus made – not for a righteous or even a good person, but for you, a sinner – it was that sacrifice that gives you peace. That’s where peace comes from. That’s how we got it. God gave it to you, though Jesus.

And it’s a peace unlike anything in this world. It’s not a peace between people. It’s not even necessarily a feeling of peacefulness or calmness in your life. It’s a peace with God and that is so much better. When we were powerless, when we were still in sin, we were at war with God. There was no peace, no hope, no way to persevere or pull through. There was only death and condemnation to look forward to. But now, because of Jesus’ sacrifice for us, we have peace with God. Our sins are forgiven. We have access into this grace in which we now stand.

This peace is not a fleeting feeling that we only experience when everything is just right. It is a present reality that doesn’t depend on you or the circumstances of life around you. It is a peace that is guaranteed to you by grace through faith in Jesus. This peace is a gift from the God who loves you, so that even if the sky starts to fall and you are losing your mind in fear or worry or guilt and shame you can at least hold on to God’s love and know that that will never change.

And the good news is that the longer you hold onto that love and the more storms you weather in life, the more Christian character you will develop as God pulls you through adversity and suffering. The longer you hold onto that love and the more storms you weather in life, the more confident your hope will be and the stronger you will be in your faith.

Do you want to be a stronger Christian? Be careful what you wish for! Buckle up, because you will face adversity. But if you remember the peace you have with God – this peace that comes from Jesus that no circumstance in life can change – if you remember that peace, then you can be sure that you can stand up under whatever adversity you face, because you do not face it alone. You have the unconditional love of God that sacrificed his Son for you and continues to pour out his Spirit into your heart to fill you with perseverance, character and hope in him.

Be gracious, O Lord, when we waver in our faith, and bring us again to embrace the unchangeable truth of your Word with penitent hearts and steadfast faith. Amen.

[1] Romans 5:3-5

[2] Martin Luther’s Commentary on Romans, pp. 90,91

[3] Romans 5:1

[4] Romans 5:1

[5] Romans 5:6-8

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