HOLDING ON TO THE FAITH...
When The Race Is Won!
A Sermon “Starter” for EASTER, Year A
March 31, 2002

 Lectionary Preaching Texts:

 Psalm 118, 1-2, 14-24, *Acts 10:34-43

Colossians 3:1-4, *John 20:1-18 or Matthew 28:1-10

(* Preaching text)

Rev. Justin K. Fisher
Trinity United Methodist Church - Ft. Wayne, Indiana
fishhook@iquest.net
 http://www.trinityumc.cjb.net

HOW’D YOU GET HERE THIS BEAUTIFUL EASTER MORNING?  Chances are, you drove!  We’re blessed to have ample parking in back of the church.  Years ago, you, in the Trinity family, made a conscious decision to carve out space for future needs.  Not only did you make room to park, you provided a park for the neighborhood.  So while our crowd is bigger today, probably not a one of you had to search for a place to park.  You drove to the right place. 

 

Of course, even if you drove this morning, you had to walk into the church building.  Again, we’re blessed with having one of the most accessible older church facilities in the city.  We continue to work hard to make our facility accessible.  And even though our elevator has been missing a part for several weeks now, you can still get around (and up) to our worship level with a little help from your friends.  If you can walk (unaided or assisted) or ride (wheelchairs too!), you can make it at Trinity.  How did you get here this morning?

 

There’s still another way we could have gotten to Easter this morning, but I didn’t see any of us doing it...  William Willimon points out that even though we may have walked or ridden to church, he doubts that any of us came running to Easter services.  Does that seem strange to you?  Well, it didn’t to St. John, the author of the fourth Gospel.  According to his Easter account, there was a great deal of running about on the first Easter.  Everyone, he says, is in a hurry.

 

First, there’s Mary Magdalene.  She gets to the tomb before the others, sees the stone has been rolled away, and that the tomb is empty.  What does she do first?  She starts running.  We don’t know what’s going on in her mind, but we do know she is in a hurry, a big hurry, to get back and tell the rest of the disciples that Jesus’ body is gone.

 

Of course, she doesn’t make it all the way back into town before she runs into Peter and John.  Out of breath, she somehow gets it out that the tomb is empty.  And what do they do?  They don’t tell her to sit down and catch her breath.  They don’t stop and figure out what’s the best course of action.  They don’t roll their eyes and say to themselves, “another hysterical woman!”  No, they break out in a run.  Whereas Mary had run from the empty tomb, Peter and John are now running toward it.  And they seem to be running against each other, with John winning the race to get there first, but then stepping aside to let Peter enter.  Finally, both are inside, and John tells us, “He saw and believed.” (v.8)

 

Whoever got there first, Mary Magdalene, Peter and John they all ran to Easter.  They ran, I think, because they were excited and surprised, fearful and bold, curious and hopeful, saddened and now terribly happy.  Easter so filled them to overflowing that it literally  ran out of them all day long.  It changed their lives because Jesus lived.  They believed.  That’s how they got to Easter.

 

I didn’t run to Easter this morning, at least not in the physical sense, and you didn’t either.  I hope though that we have the same joy as the disciples who ran out of their excitement in believing Christ had risen from the dead.  They had been through so much in the previous week: an exciting parade, confusion in the Temple, a difficult Passover meal, betrayal by one they loved, fatigue and failure in the Garden, a scuffling with guards, denial in the courtyard, court appearances, a whipping, the long walk to Calvary, the Crucifixion, darkness, fear and running away from it all.  Everything they believed in had been tested.  And John tells us, breathing hard in the empty tomb, “He saw and believed.”  That’s how he got to Easter.

 

Our week has been awful in many ways too.  I’ve been running all over the place, but when I stop long enough to think about it, most of my running has been to keep up with myself.  I tend to “run in circles” and often feel “run over”.  How about you?  There’s not much excitement in this kind of running.  And the world news keeps running over us too.  And it’s all bad news.  From the scourge of 9-11, to the ongoing war in Afghanistan, to the ceaseless violence in Palestine and Israel, and the ongoing instability of governments in Africa, where starvation looms for many, misery is magnified.  Do I have the Easter courage to run out with the good news that I believe Christ is risen fro the dead and He makes a difference in our world?  Do you?

 

Nor are we immune from the races we have to run here at home.  Tomorrow is the day after Easter.  While our kids will be enjoying spring break, most of us won’t.  The job will still be there, home and family demands will take our time and effort and money and patience.  Illnesses too will wage a race with our physical strength and emotional stability.  Are we up to it?  Do we believe that the risen Christ is with us in these races, that He runs the course with us?  Do we believe the Easter message that He has risen from the dead?  Mary Magdalene and Peter and John all ran to embrace the Resurrection.  How about you?  How about me?  Is there excitement in your trip to Easter?

 

The heart of the matter for me, though, is not so much how we got to Easter as how we get out of here!    Oh, I know that we will walk out of her and ride home in our cars.  Some of us will feast so much today with family and friends that we may have to roll or be “rolled” back home tonight.  I know how to physically get out of the building.  I know how to get home and so do you.  The question is how will we leave Easter?  Will we leave here this morning as renewed believers in the power of the Resurrection?  Will we leave here this morning “breathless” with the realization that God is with us!  Will we leave here this morning excited that there is life after death?  That the worst this world can throw us can never separate us from the love of God?  Or will we just go home and eat our jellybeans in silence?

 

A Sunday School teacher had just finished telling her third graders about how Jesus was crucified and placed in a tomb with a great stone sealing the opening. Then, wanting to share the excitement of the resurrection, and the surprise of Easter morning, she asked: "And what do you think were Jesus' first words when He came bursting out of that tomb alive?" A hand shot up into the air from the rear  of the classroom. Attached to it was the arm of a little girl. Leaping out of her chair she shouted out excitedly "I know, I know!" "Good" said the teacher, "Tell us."   Extending her arms high into the air she sang out: "TA-DA!"

 

The resurrection is the central event of our faith. It's the "TA-DA!" Because of Easter, we know that God in Christ Jesus is more powerful than death. God's promises are true. Eternal life is real. Paul said that "Christ has been raised, the first fruits of those who have died." Jesus conquered death, and through him, so will we.

 

Will we leave Easter this morning as “Ta-Da!” people?

 

A pastor friend of mine, Dave Russell, includes this folk story called “Maybe” in his Easter sermon to push home the point of decision-making:

 

Easter comes after our Good Fridays. In the midst of those times in our life, if we take a closer look, we can see resurrection. Sometimes we may just barely be able to see it, sometimes it's a light out in the distance, but it is there. We need to take a second look, a closer look, to see resurrection in our lives and in our world.  Easter is not just a day for bunnies and eggs, but it is a reality, which brings hope and meaning to us right where we are.

 

Once there was a Chinese farmer who had a horse. It was the only horse in the region. Because he had a horse, the farmer could plant more and could take his crops further to market. He became very rich. He was a good and gentle man, who gave to the poor. The people loved him.

 

One morning, the farmer woke up and found the gate to the horse paddock open and the horse gone. The people in the village heard about it and came to speak to him.

 

"We're really sorry that your horse, that brought you such wealth, ran away," they said.

 

The farmer answered with one word: "Maybe."

 

Three days later, the horse returned with two stallions. Again the people of the village came and said to the farmer, Are you ever lucky that your horse ran away, because now she has returned with two stallions. Now you have three horses."

 

The farmer replied, "Maybe."

 

The next day, his son, trying to ride one of the new stallions, fell off and broke his leg. The people came and said, "How terrible that your son broke his leg. We are really sorry."

 

The farmer replied, "Maybe."

 

A few days later, the army conscriptors came and took all the young men from the village to fight in the war. The people came to the farm and said, "Are you ever lucky! Your son broke his leg, and he is not able to fight in the war."

 

The farmer replied, "Maybe."

 

Events do not always have the meaning we think. Sometimes we have to wait and take a closer look. After the crucifixion, the disciples gathered together and said, "It's all over. We'll have to go back to fishing." And God said, "Maybe."   Then Easter came, and changed everything! (from "Easter : A Closer Look", a sermon by David Russell, from the Internet: http://www.deaconsil.com/)

 

It’s time to leave now.  Before we sing our last hymn of Easter, let’s ask ourselves the question, “Are we ‘maybe’ people or God’s people this morning?” We all know how we got here.  Do we know why?  Better put, do we know Him, the One who gave up his life for ours and has rVÓ˜Æ again from the dead?  And do we know how to get home this morning?  He is the way!   Won’t you join me in proclaiming expectantly what we believe this morning!  We believe in Jesus, risen from the dead.  It’s not a “maybe” proposition.  It’s a fact.  Walking or running, may that knowledge overflow from our very beings and praise His holy name.  Crown Him with many crowns!  He lives!