Easter March 27, 2016
Resurrection of our Lord
Mark 16:1-8
March 27, 2016
“We Won!”
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
This is the feast of victory for our God.
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.
What is the feast of victory? Well, we just had a pretty good one, if you ask me, over in the Parish Hall a little bit ago. That feast of victory tasted pretty good. Egg casseroles, donuts, fruit, rolls—too bad if you missed it. Come back next year. Same time, same place. Thank you to all who served it and brought food and cleaned up.
No, I mean it, our Easter breakfast here at Trinity is a feast of victory. Why else do we have it? I mean, it’s not just ‘cause we’re hungry. We all could’ve just eaten a bowl of shredded wheat at home if that was the case. No, we have the Easter breakfast because we’ve won. We’ve all won. And what better way to celebrate a big win than getting together to stuff our faces? Those of you who were here in the sunrise service heard the reading from Isaiah 25 where it talks about God preparing a huge feast on the mountain of rich food and well-aged wine. That’s what you do when you win—you eat! And we’ve got another feast of victory coming here in a minute—the Lord’s Supper. Christ will invite you up to the altar because we’ve won! Because He has beaten sin and death and He wants you to have His body and blood to share in the victory.
That’s why we come to Church Easter morning and sing triumphant hymns at the top of our lungs and why Donna and Claire crank the organ up and why Adam’s playing on the trumpet and why the choir sings and why we process in and why we cover the place in Lilies—because we’ve won!
Imagine the Chicago Cubs win the World Series this year. What kind of celebration would take place afterward? Would it be a little crazy? What happens when one of these college basketball teams wins March Madness? Do they celebrate a bit? What happens in a couple months when high school seniors win and graduate? A little celebrating? Some of you, I know, listen to Dave Ramsey once in a while on the radio. What happens when a family comes in there and has finally paid off all their debts? They do a debt-free scream. They scream about it. What happens when someone is able to beat cancer and is declared cancer-free? Do we celebrate a bit?
Friends, we’ve won. Jesus has burst out of the tomb telling us He’s won. Death is defeated. Sin is paid for. The devil’s power is taken away. The women go to the tomb Easter morning with their spices to anoint Jesus’ dead body. But they get there and the stone is rolled away. They look in and there’s an angel, “Don’t be alarmed! We’ve won! You’re seeking Jesus of Nazareth, but He’s not here! He is risen! Go and tell the others we’ve won! He’s risen! We’ve won!”
Jesus’ victory is your victory. Easter isn’t just about cold, hard facts about who went to the tomb and what they saw and who all saw it and how many angels were there. It definitely is about that and the evidence is really good. But most of all, it’s about the fact that His win is your win. Jesus doesn’t rise from the dead and then say, “Okay, now it’s your turn. Now I expect you to do x, y, and z and make Me proud and you better live a good, Christian life and maybe you can win too!” No, the strife is o’er, the battle done! Now is the victor’s triumph won! Now be the song of praise begun! Alleluia! (We’ll sing that hymn at the end of the service.) No, you’ve won because you’re with Jesus.
See, we can get really confused about this sometimes. We start think winning is about other things. Sometimes we think winning is about finding our grand purpose in the world. Finding God’s will for my life. Then I’ll be a winner, we say. If I can just find the right job and find the right man or the right woman and find the right church and find the right school and the right life—then I’ll be a winner. Wrong! You won’t be any more of a winner than you are right now! Jesus is risen! You’ve already won. Your sin and death are defeated. That’s God’s purpose for you. To believe in Jesus and have His victory. And you can do that in a whole lot of different jobs and schools and places, okay? You don’t have to have everything just right to be a winner. Just Jesus.
Or we think winning is when I succeed in the world. Winning becomes about money. When I buy this or that or when I save this or that or when I have x amount of dollars in my portfolio. Then I’ll be a winner! Wrong. Then you’ll just have new problems. Winning isn’t money. Or we might think winning is about getting the right degree or getting recognition or becoming famous or socializing with the right groups of people. Wrong! You can have all the money in the world and be the most famous person in the world—and you won’t be any more of a winner than you are right now. None of that stuff will help you one iota when it comes to salvation. But Jesus will. And He has already won. And so have you.
Sometimes we think winning is being the good Christian who does everything right. Being the good Christian who has the most faith. Being the good Christian with the good and perfect family. Being the good Christian who never does anything regretful or embarrassing or shameful. Being the good Christian who everybody admires. That’s winning, right? Wrong! In fact, if any of that happens you will lose. You might remember St. Paul saying that when we are weak, then we are strong. When we realize what a loser we are by ourselves, then we see what a winner Jesus is! And He is a winner! And so are you—as long as you’re with Him.
So let’s not plan out how we’re going to be winners. That’s already taken care of. Jesus is risen! Win! You are baptized into Jesus! Win! You have Jesus’ Word in the Scriptures! Win! You have a feast of victory in the Lord’s Supper! Win! You have prayer whenever you need to call upon Him. Win! You have each other…all of us…brothers and sisters in Christ. Win!
Think about who is already defeated. Number 1—your sin. Yes, you continue to be a sinner and yes, you continue to break God’s Law. And the battle with sin can be incredibly hard. But sin can’t win, you see. You’ve already won. When Jesus rises from the dead, He rises with no sin. And so do you. That’s why we continue to fight against sin and why we repent and confess those sins. Because it can’t harm us. We turn them over to Jesus who has won for us.
Number 2—the devil. The devil is still all around us but his power is gone. Jesus has taken it away. He can’t harm you. You just tell him to take a hike. You have won.
Number 3—death. Yes, we still face death. We still have the pain here of losing people we love and cherish. On the face of it, sometimes it seems like death is winning. But it isn’t. It can’t win. Because Jesus says that whoever lives and believes in Him will never die. Death can’t touch us. When our bodies die, our souls immediately go to be with Jesus. And when Jesus comes again, He will raise our bodies up to be perfect like His body. Don’t be fooled. We have won even against death.
Look at the words of the angel to the women. “Don’t be alarmed!” When Jesus comes to the disciples He tells them not to be afraid. Don’t be scared. He tells them, “Peace be with you.” Sometimes we’re afraid to live. The disciples and the women were afraid to go on without Jesus. Afraid to live. Sometimes we’re afraid to live with our sickness or with our suffering. Afraid to live with my disease. Afraid to live in an uncertain future. Afraid to live with my spouse or without my spouse. Afraid to live amongst people that don’t agree with me. Afraid to live with people who are different from me. Afraid to live without my child or children. Afraid to forgive. Afraid to grow up. Afraid to leave. Afraid to stay. Afraid to say the wrong thing. Afraid of bad news. Afraid of no news. Afraid we’re going to screw it all up.
Then hear the message of the angel—“Don’t be alarmed. You’ve won!” You’ve won. Jesus is risen! No matter what the future is bringing, it won’t bring anything that Jesus can’t handle. It won’t bring anything that will change the fact that you’ve won. Don’t be afraid. Jesus is living and He is with you.
Yes, you will still have fear. We are sinners and we must always wrestle with doubts. But keep hearing the message that Jesus has won. Keep putting your fears to rest. (Previous few paragraphs taken from sermon by Rev. Douthwaite – http://www.saint-athanasius.org/Sermons/2014/Easter/2014-04-20.htm)
Friends in Christ, we’ve won. Happy Easter! Nothing else that you eve win in this life will be better or more important than this win. No sport, contest, show, job, school, prize, election, game, money—no win is bigger than this win! You are forgiven! You have eternal life! And you will rise on the last Day. Don’t be afraid. You’ve won.
Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.