We Believe in the Resurrection Easter 2024 (Rev. Dr. Charley Reeb)
One of the great things about today is being with family. Well, at least that’s true for most of us! I know many of us will be spending this Easter day with family.
Whenever I think of family and Easter, I’m reminded of a story I read about a guy from the US who took his whole family on an Easter vacation to the Holy Land. They were having a great time until the mother-in-law passed away in the middle of the trip. The son in law talked to an official and explained the situation. The official said, “I am so sorry for your loss. You’ve got two choices: You can fly her back to America for $10,000 or you can have her buried here in the Holy Land for $250.”
The man thought for a moment and said, “You know what? I think I’ll fly her back to America.” The official said, “Wow, you must have really loved her.” He said, “No, it’s not really that. You see, I heard this amazing story about a guy who lived here long ago and died. But then on the third day, he rose again. I just can’t take that chance.”
Now, if you’re sitting next to your mother-in-law, just shake your head in protest now and say “That’s terrible. I can’t believe the preacher would tell that joke.” I want your Easter brunch to be pleasant!
But there is one thing that son in law got right. Jesus Christ did rise from the grave! Today we proclaim our belief in the resurrection. Jesus is alive and it’s why we celebrate Easter! Easter means God had the last word over evil, sin and death. Easter means the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is available to every one of us. Easter means God can turn our trouble into triumph.
I imagine there might be some of you in worship today that are rather skeptical of this good news. You like the trappings of the Easter, the wonderful music, the beautiful flowers, family traditions. But truthfully, you’re not sure about the resurrection. It just seems too incredible for you. Well, think about it this way.
If a couple hundred years ago you spoke to your great-great-great grandfather and you told him that you could fly from New York to Los Angeles in a little over five hours in a contraption that weighed hundreds of thousands of pounds with 300 people in it, five miles in the air, he would’ve thought you were crazy. He would’ve laughed. If you told the same relative that people can actually walk on the moon, he would’ve laughed. If you also told him, you have a small device in your pocket that serves as your waiter, your navigator, your encyclopedia, and your phone, he would think you were nuts. Yet we’re witnesses of these things. We know they are true because we are witnesses.
In scripture, we have many reliable witnesses who experienced the risen Lord on that first Easter. Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene (John 20:11-18) and Peter (1 Cor. 15:5)—and to small groups of people—such as the two men on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-27) and his disciples (John 20:26-29; Acts 1:3-11). The Bible says that Jesus appeared to around 500 people!
More than that, how did a small group of terrified men who denied following Jesus for fear of being killed end up changing their tune and transforming civilization? How does that happen? They encountered the risen Lord and it changed them.
I am here to proclaim today that the risen Lord can change you too if you embrace his resurrection power.
Easter empowers us to rise above discouragement.
Perhaps you came to worship today in your Easter best. And you are trying very hard to smile and reflect the joy of the day. But inside you are discouraged. Maybe you have lost a job. Maybe you have lost a loved one. Maybe you have lost hope. And you are having a hard time believing that your life will get better. You are having a hard time believing in Easter.
Over time, your trials and difficulties have turned you into a cynic. You hide your discouragement behind a wall of skepticism.
I have had many conversations with people just like you and you know what I have discovered? When I really probe them, I realize that what they find difficult is not the resurrection. What they find difficult about today is they can’t really believe God loves them that much. They can’t really believe that God would put skin on and live, die and resurrect just for them. You want to know that hardest part of my job? To convince people that God loves them.
So the good news of Easter that I proclaim today is that Jesus loves you. He died for you and rose again for you. His resurrection power is real and more powerful than discouragement. This Easter power of Jesus will give you new life and new hope. It will give you strength and joy in living and comfort and courage in dying. The resurrection power of Jesus Christ is unmatched!
How do I know? Because I have experienced it!
Bishop Will Willimon tells the story of when he went to visit a man who was dying in the hospital, only had a couple of days to live. Willimon said, “Are you afraid?” Man said, “No, I’m not afraid, because of my faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Willimon said rather piously, “Well, yes, we all trust that our future is in God’s hands.”
The man replied, “No, no. I’m not hopeful because of what I believe about the future. I’m hopeful because of what I believe about the past.” He continued and said, “You see, time and time again in my life when I have gotten lost, when I have strayed away, when I have made mistakes, Jesus, time and time again has found me. He has looked for me, even when I was not looking for him. I don’t think he’s going to allow a thing like death to keep his love away from me.”
Now, there’s a man who understands Easter. There’s a man who understands the power of the resurrection. There’s a man who understands how much God loves him. That’s the power of Easter – a love and a power that overcomes discouragement.
Easter empowers us to rise above despair.
A group of eight year old’s were once asked about death and dying.
One of them named Tommy said, “When you die, they bury you in the ground and your soul goes to heaven, but your body can’t go to heaven because it’s too crowded up there already.”
A girl named Jane said, “Only the good people go to heaven. The other people go where it’s hot all the time like in Florida.”
Ansley said, “When you die, you don’t have to do homework in heaven unless your teacher is there too.” Don’t know what she’s implying there.
A little guy named Michael spoke for many when he said, “Maybe I’ll die someday, but I hope I don’t die on my birthday because it’s no fun to celebrate your birthday when you’re dead.”
The kid was right. Life is no fun when you’re dead. And I am not talking about physical death. I am talking about the death of the spirit – the death of joy.
Mary knew that feeling. In our text, when Mary went to the tomb, it says she went there while it was still dark. Oftentimes when we picture that scene, we picture Mary just as the sun is slightly breaking. That’s not true. The text says “Early…while it was still dark.” What does that mean? That means she was there between the hours of 3:00 AM and 6:00 AM. In other words, the darkest part of the night.
It truly was the darkest part of the night for Mary. They had taken her Lord away and tortured him, beat him, and crucified him. And in the darkness Mary saw figure she didn’t recognize. She thought it was the gardener. She said, “Where have you put my Lord?” She didn’t know that it was Jesus. So what did Jesus do? Did he perform some great miracle? Did he teach? No. What did he say? The text says he simply said, “Mary. Mary.” In her darkest hour, Jesus called Mary by her name.
I don’t know the darkness you might be living in. We all are facing battles most people don’t know about. I don’t know the despair that has beaten you down. But I do know this: Jesus raises us up my meeting us at the bottom. There is no place so low or so dark that Jesus cannot find you and raise you up. That’s what Easter is all about. Jesus walks into your darkness today and calls you by name.
Walter Connecticut is a great writer and he talks about a time when he took a group of young adults to a prison to lead a worship service for inmates. Before the service, they handed out toiletries, toothpaste, and all kinds of other items to the inmates. As they passed a particular cell, the inmate behind bars began to scream out cuss words. Then he said this, “You tell me one thing that Jesus can do for my life.”
Well, of course, Connecticut was worried about the young adults. They were scared and he moved them along, but then Connecticut said something amazing happened. One young man in that group went towards those bars, towards that unruly inmate, rolled up his sleeve and said to him, “You know where I got those scars, don’t you?” The prisoner didn’t reply because he knew he got those scars from shooting heroin. Then he buttoned up his sleeve and said, “You know what? Jesus Christ saved me from a cell just like this and from an addiction that was going to kill me, and he can do the same for you.”
Jesus Christ can empower us to rise above our despair. This is Easter. This is not a concert. This not just a family tradition. This is not the prelude before a big brunch. This is a celebration. Today we celebrate that Jesus is alive and he can resurrect your life! He can empower you to rise above despair.
Easter empowers us to rise above defeat.
Our text says that when Mary went to the empty tomb, she saw the stone rolled away. I bet she was amazed and thought to herself, who had enough strength to move a 3,000 pound stone? Well, the Bible tells us clearly it was the power of God!
I know people who still live in tombs of defeat and they can’t seem to roll away that stone. For some the stone is their past that they can’t get beyond. For other people, the stone is some kind of guilt, some kind of mistake that they can’t get beyond. For others, it’s some kind of failure that they can’t or won’t live down.
Maybe some of you feel that way today and, in your heart, you are saying, “Charley, I’ve tried to move that stone. I’ve tried. I’ve tried. I’ve tried to move it and I can’t. Well, here’s the good news of today. You’re not supposed to. The power of the resurrection moves that stone for you. I want you to listen closely to something the apostle Paul said in scripture. You’re not going to believe it if you haven’t heard it or read it before, but this is what the Apostle Paul said, “The same spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead lives in you.” If you don’t believe Paul, believe Jesus. For Jesus said, “Whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”
Now, what’s all this believing business? “Tell me, preacher, you’re always talking about believing in, trusting in, having faith in. What does that mean?” I’ll tell you what it means. In scripture, the literal translation of “believe in” means to “lean your whole weight upon.” See, that’s the irony of Easter maybe you didn’t expect. To win, just surrender. To gain power, become weak. To gain control, give up control. To receive, just ask.
Isn’t that what the thief on the cross did? He simply turned to Jesus and said, “Remember me. Help me.” And Jesus said, “Today, you will be with me in paradise.” That was it.
The thief didn’t say the “sinner’s prayer.”
He didn’t acknowledge and assent to the five spiritual laws.
He didn’t know any creeds.
He didn’t learn and accept the right doctrine.
He wasn’t baptized.
He wasn’t a member of any church.
He didn’t go to Sunday school or Bible study.
He never took communion.
He didn’t hang out with the right people.
All this executed criminal did was call on Jesus to remember him. No groveling. No fanfare. No ritual. No “Last Rights.” Just a cry to Jesus. And Jesus saved him. Why? Because he simply asked for help and Jesus loved him.
Jesus died and rose again for the whole world. This means Jesus deeply loves you and is ready to help you. He is only a prayer away. Just ask.
The Bible says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” -Romans 10:13.
When I was a student at Emory, the seminary at Candler there. I was serving as a chaplain for Emory Hospital and I had a very interesting supervisor, who was really a pain in the neck, but I learned a lot from him. When I first started, I would follow him along, follow his rounds to learn from him and to see what he said to patients, the dynamic there. I’ll never forget one time we were visiting a man who was a rather respected person in the community. A successful man by all definitions. But his life had come crashing down because of an addiction he was recovering in the hospital.
My supervisor and I visited his room and he was going on and on about everything that he had lost. He said, “I’ve lost everything. This is the end for me. I’ve lost my marriage probably. I’ve lost my children, my relationship with them. I’ve lost everything. This is the end.”
I’ll never forget what my supervisor did. He looked straight in his eyes and said, “You know what, that’s interesting, because I see this as just the beginning.” He said, “The beginning? Didn’t you hear what I said? I’ve lost everything.” My supervisor asked, “Everything?” “Yes, everything.” Then my supervisor replied, “Well, I guess that means Jesus has you all to himself now, doesn’t it? Imagine what Jesus can do with you now.” The man surrendered.
Fast forward some time later and that man reconciled with his wife and family. He began a ministry to those with addictions, bringing healing to hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people. Now, if that’s not an Easter story, I don’t know what is.
Jesus is alive! And he can empower you to rise above discouragement, rise above despair and rise above defeat. All you have to do is embrace his embrace of you. And this I know, for the Bible tells me so