Easter 08'
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Easter 2008
Media
Welcome- Dustin
Welcome to Evergreen! On Thursday we gathered and read of Christ’s last night with His disciples before His betrayal and crucifixion. We read of His example to them- How He told them they should love one another and show it by serving each other… and how He demonstrated that by wrapping a towel around His waist, taking on the position of a servant, a slave, and washing their feet, as they sat astonished that their teacher, their Master would do that for them.
And on Friday we walked through the betrayal, arrest, suffering and death of Jesus, astonished that our teacher, our Master would do that for us… and we ended knowing that Christ our Lord was crucified.
But today is Sunday and today we can declare to the world and to each other: Christ is Risen!
(He is Risen indeed!)
Song(s)- Devin
Kid’s Sermon- Chip (dismiss kids to kids room)
Easter! Who got candy??? Has anyone noticed how truly awful Easter candy has gotten? Why is that? Does anyone still get baskets in the mail from grandparents/parents? I used to continue getting those well into my late 20’s from my grandparents. When they died, there were no more candy baskets. I miss them now that they’re gone. Both the baskets and my grandparents…
Have you ever had one of those moments when either really good, or really bad, you knew that your life would be changed forever?
There was a man in Canada, a couple of years ago, that won the lottery. But he waited almost a year to tell anyone he had the ticket or to claim his winnings. When he saw those winning numbers, and compared it to the ticket in his hand. He knew that his life would change forever. It was like… oh crap. And he just needed some time to think.
Amy and I, since we got married, and since we’ve had Jack and then Jane and now Baby To Be Named Later (probably little Starbuck, but that’s still in discussion)… we constantly look at our kids and then at each other and say “How did that happen?” Well, we know how it happened. And it’s not that we regret having kids- it just seems so big sometimes… everything changes from that moment on when it’s no longer just the two of you. And on a certain level- that’s always scary.
When it comes to Easter; the eggs and bunnies and especially the candy are nice, but let’s not mistake the wrapping for the present… there’s something inside that package; and what’s there- frankly, is terrifying. It’s Christianity’s contention that Jesus rose from the dead… If we can think about Easter, and not be a little frightened… not have an Oh, Crap moment… maybe we need to think a little harder.
We’ll talk more about that in a few moments.
Those of you who attended our Good Friday gathering- talk to us- what was that like? What did you feel?
Now- Imagine what they felt…
This was a moment after which, everything changed.
Internally, over the course of Friday as Jesus was being brutalized and killed and Saturday as He lay in the grave, the disciples and others who loved Jesus had begun the process of reconciling themselves to Jesus’ death. He was gone… and more than that, He probably wasn’t who we thought He was… some of the disciples made this statement: “We had hoped He was the one who would redeem Israel.” That He was the Savior. They had realized, crushingly, that a dead savior can’t save anyone.
Jesus had told them over and over again that He would be betrayed, beaten, crucified and that He would rise again. I don’t know how they pictured this in their minds, but when it came down to it, when they actually saw the scourging He endured, His body ripped and shredded and finally lying dead and lifeless… they just knew… there’s no way He’s ever getting up again.
Often, when someone we love dies, we have a desire to do something for them… and so those closest to Him wanted to do something for Jesus, even after they had laid Him in a tomb. The custom was that tombs were reusable- the tomb wasn’t actually the final resting place. They would lay someone out for a few years, allow decomposition to happen and then gather the bones and put them in a small, stone box called an ossuary.
So, Mark 16:1 tells us
VS 1-2
The Jews didn’t practice embalming… the spices weren’t meant to preserve His body, just to cover the smell.
VS 3 says:
I love this: this is exactly like something I would do. They have this great plan to take care of Jesus’ body… they buy the spices, get everyone together (even though Mark only mentions three of the women’s names, we know there were more present from some of the other Gospel accounts… there were probably a good number of them) and on the way they remember the big, giant rock that the authorities had rolled in front of the tomb. How are we going to deal with that… I guess we’ll just have to see when we get there.
VS 4-7
So, they arrive at the tomb and are told Jesus is alive. And what’s more, they are given a message to give to the disciples, to meet Jesus in Galilee.
Why is Peter singled out?
I love the, “Just as He told you.” There’s an implied rebuke there.
VS 8
Mark actually ends his book here in verse 8. You’ll notice, if you have notes in your Bible that the last part of the chapter isn’t in the oldest of the thousands and thousands of ancient manuscripts we have, so that tells us- probably not part of the original. But if so, that’s kind of puzzling… Why would Mark end on a note like that? They fled trembling and bewildered… In fact, it’s such a weird ending, I think that’s why longer endings were added later.
But let’s assume that this was the original ending of Mark- why? Why end it that way? Why weren’t they laughing, celebrating?
Because this was a moment after which, everything changed. And the truth is, that’s always frightening.
I mean, come on. They saw Him die. And now they’re told He’s alive? We write horror movies about this kind of stuff. You may have heard someone talk about the JOY of Easter… but as I read this and other accounts, the first reaction was almost always “fear”… yes, joy comes, but first, there’s this feeling of fear- of “Oh crap.”
Why? Like I said, they had begun the process of reconciling themselves to the loss of Jesus. A lot of good times, some nice ideas… we had some hopes, but now- it’s time to get back to real life.
And then Jesus stands up on Sunday morning and walks out of a sealed tomb… of course they were scared. What does this mean? What happens to our lives now?
The word “life” is fascinating because it covers such a broad spectrum of meaning. A seed has one kind of life, a plant another. A cat has one type of life, a human, another. And even among plants, there are different types of life. There’s the annual. This will flower once, be beautiful for a season and then die. It won’t come back the next season. But then there’s the evergreen. It starts small, but because it has a qualitatively different kind of life than the annual, it grows winter, spring, summer and fall. Always the same- green and full of life. One year, 50 years, a hundred, 500. There’s a lot of similarities, but compared to the flower, the evergreen is eternal…
The moment in the movie the Passion of the Christ that came closest to making me lose it… there was this point when Jesus, carrying the cross, fell. And Mary rushed over to Him, He looked up at her and said, “Look mother, I make all things new.”
That’s actually a quote, not from the Gospels, but from the book of Revelation. There’s this picture of Jesus, sitting on the throne of heaven, and what He says is, “Behold… I make all things new.”
Jesus came and He offered us new life, and the best way I can describe it is to compare it to this: His offer is one of exchanging this annual life for an evergreen life.
The Resurrection proved a lot- it proved that Jesus wasn’t a delusional nut, or a lying cult leader… and it validates Jesus’ offer of new life- after all, you don’t buy a baldness cure from a guy with no hair… but that’s not the real essence or reason for the Resurrection.
Jesus came to make all things new- and this was the start. This was Jesus following through on His offer of a new kind of life to humanity, a life as different from the lives we were born into as a flower that blooms once and dies is different than an evergreen tree.
It is easier to believe that Easter is just a nice story, a myth of new life meant to give us hope, but not really a literal truth. But for that very reason, I refuse to think that way… because if I have learned any thing in this life it is that the easy way is seldom the right way…
The Resurrection of Christ is confrontational. It means that this was not simply a philosopher or teacher or good man. But you know what? It’s only confrontational and scary in the same way that me standing here, offering you a winning lottery ticket is confrontational and scary.
If you take it, everything changes.
To understand Easter is to understand the fact that the world is a different place now, and that we can live in that "different-ness."
The Resurrection is not just God doing an amazing miracle at one time. It’s God starting a process that is meant to continue on and on- God overturning the powers that be, God bringing light into darkness, hope into despair… life where we thought death had won.
And the most amazing part of it all is that God allows us to participate. He calls us to take part in setting things right. By allowing God to work through us- changing the world inside us and then all around us.
No- check that- That’s NOT the most amazing part. The most amazing part is that God allows us to participate in making things right here in the world… and we don’t. We sit. We are content to play at church when God is on the move in our world. We allow ourselves to be unchanged and unmoved and so show- we really don’t understand.
The Resurrection of Christ is a dividing moment in history and in each of our individual lives. Even deeper than a change in our fortunes, or marriage or giving birth, are the changes that occur when we allow Jesus in, when we give Him real entre’ into our lives and He brings with Him this new kind of life.
This is the great paradox of being a Christ follower: It’s free, but it costs you everything. You don’t need to change a thing to come to Him, but when you actually meet Him, you’ll want to change it all. There are things that make sense in the context of the flower-bed that make no sense at all in the forest, among the evergreens.
The question today for us is this: will we or will we not accept that our lives cannot, should not… and happily, WILL NOT be the same if we truly follow a Jesus that is raised from the dead? What happened on that first Easter morning was so real, it turned a bunch of frightened fishermen into a movement- a movement that changed history, that continues to change the world. Should we allow it to do anything less in us?
Let’s Pray:
Jude 1:24-25 (NLT)
Songs- Devin
Wrap up:
Here’s what I want to tell you this Easter: The resurrection of Christ is not just an event… it’s THE event, that sunrise of which all other sunrises are simply a pale imitation. It’s the penultimate note in the song God is writing of our forgiveness, our restoration, our healing. He rose from the dead and so we know- we will too. Death is not the end. Life in a redeemed community, living on a renewed earth in relationship with God Himself- that’s what lies after the experience of death for anyone who wants what Jesus is offering. That’s a big promise…
During His ministry, many questioned- Who is this man who thinks He can forgive sin? The resurrection says that yes, Jesus has even that authority... and more. Jesus said just before raising Lazarus from the dead: “I am the resurrection and the life, whoever believes in me, though they die like everyone else, they will live again.” And His resurrection proves that He can make a statement like that- that He can offer forgiveness, and new life and life forever… and more than just promise, He can deliver.
The resurrection of Christ is a down payment… it’s a promise, earnest money on something beyond pain, something beyond suffering, something beyond even death. Though we pass through or find ourselves sitting in the darkness of depression, of pain, of sickness and our own mortality, the light on the horizon, the impending dawn is Jesus Himself, the sun of righteousness, bringing healing, not just from sickness… but from sin, from the bitter effects of our sin, from death itself.
And I understand that this is a wild claim Jesus makes. I think it’s instructive that Jesus appeared to some people after His resurrection, the book of John tells us about 500 people in all, but those He appeared to were the same kinds of people He had hung out with for His whole ministry- those on the margins. He didn’t appear to Pilate who had condemned Him. He didn’t come have dinner with the priests or the soldiers who did Him in. He didn’t appear to everyone everywhere- perhaps because that would have been coercive. He appeared in a credible way, but not in a way that takes away my free-will, your free will. We could talk all day about the historical evidence for the resurrection and credibility of the accounts and witnesses… but we won’t.
Ultimately, it’s up to each one of us- I see what Jesus did for my forgiveness, for my healing, for my life…I hear what he offers me… And I either believe it, or I don’t.
So here’s the question this beautiful, sunny morning, light after so much darkness: What has God said to you that you are having a hard time believing? That you are forgiven? That you can change? That you should change? That you should serve others? That you should let someone serve you? That a life spent following Christ and working hard to see others follow Him, justice done, and God’s kingdom advanced in everyway possible is better than any other way you could possibly spend your life? That when Jesus offers a new life, He can deliver?
Pray-Bob
What do you want to say, ask?
Announcements: Dustin
Blessing: Sarah
Read MoreMedia
Welcome- Dustin
Welcome to Evergreen! On Thursday we gathered and read of Christ’s last night with His disciples before His betrayal and crucifixion. We read of His example to them- How He told them they should love one another and show it by serving each other… and how He demonstrated that by wrapping a towel around His waist, taking on the position of a servant, a slave, and washing their feet, as they sat astonished that their teacher, their Master would do that for them.
And on Friday we walked through the betrayal, arrest, suffering and death of Jesus, astonished that our teacher, our Master would do that for us… and we ended knowing that Christ our Lord was crucified.
But today is Sunday and today we can declare to the world and to each other: Christ is Risen!
(He is Risen indeed!)
Song(s)- Devin
Kid’s Sermon- Chip (dismiss kids to kids room)
Easter! Who got candy??? Has anyone noticed how truly awful Easter candy has gotten? Why is that? Does anyone still get baskets in the mail from grandparents/parents? I used to continue getting those well into my late 20’s from my grandparents. When they died, there were no more candy baskets. I miss them now that they’re gone. Both the baskets and my grandparents…
Have you ever had one of those moments when either really good, or really bad, you knew that your life would be changed forever?
There was a man in Canada, a couple of years ago, that won the lottery. But he waited almost a year to tell anyone he had the ticket or to claim his winnings. When he saw those winning numbers, and compared it to the ticket in his hand. He knew that his life would change forever. It was like… oh crap. And he just needed some time to think.
Amy and I, since we got married, and since we’ve had Jack and then Jane and now Baby To Be Named Later (probably little Starbuck, but that’s still in discussion)… we constantly look at our kids and then at each other and say “How did that happen?” Well, we know how it happened. And it’s not that we regret having kids- it just seems so big sometimes… everything changes from that moment on when it’s no longer just the two of you. And on a certain level- that’s always scary.
When it comes to Easter; the eggs and bunnies and especially the candy are nice, but let’s not mistake the wrapping for the present… there’s something inside that package; and what’s there- frankly, is terrifying. It’s Christianity’s contention that Jesus rose from the dead… If we can think about Easter, and not be a little frightened… not have an Oh, Crap moment… maybe we need to think a little harder.
We’ll talk more about that in a few moments.
Those of you who attended our Good Friday gathering- talk to us- what was that like? What did you feel?
Now- Imagine what they felt…
This was a moment after which, everything changed.
Internally, over the course of Friday as Jesus was being brutalized and killed and Saturday as He lay in the grave, the disciples and others who loved Jesus had begun the process of reconciling themselves to Jesus’ death. He was gone… and more than that, He probably wasn’t who we thought He was… some of the disciples made this statement: “We had hoped He was the one who would redeem Israel.” That He was the Savior. They had realized, crushingly, that a dead savior can’t save anyone.
Jesus had told them over and over again that He would be betrayed, beaten, crucified and that He would rise again. I don’t know how they pictured this in their minds, but when it came down to it, when they actually saw the scourging He endured, His body ripped and shredded and finally lying dead and lifeless… they just knew… there’s no way He’s ever getting up again.
Often, when someone we love dies, we have a desire to do something for them… and so those closest to Him wanted to do something for Jesus, even after they had laid Him in a tomb. The custom was that tombs were reusable- the tomb wasn’t actually the final resting place. They would lay someone out for a few years, allow decomposition to happen and then gather the bones and put them in a small, stone box called an ossuary.
So, Mark 16:1 tells us
VS 1-2
The Jews didn’t practice embalming… the spices weren’t meant to preserve His body, just to cover the smell.
VS 3 says:
I love this: this is exactly like something I would do. They have this great plan to take care of Jesus’ body… they buy the spices, get everyone together (even though Mark only mentions three of the women’s names, we know there were more present from some of the other Gospel accounts… there were probably a good number of them) and on the way they remember the big, giant rock that the authorities had rolled in front of the tomb. How are we going to deal with that… I guess we’ll just have to see when we get there.
VS 4-7
So, they arrive at the tomb and are told Jesus is alive. And what’s more, they are given a message to give to the disciples, to meet Jesus in Galilee.
Why is Peter singled out?
I love the, “Just as He told you.” There’s an implied rebuke there.
VS 8
Mark actually ends his book here in verse 8. You’ll notice, if you have notes in your Bible that the last part of the chapter isn’t in the oldest of the thousands and thousands of ancient manuscripts we have, so that tells us- probably not part of the original. But if so, that’s kind of puzzling… Why would Mark end on a note like that? They fled trembling and bewildered… In fact, it’s such a weird ending, I think that’s why longer endings were added later.
But let’s assume that this was the original ending of Mark- why? Why end it that way? Why weren’t they laughing, celebrating?
Because this was a moment after which, everything changed. And the truth is, that’s always frightening.
I mean, come on. They saw Him die. And now they’re told He’s alive? We write horror movies about this kind of stuff. You may have heard someone talk about the JOY of Easter… but as I read this and other accounts, the first reaction was almost always “fear”… yes, joy comes, but first, there’s this feeling of fear- of “Oh crap.”
Why? Like I said, they had begun the process of reconciling themselves to the loss of Jesus. A lot of good times, some nice ideas… we had some hopes, but now- it’s time to get back to real life.
And then Jesus stands up on Sunday morning and walks out of a sealed tomb… of course they were scared. What does this mean? What happens to our lives now?
The word “life” is fascinating because it covers such a broad spectrum of meaning. A seed has one kind of life, a plant another. A cat has one type of life, a human, another. And even among plants, there are different types of life. There’s the annual. This will flower once, be beautiful for a season and then die. It won’t come back the next season. But then there’s the evergreen. It starts small, but because it has a qualitatively different kind of life than the annual, it grows winter, spring, summer and fall. Always the same- green and full of life. One year, 50 years, a hundred, 500. There’s a lot of similarities, but compared to the flower, the evergreen is eternal…
The moment in the movie the Passion of the Christ that came closest to making me lose it… there was this point when Jesus, carrying the cross, fell. And Mary rushed over to Him, He looked up at her and said, “Look mother, I make all things new.”
That’s actually a quote, not from the Gospels, but from the book of Revelation. There’s this picture of Jesus, sitting on the throne of heaven, and what He says is, “Behold… I make all things new.”
Jesus came and He offered us new life, and the best way I can describe it is to compare it to this: His offer is one of exchanging this annual life for an evergreen life.
The Resurrection proved a lot- it proved that Jesus wasn’t a delusional nut, or a lying cult leader… and it validates Jesus’ offer of new life- after all, you don’t buy a baldness cure from a guy with no hair… but that’s not the real essence or reason for the Resurrection.
Jesus came to make all things new- and this was the start. This was Jesus following through on His offer of a new kind of life to humanity, a life as different from the lives we were born into as a flower that blooms once and dies is different than an evergreen tree.
It is easier to believe that Easter is just a nice story, a myth of new life meant to give us hope, but not really a literal truth. But for that very reason, I refuse to think that way… because if I have learned any thing in this life it is that the easy way is seldom the right way…
The Resurrection of Christ is confrontational. It means that this was not simply a philosopher or teacher or good man. But you know what? It’s only confrontational and scary in the same way that me standing here, offering you a winning lottery ticket is confrontational and scary.
If you take it, everything changes.
To understand Easter is to understand the fact that the world is a different place now, and that we can live in that "different-ness."
The Resurrection is not just God doing an amazing miracle at one time. It’s God starting a process that is meant to continue on and on- God overturning the powers that be, God bringing light into darkness, hope into despair… life where we thought death had won.
And the most amazing part of it all is that God allows us to participate. He calls us to take part in setting things right. By allowing God to work through us- changing the world inside us and then all around us.
No- check that- That’s NOT the most amazing part. The most amazing part is that God allows us to participate in making things right here in the world… and we don’t. We sit. We are content to play at church when God is on the move in our world. We allow ourselves to be unchanged and unmoved and so show- we really don’t understand.
The Resurrection of Christ is a dividing moment in history and in each of our individual lives. Even deeper than a change in our fortunes, or marriage or giving birth, are the changes that occur when we allow Jesus in, when we give Him real entre’ into our lives and He brings with Him this new kind of life.
This is the great paradox of being a Christ follower: It’s free, but it costs you everything. You don’t need to change a thing to come to Him, but when you actually meet Him, you’ll want to change it all. There are things that make sense in the context of the flower-bed that make no sense at all in the forest, among the evergreens.
The question today for us is this: will we or will we not accept that our lives cannot, should not… and happily, WILL NOT be the same if we truly follow a Jesus that is raised from the dead? What happened on that first Easter morning was so real, it turned a bunch of frightened fishermen into a movement- a movement that changed history, that continues to change the world. Should we allow it to do anything less in us?
Let’s Pray:
Jude 1:24-25 (NLT)
Songs- Devin
Wrap up:
Here’s what I want to tell you this Easter: The resurrection of Christ is not just an event… it’s THE event, that sunrise of which all other sunrises are simply a pale imitation. It’s the penultimate note in the song God is writing of our forgiveness, our restoration, our healing. He rose from the dead and so we know- we will too. Death is not the end. Life in a redeemed community, living on a renewed earth in relationship with God Himself- that’s what lies after the experience of death for anyone who wants what Jesus is offering. That’s a big promise…
During His ministry, many questioned- Who is this man who thinks He can forgive sin? The resurrection says that yes, Jesus has even that authority... and more. Jesus said just before raising Lazarus from the dead: “I am the resurrection and the life, whoever believes in me, though they die like everyone else, they will live again.” And His resurrection proves that He can make a statement like that- that He can offer forgiveness, and new life and life forever… and more than just promise, He can deliver.
The resurrection of Christ is a down payment… it’s a promise, earnest money on something beyond pain, something beyond suffering, something beyond even death. Though we pass through or find ourselves sitting in the darkness of depression, of pain, of sickness and our own mortality, the light on the horizon, the impending dawn is Jesus Himself, the sun of righteousness, bringing healing, not just from sickness… but from sin, from the bitter effects of our sin, from death itself.
And I understand that this is a wild claim Jesus makes. I think it’s instructive that Jesus appeared to some people after His resurrection, the book of John tells us about 500 people in all, but those He appeared to were the same kinds of people He had hung out with for His whole ministry- those on the margins. He didn’t appear to Pilate who had condemned Him. He didn’t come have dinner with the priests or the soldiers who did Him in. He didn’t appear to everyone everywhere- perhaps because that would have been coercive. He appeared in a credible way, but not in a way that takes away my free-will, your free will. We could talk all day about the historical evidence for the resurrection and credibility of the accounts and witnesses… but we won’t.
Ultimately, it’s up to each one of us- I see what Jesus did for my forgiveness, for my healing, for my life…I hear what he offers me… And I either believe it, or I don’t.
So here’s the question this beautiful, sunny morning, light after so much darkness: What has God said to you that you are having a hard time believing? That you are forgiven? That you can change? That you should change? That you should serve others? That you should let someone serve you? That a life spent following Christ and working hard to see others follow Him, justice done, and God’s kingdom advanced in everyway possible is better than any other way you could possibly spend your life? That when Jesus offers a new life, He can deliver?
Pray-Bob
What do you want to say, ask?
Announcements: Dustin
Blessing: Sarah
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