Easter Worship Service – April 9, 2023

You will see Him, that’s the message of Easter.  You will see Him, the living one, the alive one, Him.  And in that seeing, you’ll be able to breathe deeply again.  Happy Easter! Come, let us worship God!

Easter Service

Sunday April 9,2023

Scriptures: Matthew 28:1-10 and Acts 10:34-43

Message: “What Is Jesus Doing….?”

Matthew 28:1-10

The Resurrection

(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.”

Acts 10:34-43

(34) Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism (35) but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right. (36) You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. (37) You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached– (38) how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

(39) “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, (40) but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. (41) He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen–by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. (42) He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. (43) All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

This is the word of God, for the people of God. Thanks be to God.

True story. A United Methodist pastor was asked to conduct a graveside service for a member of his church. The only problem was the cemetery was more than an hour and a half away from the church. The pastor wasn’t feeling well so he decided to ride with the Funeral Director in the Coach. By the time they arrived at the cemetery, the flu had invaded completely, and he said he felt like the Chinese Army was having a pogo stick Derby on his head and stomach. Feverish and sick, he made it through the service, but he was starting to look like most flu victims, like death warmed over. So, as they headed back home, the funeral director suggested the pastor stretch out in the back of the coach. It had curtains and nobody would see him. The pastor thought it was a good idea and promptly fell asleep. He awoke when the vehicle stopped. Taking a few minutes to fully awaken, he slowly sat up and drew the side curtain to see where he was. He was face to face with a gas station attendant, who was surprised and shocked to see a body in the back of the hearse staring back at him.

With all the color drained out of him and his eyes as wide as saucers, the gas pump hose and nozzle flew into the air, and the attendant ran on shaky legs back into the gas station, while the funeral director tried to catch up to explain the whole situation.

I’m pretty sure that’s how the women who came to the empty tomb that first Easter morning must have felt. They had to have run on shaky legs back to the Disciples, their hearts pounding with both shock and excitement.

As we are told in Matthew’s gospel Mary Magdalene and the other Mary make their way back to Jesus’ tomb just as dawn breaks on that Sunday morning. These women had stayed near Jesus as he suffered and died on the cross. They had watched Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus take Jesus’ body, anoint him with spices, wrap him in a linen shroud, and place him in the tomb. They watched as the stone was rolled in front and the tomb.

But as Jesus’ friends and loyal followers, they still had one very holy duty to perform. They needed to mourn him.

Think of all those funeral processions that had been clogging the bloody streets of Jerusalem those days. Think of the women, crying, moaning, rending the fabric of their clothes. Remember, even as the Sabbath was but hours away, even as Nicodemus and Joseph hurried to get Jesus’ body safely entombed before sunset. The women, although they remained as long as they could, had to get back to their homes, their families, and prepare to greet and observe this sad Sabbath. Their mourning, their formal expressions of grief and loss, of respect and love for their master and teacher, had to be put on hold until the Sabbath, and all its special obligations and restrictions, had passed.

So, by Sunday’s dawn, the women couldn’t wait any longer. The two Marys hustled towards the tomb ready to sit shiva. The seven days of formal mourning, to wail and weep, to bring memories of Jesus’ life and their loss back to life with their tears and loud cries. It was the last thing they could do for Jesus. I’m sure they were thinking that, after this ritual of mourning and remembering he would truly be gone forever.

But instead of a quiet tomb the women get an earthquake! A dazzlingly radiant angel of the Lord! A miraculous pronouncement of an empty tomb!

And with one quick glance inside that empty tomb, the women’s agenda for the day, the agenda for their lifetime, was instantly changed. This was not a time for mourning. This was not an ending. This was the beginning of….?

A world in which resurrection is a reality.

A world in which death has been destroyed.

A world in which Jesus lives forever.

If you remember, A few years ago, Christian’s began to make popular wearing a bracelet or pin or shirt that read “W.W.J.D.” Of course, we all remember what these initials stood for: What Would Jesus Do?

The point was for Christians to look at and consider the issues, problems, decisions facing them and to ask, under these circumstances, “What would Jesus do?”

The only real problem with the W.W.J.D analogy is that it is presented in the wrong voice. It’s the question you’d ask of a dead person. Asking “what would Jesus do”, implies that Jesus is no longer a real player, that Jesus’ own activity was in the past and so should be voiced in the past tense. This puts the entire burden of all present and future decisions on our own frail and fallible shoulders.

By putting Jesus in the past tense “W.W.J.D” forgets about Easter. But the truth is, Easter puts Jesus in our midst, in our past, in the present, and in our future. Forever!

For Christians who understand the life-breathing power of Easter the question need never be a hypothetical “what would Jesus do.” Instead, the question is a searching inquiry into “W.I.J.D.”–What Is Jesus Doing?

“What would Jesus do” is the question of a mourner, trying to preserve the memory of a loved one who is dead and gone. What would Jesus do, might have been a question the two Mary’s would have considered after spending the day wailing and weeping at Jesus’ closed up and quiet tomb, had Easter not intervened.

Instead, the two women see and hear the miracle of the resurrection.

Instead, the women run to tell and the disciples and run smack into Jesus himself. Instead of feeling lost and wondering, “What would Jesus have me do?” these women experience the commands and assurances of the risen Jesus.

So, “What is Jesus doing?” Jesus is telling us to get out of the empty tomb and tell others about its barren state. Jesus is telling us, like those women, to tell others to get on the road to Galilee. In the 15th century, the meaning of “galilee” was defined as “above”. So, we are to get on the road to life “above”, to God’s will and purpose for our lives. To new beginnings, and to continue the mission of Jesus. The Messiah.

Easter is not about preserving the memory of a dead person. It is not about formally mourning and remembering the life and works of Jesus. If that were all Easter had to offer, there are a lot better ways we could spend this Sunday.

Easter proclaims Christ is Risen, not two millennia ago, but this morning. We live by the grace of God with the abundance, and power of Christ’s resurrection. Christ is alive, for each one of us here today. We don’t have to ask W.W.J.D. But we do need to recognize “What is Jesus Doing” among us on this Easter Sunday.

W.I.J.D. in this church?

W.I.J.D. In your life?

W.I.J.D. In your community?

W.I.J.D. In your school?

W.I.J.D. In your family?

W.I.J.D. on the internet?

W.I.J.D. In your wallet?

W.I.J.D. In your heart?

Ask those questions of yourselves, remembering what Peter testified saying.

“He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen–by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name”(Acts 10:41- 43).

Are you living in a world in which resurrection is a reality?

Does your life reflect a world in which death has been destroyed?

Are you telling others that Jesus lives forever?

It’s Easter! Will you tell others, “What Is Jesus Doing…?

In His Service,

Pastor Joe

Listen To Audio: Sermon 20230409