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It's Easter! Don't Miss It. Luke 24:1-12 |
April 25, 2004 Pastor Tom Marcum |
I recently came as close as I have ever come to experiencing one of the nightmare scenarios feared by every pastor when I very nearly missed Mark and Diana's wedding which started at 1 o'clock, not 2 o'clock as indicated by my Palm Pilot. Here's what happened.
I arrived at the church a couple hours early thinking that I could get a little bit of work done before the wedding. I disappeared into my office and quickly became fully engaged in various tasks. The first time I paused to check my watch an hour had already passed and it was 1 o'clock. Rather than start another task, I decided to shift from "work mode" to "wedding mode" by mingling with the arriving guests.
I stepped out of my office anticipating that I'd see a courtyard filled with well-dressed, happy people. Instead, I saw a courtyard that was completely deserted. In fact, there was no one to be seen anywhere. My confusion only deepened as I looked beyond the courtyard to a parking lot absolutely packed with cars. It was then that the sound of wedding prelude music hit my ears and a nauseous feeling hit my stomach.
I sprinted down the walkway toward the auditorium and as I looked into the foyer I saw the bride and her father waiting for their cue to walk down the aisle. Then I cut a quick glance to the platform area and saw the wedding party completely assembled, including Pastor Larry who was handling the opening portion of the ceremony before handing it off to me for the vows. Larry had a slightly panicked look on his face. I talked to him about it later and he said that his mind was racing with this thought, "Vows. Vows. Must think of some vows." He said the only thing he could come up with in the moment was, "Fourscore and seven years ago…"
Quickly assessing the situation I decided my best hope for getting to the platform undiscovered was a diversion. So, as "The Wedding March" began and everyone stood and turned to watch the bride make her grand entrance, I squatted down and sprinted crab-like down the far aisle along the auditorium's southern wall. By the time the bride arrived at the platform, bringing the gaze of the guests along with her, I had magically appeared and taken my place…just like we'd planned.
And it was about then that I noticed two things. First, the color returned to Pastor Larry's face. Second, in the balcony a group of my cohorts were grinning from ear to ear and shaking the heads in amazement.
Now, I imagine that some of you might wonder how a pastor could possibly miss something as important as a wedding. And while I can certainly understand the question, I also know that really important things get missed by people who shouldn't miss such things, all the time.
--Things like birthdays and anniversaries.
--Things like client and doctors appointments.
--Things like payments to the IRS and banks.
This morning we are celebrating the single greatest event in the history of mankind, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And one of the most intriguing aspects of this story…the Easter Story…is the fact that it was very nearly missed by many of the people who were closest to it, Jesus' own disciples and followers. Jesus had talked openly about his death and his resurrection. And yet, in spite of the fact that events unfolded exactly as he had told them they would they responded with fear, bewilderment and disbelief.
Now, the scriptures also tell us that eventually they came to realize that Jesus really had been raised from the dead. Obviously, as more and more people saw the resurrected Jesus walking among them it became much easier for people to accept that the resurrection was real. But that doesn't change the fact that many of those closest to him were initially unable to believe that the promised resurrection had really taken place. Consequently, they came very close to missing the whole thing.
How could that have happened? I think we get some valuable clues in Luke's account of Easter morning.
"On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb." (Luke 24:1)
That these women were bringing spices to the tomb tells us the purpose of their visit. They weren't going there to meet a risen Savior. They were going there to mourn their deceased rabbi and anoint his lifeless body with spices intended to slow the decay and decomposition of the body.
Did these women love Jesus? Clearly, they did. Surely it was their love for him that had drawn them to the tomb. But it is just as clear that they had never fully accepted the assurances that Jesus had given them about his coming resurrection. Not because they didn't love him, but because resurrection from the dead was just too far outside the range of normal life experiences and expectations to be believed. So, they'd come to the tomb in the midst of all of their sadness to do the most loving thing that they could imagine, tend to his dead body.
But, the next verses tell us that they would never complete their mission.
They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'" Then they remembered his words. Luke 24:2-8
Arriving at the tomb the women find that the huge stone guarding the entrance to the tomb has been rolled to the side and Jesus' body is nowhere to be found. At first the women are perplexed but soon their confusion is replaced by genuine fear with the sudden appearance of a couple of angels, described here as 2 men wearing fluorescent clothing. As the women drop to the ground in fear and surprise the angels deliver the message they've been sent to convey, "Why do you look for the living among the dead?"
--Why have you come this place that houses dead things, when the one you seek is bursting with life?
--Why would you think that the resurrected Jesus would be hanging out in a cemetery, of all places?
--Don't you realize that if you keep looking for the life in places that only offer death, you're going to miss the transforming power of the risen Christ altogether.
"Why do you look for the living among the dead?"
Folks, may I suggest that each of us would be very wise this Easter morning to ask ourselves that same question, because the truth is we're really not all that different from those women that went looking for Jesus in a cemetery. How many times have we tried to find life in places that had no life to offer? How many times have we looked at our own lives, recognized that some part of our life was slowly dying only to turn to a solution that not only didn't offer the possibility of life, but virtually guaranteed death?
--"It seems like all my wife and I do is fight, any more. So, I decided I'm just not gonna talk to her anymore." Well, obviously that's gonna help.
--"I don't really know what the problem is I just know that I'm depressed all the time and drinking seems to help…at least temporarily." Drinking and depression. Now, there's a winning combination.
--"You know, it all seems so pointless at times. My job pays the bills but there's no great meaning to the work that I do. I'm just restless. I don't sense any real purpose for my life. So, I bought a new set of clubs and I've made a commitment to play golf once a week." Wow. I bet that changed everything.
And on and on we could go, adding our own examples of trying to find life where there was no life to be found.
Folks, the truth is, those kinds of approaches to the problems and struggles of our lives never fix anything, because ultimately we're trying to find in those experiences something that they just can't offer. New jobs, new relationships, more stuff or more diversions may distract us for a while, but they don't fundamentally change the nature of our lives. That's why it's so important that we don't miss Easter. The Good News of Easter is that God's passionate desire is meet us in precisely those areas of our lives where we sense we are slowly dying and He wants to resurrect those dying areas of our lives by turning loose in us the same power that brought Jesus out of the grave. And that's exactly what He'll do if you'll stop looking for life among the dead and look, instead, to the source of life, Jesus Christ who is risen from the dead.
Now, as we return to our text I want to point out one additional mistake that can also make it very easy for us to miss Easter, altogether. As we pick up the story in verse 9 the women who have discovered the empty tomb are now going to report their discovery to the disciples.
When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened. Luke 24:9-12
Folks, there are a couple of astonishing statements in those verses. One is there in verse 12 where it says that Peter…who has walked with Jesus as closely as anyone…hears the report of the women, runs to the tomb to check things out for himself, sees the linen strips that had been wrapped around Jesus' dead body now lying on the ground, and then, "went away, wondering…what had happened." In spite of all of his experiences with Jesus…in spite of all that Jesus had told him to prepare him for this very moment…Peter was still not prepared to accept that God can do whatever He decides to do…even bring the dead back to life.
But the other astonishing statement here is found in verse 11 and I think it holds a valuable lesson for those of us who don't want to miss Easter. The women come back and shared their report with Jesus' disciples…a report, which basically comes down to this, "Everything has happened exactly as Jesus said it would happen." And how did the disciples respond? Verse 11 tells us, "But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense."
You know, when we first read that verse I think our natural reaction is to shake our heads and ask, "How could his own disciples be so dense? After all of their personal experience with Jesus, how could they be so lacking in confidence and trust?" But folks, before we get too hard on the disciples we'd probably be wise to take a good hard look ourselves and honestly assess our own willingness to take God at His word…our willingness to simply act in faith based upon the promises that God has spoken to us. I doubt that any of us would be so bold as to actually say that God's word is nonsense. But, folks, when we know God's promises and then fail to trust them our actions suggest that that's exactly what we think about God's word.
--Philippians 4:19 says, "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." Do you really believe that? Great! So stop worrying about things and start trusting in the God of Easter!
--1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." Do you really believe that? Great! So stop carrying around a load of guilt and start trusting in the God of Easter!
--2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" Do you really believe that? Great! So stop acting like there's no hope of anything changing in your life and start trusting in the God of Easter!
Folks, the God who brought Jesus out of the grave has given us a book filled with His promises to us. But if we fail to trust those promises they are, for us, so much nonsense Folks, if God could keep His promise to bring Jesus out of the grave and back to life we have every reason to trust that He will keep all of His promises. And if you believe that you will experience the transforming power of the risen Lord.
Easter happened.
Jesus is risen and He wants to turn the power of the resurrection loose in your life, today.
Don't miss it.
Don't waste your time looking for life in cemeteries.
Don't dismiss the word of God as nonsense.
Easter happened. I pray that you'll allow it to happen to you.
© Copyright 2004 Pastor Tom Marcum