The Feast of the Resurrection of our Lord - April 24, 2011

The Feast of the Resurrection of our Lord
Easter Morning,
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (April 24, 2011)
One Year Series

Readings:  
    Psalm 118, verses 1 to 29       
    Job 19:23-27   
    1 Corinthians 15:51-57   
    Mark 16:1-8

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 16th chapter of St. Mark, especially the following verses.

Mark 16:1-8 (NIV)

1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. 6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’” 8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

He is Risen! He is Risen indeed!  Alleluia!

It is the miracle proclaimed to the ages!  An angel in a white robe sits atop the tomb and proclaims to the Mary the mother of Christ that “He has risen” and that “He is not here.”(v. 6)  And there with Mary the mother of Jesus was Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome.  And the first words that they hear as they approached the tomb are words which are often first said by the angels when speaking to humans, “Do not be afraid.”  At the news of Christ’s impending birth, Mary ponders the words of an Angel who said, “Do not be afraid”(Luke 1:30)  Now she stands pondering the perceived death of her son and again she is told, “Do not be afraid...for He has risen.”

    And so today as we rejoice in amazement just as Mary did in the fact that the tomb of Christ was indeed empty.  And today we repeat the words of the angel of God, proclaiming “He has risen!”  The Prophet Job had said it would be so, “I know my Redeemer lives, and that in the end He will stand on the earth.”(Job 19:23-24)  Those ancient words of Job, “I know that my Redeemer lives” we love to sing as we rejoice.

We rejoice for in Christ’s resurrection from the dead, He wins for us our resurrection. We who have been made perishable by the sin of Adam and Eve, and in our own sin, will one day be raised from the dead, “We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed.” 

But sadly and all too often, our hearts and minds are stuck in the things of this world, the things of the here and now.  We convince ourselves that these things like Christ’s resurrection, like our baptism, like Holy Communion don’t really effect our lives.  For we have all experienced too much pain and too much misery in the paths which we have walked and in world we see before us.  And so we trudge along seeking for something different, something new and something better.  Something which appears to us to have some sort of substance.  Something real.  We ask questions which demand answers.  Like... How can you possibly offer any type of comfort to a mother who has lost a child? He is Risen.  How can you comfort a wife or husband who has lost their spouse? He is risen.  How can you comfort the seriously sick or those who are faced with dying?  He is risen.  How can you console the walking wounded, the down-trodden? He is risen. 

    Listen closely, the answer to all your concerns and cares are in those very words.      Alleluia, that Christ IS risen.  The resurrection is not a onetime event like when we look somewhere back in time, somewhere in the depths of our minds to fondly recall a special memory of a meal, or toy, or of special place.  No these days, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday, especially remind us Christ is much more than all of that.  For He IS risen, and He promised to be “with us always, even to the very end of the age.”

Jesus Christ is risen!

“He lives to silence all my fears;
He lives to wipe away my tears;
He lives to calm my troubled heart;
He lives all blessings to impart.”(LSB 461:3)

    Though beaten, scourged, bloodied, and crucified on the cross..He is Risen, to impart His blessings to us, not somewhere back in time.  He gives us His blessing each and every day.  He gives us our daily bread, He forgives us our trespasses, and by His death and resurrection He delivers us from the evil one.  He gives us His blessings in the waters of our Holy baptism.  Wherever there is the Word of God there Christ is.  Whenever Christ is there, there His church is.  Christ’s church does not depend on the action or inaction of us humans, it is not people who make or break the church, it is Christ who makes the church, and it is Christ who makes the sinners of this world into the saints of His eternal world.

Whatever you expected to find on this day, know that Christ is risen, Christ IS risen, indeed. You can be as confident of your resurrection as Jesus is risen from the dead and lives and reigns to all eternity. Our preaching is not in vain. Your faith is not in vain. Your sins are forgiven. There is hope in this life, hope in your death, hope for eternal life with God, hope for a new creation. And it all hangs on this little sentence: He is risen!

Jesus Christ comes to you this very day, for He is Risen.  He comes to you in your baptism, for He is Risen.  He comes to you in the Holy Supper of our Lord, for He is Risen.  Alleluiah means to you, “Praise ye the Lord,” and because of Christ’s death and Christs resurrection you are given the promise of spending eternity doing just this, praising the Lord!   Thanks be to God!  

He is Risen! He is risen indeed!  Alleluiah and Amen!
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

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