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A sermon is a manner of oral communication and therefore words and sentence structure/order would be added, altered, or deleted at the moment of delivery. + In Nomine Jesu + The Rev. Evan Gaertner Easter “If it sounds too good to be true … it probably is.” Those words are the common sense measure of a scam or a fraud. A common internet scam is called the “Nigerian Scam.” The basic outline is that a wealthy foreigner needs help moving millions from his homeland and promises a hefty percentage of this fortune as a reward for assisting him. “The scam works by blinding the victim with promises of an unimaginable fortune. Once the sucker is sufficiently glittery-eyes over the prospect of becoming fabulously rich, he is squeeze for however much money he has. This he parts with willingly, thinking that giving up $5,000 is nothing compared to the $2 million when this is all done?” (snopes.com) Falling for a scam is humiliating. Knowing that scams and frauds are out there can take our basic trust in others down a notch. None of us want to be caught in a scam. The line “If it sounds too good to be true… it probably is,” is a line that could come to mind when considering the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He died on the cross and three days later the tomb was empty and he was alive. There are many very smart people that have discounted the gospel as a waste of time. This is no surprise. Paul said, “the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Cor. 2:14). With all the scams and frauds and empty promises made in this world faith is at a premium. It is hard to have faith in a free gift that we have done nothing to deserve. Finding hope in a world of hype and marketing is hard and has a lot of dead ends. Today we celebrate that our faith is not empty. The gospel message we hold onto is true and solid. Alleluia! Christ is Risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia! Faith is a powerful force in this world that allows us to go forward in the face of defeat and despair. Everyday we go forward, brothers and sisters, because we live by faith that God is at work to bring his kingdom alive. This faith to some appears foolish or misplaced. But our faith is rooted in truth. The case for believing in Christ can be made. Today we celebrate the resurrection of Christ and while the joy of this day is spiritually discerned it certainly is not foolishly believed nonsense. Look with me at the Easter story from the Gospel of John and you will find that there is a case for believing in Christ. Look and you will see that the work of Jesus was not true because the disciples felt it to be true or wanted it to be true. Jesus is the messiah, the Lord of Salvation because that is the truth. Sin ultimately is lying to yourself and believing that you are in control and wise enough to disregard God’s commands and trust your own. Adam and Eve sinned because they trusted in what they believed was best for themselves instead of trusting in the Lord. We all lie. Sin is so destructive because it pulls us away from trusting in God’s commands and promises. Sin is the ultimate attempt at a scam. We try to scam ourselves into believing that we don’t need God. Grace is the truth that God sees us caught in the trap of our lies, caught in the grips of death, and still loves us. The grace of God is real. Back on that first Easter the truth of the resurrection was essential. These disciples later were going to be witnesses of this glorious event and on account of their witness face persecution and death. They were not going to die for a feeling or a lie. Without the truth of the resurrection there would be no truth. We would be just a bunch of fools deceiving ourselves. But worse we would still be caught in the trap of lies of sin and death. But thanks be to God that no matter how much the devil would like the resurrection ignored every generation has gone by faith to the tomb and found the truth. Christ is risen, just as he said. Peter went with the beloved disciple to the tomb. They both went running but the beloved disciple, probably John, ran faster and reached the tomb first. He stooped into look and saw the linen cloths lying there. Simon Peter came, following, and went into the tomb. He also saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, the one which had been on Jesus head, lying folded in a place by itself. Then John came in and saw and believed. Do you notice the importance for both of them of finding in the tomb the linen cloths? They did not go to the wrong tomb. They did not go to the wrong address. The linen cloth is physical evidence that they had gone to the tomb into which the body of Jesus had been placed. Simon Peter and John, together act as witnesses for us that they went to the right place. They found the tomb, they saw and they believed. They believed even before Jesus had appeared to them because they saw the evidence at the tomb. He was not there, he was risen just as he had said. At the time the disciples had not understood these words. But through the power of the Spirit they saw and they believed. Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. She also needed to see to believe. When she looked in she saw two angels. They asked her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” This question is asked to any of us caught in the midst of despair and feeling empty of hope. And we all are invited to find comfort that our faith is not just found in an empty tomb or folded linens. Our hope is rooted in not just the evidence but in the truth of Jesus. Jesus said to Mary, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Mary thought he was the gardener and so said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” Their faith was founded upon the truth that Jesus died on the cross and rose again on the third day. Our faith is rooted in Jesus Christ, alive and present in our lives. We can be fully assured of the resurrection. The women, the disciples, the physical evidence all point to the truth. The truth is that Jesus is risen from the dead having defeated sin, death and the devil. The truth is that Jesus did this for us though we would reject him with our sin. The truth is that today this good news is for you and your children and for all those who are far off. If it sounds too good to be true… well with God it is true. In the face of this world, even while surrounded by sin, and in the midst of the temptations of the evil one, you are a forgiven child of God, alive by the power of Christ’s resurrection.
Soli Deo Gloria |
