Resurrection Sunday 2022
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
He is risen! He is risen indeed!
Today is Resurrection Sunday. We are celebrating the fact that Jesus rose from the grave, his identity is proven, our salvation is real.
Tomorrow is Monday. The holiday is over. Our daily life resumes, back to the grind. And unfortunately, too often the celebration dies. It’s not that we forget, but we act like we have forgotten.
So, today, let’s talk about what we should remember tomorrow. Today, we are going to talk about God. Which is what one should talk about in church.
As we talk about God, we are going to spring off of John’s account of Resurrection Sunday. This morning, we discussed the beginning of John 20. Now, we are going to continue that account.
Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”
Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
Pray
Let’s talk about God.
1A. God
1A. God
Jesus told Mary that he was ascending to the Father, our God.
1B. We believe that God is the creator of the universe.
1B. We believe that God is the creator of the universe.
Moses records for us the account of the beginning of time.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
When we speak of God, at the beginning of time, as the creator, we are saying that it was the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, together, at the beginning speaking everything that we know of into existence out of nothing.
Paul in Colossians 1, specifically speaks of Jesus Christ creating the world:
For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
God is the creator of the universe.
2B. We believe that God is the sustainer of the universe
2B. We believe that God is the sustainer of the universe
Paul continued talking about Jesus in Colossians 1.
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
In 1802, a guy by the name of William Paley wrote a book: Natural Theology. He wrote about a watchmaker who made watch, wound it up, and walked away.
He believe that, yes, an intelligent designer created the universe. But, this divine being just stepped back and allowed it to run itself, to its doomed end of destruction.
However, Scripture teaches that our creator is intimately involved in his universe. As Paul said: he holds all things together.
As the children’s song says: He’s got the whole world in his hands. And as one child said to another: Jesus holds us all in his hands. He’s got big hands.
From Genesis, to Psalms, to Isaiah, to John, to Revelation, Scripture details the ways that God is active in this world, holding it and guiding the strings of history to the glorious end that he has promised.
He is the creator. He is the sustainer.
3B. We believe that God is the judge of the universe.
3B. We believe that God is the judge of the universe.
Paul writes,
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
When Jesus was on this earth, he taught that God has a standard by which everyone must live, a standard by which God will judge.
One of his famous sermons is the Sermon on the Mount. Throughout this sermon, Jesus says the phrase:
“You have heard that it was said… but I tell you.” Jesus lays down a standard for life that is more stringent than anything his hearers had heard before, because it is a standard that is not based upon the culture but upon the holiness of God.
The creator and sustainer of the universe has a standard that he demands his creation follow. And he will judge his creation on whether they have met that standard or not.
He is the creator. He is the sustainer. He is the judge.
4B. We believe that God is the savior of the universe.
4B. We believe that God is the savior of the universe.
Back to Colossians.
Paul writes about Jesus.
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—
Every single person who has ever lived has sinned against God. We have not met that standard of his holiness. We haven’t even gotten close. We were created to be an image of God, but every day we shatter that image through our actions and our conversations.
Because of what we do, we will be judged one day. We will be sent to an eternity apart from God. If God is goodness, and hope, and love, and all these attributes that we really like. Just think of what an eternity apart from goodness, hope, love, and everything else will be. We call that place Hell.
God looked down at us with mercy and said that he loved us and did not want to be separated from his beloved creation for eternity. So, he sent his son, the creator of the universe to come and live among us, bringing pictures of eternity everywhere he went as he taught and as he healed. He brought hope and confidence and love. He brought dignity to those society kicked out and he brought humility to those who lifted themselves to far up.
And then, he died. The creator of the universe. The sustainer of the universe. The judge of the universe, hung on a cross, dying the most painful and humiliating death imaginable, just so he could pay the penalty for our sins. He suffered judgment for us, so that we might be reconciled to him and have a personal relationship with our creator once again.
That is my God. Is he yours?
Let’s talk about God.
He is the Living God
He is the Living God
That is what we celebrate today, and hopefully everyday. He is not dead. There is no tomb somewhere that we can go and plant flowers and little crosses.
Yes, Jesus died on the cross. They stabbed his side to make sure he was dead. He was put into a tomb and enveloped in enough spices to kill him if he wasn’t already dead. He died.
But on the third day, he came back to life.
How do we know that it is true? Well, we have eyewitness accounts.
Here we are reading the account of Mary seeing Jesus. The guy who is writing the account is the Apostle John, who not only saw the empty tomb, but he saw Jesus alive. He ate meals with Jesus after the resurrection.
Peter, Thomas, and the rest of the Apostles saw the living, breathing Jesus. In face, 500 people saw Jesus.
Paul tells us:
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
Being alive, everything that he promised us is true. Being alive, our salvation is secure. Being alive, he is able to sit at the right hand of God and intercede in our behalf.
Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.
Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
If we have turned from our sin, confessing that we realize we are sinners and that we cannot do anything to save ourselves. If we turn from all those things that we though could save us, whether it be good works, church attendance, baptism, confirmation, confession, communion, the fact that our family believes.
If we turn from all of that and say: Jesus, I know I am a sinner and I trust in you alone for my salvation. He has promised to save us. He has guaranteed to usher us into eternity. And we have a personal relationship with the creator of the universe from the moment of faith until forever.
He sits next to the Father in Heaven and he says: that one is mine.
He is the Living God. Is He yours?
3A. He is the living God who knows our name.
3A. He is the living God who knows our name.
Now, we finally step into our text.
Mary is heart broken. The man who had given her hope for this life, who had given her dignity when everyone else showed her shame. This man had died and it appears as if someone has stolen his body.
She is crying in the garden and Jesus comes up to her. Through her tears and grief, she doesn’t recognize him, and he says: “Mary.”
I can hear the tenderness in his voice.
Samuel was sleeping alone in the temple. A young boy whose mother had dedicated him to the service, but I am sure that he would rather be home. And not living with an elderly man who didn’t really care for him.
As he sleeps, God calls: Samuel, Samuel. He knows his name.
Hagar, Abraham’s servant, is kicked out by Sarah. She is pregnant and doomed to die slowly in the desert, along with her baby. As she is sitting by a spring, hopeless about the future, God appears and says: Hagar.
David is minding his sheep. He is the youngest, picked on and ostracized by his older brothers. Forgotten by his father on the most important day of all, when someone has come by to pick a king. And God sends the man to him, to anoint him and not his brothers.
As the creator, the sustainer. As the judge and the savior. God knows our name, which means he knows us.
In this world, we can sometimes feel like we are a small spec in the cosmos. Everyone is busily rushing around us, trying to get their tasks done. And, there we sit, alone in the turmoil. Alone in the mess.
And, God says: I know you, Dean. I created you, Karin. I knit you together in your mother’s womb, Mary. You are fearfully and wonderfully made, Mike.
Isaiah wrote:
But now, this is what the Lord says—
he who created you, Jacob,
he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
Jesus said:
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—
The living God knows our name.
This is our God. Is he yours?
4A. He is the living God who knows our name and our life
4A. He is the living God who knows our name and our life
Jesus looks at Mary and sees her. He sees her tears. He sees her pain and turmoil.
When he says:
John 20:15 (NIV)
He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
He is not asking because he doesn’t know, but because he is a God who pursues a relationship with his creation. He knows Mary and her life. He knows her joys and her sorrows. He knows her hopes and dreams. And he cares about them.
King David knew this about his God.
He spent the first 15 years of his adult life running from people who wanted to kill him, including the current king.
Several times, he would cry out to God something like
Answer me when I call to you,
my righteous God.
Give me relief from my distress;
have mercy on me and hear my prayer.
Lord, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
Many are saying of me,
“God will not deliver him.”
Why, Lord, do you stand far off?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
He was in pain. But, he could always pray this because he knew that God, the God who knew him, who called him by name, knew his life.
He could say:
But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing the Lord’s praise,
for he has been good to me.
I talked earlier about the Great Watch Maker. Some people say God created the world and then stepped back. But, that is not true. God is intimately involved with each of our lives.
Jesus himself said:
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Matthew 28:20 (NIV)
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
He knows our life. As the hymn writer said:
“Does Jesus Care? Oh, yes, he cares. I know he cares. His heart is touched by my grief. When the days grow weary, the long nights dreary, I know my savior cares.”
He cares enough about all of our lives, that he works to bring good out of everything that we experience. Even the things that we think cannot be redeemed.
The creator and sustainer of the universe. The judge and savior. The God who lives, knows our names and our lives.
This is our God. Is he yours?
5A. The Living God who knows our name and our life calls us to follow him.
5A. The Living God who knows our name and our life calls us to follow him.
After Jesus rose from the grave and made Mary’s eternity, he gave her a task to do.
Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”
Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
He tasked Mary with telling his good news to the disciples, that he was alive. Now, Mary had a few choices. She could ignore what he said and go about her normal business.
I mean, she was happy now, he was alive. She knew that. If she went and told others though, what would the others think. They would probably think she was going crazy. Who comes back to life in their own power? All that happy feeling she was happening would immediately leave when faced with all the excuses and reasonings of her friends.
So, she could ignore the task and happily live her life knowing that her savior was alive.
Or, she could bite the bullet and tell her friends what happened to Jesus. Which she did. We know that the rest of the disciples believed her because they had their own experiences with Jesus. All except for Thomas, who didn’t believe.
John 20:25 (NIV)
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
Mary was not tasked with convincing the disciples of what the truth is. She was just tasked with sharing the joy that was in her heart and presenting the truths for the disciples to accept or not accept.
In the same way, Jesus gives us a task.
We believe that he is alive. We have turned to him in faith, the one who knows our name and our life, the one who died for us that we might live.
We are not supposed to stuff what Jesus has done for us inside of ourselves. Instead, we are to proclaim his goodness to the world around.
The Psalmist writes:
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story—
those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
those he gathered from the lands,
from east and west, from north and south.
We are to tell our story, whether it is every night with our family, or on holidays when we are with our extended family, or when we are on a coffee date with a friend, or sitting across the desk from a coworker.
What we celebrate today should be on our lips tomorrow. Because truthfully, we have an amazing truth: the creator, sustainer, and judge of the universe died for us. He did not stay dead, but is alive. He knows my name and yours. He cares about our lives and wants to have a personal relationship with us.
What more do we want? What could be more powerful or amazing to talk about?
Jesus commissioned us to tell our story.
Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
The Living God who knows our name and our life calls us to follow him.
This is our God. Is he yours?
Today, if you have never made the decision to trust and follow Jesus for your salvation, Do it today.
And, if you have never shared what God has done for you, do it today. Then tomorrow, when Monday rolls around, let us keep doing it.
He is risen!
ADVERTISEMENT