April 1, 2018   EASTER SUNDAY

“Life Conquers Death!”  “Life Swallows Death”

Our Affirmation of Faith statement today is taken from A Declaration of Faith PCUS, 1977:

“Jesus is our living Lord.

Jesus was dead and buried,

     But God raised him from the dead.

The risen Lord appeared to his followers.

They recognized him as their Master

      Who had been crucified.

Before Jesus left them,

      He commissioned them to proclaim to all people

      The good news of his victory over death,

      And promised to be with them always.

 We are certain that Jesus lives.

He lives as God with us,

     Touching all of human life with the presence of God.

Because he shares our humanity

     And has bound us to himself in love,

     We have an advocate in the innermost life of God.

 We declare that Jesus is Lord.

His resurrection is a decisive victory

     Over the powers that deform and destroy human life.

His lordship is hidden.

The world appears to be dominated by people and systems

     That do not acknowledge his rule.

But his lordship is real.

     It demands our loyalty and sets us free

     From the fear of all lesser lords who threaten us.

We maintain that ultimate sovereignty

    Now belongs to Jesus

    In every sphere of life.

Jesus is Lord!

He has been Lord from the beginning.

He will be Lord at the end.

Even now he is Lord.”

Our sermon of the day, by Rev. Bill Seel, quoting John 5, says these words:  “Everyone who hears the voice of the Son of God will live!”

 Much of our lives are surrounded by “death things.”  Daily we confront sickness, either in ourselves or in those dear to our hearts.  We are challenged with busyness, in which work becomes burden and relationship burdensome.  We are asked to work harder, do more with less, spending our time tied to a machine, either metal or electronic.  Our whole life suffers.  We continually search for meaning and find only a little bit, is any at all.  Our little bit does not sustain us.  We become estranged from God, from our fellow human beings, and even from ourselves.  Mostly, we are tired, bone core tired.  And we wonder how to recover joy, which we remember we had in the beginning, but that was so long ago, we find it hard to remember what joy was like and also why we began!

The resurrection of Jesus gives us hope.  We are reminded that Jesus spoke of living waters, of a well whose waters well up within us to sustain us, to give us life again.  We remember that “those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings, as eagles.  They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah)  Those who hear Jesus’ voice are called out of death into life.  On one occasion, Jesus raised from death to life a widow’s son.  He stopped the funeral procession and told the young dead man to get up, and he did!  On another occasion, Jesus went into the home of a father whose daughter had died and said, “Little girl, I say to thee, arise!”  The young girl immediately sat up and asked for something to eat!  Still another occasion, Jesus called to his friend Lazarus of Bethany, saying “Arise, Lazarus, come forth!”  And Lazarus, who had been dead four days arose and walked out of the tomb still wrapped in grave clothes.  “Loose him!” Jesus said, “And let him go!”  Afterward they went home and sat down together for a meal.

These examples of Jesus’s power to bring life out of death should give us all hope!  Finally, death had no power to hold Jesus in the grave either.  His Father raised him from the death of this tomb, “the first born of them that slept!”  Because Christ is risen, we also are risen with Him!”  In Jesus Christ, we are given the gift of eternal life!  Thanks be to God our Risen Savior, our Redeemer and our Lord!

For those who are still not sure that Jesus was raised from the dead, how is it that Mary Magdelene, the first disciple to see Jesus raised held on to him?  Jesus is not a ghost, but a risen, breathing human being.  “Do not hold onto me,” Jesus told Mary, “for I am not yet ascended to the Father!”  “But go and tell your brother and sisters, I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God!”  And so Jesus went before them into Galilee.

The resurrection is proven by the details.  If Jesus is not raised, who folded the grave clothes in the tomb?  Who placed the head garment separate from the rest of the garments?  This dead man’s clothes were left neatly folded when Jesus arose! Perhaps the angels of God unwrapped them for him. Peter and John both entered the tomb, but did not yet see the risen Jesus.  Mary stood there and wept.  Two angels asked her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”  It was at this moment Jesus himself stood before Mary.  She recognized him when he said her name, “Mary!”  “Rabboni,” meaning, ‘Teacher’,” she replied.  And she hugged him, falling down and worshipping him!

“All those who hear the voice of the Son of God shall live!”  Whose voice are you hearing this Easter morning?  When he calls your name, do as Mary did.  Embrace Him!  Then fall down and worship Him!

There is no better way to celebrate Easter than to celebrate the gift of the Savior.  He is your Savior.  He is my Savior, too.  Indeed, he is the true and only Savior of the entire world!”

Prayer:

O Lord Jesus, we have heard your voice today and because we have heard your voice we have been given eternal life.  Ever give us this life!  Sustain us in your love, grace and power for service to you and to your kingdom for the whole of our days.  Welcome us, Lord, on that great day which is coming, when you call us home to be with you forever, for we pray in your holy and blessed name, Jesus Christ our Lord!  Amen and Amen.

Bill W.   Servant of God, by God’s grace and mercies.

“Amen!”  Let all of God’s people say, “Amen!”

“Amen!”  We praise you, Lord Jesus Christ!”