Luke
24:1-12
Some years ago I was playing tennis with a friend of mine. Neither of us are great tennis players
but every once in a while even poor players hit a great shot. Unfortunately, it wasn’t me that hit
the great shot. My friend managed
to hit a serve that was like a rocket, and it had a terrific spin. It came at me so fast that I didn’t
really have time to get my racket all the way up so the ball hit the frame of
the racket, spun off and came right up and hit me in the eye. It happened so fast that I didn’t have
time to blink, so my eye had an impression of Wilson #3 on it. I
fell onto my back and my friend ran over to see if I was okay. I should mention he is a funeral
director, and I still believe he was trying to drum up some business. In fact, when I looked up and saw him
standing over me, I was certain he had a tape measure in his hand.
The injury to my eye was serious enough that I went to the emergency
room, where they numbed my eye and picked out all the pieces of fuzz that were
left behind by the tennis ball.
The doctor patched my eye and for several days I only had the use of one
eye. That’s a strange experience,
because there is no depth perception, which makes driving really
interesting. I think I have ½ mile to stop, but it’s actually 100 feet. When you reach for something you
underestimate or overestimate the distance. And the one eye of which I had use just didn’t work that well
on its own. When I went back to
the doctor and he removed the patch it was like the entire world was new
again. Lights were brighter, colors
were more vivid, and everything seemed so much more alive. It was a wonderful experience to have
vision returned and to see the world as if it were new.
Welcome to Easter worship, where we celebrate the reality of a new
vision and a promise for life! It
is a vision – a promise – of Life Over
Death.
In recent weeks we have journeyed through a series of messages
titled Walking With Jesus, which have
been based on the final days of the life of Jesus. This morning we end up with the same theme as our first
message – Life Over Death.
During his final days Jesus sought to instill in the hearts and
minds of his followers his most important teachings as well as the purpose of
his life and ministry. The
disciples didn’t really get it.
They were a bright group of guys, but their vision was blurry, it was
partially masked, making it difficult for them to comprehend what Jesus was
trying to teach them.
But the resurrection opened their eyes. The resurrection brought the disciples out of darkness and
into light. The resurrection gave
the disciples a clarity of vision and understanding they had not previously
experienced. It was as though they
were looking at life through eyes that had been suddenly opened. As we celebrate the resurrection this
morning we understand that it opens our eyes also to a greater understanding of
life as God intends it to be.
If it’s been awhile since you’ve been in school, like it has for me,
you may remember what you exclaimed when you finally came to understand a
concept that had previously eluded you.
What did you say when understanding came to you? Not I
understand, but now I see! Except in math. I never said that in math class,
unfortunately.
Now, in light of the resurrection, we can say now I see! The
resurrection illuminates everything about life and illuminates everything Jesus
taught. The resurrection teaches
us, most of all, of the triumph of Life Over
Death.
That promise of Life Over Death
is not just a future promise, but is very much a present reality. Resurrection
is often thought of as a future event, as it ushers us into eternity, but it is
also a present event. Resurrection
reflects upon our eternal destiny, but it is about our destiny in this world as
well.
When Jesus walked out of death and the tomb and into new life he
invited us to walk out of death and into new life as well.
It was an invitation to become new
people in this life. If
anyone is in Christ, Paul writes in II Corinthians 5:17, he is a new creation. The old has passed
away; behold, the new has come.
Resurrection promises that we can overcome the challenges that threaten
our lives, it promises to defeat the discouragement that can overwhelm us, and it
promises to triumph over our fears.
No longer do we have to remain bound by the tomb of an old life, but we
are invited to embrace new life.
People often walked away from Jesus as different people. Not always, but often. There were those who could not accept
the love and new life he had to offer.
Instead, they preferred to remain imprisoned behind the walls of their
own tomb. They entomb themselves
behind walls of fear, afraid to step out into the brave new world promised by
God. They entomb themselves in bitterness,
vowing to never forgive or forget a hurt.
They entomb themselves behind anger, remaining mad at the world and
everyone around them. And they
entomb themselves in grief, mourning forever what was while forgetting what can
be.
When Jesus walked out of death and the tomb and into new life he
promised to bring new life to this world as well.
God entered into humanity to set
things right. God, in the
resurrection of Christ, said enough! Enough to the tomb of hatred, enough
to the tomb of greed, enough to the tomb
of oppression, and enough to the tomb
of human structures that enslave and oppress people. He said enough to the tomb of injustice, enough to the tomb of inequality, enough to the tomb of prejudice, and enough to the tomb of discrimination.
Moving from death to life reminds us that though we live in a world
where the strong too often take advantage of the weak God’s justice will
prevail. Moving from death to life
reminds us that though we live in a world where so many are poor, God will bring
a bounty to all, because the resurrection promises that God not only broke the
bonds of death but also the bonds of injustice, of inequality, and of
suffering.
Some churches remain entombed as well, sadly. They remain entombed behind walls of
safety and security. They are
afraid of the world around them and so they remain safely entombed behind the
walls of their building. Some
churches have entombed themselves behind walls of familiarity and
sameness. Nothing can ever change,
so they cling to a past that was never quite as grand as they claim and they
hide from the future and all the promises it can bring. Some churches have entombed themselves
behind walls of fear and insecurity, uncertain of the calling and not willing
to step out in faith and to trust the spirit to guide them.
Moving from death to life also reminds us that God is not our enemy,
although listening to some churches and to some Christians would give you the
impression that he is. It is good news
that God loves us, not bad news! Moving from death to life reminds us that we are called to
make our lives known not by what we are against by what we are for, to make our
lives known not by who we will condemn but who we will love, and to make our
lives known not just by what we say but by what we do.
I have told you a story or two about Bill Norris, who was my
minister during my years of Junior High through my early college years. He was a great man, and tremendously
influential to my life. When he
left our church I went to their house to help load the moving van. An occupational hazard of ministry is
that you can get far more volunteers to help you move out of town than into
town.
It was very sad loading that moving van, because I didn’t want them
to move. We were almost finished loading
the van when a man came walking into the driveway. He was our town’s version of Otis Campbell, except this
man’s life wasn’t funny, but terribly tragic. He smelled horrible.
It was an odor from unwashed clothes, days without bathing, and alcohol. The usual reaction to him was to turn
away or to feel repulsed, but that was not the case with Reverend Norris.
While the rest of us wanted to turn away, Reverend Norris grinned his
big grin as soon as he saw that man walking into the driveway. He walked quickly to him and, without
hesitation, wrapped his arms around him in a big bear hug, and pulled him tight
to him. I had no idea Reverend
Norris had dealings with that man, but it was obvious at that moment they were
very familiar with one another, and I learned later how much Reverend Norris
had ministered to and loved that man, a man everyone else either avoided or
discarded. As they embraced each
other the tears ran freely down both of their cheeks. When the man finally let go of Reverend Norris and turned to
walk away he appeared to be a different man. His entire countenance had changed because of the love he
felt.
Perhaps he seemed a different man because I was able to see him as a
different man. Perhaps he seemed a
different man because the love demonstrated by Reverend Norris opened my eyes
to see that man differently.
Life Over Death is what
the resurrection brings to us. The
resurrection opens our eyes to the reality of the life offered by Jesus. Let’s go from this place today, and bask
in the beauty and the gift of that life!
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