Easter Sunday 2010

EASTER SUNDAY 2010

¹ Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them,^[a] came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. ² But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. ³ Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ And it happened, as they were greatly^[b] perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. ⁵ Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? ⁶ He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, ⁷ saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’”

⁸ And they remembered His words. ⁹ Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. ¹⁰ It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. ¹¹ And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them. ¹² But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying^[c] by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.----Luke 24

Easter Services can be chaotic. After all, this is the chief worship service of the Christian faith.

There are usually visitors in church, so everybody wants everything to go just right; there are folks home for the holiday; getting family to church on time is not an easy task. But it is certainly nice to be here together in church. I certainly enjoy being here with you and I hope you feel that way about one another.

The altar guild is nervous because we may run out of wine.

The choir director is nervous because the choir may drink all the wine.

The choir is nervous that when they mess up, they will get fussed at.

But you know that Jesus has promised to be with us anyway. We can all relax and enjoy being together in church. Not everything will go according to plan; it never does.

At the Easter Vigil last night, the host church had people running in every direction looking for matches to light the bonfire that begins the service.

Last year we were the host for the other churches, and with 100 guests present, we wanted everything to go just right. We practiced and practiced and thought of every contingency. Despite all the practice, we could not get the fire to light. And the bonfire is how you start things off for the Easter Vigil.

What you may not know is that there is a little bonfire rivalry going on among the pastors. (No way was I going to let our sister church Grace have a bigger bonfire.) The pastor there only had German citizenship at the time so, in the Olympic spirit of competition, we could not possibly let the Germans one-up us on the Easter Vigil bonfire.

It is just a matter of pride. I am guilty of partisanship.

Anyway, the wood was just too damp and all we succeeded in creating was a great pillar of smoke that had everyone coughing and wiping their watering eyes. We had so much smoke emitting from our courtyard that our neighbors at St. Anastasia probably thought “the Lutherans have finally elected a Pope.”

Things were and are chaotic. The story we proclaim this morning is chaotic and it is upsetting. It takes place after a week of chaos; it starts with Jesus on top of the world on Palm Sunday, and ended with him hanging on top of the cross. There is the tomb, a burial in a borrowed grave, and finally a missing body, and an unbelievable story told to the women in dazzling apparel.

It is truly chaotic and bizarre and even unbelievable! The dead arise! How could anybody possibly believe it? In this chaos is precisely the opportunity. In the words of Professor of New Testament Craig Koester:

“No preacher can make a listener believe that the dead rise. But God can and does work through the Easter message to evoke Easter faith.”

What the women found, what the disciples found, was that in the chaos of tragedy, and the fugue of their fear and frustration, somehow God’s power was still at work.

Notice the group that goes to the tomb. They are women in deep mourning going to do what is right; in fact, going to do all that they could do in their grief, anoint the body of their dear friend. A man who had such promise is dead. Yet they f9ind the tomb empty and two strangers posing the question to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? Don’t you remember what he told you, that he must be crucified, and on the third day rise?”

It is from here that the women run to tell the apostles this amazing and perplexing news. And then scripture reports that this news seemed to them “idle tales.”

Idle tales. That phrase has been on my mind all week. What does “idle tails” mean? Let me suggest that you not google the phrase “idle tales” on the internet, because some pretty bizarre things pop up.

For today’s purposes, let’s just put it up there with stories of alien abductions and Elvis sightings. They might be true, but you know it is probably just an idle tail. Doesn’t every generation have some urban legend or story?

The only logical response to such a message is unbelief. Experience teaches us that death wins. The Easter message says that Jesus wins. When such contradictory claims collide, it only makes sense to continue affirming what we already know. This is what Luke reports in the next section (24:8-11). The women bring the message of resurrection to the others, and they respond as thinking people regularly respond: they thought that the message was an “idle tale, and they did not believe them”

The immediate response of the followers of Jesus seemed like your average response to the report of a sighting of Bigfoot.

Professor Koester writes:

“Unbelief does not mean that people believe nothing. Rather, it means that they believe something else. People say "I don't believe it" because there is something else that they believe more strongly. Yet here is where the Easter message begins its work, by challenging our certainties. Experience teaches that death wins and that even the strongest succumb to it. Experience teaches that life is what you make it, so get what you can while you can because it will be over soon enough. And the Easter message says, "Really? How can you be so sure?" Death is real, but it is not final. In Jesus, life gets the last word.”

Perhaps this morning, our greatest confession of faith in a chaotic and chronically cynical age is that belief is difficult, that this scandalous story still does not make sense.

Go ahead and tell God that you think it is outrageous to expect anyone to believe that Jesus is risen.

Go ahead and tell God that you believe that death gets the final word.

None of this is news to God. God has heard it all before. The doubt was first expressed by apostles who simply refused to believe.

“Why do you seek the living among the dead?” God wonders.

“Through the living Jesus I gave you the gift of life. Why would you think that I would offer you anything less?”

The Easter reading stops with Peter’s amazement, a doubt of an idle tale that made him run to the tomb.

It stops with Peter’s amazement, but the story continues far beyond a chosen few, as God continues to challenge the certainty of death with the promise of life.

A chaotic tale? Yes.

A promise of life? Yes!

Allelulia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!




		EASTER SUNDAY 2010 ¹ Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them,^[a] came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. ² But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. ³ Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ And it happened, as they were greatly^[b] perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. ⁵ Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? ⁶ He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, ⁷ saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’” ⁸ And they remembered His words. ⁹ Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. ¹⁰ It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. ¹¹ And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them. ¹² But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying^[c] by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.----Luke 24 Easter Services can be chaotic. After all, this is the chief worship service of the Christian faith. There are usually visitors in church, so everybody wants everything to go just right; there are folks home for the holiday; getting family to church on time is not an easy task. But it is certainly nice to be here together in church. I certainly enjoy being here with you and I hope you feel that way about one another. The altar guild is nervous because we may run out of wine. The choir director is nervous because the choir may drink all the wine. The choir is nervous that when they mess up, they will get fussed at. But you know that Jesus has promised to be with us anyway. We can all relax and enjoy being together in church. Not everything will go according to plan; it never does. At the Easter Vigil last night, the host church had people running in every direction looking for matches to light the bonfire that begins the service. Last year we were the host for the other churches, and with 100 guests present, we wanted everything to go just right. We practiced and practiced and thought of every contingency. Despite all the practice, we could not get the fire to light. And the bonfire is how you start things off for the Easter Vigil. What you may not know is that there is a little bonfire rivalry going on among the pastors. (No way was I going to let our sister church Grace have a bigger bonfire.) The pastor there only had German citizenship at the time so, in the Olympic spirit of competition, we could not possibly let the Germans one-up us on the Easter Vigil bonfire. It is just a matter of pride. I am guilty of partisanship. Anyway, the wood was just too damp and all we succeeded in creating was a great pillar of smoke that had everyone coughing and wiping their watering eyes. We had so much smoke emitting from our courtyard that our neighbors at St. Anastasia probably thought “the Lutherans have finally elected a Pope.” Things were and are chaotic. The story we proclaim this morning is chaotic and it is upsetting. It takes place after a week of chaos; it starts with Jesus on top of the world on Palm Sunday, and ended with him hanging on top of the cross. There is the tomb, a burial in a borrowed grave, and finally a missing body, and an unbelievable story told to the women in dazzling apparel. It is truly chaotic and bizarre and even unbelievable! The dead arise! How could anybody possibly believe it? In this chaos is precisely the opportunity. In the words of Professor of New Testament Craig Koester: “No preacher can make a listener believe that the dead rise. But God can and does work through the Easter message to evoke Easter faith.” What the women found, what the disciples found, was that in the chaos of tragedy, and the fugue of their fear and frustration, somehow God’s power was still at work. Notice the group that goes to the tomb. They are women in deep mourning going to do what is right; in fact, going to do all that they could do in their grief, anoint the body of their dear friend. A man who had such promise is dead. Yet they f9ind the tomb empty and two strangers posing the question to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? Don’t you remember what he told you, that he must be crucified, and on the third day rise?” It is from here that the women run to tell the apostles this amazing and perplexing news. And then scripture reports that this news seemed to them “idle tales.” Idle tales. That phrase has been on my mind all week. What does “idle tails” mean? Let me suggest that you not google the phrase “idle tales” on the internet, because some pretty bizarre things pop up. For today’s purposes, let’s just put it up there with stories of alien abductions and Elvis sightings. They might be true, but you know it is probably just an idle tail. Doesn’t every generation have some urban legend or story? The only logical response to such a message is unbelief. Experience teaches us that death wins. The Easter message says that Jesus wins. When such contradictory claims collide, it only makes sense to continue affirming what we already know. This is what Luke reports in the next section (24:8-11). The women bring the message of resurrection to the others, and they respond as thinking people regularly respond: they thought that the message was an “idle tale, and they did not believe them” The immediate response of the followers of Jesus seemed like your average response to the report of a sighting of Bigfoot. Professor Koester writes: “Unbelief does not mean that people believe nothing. Rather, it means that they believe something else. People say "I don't believe it" because there is something else that they believe more strongly. Yet here is where the Easter message begins its work, by challenging our certainties. Experience teaches that death wins and that even the strongest succumb to it. Experience teaches that life is what you make it, so get what you can while you can because it will be over soon enough. And the Easter message says, "Really? How can you be so sure?" Death is real, but it is not final. In Jesus, life gets the last word.” Perhaps this morning, our greatest confession of faith in a chaotic and chronically cynical age is that belief is difficult, that this scandalous story still does not make sense. Go ahead and tell God that you think it is outrageous to expect anyone to believe that Jesus is risen. Go ahead and tell God that you believe that death gets the final word. None of this is news to God. God has heard it all before. The doubt was first expressed by apostles who simply refused to believe. “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” God wonders. “Through the living Jesus I gave you the gift of life. Why would you think that I would offer you anything less?” The Easter reading stops with Peter’s amazement, a doubt of an idle tale that made him run to the tomb. It stops with Peter’s amazement, but the story continues far beyond a chosen few, as God continues to challenge the certainty of death with the promise of life. A chaotic tale? Yes. A promise of life? Yes! Allelulia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!