I greet you this morning as “Easter people” because that is who you are. In Korea, Christians are called “resurrected people.” For an Easter person, Easter is not only the most important day of the year; the first Easter was the most important date in history.
Resurrection is the capstone and cornerstone of our faith. Billy Graham declared, “If I were an enemy of Christianity, I would aim right at the Resurrection because that’s the heart of Christianity.” St. Paul felt the same way. He said, “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain.” (I Cor. 15:2)
My purpose this morning is to offer God an opportunity to win more Easter persons and to deepen the commitment of those of us who are already Easter people.
Dr. Luke, the Gospel writer, tells us that the first Easter people were a band of women who came to Jesus’ tomb on the first Easter morning. What an honor this was, to be the first to discover the Easter miracle! Wonder why God chose a band of women. Some smart aleck, probably a male, has suggested that since God wanted to spread the Good News far and wide, he asked himself, “Who talks the most and keeps secrets the least?” And on that basis, he chose a band of women. I don’t believe that. The women made the discovery simply because they were the first who tried to render a service to their crucified Lord. They went to the tomb to anoint the body with spices, as was the custom, and discovered that Jesus had risen.
Incidentally, the fact that women were the first Easter people is another evidence for the authenticity of the Bible. Think about it. If the Da Vinci Code were correct in its claim that the four New Testament gospels were propaganda documents cooked up by Emperor Constantine and the early church, they would not have had women as the first witnesses to the Resurrection. In Jewish law of that time, women were second-class citizens. A woman’s testimony was unacceptable except in a few circumstances. So, if the four gospels were fabrications, they would have had Simon Peter or the disciples at the tomb, not a group of women.
Skeptics of every age have trouble with resurrection. They ask, “Do you want us to believe that a dead man walked out of his grave?” That was the attitude of all of Jesus’ disciples when they first heard the news.
But, you know, the skeptic may have a tougher explaining job to do that the believer. Something earth-shattering happened. Any objective observer can tell that. Within a seven-week period following the death of Jesus, a little band of depressed, cowardly men were transformed into a militant, exuberant team of evangelists who spread the Resurrection news across the world. Ten of the original disciples were executed for their beliefs. Their lives would have been spared if they had just denied that Jesus arose. But they would not. People are not usually willing to die for a lie.
According to Dr. Luke’s account of what happened on that first Easter morning, two men in dazzling apparel met the women at Jesus’ tomb. As the women bowed in fear and awe, the men (who really were angels) gave them certain instructions. It seems to me that they told the women and us exactly what is required in order to be Easter persons.
FIRST, AN EASTER PERSON IS ONE WHO SEARCHES FOR JESUS. The angels told them that they were looking in the wrong place for a live person. But at least the women were searching. That is more than we can say for the disciples. They were huddled in fear and despair behind locked doors.
There is a great promise in the Old Testament book of Jeremiah about those who search for God. “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord.” (Jer. 29:13)
Folks, I love our huge Easter crowds. We all know that many folks are in churches today who do not usually attend. I welcome these folks. To them I offer this gentle admonition -there is a big difference between the way we treat a dead hero and a living Lord. We honor the memory of a dead hero, like Abraham Lincoln., with a respectful nod of appreciation each February. We might even visit his memorial in Washington. We try to remember and teach his principles. Now, if Jesus Christ were nothing more than a dead hero, perhaps an annual visit to a church would be sufficient. But if he is a living Lord, that’s not enough. If he is the living Lord, then it seems fitting to join with his people and worship him continually, not annually. How often you visit his church is evidence of whether you believe him to be a dead hero or a living Lord.
SECONDLY, AN EASTER PERSON IS ONE WHO REMEMBERS GOD’S WORD. The angels said to the women on Easter morning, “Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ Then they remembered his words.” (Luke 24:7-8)
Jesus himself said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” (Mark 13:31) His words are delivered to us in this holy Bible. Jesus prayed for all of us believers with these words: “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17)
The Bible has always been under attack and it is today. Dan Brown’s novel, “The Da Vinci Code,” published in 2003, continues to be on the New York Times best-seller list. It claims that almost everything the Bible has taught about Christ is false. The book claims that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and they had a daughter named Sarah whose descendents became kings of France. Next month the movie, “The Da Vinci Code” will be released. It will claim that Jesus never claimed to be God and that he was never resurrected from the dead.
Another book on the best-seller list is entitled, “Misquoting Jesus.” It claims that mistakes by ancient scribes distorted the original message of the Bible. I wonder if the author ever heard of the Holy Spirit. We believe that the Holy Spirit protected the Bible from any significant error.
Recently the National Geographic channel presented a program called “The Gospel of Judas,” supposedly revealing that Jesus instructed Judas to betray him. This is based on an ancient 13-page papyrus document written in Egypt in the Coptic language. Church leaders were aware of this and other “false gospels” as early as 180 A.D. Church leaders denounced these false gospels as untrue. The only antidote for lies is the truth of God’s word.
Several months ago we conducted a worship survey here at Christ Church. We found that 61 percent of us read the Bible regularly. That means that 39 percent of us do not. Why is that important? Because the more familiar we are with the four genuine gospels, the less vulnerable we will be to some false gospel. Isn’t it wonderful to know that in the 2000 years of Christian history, not a single statement in the Bible has been proven false?!
THIRDLY, AN EASTER PERSON IS ONE WHO BELIEVES THE GOOD NEWS . Again, the women of Easter morning make a much better showing than the disciples. From the moment these women heard the good news that our crucified Lord had arisen, they believed it. But not those disciples. The news seemed like nonsense to them. One of the disciples, Thomas, went so far as to say that he would not believe unless and until he could see the wounds in his hands and side. Later Jesus showed Thomas his wounds and then said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)
Norman Vincent Peale, that dear departed positive-thinking saint, often used a familiar parable to teach resurrection. He said, “Let’s suppose that an unborn infant, in its mother’s womb, is able to reason and speak. Suppose also that someone says to it, ‘Soon you must leave this place and be born. You will enter a different realm.’ The infant might protest and say, ‘I like it here. I am fed, warm, and I feel loved. I don’t want to leave this place and be born.’ But nature takes its course and the baby is born. After he endures a slap on his rear and cries a bit, he looks up into a loving face. The infant is cuddled in loving arms. He soon discovers that he can get anything he wants if he will just cry or coo. So, the infant says to himself, ‘This is nicer than I thought it would be.’ The years of childhood pass. Then the child becomes a youth, then an adult, and years later he grows old. Lots of bodily parts begin to wear out and ache. One day the thought of death begins to worry him. He says to himself, “I like this place. I don’t want to leave. Death scares me.” But nature again takes its course. He dies. What happens then? The Bible declares and I believe that each believer is born once more. He looks up into a face more beautiful than that of his mother. Loving eyes look down on him and underneath are the everlasting arms. He is born again into a heavenly realm where there is no more pain, no more death, and no more sin. He is home at last.”
I believe that with all my heart. I am an Easter person. And if you believe it, you are an Easter person too.
FOURTH AND FINALLY, AN EASTER PERSON IS ONE WHO SHARES THE GOOD NEWS. The women of the first Easter did. Those women were the first evangelists in history. Verse 9 tells us that they “told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others.”
Last Sunday, which was Palm/Passion Sunday, we pinned little lapel crosses to all our worshippers. After the 11:00 AM service, a young man of perhaps 14 or 15 years of age approached me and asked, “Pastor, do we have any crosses left over?” I said, “Yes, I feel sure that we do. Why do you ask?” He said, “I would like to take a few and give them to some of my friends.” Wow! I was impressed. We fixed him up with crosses. I said a prayer of thanksgiving for a young man who is not content to appropriate the good news for himself; he also feels a need to share it with others.
A man sat in my office a few days ago and shared a memory that thrills his heart. He was coaching one of our girls’ basketball teams here at the church. At the beginning and end of each practice and game, they would say the Lord’s Prayer. One girl on his team came from an unchurched family. After one of the practices she approached her coach and said, “Mr. Smith, I feel bad because I don’t know the Lord’s Prayer.” Coach Smith said, “Don’t worry, I will fix that.” So, he had copies of the Lord’s Prayer made and distributed them to all members of the team. At the end of the season Coach Smith was thrilled when that young girl and her entire family joined Christ Church. Coach Smith thought he was sharing just the Lord’s Prayer, but actually he was sharing the Good News.
When we get to heaven, as I hope all of us will, we want to be able to answer this very important question, “Whom did you bring with you?”
I mentioned Billy Graham earlier in this sermon. Let me conclude with a story about him. The great old evangelist and his wife Ruth are suffering from life-threatening illnesses. One never knows when they may transfer from earth to heaven.
Back in 2000, Billy was honored by his hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. On that occasion he told a story about Albert Einstein, the great physicist. Einstein was traveling by train from Princeton to New York. The conductor came down the aisle, punching the tickets of each passenger. When he came to Einstein, the old man couldn’t find his ticket. He looked everywhere but couldn’t find it. Finally the conductor said, “Don’t worry, Dr. Einstein, I don’t need the ticket. I know who you are.” The conductor went on to the other passengers, punching their tickets. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Dr. Einstein looking everywhere for his ticket. He rushed back and said, “Dr. Einstein, don’t worry about the ticket. I know who you are.” Dr. Einstein replied, “Young man, I too know who I am. What I don’t know is where I’m going.”
Then Billy Graham said, “Look at this suit I’m wearing. It’s brand new. My wife and children kept telling me that I needed to dress a bit more fashionably, so I went out and bought this suit for this luncheon and for one more occasion. Let me tell you about that other occasion. This is the suit in which I’ll be buried. But when you hear I’m dead, I don’t want you to immediately think about the suit I’m wearing. I want you to remember this—I not only know who I am. I also know where I’m going.”
An Easter person knows where he or she is going, because of Jesus’ resurrection on Easter morning. An Easter person can say with Robert Louis Stevenson:
“The stars shine over the mountains; the stars shine over the sea;
The stars look up to Almighty God, and the stars look down on me.
The stars shall last for a million years, a million years and a day,
But God and I will live and love when the stars have passed away.”
Please join with me in that ancient Easter affirmation shared by Christians for 2000 years. I will say, “Jesus is risen” and you will respond, “He is risen indeed!” “Jesus is risen!” “He is risen indeed!”
Dr. Bill Bouknight, Christ UMC, 4488 Poplar Ave., Memphis, TN 38117.
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