Today we celebrate the greatest day in history.

The resurrection stands at the crossroads of history

Today we journey from death to new life!

Today we get caught up in God’s grace.

Lets hear the story again – pls stand for our scripture reading

Luke 24:1-12

1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. ² They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³ but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. ⁵ In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? ⁶ He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ⁷ ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” ⁸ Then they remembered his words.⁹ When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. ¹⁰ It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. ¹¹ But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. ¹² Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

The Bible series depicts the story this way…… SHOW VIDEO CLIP

Easter

Interestingly, its an odd day to be a preacher

Its easter, my mother is here and the sermon better be good

The pressure to say something new

There is nothing new under the sun

There is no alternate ending – it is the same old story.  There’s no new spin

But does it matter……….

Yes it matters……but sometimes we are not sure why.  We don’t remember the why

Jesus is raised…. So what?

Many adults would explain this simply as, your sins are forgiven and you have eternal life

But is this all there is??  Are there no implications for our lives now?

Easter is a celebration of a victory

There was a battle.  Between good and evil.  Between love and hate.

The world tells us a message that we hear over and over again

It finds its way into almost everyone

You are a bad person

You wont make the team- youre not good enough

Being cut from the 3 and 2 baseball team

You stink

You cant get the loan

You cant learn to ride a bicycle, wont get the job

You cant -----You wont ------You are going to hell

God tells us something very different

You are loved ----You are worth it

You are forgiven ----You can live  a life of joy

The resurrection proclaims once and for all that God is the victor

To the victor goes the spoils

The victor always gets to writ e the history of the event

The victor tells the message

a custom in the Greek Orthodox tradition. Believers gather on Easter Monday to trade jokes.  Since the most extravagant 'joke' of all took place on Easter Sunday -- the victory, against all odds, of Jesus over death -- the community of the faithful enters into the spirit of the season by sharing stories with unexpected endings, surprise flourishes and a sense of humor. A similar practice occurs among the Slavs, who recognize in the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth a joy that it is Jesus who has the last laugh. --

What does this victory mean for our lives here and now?

Since every preacher needs 3 points

1] while the world tells us that we are no good….

The resurrection tells us that We can live free from Fear and guilt…

We are no longer condemned

romans  8 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ² because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you^[a] free from the law of sin and death.

Are you not good enough?

Are you still trying to do something to please God

Does reading Paul fill you with guilt? 

Also romans 13

⁸ Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. ⁹ The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,”^[a] and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”^{[b] 10} Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law

In Jesus Christ, the Powers of Fear, Death and Sin are overcome

When we live this life of love, we do fulfill the law.

We are no longer condemned

2] the world tells us to hurt back.  Human nature tells us to get even

The message of the resurrection tells us that we don’t have to live lives that are based on retribution –

The payback is over. 

The resurrection means that the cross has put an end to this getting even. 

you can live as a forgiver.

You have heard it said

To err is human to forgive is divine

Sometimes we want to hurt back….To exercise revenge Revenge-

But Because we are forgiven

We can learn to forgive

 Christians should not be  just students of forgiving, you have to get really good at it

Forgiveness means refusing to make them pay for what they did

To refrain from lashing out at someone when you want to do it with all of your being

It is difficult.  It hurts to take in the pain instead of passing it on

In forgiveness, you are absorbing the debt.

Taking the cost of it completely on yourself .

You completely absorb the pain instead of lashing out at the other person.  It feels like a kind of death - a kind of suffering

Parker Palmer says

   “The cross has a message, the pain stops here.”

    The cross is a way of absorbing pain,  not passing it on.

“Father forgive them, they don’t know what…”

The way of the cross is a way that transforms pain from destructive impulse into creative constructive transforming power

You see, as a Christ follower, you do have great power

When Jesus accepted the cross,

his death opened up a channel for the redeeming power of love.

This pattern unleashes amazing power in this world- and you get to play.

Life is stormy.  You have a chance to bring calm to the storm

As jesus did it, so you too can be used by god to end hostility

To end the cycles of hurting back

Forgiveness and reconciliation are experienced

           Peter restored/disciples forgiven

            You too can live a life as a forgiven forgiver

           

3] the world tells us that we are unloveable

God tells us in the crucifiction and resurrection that we are loved

Its not just that we are not condemned, but we are loved

We are not just tolerated, we are loved

he welcomes us.  He embraces us. 

Prodigal sons welcome home…….

Because of the resurrection God no longer looks on your sin

You are pleasing to God   - --It is well with your soul

Romans 8….nothing can separate us from the love of God in christ jesus our lord

Conclusion

The disciples did not believe ---- Peter wondered what happened.

You don’t have to live your life wondering what it means…

Easter…so what? 

You are not condemned

You are forgiven – you can forgive others

You are loved

God wins.  Life wins.  We win.  Love wins

1 cor 15 ⁵⁵ “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”^[i]

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let’s pray.