Giving Up Death - 7

GIVING UP DEATH

Well, we’ve made it! This is the seventh and last message in our Giving it Up series, so that means we are celebrating the joy of Easter Sunday or Resurrection Sunday! Hallelujah and praises to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! The same Jesus who has arisen from the dead and changed the dialogue about death forever. We no longer look at death as an ending but as a glorious beginning.   

I am reminded about the story of the little six-year-old boy named David who was taking a walk one day with his grandmother. They decided to detour through the local graveyard. They stopped to read some of the tombstones and Grandma explained that the first date on the tombstones was the day the person was born and the second date was the day the person died.

"Why do some tombstones only have one date?" little David asked. "Because those people haven't died yet," his grandmother explained. David was obviously stunned by his grandmother's explanation because, that night, he couldn't stop talking about the excursion. "Mom," he said with wide eyes, "did you know some of the people buried there in the cemetery aren't even dead yet!" I chuckle about this story because there was a time in my life when I too wondered about the lack of a second date on a tombstone. I thought someone had just forgotten to come out and chisel in the death date. I figured it out when I went to the cemetery with my grandmother to put flowers on my grandfather’s grave and saw her name already on the other side of the stone. Ah, clarity comes slowly for some of us! (She was standing right next to me after all…)

We can laugh, because today we come to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The stone has been rolled away and Jesus is more alive than ever because not even death could hold Him. Because of the return of the Son of God and Son of Man, we can trust his life and teachings, his compassion and his calling for justice all the more, just as those first disciples and the ones He showed himself to. We can now focus on this beloved soul, trust Jesus, and strive to live like he wanted us to.

In the past few years, it seemed like Easter has become just a routine that we went through at the end of Lent. Same words spoken, same hymns sang, same flowers put out, same rituals observed, it was almost like this day of resurrection was just an extension of our normal church business without a component of personal experience. But this year I think it will be very different for many of us. Just as Peter and the other disciples experienced fear, isolation and loss, we too are experiencing these same trials and resulting emotions. This year we can actually FEEL and EXPERIENCE, on a personal level, just a little of what those first followers of Jesus experienced. That makes this Easter celebration just a little more personal for each one of us.

So, what does this mean for each of us? What are the lessons that we can take away from this very personal experience of Jesus’ resurrection? What is the impact of the awe, wonder, fear, and joy that had driven the first disciples to their knees as they realized Christ's triumph over death? First, let’s look at the resurrection as an act of grace! We know with every fiber of our Christian faith that we cannot defeat death on our own. We cannot earn forgiveness for sin, nor salvation on our own through good deeds nor heartfelt donations. The only way to receive forgiveness and life eternal is through what Christ did for us on the cross and at the empty tomb. It is ours simply by an act of grace. It is only through this gift from God for those who believe.

Secondly, this Resurrection is the proof that God’s forgiveness is complete. How would we otherwise know that our sins are truly forgiven? If Jesus had not come back from the dead and shown folks the scars on his hands and feet we would not know of this divine forgiveness. We would not be filled with the Holy Spirit that assures us of His Divine presence. It is after all, this presence of the Holy Spirit and the personal experience each of us has that allows us to give up the fear of death and know that we are truly forgiven.  

As your Pastor I could tell you over and over that you are forgiven for your sins, but I cannot make you believe that. It is only through the Resurrection, the fact that our Risen Christ came back to life that we are assured of forgiveness. The Risen Christ came back to life to assure us that our sins have been washed away.

And thus, I believe, the Resurrection is a reminder. I love the story that Pastor Billy Strayhorn, a Methodist Pastor from Texas, shares about his childhood. He shares that as a kid his Dad used to joke about one of the highway signs you see in mountainous and hilly areas. "Watch for falling rock." His dad told him that Falling Rock was the ghost of a Native American who died a tragic death on the very first paved highway. Ever since that day his spirit has haunted the highways of America.

As the story goes, out of nowhere, Falling Rock will suddenly appear in the middle of the road. Dressed in full war paint, knife in hand, he starts coming toward the vehicle. Your instinct is to slam on the brakes, which most people do, which in turn causes lots of accidents. After which Falling Rock laughs an evil laugh and goes running to the next spot. And all the signs we see on the highways are really there to mark the places where Falling Rock has played his evil prank. The signs are gentle reminders to be on the lookout for the ghost of Falling Rock.

Billy goes on to say the they all caught on pretty quickly that it was a bunch of nonsense but they liked when their Dad told the story because he always embellished it a little more each time. Today, Easter and the Resurrection are reminders, not of some goofy fable but of the fact that no matter what, God is still in charge. And boy do we need to hear that today!  Easter reminds us that life as we know it, isn't all there is. This gift of the Resurrection allows us to give up our fear of death. As we give up our fear of death, we connect with each other and the sacred on a personal level. We become unconstrained by fear and lack of knowledge.

Easter is the post-it-note that reminds us God is in charge of everything, especially life and death and judgment and forgiveness. Easter is the living, personal memo of the depth of God's unconditional love for us. This is the day that the Lord has given us and it fills us up with the Good News of Jesus Christ. This is the day we realize that we can give up the fear of death by accepting this act of grace from Jesus. So, on this very different Easter morning, let Christ complete God's forgiveness in your life. Remember this act of supreme sacrifice which was accomplished so we can live the lives Christ has called each of us to live.  We need to show others that Christ is alive, the tomb is empty and we are secure in our salvation because others see Him living in each one of us. May it be so with each of you this day. Happy Easter and God bless you! Amen.