Easter Sunday
April 11, 2004
All Saints Lutheran Church
Pastor Tim Johnson
Focus Text: Luke 24:1-12

(Begin walking in from the rear of the sanctuary)

When was the last time you were looking for something, only to later discover that you had been looking in the wrong place?

I think we’ve all had that experience of being pretty sure that what we’re searching for was going to be where we expected it to be. Only to later see that it was in another location altogether.

Even this morning, I’d be willing to wager that almost all of you were looking up front for the preacher to begin.

After all, if you’ve ever been to services here before, you know that’s where the preacher starts. It’s where the message begins.

Everything has your attention focused up here—the chairs and pews and lighting. But, today it was different. Truth is, you were looking in the wrong place.

In a much more profound way, that is part of what the Easter story reveals—that often times we are looking for life in all the wrong places. We heard from Luke’s Gospel. The women, who just three days before, witnessed the death of their Lord, arrive at the tomb, only to find it empty. “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” they are asked by the two men there. Looking for Jesus in all the wrong places.

The Bible says that the women, at that point, remembered Jesus’ words. And later on it says, after Peter also saw the empty grave, that he went away wondering to himself.

I think that as they encountered that empty tomb and as they began to contemplate what it all meant, that they were not as bewildered as we might imagine. I think that there is every reason to believe that what began to come flooding back to their hearts and minds were all the things that Jesus said and did in his life that was totally unexpected.

We, too, can find ourselves looking for life in all the wrong places because our God is so surprising, in life and in death.

Because Christ lives we too shall live. The bonds of death are forever broken. “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”[1]

But the resurrection is more than eliminating our fear of death. It is also God’s way of affirming the supremacy of Jesus’ life, and that means what he taught and how he showed us how to live.

Three powerful teachings of Jesus demonstrate the surprising ways to find life.

The first is that denying yourself leads to life in its fullest. Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, be must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.”[2]

Talk about turning things upside down, in terms of how to find life. For, let’s face it, you and I don’t live in a world that encourages us to sacrifice or to deny ourselves very often—just the opposite—we’re encouraged to indulge ourselves. In fact, that message in this culture is so prevalent that we don’t even bat an eye when we see things advertised—whether it’s for a new car, an exotic vacation, a bigger house, a remodel, a new outfit, or some exquisite chocolates. The message is, “You deserve it. Indulge yourself.” And, don’t worry about the cost.

Whether in our workplaces, our education, even our recreation, too often times we are at the center of it all. Whether it’s a focus on making as much money as we can, becoming prestigious in the eyes of others, or in how much stuff we accumulate, too little of our time, affection and resources can be left for Christ.

To take up our own crosses is to live in self-denial so that Christ can be glorified and his work can be done.

The early church experienced the passion of living in this very counter-cultural fashion, as they were willing to give it all up for the Lord and for his purposes. In the book of Acts, which records the life of the church in its infancy says that, “All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their numbers daily those who were being saved.”[3]

Did you catch the connection? That their lives of self-denial led to having glad and sincere hearts. That is life in its fullest!

A second rather surprising teaching central to finding and living life is that servanthood is the path to greatness. Jesus said, “For he who is least among you all—he is the greatest.”[4] He said this in response to an argument that had broken out with his disciples as to which of them would be the greatest.[5]

And, the truth is, when our eyes are anywhere but on the Lord, you and I are subject to the same kind of competition. In fact, anytime we become more focused on getting the approval of other people than on God and simply serving those he has called us to serve, we will end up spiritually empty.

As the theologian Albert Schweitzer once said: “One thing I know: the only ones among you who will be truly happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.”[6]

Jesus was the perfect servant because he had total freedom. He knew who he was and whose he was, and so he didn’t need to seek the approval of others. Our problem is that when we try to get our need for deep worth and value met anywhere but in our relationship with God, we will hurt other people, deceive ourselves, and not live in accordance with God’s will.

When we try to pursue greatness in the eyes of men, we will fail to do so in the eyes of God. For Jesus is perfectly clear—that true greatness is found in power that is used only in love, and in giving up one’s own agenda for the sake of Jesus’ mission of life for all people.

I’ve spoken to more than a few people who have reached greatness according to the world’s standards only ask, “Is this all that’s here?” And, for them to reflect on what it cost them and others to get there. Jesus offers true life and true greatness by becoming increasingly like him and finding life as a servant.

The third thing to know today is that God is far more merciful and loving than we ever might have imagined.

The Bible is full of stories of people who are certain that because of their sinfulness and God’s holiness, that God will have nothing to do with them. In the Old Testament, when this holy and Almighty God came pursuing Isaiah to fulfill the plan he had for him, Isaiah responded, “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips.”[7]

Peter, one of the disciples, responded similarly when Jesus blessed him and filled his net with fish, “Go away from me, Lord; for I am a sinful man!”[8]

And, who among us, when we stand before a perfect and a righteous God, wouldn’t say the same thing. “Lord, you can’t possibly want anything to do with me. For I am a sinner.”

But the surprising thing is that right at that point, where we believe that we faced with the thought that God wants nothing to do with us, we are surprised by the unexpected and undeserving gift of forgiveness and mercy that he offers.

In fact, not only does God not exact revenge for our sinfulness, but when we come to our senses, as did the Prodigal Son, after he left home and wasted everything his father had given him, we discover that although we may be begging for scraps as he did, God honors us, welcomes us home, and even throws a party.

And, that’s what today is. That’s what Easter is. A party! A celebration! A new beginning. No longer looking for life in all the wrong places, but in the places and in the ways that Christ has shown us. For Scripture declares, “Christ died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”[9]

Amen!
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[1] 1 Corinthians 15:54
[2] Luke 9:23-24
[3] Acts 2:44-47
[4] Luke 9:48b
[5] Luke 9:46ff
[6] from Timeless Wisdom, compiled quotes by Gary W. Fenchuk. p.134
[7] Isaiah 6:5
[8] Luke 5:8
[9] 2 Corinthians 5:15-17