Easter Sunday
April 12, 2020
Calling You By Name
I Corinthians 15: 1-11
John 20: 1-18
TEXT: "Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary
Magdalene come to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.”
(John 20:1)
There's something about Easter Sunday -- something exuberant, something triumphant, something inexpressibly happy. But the first Easter began on a very different note. When Mary Magdalene got up before dawn, she awoke with the bitter taste of defeat on her tongue and the pangs of despair in her heart. She opened her eyes on a dark and dreary world, a world without joy, a world without Jesus.
Within an hour things got worse. She arrived at the tomb to pay her respects and found that the grave had been vandalized. The body of the dear Teacher had been stolen. This was the breaking point. After the tension of the past week, the fear on Friday, the despair on Saturday, Mary had reached her limits. No wonder Mary Magdalene was beside herself! No wonder she wept! No wonder she didn't recognize Jesus when He approached her. No wonder she mistook her best Friend for the caretaker of the garden. And then everything changed. Jesus called Mary by name.
At the sound of that voice, Mary's heart broke with joy and her eyes were opened to the face of Love. To hear her name on those lips was to be touched by Heaven.
Jesus said, "Mary," and the whole world was transformed. That's what made the difference for Mary: to be called by name, to be called by Christ, to be called back to life.
Easter hasn't changed since that day. Easter is still about Christ unexpectedly alive in our midst. Easter is Christ calling us by name. Easter is the Savior calling us to life. Do you feel it? Do you hear your name? Do you hear Christ calling you to a life of meaning and purpose?
Did you ever hear of the moth with no mouth? There really is such a creature. As a caterpillar, this insect lays its eggs and then turns into a moth. The earthbound crawler sheds its old life and takes wing into a new existence, right? Wrong! This poor moth has no mouth, no stomach, no way to eat, so it starves to death in a few hours. Can you imagine anything more pointless? That wretched creature exists only to leave eggs behind and having done so it runs into a dead end. It goes through the motions of making a cocoon and growing wings, and then it falls over and dies.
Some people feel the same way about their own lives. They feel like they are going through the motions of living. One day they wonder what was the point of it all.
The Resurrection of Christ is God's solemn promise that life is not "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." Jesus calls us to live abundantly, not just to go through the motions.
To what have you given your life? To whom have you committed yourself? In whose service are you yoked? Where have you given your heart? In answer to those questions, some people can muster only petty pursuits and trivialities. But Christ offers us vastly more! The Risen Lord gives us a Cause to live for, die for, and live again for! Be still for a moment! Do you hear Christ calling you to a life of hope?
The "Peace" rose is probably the most popular rose in the world. In 1939 a French rose-grower named Francis Meilland found one single seed among his hybrids, and that solitary seed grew into the beautiful Peace rose. Peace roses are grown all over the world today, and every one of them came from that single, unique, one-of-a-kind seed.
Jesus Christ is our first fruits. From the seed of Christ's Resurrection will come the eternal harvest of every Christian. His Resurrection is the root of our own. His life is the Source of our life. His victory is the assurance of our victory. His promise is our hope.
Do you hear your name being called? Do you hear Christ calling you to a life of new possibilities?
The New Testament often talks about the need for change: Repent! We tend to think that repentance is simply sorrow over our mistakes, but the Greek word which is translated "repentance" in most English Bibles literally means "a change of mind, a transformation of one's thinking." Change begins with our own hunger for new possibilities, and that desire for change finds its fulfillment in the power unleashed through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
If God could raise Jesus from the grave, then God can free us from the tomb of our limitations and constraints. If God could roll away the stone that sealed Jesus in the grave, then God can roll away the stumbling stones that litter our path. If God could shatter the chains of Death, then God can surely strike off every fetter that keeps us from living fully and abundantly. If God could open up eternal possibilities for a Crucified Man lying in a borrowed tomb, then God can surely open up a new course for you and me!
Do you hear your name being called? Do you hear Christ calling you to a life of joy?
Remember that wonderful scene in Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer when the Church gathers for the memorial service for Tom and two of his friends who are believed to have drowned? In fact, Tom and his buddies have been hiding out, and now they sneak into the Church loft to enjoy their own funerals. This is an old-fashioned country funeral service with plenty of wailing and moaning. Just when the weeping and grieving have reached their peak, Tom comes strolling down the Church aisle. In a heartbeat, the whole congregation is caught up in joy. Every face is lit with a smile and every voice is lifted in praise. The one who was dead is alive after all!
That's Easter! That's the boisterous, undignified beginning of our faith: a grief-stricken wake where the Resurrected Christ walks in and turns the tears into laughter and the grieving into dancing. From that day on, the New Testament followers of Jesus would never again take the world quite so seriously. They would live joyfully, and preach joyfully, and sing joyfully -- even in prison, even waiting for execution. And why shouldn't they sing in the shadow of death? You can bury joy in the tomb, but you can't keep it there!
Christ is calling you today as He called Mary Magdalene in the Gospel of John, calling you by name. Christ is calling you to life: a life of hope, a life of meaning, a life of new possibilities, a life of joy, a life of commitment. Christ is calling you to a Resurrection life. Don't miss it! Don't sleep through it! It's Easter! Christ has risen, and so should you! So, should we all!
John 20: 1-18
TEXT: "Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary
Magdalene come to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.”
(John 20:1)
There's something about Easter Sunday -- something exuberant, something triumphant, something inexpressibly happy. But the first Easter began on a very different note. When Mary Magdalene got up before dawn, she awoke with the bitter taste of defeat on her tongue and the pangs of despair in her heart. She opened her eyes on a dark and dreary world, a world without joy, a world without Jesus.
Within an hour things got worse. She arrived at the tomb to pay her respects and found that the grave had been vandalized. The body of the dear Teacher had been stolen. This was the breaking point. After the tension of the past week, the fear on Friday, the despair on Saturday, Mary had reached her limits. No wonder Mary Magdalene was beside herself! No wonder she wept! No wonder she didn't recognize Jesus when He approached her. No wonder she mistook her best Friend for the caretaker of the garden. And then everything changed. Jesus called Mary by name.
At the sound of that voice, Mary's heart broke with joy and her eyes were opened to the face of Love. To hear her name on those lips was to be touched by Heaven.
Jesus said, "Mary," and the whole world was transformed. That's what made the difference for Mary: to be called by name, to be called by Christ, to be called back to life.
Easter hasn't changed since that day. Easter is still about Christ unexpectedly alive in our midst. Easter is Christ calling us by name. Easter is the Savior calling us to life. Do you feel it? Do you hear your name? Do you hear Christ calling you to a life of meaning and purpose?
Did you ever hear of the moth with no mouth? There really is such a creature. As a caterpillar, this insect lays its eggs and then turns into a moth. The earthbound crawler sheds its old life and takes wing into a new existence, right? Wrong! This poor moth has no mouth, no stomach, no way to eat, so it starves to death in a few hours. Can you imagine anything more pointless? That wretched creature exists only to leave eggs behind and having done so it runs into a dead end. It goes through the motions of making a cocoon and growing wings, and then it falls over and dies.
Some people feel the same way about their own lives. They feel like they are going through the motions of living. One day they wonder what was the point of it all.
The Resurrection of Christ is God's solemn promise that life is not "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." Jesus calls us to live abundantly, not just to go through the motions.
To what have you given your life? To whom have you committed yourself? In whose service are you yoked? Where have you given your heart? In answer to those questions, some people can muster only petty pursuits and trivialities. But Christ offers us vastly more! The Risen Lord gives us a Cause to live for, die for, and live again for! Be still for a moment! Do you hear Christ calling you to a life of hope?
The "Peace" rose is probably the most popular rose in the world. In 1939 a French rose-grower named Francis Meilland found one single seed among his hybrids, and that solitary seed grew into the beautiful Peace rose. Peace roses are grown all over the world today, and every one of them came from that single, unique, one-of-a-kind seed.
Jesus Christ is our first fruits. From the seed of Christ's Resurrection will come the eternal harvest of every Christian. His Resurrection is the root of our own. His life is the Source of our life. His victory is the assurance of our victory. His promise is our hope.
Do you hear your name being called? Do you hear Christ calling you to a life of new possibilities?
The New Testament often talks about the need for change: Repent! We tend to think that repentance is simply sorrow over our mistakes, but the Greek word which is translated "repentance" in most English Bibles literally means "a change of mind, a transformation of one's thinking." Change begins with our own hunger for new possibilities, and that desire for change finds its fulfillment in the power unleashed through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
If God could raise Jesus from the grave, then God can free us from the tomb of our limitations and constraints. If God could roll away the stone that sealed Jesus in the grave, then God can roll away the stumbling stones that litter our path. If God could shatter the chains of Death, then God can surely strike off every fetter that keeps us from living fully and abundantly. If God could open up eternal possibilities for a Crucified Man lying in a borrowed tomb, then God can surely open up a new course for you and me!
Do you hear your name being called? Do you hear Christ calling you to a life of joy?
Remember that wonderful scene in Mark Twain’s novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer when the Church gathers for the memorial service for Tom and two of his friends who are believed to have drowned? In fact, Tom and his buddies have been hiding out, and now they sneak into the Church loft to enjoy their own funerals. This is an old-fashioned country funeral service with plenty of wailing and moaning. Just when the weeping and grieving have reached their peak, Tom comes strolling down the Church aisle. In a heartbeat, the whole congregation is caught up in joy. Every face is lit with a smile and every voice is lifted in praise. The one who was dead is alive after all!
That's Easter! That's the boisterous, undignified beginning of our faith: a grief-stricken wake where the Resurrected Christ walks in and turns the tears into laughter and the grieving into dancing. From that day on, the New Testament followers of Jesus would never again take the world quite so seriously. They would live joyfully, and preach joyfully, and sing joyfully -- even in prison, even waiting for execution. And why shouldn't they sing in the shadow of death? You can bury joy in the tomb, but you can't keep it there!
Christ is calling you today as He called Mary Magdalene in the Gospel of John, calling you by name. Christ is calling you to life: a life of hope, a life of meaning, a life of new possibilities, a life of joy, a life of commitment. Christ is calling you to a Resurrection life. Don't miss it! Don't sleep through it! It's Easter! Christ has risen, and so should you! So, should we all!
