church

INI
Easter Sunday
April 4, 2010
Ascension Lutheran Church, Tacoma WA
Paul Naumann, Pastor

THE JOY OF BEING SURE!
John 2:18-22 Acts 13:29-33, 38-39 I Corinthians 15:19-23

To the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor
and glory forever and ever, Amen. Of all the days of the year, Easter Sunday,
especially, is a day when God's Word holds nothing but good news for
Christians. Our worship here in God's house today is much more than just a
tradition or a formality; the resurrection of Christ from the dead carries a
tremendous and immediate meaning for our everyday lives. It should be as
familiar to you as your wristwatch or your car keys – and used more often.
Through the Easter message, God wants to inject an element of certainty - a
sureness - into our lives. This morning, we will consider three important things
that Easter makes us modern-day Christians sure about. Our first text is from
the Gospel of John, chapter two, beginning with the eighteenth verse. The
congregation may remain seated for the following three addresses.

I. THE JOY OF BEING SURE... That Jesus is True God!"

So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, since
You do these things?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple,
and in three days I will raise it up.”Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six
years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” But He was
speaking of the temple of His body. Therefore, when He had risen from the
dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they
believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

The Jewish leaders were furious with Jesus. He had just finished kicking all the
merchants out of the temple, calling them thieves and tipping over their tables.
Who do you think you are? they asked Him. “What sign do You show to us,
since You do these things?” Do you want to know who I am? Jesus replied.
Alright, I'll show you! Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. At
the moment, they were standing under the arches of the magnificent Second
Temple in Jerusalem, a building that had taken 46 years to construct. So the
Jews thought this reply was just nonsense. It didn't prove anything! Not even
Jesus' own disciples could figure out what He was talking about. Not yet,
anyway.

But on Easter Sunday, Jesus solved the riddle. It was the temple of His body
He'd been speaking of. At the hands of the Jews, that body had been destroyed.
Three days later, though, Jesus came back from the dead, just as He'd predicted.
It was the ultimate miracle. It was the ultimate proof of who Jesus really was -
not just a pious rabbi or a learned teacher, but Almighty God Himself! The
disciples remembered, and they believed the scripture, and the word which
Jesus had said.

It happened two thousand years ago, but it may as well have been two hours
ago. Rather than Peter and John, it may as well have you and I who stooped
down to look into that tomb in the rock, and found it -- empty! Because facts
don't change. After two hours or two thousand years, the facts are the same.
The resurrection can leave no doubt at all in our minds about the identity of the
Man from Nazareth. Here is our proof that He was who He said He was all
along. Easter is the joy of being sure that Jesus is true God!

I don't have to tell you that life these days holds a lot of uncertainties. Will the
economy recover? I don’t know. Will you have a job a year from now? Who
knows? What will happen with health care, and the climate, and U.S. energy
policy? We don’t really know. What unexpected personal challenges are going to
pop up in your life between now and the next time we hold Easter services in
this church? You don’t know. But here is one thing, at least, that we know for
sure: Jesus is true God. So let the liberal theologians of our day argue about the
“identity” of Jesus (whatever that means), and whether or not He really
performed any miracles, and whether or not He really rose from the dead. What
a waste of time! Because facts are facts. And the fact is that over 500
eyewitnesses saw Jesus alive in the flesh after his resurrection! For them, and
for us, there can be only one conclusion. Jesus wasn't just a good Man, and He
was far more than just a "fine moral teacher." Easter gives us the joy of
knowing that Jesus Christ was then - and is now - nothing less than our GOD!

II. "THE JOY OF BEING SURE... That Jesus Has Redeemed Me!"

Our second text is taken from a sermon delivered by the Apostle Paul to the
Jews of Antioch. We find it in Acts, chapter 13, beginning with the 29th verse:

Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, they took
Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. But God raised Him from the
dead. He was seen for many days by those who came up with Him from Galilee
to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people. And we declare to you glad
tidings—that promise which was made to the fathers. God has fulfilled this for
us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the
second Psalm: ‘ You are My Son, Today I have I begotten You.’ …Therefore let
it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the
forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all
things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.

One Sabbath day, the Jews in the city of Antioch came to the synagogue to
hear a guest preacher from Tarsus, a man named Paul. He had Good News for
them. Being Jews, they were of course familiar with the Old Testament
promises God had made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: promises of a Messiah
who would bring them forgiveness of sins and salvation. Well, Paul said, those
promises had all come true! Yes! just recently, in the city of Jerusalem, a Man
named Jesus Christ had died on a cross for the sins of the world - for their sins.
The promise of forgiveness had at last been fulfilled by the Son of God, Jesus
Christ. The proof? Jesus hadn't remained dead -- He'd come back from the
grave! The promise which was made to the fathers…God has fulfilled for us
their children, in that He has raised up Jesus.

The message was electrifying. Paul's audience was stunned! The non-Jews of
the town immediately asked him to preach the same message to them. As for
the Jews, they were divided: some of them believed Paul. Some of them
rejected his message with bitter hatred.

And you know, the message of the empty tomb continues to divide people
right down to this day. For some, it's the worst kind of nonsense, a fairy tale fit
only for children and the naive. But for us, it's the fulfillment of a promise first
made in the Garden of Eden, the promise of an escape from punishment. The
promise of a way out of sin. Paul said, through this Man is preached to you the
forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all
things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. For each one
of us, Easter is the joy of being sure that Jesus has redeemed me!

Being a good person won't get you to heaven. Doing good deeds won't work,
no matter how hard you try. There's only one currency with which your sins can
be paid for; as we confessed a moment ago, it's the holy precious blood of Jesus.
Yes, you say, but is that payment enough for even my great sins? Have no fear -
the resurrection is proof that it is!

Jesus' redeeming work was sufficient, it was accepted by God. God the Father
almighty stamped it with His official seal of approval when He raised up Jesus
from the dead. "By Him," Paul says, "everyone who believes is justified."
Everyone, without exception! And that includes you! As sure as you're sitting
here right now, God has already pronounced His verdict upon you, and that
verdict is: "Not guilty! This person is justified by the blood of My Son!" The
empty tomb is proof positive that, in God's eyes, your soul is empty of sin and
guilt. That’s why we can say with the hymnist, "He is arisen, glorious word!
Now reconciled is God my Lord!"

III. "THE JOY OF BEING SURE... That I, Too, Will Rise to Eternal Life!

Our third address is based on Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 15,
beginning with the 19th verse:

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those
who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the
resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be
made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those
who are Christ’s at His coming.

They say that "death and taxes" are two things in this life that you just can't
beat. Well, the fact that the annual IRS deadline is a scant ten days away
reminds us that the part about taxes is true! But the fact that today is Easter
Sunday reminds us that the part about death is most decidedly not true. You
can beat death. Jesus did it. He triumphed over death that first Easter morning.
And His resurrection grants to each of us the joy of being sure that I, too, will
rise to eternal life!

I got a shock one day as I was walking into a nursing home to visit a
parishioner. There was an elderly resident of the home sitting out in front, and I
recognized him from his jacket and the kind of hat he was wearing. I can't
describe the jolt I suddenly felt when I realized that the man I was thinking of
had passed away several months before! For a moment I just stood there
stunned, rooted to the spot. Well, it turned out to be somebody else, of course;
they had given away the deceased man’s clothing. But it illustrates how really
shocking Jesus' resurrection must have been. Even His own disciples didn't
believe it at first!

Hard as it is to believe, though, it really happened. In fact, Paul says that our
Christian faith doesn't make any sense without the resurrection. No matter what
Jesus did during His life, if He'd simply died and been buried, you and I would
be out in the cold. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men
the most pitiable.

But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those
who have fallen asleep. Jesus isn't dead - He's alive, and that fact has
far-reaching consequences for us. On Easter morning, Jesus claimed complete
victory over death. Not just for Himself, but for you and me as well! By
crushing the power of sin once and for all, Christ cleared a path for you and me
straight to eternal paradise. Later on in this beautiful resurrection chapter, Paul
asks, O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory? The sting of
death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Cor 15:55-57.

Anyone who's ever worked on a farm at harvest time knows the satisfaction of
bringing in that first bushel of wheat, or putting up that first bale of rich alfalfa.
It's a good feeling, especially when you know that there are many more to come.
Paul tells us that Jesus rose from the dead as the firstfruits of those who have
fallen asleep He was the first -- but by no means the last! His resurrection
makes us sure that we will follow where He has led. Do you want this promise
in an even easier-to-remember form? I give you John 14:19, where Jesus says to
each of His disciples, including you: "Because I live, you shall live also!" May
God grant it, for Jesus' sake, AMEN.