Summary: Final in the series which discusses how the celebrations in our lives are significant and how Easter is one continuous celebration!

“Why Celebrating Makes All The Difference”

John 20:1-20

How many of you like to attend parties, I mean really good parties? What does it take for a party to be a really good one? [some participation this morning please].

Americans don’t need too much excuse to have a party. Wedding ~ Super Bowl ~ Birthdays ~ Anniversaries ~ Retirement ~ Weekend ~ Funerals. Funerals? What would it take to make a funeral a “really good party”?

What if the dead came back to life? Not to just check on the will, but what if they really came back to life?

If the dead come back to life, that would be a reason to celebrate.

It has happened before:

-Dead man who fell on Elisha’s bones;

-Ezekiel in the valley of dry bones;

-Mary & Martha’s brother Lazarus after 4 days;

-Eutychus fell asleep and out a window = Paul’s sermons.

But there was one to top them all: Jesus. When Jesus arose from the dead, that was a reason to celebrate!

Can you think of any reasons why a resurrection would cause you to want to celebrate? Let’s look back over the resurrection story and see what reasons there were to celebrate.

Feeling up to a really good party?

We Can Celebrate With:

1. Joseph of Arimathea. Because he got his tomb back!

-There is a good feeling that accompanies finally getting something back from someone who borrowed it.

-There is a day coming in heaven where the celebration will be like that. One day we will give to Jesus all that He has given to us on loan: His Spirit, His gifts, His accomplishments in us and through us. And like crowns, we will cast them all at his feet! What a celebration that will be! That gives us hope in this life!

2. We can celebrate with James, Andrew & the other Disciples because they got their friend back!

-There is always something special about seeing good friends. It brings the best out of us. It makes us more alive and helps us to be the best person we really want to be!

-Because of Jesus, the friends we have in Christ here, will be friends over there! What a celebration that will be! That gives us hope in this life!

3. We can celebrate with Peter because he was forgiven!

-Forgiveness is a 2nd chance! There is always something special about having second chances.

-On the computer, there is this command I can use when I mess up. It happens when I hold the control key and then press ‘Z’. Control Z “undoes” what I just did. In fact, in some programs, Ctrl Z can undo several times back! 20-40 times!

-Ever wish you could Ctrl Z a day? Your whole life? 2nd chances are wonderful?

-Because of Jesus, we have 2nd chances, and 3rd, 4th, 5,000ths! And we can grant 2nd chances too! And knowing we are forgiven, now that’s a reason to celebrate.

4. We can celebrate with John, the disciple Jesus loved, because he got his best-good-friend back = the person he loved the most with all of his heart came back into his life!

-There is something about a good nickname that takes you right back to the moment you got it! “The disciple Jesus loved.”

-Because of Jesus, John would always be known as “the disciple Jesus loved”

And because of Jesus, we will never be out His love! Love is a wonderful reason to celebrate.

There are many others we can celebrate with:

=Mary Magdalene, b/c Jesus didn’t let her keep thinking he was the gardener.

=Nicodemus, b/c now he knows exactly what Jesus meant when he said, “You must be born again.”

=Jewish believers = the fullness of the Law & Prophets in Jesus

=Gentile believers = have adoption into His family

But there is one more I want to mention...

5. We can celebrate with Mary, the mother of Jesus because she got her Son back!

-I have heard it said, “Parents should never outlive their children.” Many do.

-But because of Jesus, our family in Christ here will be with us forever over there!

Do you see why we can celebrate Jesus?

Jesus gives us many reasons to celebrate. Let’s look back over the five I gave you.

1. Family is forever in Jesus.

2. Friends are forever in Jesus.

3. Love is forever b/c of Jesus!

4. Forgiveness & 2nd chances are available b/c of Jesus.

5. His presence & power are forever --and that’s hope to live by!

Good food, good folks, a very good host --good fun!

Now that’s a reason to celebrate.

When the dead are raised at a funeral, we can all go home. With Jesus Christ, we ALWAYS have a reason to celebrate. Jesus has been raised, “HE IS RISEN”!

But sometimes I think the church has forgotten how to celebrate! How to party! Maybe it is because we have forgotten what Jesus has done for us. Or maybe because the stories the Bible have gotten old and we haven’t been around any new believers to remind us of the hope we have in Jesus Christ.

That reminds me of what happened to a tribe in the jungles of East Asia, when missionaries showed them the Jesus film. It was a big deal when I was in Seminary and one of my friends was a missionary telling me about all that was going on with the Jesus Film. The movie was being shown as an evangelistic tool to people all over—in the desert, and in the jungles! Not only had some of these people never heard of Jesus, they had never seen a motion picture. And on that one unforgettable evening, they saw it all—the gospel in their own language, visible and real.

Imagine again how it felt to see this good man Jesus, who healed the sick and was adored by children, held without trial and beaten by jeering soldiers. As these East Asians watched this, the people came unglued. They stood up and began to shout at the cruel men on the screen, demanding that this outrage stop.

When nothing happened, they attacked the missionary running the projector. Perhaps he was responsible for this injustice! He was forced to stop the film and explain that the story wasn’t over yet, that there was more. So they settled back onto the ground, holding their emotions in tenuous check.

Then came the crucifixion. Again, the people could not hold back. They began to weep and wail with such loud grief that once again the film had to be stopped. The missionary again tried to calm them, explaining that the story still wasn’t over, that there was more. So they composed themselves and sat down to see what happened next.

Then came the resurrection. Pandemonium broke out this time, but for a different reason. The gathering had spontaneously erupted into a party. The noise now was of jubilation, and it was deafening. The people were dancing and slapping each other on the back. The Christ is risen, indeed!

Again the missionary had to shut off the projector. But this time he didn’t tell them to calm down and wait for what was next. All that was supposed to happen—in the story and in their lives—was happening.

SOURCE: Ben Patterson, "Resurrection and Pandemonium," LeadershipJournal.net 4-13-04

YOU SEE! Because of the resurrection, EVERY DAY is a celebration!

A Pastor shared recently that he has a habit of taping football games and watching them again—and again and again, if the game turns out right. He said, “Super Bowl 32 is one of my favorites, the one where the Broncos defeated Green Bay 31-24” (he was a Bronco fan.) “The first time I saw the game there were some tense moments: every turnover was nerve-wracking, every mistake was a potential disaster. Now the setbacks don’t bother me; I know how it ends. With every play I savor the victory that I know is coming. It may seem crazy, but there’s a sense in which a well-played game is a form of art.”

Have you ever watched a movie that you’ve already seen? Maybe the first time it was suspenseful, but not so the second time because you know how the story ends—you know the good guy doesn’t fall off the cliff and the bad guy eventually gets caught. But you still enjoy the movie. In fact, since you’re not all tied up in the plot, you begin to appreciate other aspects of the film: clever dialogue, outstanding camera work, the use of a special effect, and so on. Since you know the ending you can enjoy the movie on a whole different level.

That’s how we can enjoy life--as if we are viewing it for the second time. We don’t have to sweat the outcome because we know God’s ultimate outcome. We need not wonder if he will take care of us, or if he will make cause all things to work together for his good. We know the outcome. And we know that since Jesus conquered death, we can, through him, conquer life. And in the process, we can enjoy the journey. Everyday is part of the celebration--even the tough days. That’s God’s promise. And that’s our hope!

And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. (Romans 8:11)

SOURCE: Steve May in "The One Minute Newsletter" from www.sermonnotes.com.

The story of Easter doesn’t have to end here today. It wasn’t meant to. It can continue on IN YOUR LIFE! The hope of that first Easter morning lives on in the believer’s heart, and that makes all the difference! For when you have a reason to celebrate, and you do, then that makes all the difference because you don’t celebrate in vain!

In all of sports, there is perhaps no basketball rivalry quite as intense as that between the Universities of Duke and North Carolina. The campuses are only eight miles apart. Both teams have different shades of blue for their primary color, so North Carolinians are told, "Choose Your Blue!"

Duke fans take their allegiances seriously. Every fan is a cheerleader. When the two teams recently played each other in Duke’s Cameron Arena, home fans (or "Crazies") were given instructions.

This is the game you’ve been waiting for. No excuses. Give everything you’ve got, and we will walk away the victors. Cameron [Arena] should never be less than painfully loud tonight.

At Coach K’s request, please focus on our team tonight. Better to bring our team up than put theirs down. Especially coming out of timeouts, we need to be incredibly loud. During their free throws in the second half, forget the novelty stuff, just be unbelievably loud. This is a huge game. Stay in the bleachers and go nuts.

Perhaps we Christian worshipers have something to learn here.

SOURCE:“Duke-Carolina Cheer Sheet,”ESPN.com; submitted by Eugene Maddox, Palatka, Florida

You have a reason to celebrate—As the angel said, “HE IS NOT HERE! HE IS RISEN! GO AND TELL! GO NUTS!”

And that my friends makes all the difference!