A. How great it is to worship the Lord together today, on the Sunday that many refer to as Easter Sunday, or Resurrection Sunday, because it correlates to the Sunday that Jesus arose from the grave two thousand years ago.
1. Praise God that the tomb of Jesus is still empty!
2. Turn to the person next to you and say, “God loves you.”
3. Now say, “Christ died and rose for you.”
4. Now say, “What’s gotten into the preacher today?”
B. The story is told of a group of 4 people who were flying in a small, 4 passenger plane.
1. The group of 4 included the pilot, a minister, and two teenagers, one of whom had just won an award for being “The Smartest Teenager in the World.”
2. As they were flying along, the pilot turned to the three passengers and said, “I’ve got some bad news and some worse news. The bad news is: we’re out of gas and the plane is going down. The worse news is: I only have three parachutes on board.”
3. This meant, of course, that someone would have to go down with the plane.
4. The pilot said, “I have a wife and 3 children at home and they need me,” and with that, he grabbed one of the chutes and jumped out of the plane.
5. The smartest teenager in the world was next to speak and said, “I’m the smartest teenager in the world, and I might be the one to invent the cure for cancer or bring about world peace. Everyone is counting on me,” and with that he grabbed the second chute and jumped.
6. The minister then spoke up and said to the other teenager, “Son, you take the last parachute. I’ve made my peace with God and am ready to meet Him. Take the last parachute and go.”
7. The teenager quickly replied, “Relax, minister, the smartest teenager in the world jumped out of the plane with my back pack rather than a chute, so we both are good to go.”
C. How often have we all made huge blunders and colossal mistakes?
1. Thankfully, most of them are not final or fatal like the mistake of the teenager in the story.
2. But when we make those terrible mistakes of judgment or when we go astray and wander into sin, it can have devastating effects on our lives.
D. This week’s disaster in Baltimore is a great illustration of how everything can come crumbling down in a matter of seconds when something goes wrong and goes off course.
1. A bridge that was properly engineered and had been standing solidly and usefully for almost 50 years was brought down quickly by a huge powerless ship that was adrift.
2. Thankfully, it doesn’t appear to have been a deliberate plan of destruction, although a deliberate plan would have been equally as effective.
E. Satan, our arch enemy, loves to create deliberate plans for destruction.
1. He loves to lead us astray and to lure us into his traps.
2. And when he leads us astray and lures us into his traps, the negative impacts on our lives are devastating and destructive, both in earthly (physical) terms and in heavenly (spiritual) terms.
F. The Bible tells story after story of Satan’s destructive works as he leads people astray and into sin.
1. We don’t have to go very far into the Bible before we see the first trap that Satan set.
2. In the third chapter of the Bible, Genesis 3, we read about Adam and Eve, the very first human beings, succumbing to Satan’s temptation and committing the first sin.
3. But as you know that was just the beginning.
4. Throughout the rest of the Bible, we read about the big falls of some of God’s most prominent people.
5. Like Moses, who was so frustrated by God’s people’s complaints, that he deliberately disobeyed God’s instructions – God told him to speak to the rock, but Moses struck the rock and not just once, but twice.
6. Or what about David, the 2nd king of Israel, who was called the man after God’s own heart?
a. When lust filled his heart for a beautiful woman named Bathsheba, he let nothing stop him from sleeping with her.
b. And then after she became pregnant as result of their hook up, he tried to cover things up by making sure her husband died in battle, which made her a widow, so that he could marry her.
G. I guarantee you that if Adam and Eve, and Moses, and David could have “do overs,” they would all do differently.
1. If Adam and Eve really understood that their act of disobedience would bring sin and death into the world, then I’m sure they would have tried harder to avoid committing that sin.
2. If Moses knew that that act of disobedience would keep him from leading God’s people into the Promised Land, I’m sure he would have tried harder to avoid committing that sin.
3. If David knew that that night of sin would lead to the death of the newborn and the eventual attempt by one of his sons to take the throne from him, which resulted in the death of that son also, I’m sure David would have tried harder and done differently.
H. You might be wondering why I am talking about this kind of thing on the Sunday when churches and preachers often focus on the resurrection of Jesus.
1. Well, rest assured that there is rhyme to my reason – we will get to the resurrected Jesus in a few minutes.
2. A group called Mr. Mister released a song called “Kyrie” in 1985.
3. The Acapella Vocal Band did a cover of that song in 1994.
a. The words of the song include these:
Kyrie Eleison, Christe Eleison, Kyrie Eleison (Keer-ee-ay E-lay-son)
The wind blows hard against this mountainside, Across the sea into my soul
It reaches into where I cannot hide, Setting my feet upon the road
Kyrie Eleison, down the road that I must travel
Kyrie Eleison, through the darkness of the night
Kyrie Eleison, where I'm going will you follow
Kyrie Eleison, on a highway in the light
3. Kyrie Eleison, Christe Eleison, Kyrie Eleison
a. That phrase means: “Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy; Lord, have mercy.
b. These words have been sung, chanted, and spoken by countless Christians throughout history.
c. “Lord, have mercy” encapsulates a plea for divine compassion and forgiveness.
d. It acknowledges human frailty and sinfulness while asking the Lord to bestow His mercy.
e. It is a humble acknowledgment of human dependence on God’s grace and a reminder of the central tenets of the Christian faith: love, forgiveness, and redemption.
4. The phrase “Lord, have mercy” can be found in various forms in the New Testament.
a. It appears in the Gospel of Matthew, when two blind men cry out to Jesus, saying, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” (Matthew 9:27)
b. It appears in the Gospel of Luke, when a tax collector prays, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” (Luke 18:13)
I. Surely the apostle Peter understood the need for God’s mercy, if anyone did.
1. Peter had been a common fisherman when Jesus walked by and said, “Follow me.”
2. Peter dropped his nets and everything he had known and followed this Jesus of Nazareth.
3. For the next three years, as Peter walked with Jesus, he saw great things – miraculous wonders, healings, acts of power and acts of grace.
4. Peter was the first to call Jesus the Messiah and he was, above all, earnest in his devotion.
J. And yet, when it came down to it, Peter, like all the rest of us, was unable to live up to his own values and ideals.
1. When the hour of Jesus’ betrayal and death came, Peter did not bravely stay by Jesus’ side.
2. Instead, Peter chose to try to remain anonymous as he warmed himself by a charcoal fire.
3. But you just can’t seem to warm feet that have gone that cold.
4. Peter didn’t go unnoticed as he had hoped he could.
5. Three times he was asked by people in that courtyard, “You are one of Jesus’ followers, aren’t you?” and three times Peter said, “I don’t know the man.”
6. Peter loved Jesus, and yet in Jesus’ hour of need, Peter denied that he even knew him.
7. Peter was tested and tried and was found wanting…Lord, have mercy! Kyrie Eleison.
K. All of that happened to Peter the night before Jesus was crucified and buried in the tomb.
1. Peter must have been filled with unfiltered remorse and regret and self-loathing.
2. How could Peter live with himself after what he done and after what he had failed to do?
3. How many times after Jesus was crucified had Peter replayed those hours in his head, wishing beyond hope that he could get a “do over”?
4. How he wished he could go back and change his responses that night.
5. He wished he could go back and be the man he wished he had been.
6. Who among us can’t relate to that feeling and that need for mercy?
L. But like Peter, none of us can go back.
1. We can’t change the past, but the past can be forgiven and redeemed, which changes our present and our future.
2. This isn’t something we can do for ourselves, but is only something we can receive from God.
3. This is what the death and the resurrection of Jesus brings – God’s mercy and grace.
M. One of my favorite resurrection appearances of Jesus is the one we read about in John 21.
1. The Bible tells us that Jesus died on that dark Friday, but by the time the sun came up the following Sunday morning, the tomb was empty because Jesus had arisen from the dead.
2. That same Sunday evening, Jesus appeared to His apostles and confirmed that He had arisen from the dead.
3. One week later, Jesus appeared to His apostles a second time and Thomas, who had been absent the Sunday before was present this time and also witnessed their resurrected Lord.
4. In John 21, John writes: After this, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. (better known as the Sea of Galilee)
5. John tells us that Peter had decided to go fishing and a number of the other apostles had joined him.
6. They fished all night, but hadn’t caught anything – we are told that this happened several times to Peter, Andrew, James and John, who were all professional fisherman – it doesn’t seem they were very good at their profession!
N. John tells us that when daybreak came, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples didn’t know that it was Jesus.
1. Jesus called out to them, “Friends, have you caught any fish?” “No,” they replied.
2. Jesus told them to cast their nets on the right side of the boat, and when the apostles did so the nets were so full they couldn’t bring them into the boat – later we are told that the net was full of 153 large fish.
3. This was like déjà vu for Peter who remembered an earlier time when Jesus had done the same thing for them after they had fished all night and hadn’t caught anything.
4. Peter declared, “It’s the Lord” and he dove into the water and swam to shore.
5. When those in the boat arrived with Peter, they found Jesus on the beach grilling fish over a charcoal fire.
6. I can imagine that Peter had an olfactory-triggered memory of that other charcoal fire around which he had warmed himself and in fear and in self-protection had denied his Lord.
7. The smell of shame must have lingered in the air…at least in his mind.
O. But Jesus, our resurrected Lord had something different in mind.
1. Jesus was on a mission to bring love and mercy to Peter.
2. Jesus did not rebuke Peter for failing him in His time of need, instead, Jesus fed him breakfast and then gave Peter three chances to proclaim his love for Jesus – one for each of his denials.
3. Jesus asked, “Peter, do you love me?”
4. With the smell of charcoal in his nostrils and likely tears in his eyes, Peter said, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
5. Three times Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” and three times Peter answered, “Yes, you know I love you.”
6. And in between each of the words that Peter spoke, Peter must have been thinking, “I have failed you, Lord, and denied you in the hour of death despite knowing it was a wrong thing to do, but yes I love you. Lord, please have mercy on me.” Kyrie Eleison.
P. The adjective that is often coupled with mercy is the word “tender,” but in many respects God’s mercy is not tender.
1. Rather than God’s mercy being like a warm blanket around offenders, it is like a blunt instrument that puts to death the wrong and resurrects something new in its place.
2. In our guilt and remorse, we may wish for nothing but the ability to rewrite our own past, but what’s done can’t be undone or rewritten, but it can be redeemed.
3. When we cry out to God saying, “Lord, have mercy on me a sinner,” we lay our hope in the redeeming work of God that was accomplished in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.
a. Jesus declared: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live.” (Jn. 11:25)
4. Because we are a people who believe in the resurrection of Jesus, then we know that God redeems even the biggest messes we make because of His mercy.
a. The apostle Peter declared: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (1 Peter 1:3)
5. But in order for us to experience the resurrection mercy of God, we have to realize we need it and then ask God for it.
Q. All of us are familiar with the tragic story of the unsinkable ship named the Titanic.
1. On April 14th, 1912, the Titanic struck an iceberg and was swallowed up in the icy waters of the North Atlantic.
2. Over 1500 people perished as “the ship that not even God could sink” sank.
3. Only about a third of the passengers lived to tell of the nightmare.
4. Although the death toll was staggering, the greater tragedy was that many more people could have been rescued.
5. The Titanic was certified to offer lifeboat space for 1,178 people.
6. But of the 20 lifeboats lowered overboard, only a few were filled to capacity and several were less than half full.
7. In all, only 711 passengers and crew were rescued, while 40 percent of the total lifeboat spaces remained unfilled.
8. Why was that the case? Well, many of the passengers were reluctant to board the lifeboats because they didn’t feel that there was an urgent need to be saved.
9. And, because they didn’t know they needed to be saved, they were lost…lost at sea.
R. Have you realized that you are lost and that you need to be saved?
1. Have you realized that Jesus is the only way to salvation?
2. Because of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus the mercy of God is available for those who believe in Jesus and live their lives in dedication and obedience to Him and His teachings.
3. I hope and pray that someone today will realize that they are lost and that Jesus is the only way to be saved.
4. I pray that they will be ready to cry out Kyrie Eleison – Lord, have mercy on me a sinner.
S. King David himself - the one who had sinned so greatly against the Lord, and Bathsheba and her husband, Uriah – he confessed his sin and experienced forgiveness.
1. In Psalm 32, David declared:
a. How joyful is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
b. When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from all my groaning all day long.
c. Then I acknowledged y sin to you and did not conceal my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and you forgave the guilt of my sin.” (vs. 1, 3, 5)
T. Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, our sins can be forgiven, no matter how great or how dark they are!
1. When we declare our faith, and repent and are baptized into Christ, we receive the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit – our sins are washed away and are remembered no more!
2. May the resurrection mercy of God be upon us all! Amen!
Resources:
Kyrie Eleison: Rich History & Profound Meaning of a Timeless Christian Phrase, https://www.christianity.com/wiki/christian-terms/kyrie-eleison-meaning-and-use-in-christianity.html
Accidental Saints, Nadia Bolz-Weber, Charcoal Fires and Jail Cells, chapter 16.
