EASTER SUNDAY, 2001
THE MESSAGE FOR SUNDAY THE 15th OF April, 2001
THE TEXT ::::: John 20: 1-18
PRAYER...MAY THE WORDS OF GOD AND HIS MESSAGE SPOKEN THIS HOUR BE BOTH A WORD OF COMFORT AND CHALLENGE
WE PRAY THAT IT WILL CHALLENGE THOSE WHO ARE COMFORTABLE
AND COMFORT ALL THOSE WHO ARE BEING CHALLENGED THIS DAY.
INTRODUCTION::: Changed by the calling of my name
Easter is a time of hope.
OUTSIDE THE CHURCH , EASTER TO THE WORLD MEANS THE END OF the gray days of winter, AND IT MEANS
THE HOPE OF THE COMING OF spring.
IT ALSO MEANS THE HOPE of Flowers blooming,
THE HOPE OF leaves appearing on trees, and
THE HOPE OF green grass to grow.
YET INSIDE THE CHURCH AND In the Christian life, Easter is a reminder of the hope we have in JESUS. IT TELLS US THAT No matter the circumstance or the situation in which we find ourselves, JESUS WILL OFFER US THE
HOPE OF NEW POSSIBILITIES,
HOPE OF NEW OPPORTUNITIES AND THE
HOPE OF A NEW life.
LETS RELIVE THE STORY, AS WE CENTER ON OUR HOPE...AMEN.
THE GOSPEL SAYS THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK WAS DAWNING, MARY MAGDALENES GOES TO INSPECT THE TOMB OF THE LORD.
THE CRUCIFIXION HAD TAKEN PLACE ON FRIDAY, AND AS SUNDAY DAWNED THEY WENT THERE TO FINISHED ANOINTING THE BODY AND TO GRIEVE AS WE WOULD DO WHEN WE LOSE A LOVED ONE.
AND AMAZINGLY, THEY FOUND THE TOMB OPEN AND THEY RUN BACK TO TELL THE DISCIPLE, THAT SOME ONE HAD STOLEN THE BODY OF JESUS.
THE DISCIPLE GO TO THE TOMB AND THEY RETURNED HOME AFTER VERIFYING MARYS STORY, BUT MARY STAYS AT THE TOMB, DEEPLY DISTRESSED.
OUR story of the Resurrection begins with a woman,,,,
WHOM WE FIND weeping beside the tomb of PERSON WHO SHE LOVED SO DEARLY..
THIS woman’s name IS Mary of Magdala AKA MARY MAGDALENE.
The tomb THAT SHE IS NEXT TO IS ONE THAT belonged to A MAN NAMED Joseph. AND It was the place where Jesus’ body had been laid.
AND SHE IS CRYING BECAUSE SHE IS BROKEN HEARTED..
NOW LET ME TELL YOU A LITTLE ABOUT THIS MARY,,,
THE TOWN OF HER ORIGIN CALLED Magdala was a NON-JEWISH (Gentile) city LOCATED on the shore of the Sea of Galilee IT WAS A SMALL TOWN,,with approximately forty thousand inhabitants.
In her first contact with Jesus, Mary Magdalene AKA MAGDALA was set free from seven demons AND WE FIND THAT INFORMATION IN Luke 8:1-3; Mark 16:9).
BUT SINCE BEING DELIVERED from her self-destructive past and BEING made whole by the GRACE AND love of GOD, MARY lived the rest of her life with DEEP gratitude and loving devotion to Jesus.
All four Gospels report that Mary was THERE,,,, at the cross on Good Friday. After the disciples ran away, she stuck it out to the ghastly, gory, gruesome end.
According to three of the four Gospels, Mary was there,,,,, when they took the mangled, blood soaked BODY OF JESUS down from the cross,,
WE ALSO FIND THAT MARY WAS THERE WHEN THEY,wrapped it in linen cloths,,,
MARY WAS THERE WHEN THEY laid it in Joseph’s tomb.
AND HERE BEFORE SUNRISE MARY IS THERE ONCE AGAIN AT THE TOMB OF OUR BURIED LORD....
BUT MUCH TO HER AMAZEMENT,,,,MARY FINDS THE TOMB EMPTY...
SO BEING THE REALIST THAT SHE IS,,,,MARY comes to the only reasonable, conclusion REGARDING THE ABSENCE OF JESUS BODY....WHICH IS,,,,,,,,,,
"They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him!" Someone has to HAVE move it.
SCRIPTURE SAYS THAT SHE RAN TO TELL Peter and John OF HER DISCOVERY.
THE TWO DISCIPLES inspected the scene, confirmed Mary’s observation, and returned home BEWILDERED, SCRATCHING THEIR HEADS leaving her alone in the grave YARD.
AND That is where we find her, weeping outside the tomb.
BUT AS SHE WEEPS A PERSON WHOM she assumed to be the gardener asked HER A question," Woman, why are you weeping? VERSE # 15.
MARY answered THAT,,,, She was looking for the body of Jesus.
In a desperate attempt to have something to hold on to, she was willing to settle for whatever was left of him."Sir,"she pleaded,"if you have carried his BODY AWAY,,, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.
AND IT IS AT THIS MOMENT That THE RESSURECTION HOPE, AND Easter HOPE happens FOR MARY .
BECAUSE IT AT THIS TIME THAT JESUS CALLS HER NAME...
"Jesus says to her,’Mary!’"
There were no trumpets or choirs
There was no theological explanation of the Incarnation REVEALED TO HER.
No one gave a discussion that good will ultimately be victorious over evil.
There was not even a sermon from a preacher.
Just a familiar voice with the ring of LOVE AND GRACE, calling her by name....MARY
That was all IT WAS; THAT WAS ALL IT TOOK AND that was enough!
She knew WHO IT WAS IT WAS the crucified Jesus,,,, IT WAS her risen Lord,,,,;the one WHOM she was seeking,,,
Mary came to the garden that morning expecting to find nothing but death;
She left more alive than she had ever been before.
She came to mourn the past beside a body; she left to face the future in the presence of a living Lord.
She came in search of the crucified Jesus; she left as one who had been found by the risen Christ.
She saw Jesus standing near the tomb and, not recognizing him, asked if he was the gardener;
MARY did not recognize the person of Jesus, but she immediately recognized his voice as he spoke to her, saying only one word, her name--Mary.
She responded, "Master," and fell at his feet.
SO JESUS REVEALS HIMSELF TO MARY AND SHE RUNS AND TELLS THE DISCIPLES ALL THESE WONDERFUL THINGS.
MARY BECOME A PREACHER, BECAUSE WHEN GOD CALLS YOUR NAME YOU GOT TO TELL SOMEBODY.
SO WHEN Jesus appeared to MARY HE MAKES MARY an evangelist to the apostles.
Nobody has a testimony like MARY to the life, the love, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus.
But then, nobody has a testimony like yours or mine, either.
Each Christian has a unique testimony of what Jesus’ resurrection has meant to him or her.
The tragedy is that we do not share OUR TESTIMONIES OF WHAT Jesus has made in our lives and our love for him.
I AM BECOMING MORE disappointed with modern disciples: "Why don’t church people show more of the power and the presence of the risen Christ?"
LOOK AT MARY, SHE SHARED THE TESTIMONY YET LOOK AT US.
WE RATHER SHARE GOSSIP,
GET MAD WITH EACH OTHER
MAKE THREATS
DON’T TALK TO EACH OTHER
BE, SLACK IN YOUR JOBS AND RESPONSIBILITY, AND NOT SHARE THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION.
FIRST AND FOREMOST, The BIBLES testimony of the Resurrection OF JESUS is clear.
AND THE MAJOR TASK FOR CHRISTIANS IS displaying the relationship OF THE RESURRECTION to human lives IN OUR WORLD.
During Desert Storm, a mother named Carol received a very sad message from the Navy. Her son, Willima , had been killed.
AND FOR 3 days SHE wept.
For 3 days I expressed anger & loss.
For 3 days people tried to comfort me, to no avail because the loss was too great."
But 3 days after she received A message, the telephone rang. The voice on the other end said, "Mom, it’s me. I’m alive." Carol said, "I couldn’t believe it at first.
But then I recognized his voice, & he really was alive." She said, "I laughed, I cried, Because my son whom I had thought was dead, was really alive.
AND THE ASSURANCE WAS REALIZED NOT BECAUSE OF ANYTHING MORE THAN THE VOICE ON THE OTHER END WHO CALLED HER NAME..
So "STAFFORD,,,WILLIE, CHARLES, DEXTER, , why are you weeping?"
WHY HAVE YOU GIVEN UP, WHY HAVE YOU STOPPED TRYING..
WE MUST UNDERSTAND THAT AT THE RESURRECTION Jesus HAS CALLED YOUR NAME..
AND WHEN Jesus CALLS YOUR NAME HE DOES something new!
BECAUSE WITH THE CALLING OF HER NAME MARY HAD to tell his disciples of a dawning of a new day.
It was her mission to lead others into the lights of that new day.
AND THIS remains our mission as well.
WHEN Jesus CALLS YOUR NAME,,,,,Our mission consists of proclaiming a new day which God is ushering in through Christ’s resurrection.
AND In the power of the Resurrection, we know that we do not have to settle for darkness, defeat, and death.
We know, more deeply than we have ever known before, .
that love is stronger than hate,
good is more durable than evil,
truth can outlast falsehood,
and life will triumph over death.
In the eyes of the world.....Easter is a time of seasonal change....
In the eyes of the world Easter occurs, after the cold days of winter, ..spring comes... and life returns.
But in the life of a Christian believer, Easter is a sign of the hope we have in Christ.
And assures us that no matter the circumstance or the situation in which we find ourselves, we are reminded of new life in Christ, which takes place in the resurrection.
It assures that no matter what may come our way,,
hard times are not new.....
Habback 3:17
No matter what,,,we have an assurance because of the resurrection.
FINALLY EASTER ANSWERS QUESTIONS:::::
Easter tells us THAT the worst the devil could do is destroyed by the power and love of God.
Easter encourages us to go on with the expectation and confidence that our unanswered questions will be answered.
Easter answers the question of our Resurrection with Christ
"Because I live, ye shall live also" (John 14:19 KJV). Easter is that we are risen with him.
Easter Calls Us to a Glory-Directed Life
"Seek those things which are above" (v. 1 KJV).
Eternal life begins now, not when we die.
Eternal life means an eternal quality of life now as well as after we die.
SO today, through these texts Mary Magdalene comes to us as well this morning.
She comes to us with the good news of an impossible joy.
JESUS Christ wants you to know, HIS VOICE SO THAT you can recognize him. And recognizing him, you can share the news.
The news, after all, is for everyone.
MY WISH IS THAT WE MAY REFLECT UPON AN OLD SONG OF OUR HYMN BOOK ON PAGE 310..THAT IS USED TO USHER THIS NEW DAY OF HOPE FOR US .....
I serve a risen Savior, he’s in the world today;
I know that he is living, whatever foes may say.
I see his hand of mercy,I hear his voice of cheer,
and just the time I need him, he’s always near.
He lives,he lives, Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me
along life’s narrow way.
He lives,he lives, salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know he live?
He lives within my heart.
May you hear the risen Lord call your name this Easter morning, and may it be the beginning of wonderful new chapters in your life.
The Lord is risen! The Lord is risen indeed.
AMEN.....................AMEN.....................AMEN
