In the late 1800’s, no business matched the financial and political dominance of the railroad. Trains dominated the transportation industry of the United States, moving both people and goods throughout the country. Then a new discovery came along – the car – and incredibly the leaders of the railroad industry did not take advantage of their unique position to participate in this transportation development. The automotive revolution was happening all around them, and they did not use their industry dominance to take hold of the opportunity. In his video-tape The Search for Excellence, Tom Peters points out the reason: The railroad barons didn’t understand what business they were in. Peters observes that “they thought they were in the train business. But, they were in fact in the transportation business. Time passed them by, as did opportunity. They couldn’t see what their real purpose was.”
When you lose track of your purpose you end up frustrated, disappointed, and defeated. That same type of danger exists for this Christian congregation. Perhaps you shared some of my disappointment and frustration last Sunday when the rain fell and many of the chairs we had rented stayed empty while we celebrated our community outdoor that quickly became an indoor Easter service. I felt frustrated, disappointed, and defeated because I thought that this year we were going to have the biggest and the best outdoor service this congregation has ever had – but when all was said and done I’m relatively certain that we drew the smallest number ever to Friarsgate Park. But, perhaps that’s the reason God allowed things to happen the way they did. In this vivid way God refocuses our attention on our real purpose as a Christian congregation. Last Sunday God reminded us that we’re not in the business of hosting the biggest and the best Easter service in the Midlands – we’re in the business of making disciples for Jesus. We’re in the business of bringing people to their Savior on Easter Sunday and every other Sunday of the year so that together we might Rejoice in our Risen Lord. That’s what God reminds us of through the Apostle Peter as he encourages us to rejoice in our risen Lord because he gives us living hope. We rejoice because he gives us genuine faith.
I read a story about a small boy who was being raised in a frontier town by his grandmother. One night the house caught fire. The grandmother, trying to rescue the boy who has asleep in the bedroom upstairs, was overcome by the smoke and died in the fire. This frontier city didn’t have much of a fire department. A crowd gathered around the house and they heard the small boy crying out for help. The lower floor was a wall of flames and no one seemed to know what to do. Suddenly, a man pushed through the crowd and began climbing an iron drainage pipe that ran to the roof. The pipe was hot from the fire, but he made it to a second floor window. The man crawled through the window and located the little boy. With the crowd cheering encouragement, the man climbed back down the hot iron pipe with the boy on his back and his arms around his neck.
A few weeks later, a public meeting was held to determine in whose custody the boy would be placed. Each person wanting the child would be allowed to make a brief statement. The first man said, “I have a farm and would give the boy a good home. He would grow up on the farm and learn a trade.” The second person to speak was the local school teacher. She said, “I am a school teacher and I would see to it that he received a good education.” Finally, the banker said, “Mrs. Morton and I would be able to give the boy a fine home and a fine education. We would like him to come and live with us.” The presiding officer looked around and asked, “Is there anyone else who would like to say anything?” From the back row, a man rose and slowly pulling his hands from his coat said, “I offer my love to this child.” A gasp went up from the crowd because his hands were scarred terribly from climbing up and down the hot pipe. When the boy saw the man’s hands – he recognized him as the one who saved his life and he ran into his waiting arms.
At Easter time we are brought to see the one who has rescued us from death and given us a new lease on life. At Easter time we clearly see the one suffered the scorching heat of God’s wrath and the searing scourge of hell to rescue us from the flames. At Easter time we too are blessed to see the hands of our risen Savior whose conquering love is written in the place where the nails penetrated his flesh and the spear pierced his side. Easter is the powerful proof that Christ’s love has overcome our greatest enemies and Easter motivates us to run into the waiting arms of our Savior who has prepared an eternal inheritance for us with him in heaven, one that never perishes, spoils or fades. That’s the living hope that is ours because we rejoice in our risen Savior!
As a Christian congregation it is certainly a blessed thing to want to share that living hope with others on Easter! But we do ourselves a tremendous disservice when we pin the joy of Easter on the number in attendance at an event. We’ve missed the point of Easter if we throw our hands up in frustration and defeat wondering why this one event didn’t work out the way we had planned. The joy of Easter is knowing our risen Lord. The joy of Easter doesn’t stop at 11:59 PM on Easter evening. The joy of Easter lasts forever – because our risen Savior is going to take us to be with him forever. So our purpose is to share our Easter joy all the time in every opportunity – not just inviting people to a special community outdoor service – but bringing them to see the hands of their risen, loving Savior who gives them living hope year round that lasts for all eternity!
That’s the reason we rejoice in our risen Savior because he has given us living hope. That living hope is ours because our risen Savior has worked genuine faith in our hearts.
God tells us through Peter that faith is proved genuine through suffering. Some of you may remember Dave Dravecky, former pitcher for the San Francisco Giants. At the peak of his career he lost his pitching arm to cancer. Those who watched his 1989 comeback will never forget the Montreal game. Dave’s left arm snapped with a deafening crack that could be heard in the stands. The comeback quickly ended. It was a devastating experience. It is bad enough to have cancer, let alone face the amputation of an arm, but then on top of that, to lose a promising career as a major league baseball player. Naturally Dave was filled with many questions.
During his struggles, letters of encouragement poured in from all over the country. Most were letters of encouragement. Some were looking for answers to life’s questions. They had seen him keep his faith, and they wanted to know how he had done it. Then one day he received this letter:
“Dear Mr. Dravecky, If there is a God who cares so much about you, why did he allow you to have the surgery in the first place? I have lived 41 years in this old world and have yet to see any piece of genuine evidence that there is anything real about any of those religious beliefs you talk about. God certainly does not love me and has never done a single thing to express that love for me. I have had to fight for everything I ever got in life. Nobody cares about what happens to me and I don’t care about anybody else either. Can’t you see the truth that religion is nothing more than a crutch used by a lot of weaklings who can’t face reality and that the church is nothing but a bunch of hypocrites who care nothing for each other and whose faith extends not to their actions or daily lives but is only just a bunch of empty phrases spouted off to impress others?”
Those are some tough words for a man who is struggling through some very difficult questions. But Mr. Dravecky responded to this letter by writing, “I am convinced that there is a God. That no matter what happens to me, there is a purpose for it and behind that purpose stands a loving, caring God.”
My friends – that’s an attitude that only Easter is able to produce! Without Easter the Christian faith is a sham, mere hypocrisy, a crutch for weak-minded people who are afraid to square off against the problems of life. But the reality of Easter – the reality of our risen Savior demonstrates the remarkable love of our God who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. Easter proves that God’s love for us remains constant because Jesus’ tomb is still empty. So Easter provides us with insight to our suffering and confidence to face the problems of life in a sinful world knowing that God is using these experiences for our benefit as he proves to the world that the faith which he has created in our hearts is genuine. Genuine faith is filled with inexpressible joy that offers God praise not only in good times filled with earthly comfort and security but especially when facing times of uncertainty, pain, and even suffering! That’s because genuine faith sees beyond the here and now and rejoices in the bliss of eternity that our risen Savior has won for us. Genuine faith drives us to want to share the inexpressible joy of Easter at all times and in all places. What greater joy can there be than to know Jesus Christ, crucified, died, and risen again?
So the real question for this congregation to ask is not why there weren’t more people at our outdoor Easter service last Sunday. The real question we can’t help but ask is this: How will we continue to share the joy of Easter with those around us this morning, and every day of every week of every month of every year that God grants us life upon this earth? I pray that our answer would be this: Spurred on by the joy of knowing the living Jesus let’s continue faithfully to make disciples for him as we share the joy of Easter with the world starting right here in the greater Columbia area as we go forward rejoicing in our risen Lord and Savior! May God grant it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
