(Graphic Slides are available to accompany the Biblical stories in this message from Lumicon Digital Production: Lumicon.org)
A reading from the good news of Jesus Christ according to Luke from the Message translation:
At the crack of dawn on Sunday, the women came to the tomb carrying the burial spices they had prepared. They found the entrance stone rolled back from the tomb, so they walked in. But once inside, they couldn’t find the body of the Master Jesus.
They were puzzled, wondering what to make of this. Then, out of nowhere it seemed, two men, light cascading over them, stood there. The women were awestruck and bowed down in worship. The men said, “Why are you looking for the Living One in a cemetery? He is not here, but raised up. Remember how he told you when you were still back in Galilee that he had to be handed over to sinners, be killed on a cross, and in three days rise up?” Then they remembered Jesus’ words.
TOUCH AND REMEMBER!
What’s the most distressing event you remember in your life? For each of us it could be something different—the death of a loved one, a major illness or accident that we experience, being terminated from work, failing a big exam at school. For all of us here and collectively in America the most recent events that have impacted us are the terrorists attacks of 9/11.
Do you remember where you were when you first heard about or saw the events unfolding? I was upstairs in the church office. My son called me on my cell phone and asked, “Have you heard what is happening?” and he began to give me the details as he was watching them unfold on TV. After I got off the phone, I told our church secretary what was happening, we turned on the radio to listen—we were both visibly shaken.
All of us will experience such events if we live long enough. I remember hearing the news of President Reagan being shot when I was at a conference in Tallahassee, Florida in 1982. I was in elementary school in 1963 when the announcement came over the intercom from the principal that President Kennedy had been shot. Negative memories and experiences are a reality in our world.. The forces weighing on us seem unbearable at times—we can become overwhelmed with evil.
So it was on that resurrection morning when the angel asked the women, “Why are you looking for the Living One in a cemetery?” “Why do you seek the living among the dead?”
Even the history of the world throughout the 20th Century and now at the beginning of the 21st Century is one of despair at the forces of evil. From the “lost generation of World War I” to the present, people have been numbing their pain at lost dreams.
In the face of ongoing death, pain, and evil, positive memories in our personal and corporate histories act as inspirational rallying points—Remember the Alamo, Remember the Holocaust, Remember Pearl harbor. On March 11th, the six-month anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks, two great beams of light rose from a site just north of Ground Zero into the night sky to honor those lost on September 11th and to celebrate the spirit of all the New Yorkers who have worked to rebuild and renew their City. Tribute in Light will shine each night through April 13th, from dusk until 11 p.m.
This past week I reflected upon the life of my mother and her influence upon me as the first anniversary of her death occurred.
Such memories are not simply a memorial to the dead, but a way to nurture the reality of the experience and keep its passions burning.
One of the ways that we manifest our memories is through touch. On the day we buried my mother’s body, the last thing I did as I left the cemetery was to touch her casket, pausing to remember and say good-bye—as did many other family members. Touch and remember.
Touch is a powerful memory maker—though many different symbols, like at the Vietnam Memorial Wall, the Wailing Wall, the grave of a loved one.
The opposite is true too—”do not touch” signs are ways to keep people detached from experiences.
It has been said that we should forget our mistakes, but remember the lessons they taught us. The women at the tomb learned this simple truth that first Easter morning.
They made the mistake of forgetting all that Jesus had taught them about his resurrection. They came to the tomb prepared to deal with his dead body.
They were so wrapped up in death and grief that it never dawned on them to remember all the things that Jesus said about life!
In spite of their devout intentions in coming to anoint Jesus’ body, these women failed to grasp Jesus’ message about the resurrection.
The antidote for not recognizing the appropriate significance of god’s power is to simply remember!
The angels told them “Why are you looking for the Living One in a cemetery? He is not here, but raised up. Remember how he told you when you were still back in Galilee that he had to be handed over to sinners, be killed on a cross, and in three days rise up?” Then they remembered Jesus’ words.
They left the tomb and broke the news of all this to the Eleven and the rest. Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them kept telling these things to the apostles.
what i find interesting about this particular confrontation with the angels is that the women "remembered" and then "believed“.
That is our lesson for today, this Easter Sunday 2002! Remember! Remember all that God has done for you through Jesus Christ and then go and tell others that Jesus is alive just like he said he would be on the third day.
In the midst of their grief, the women were trying to make the best of it by tending to their necessary chores of what appeared to be just another ordinary day. Instead, their grief was shattered when they walked head-on into the presence of god’s grace!
To understand the resurrection is to understand the meaning of history from its end! This is why Luke 24:34, “The Lord has risen indeed" is now our testimony.
What a wonderful miracle that occurred this day when Jesus Christ rolled the stone away and walked out of his earthly grave!
That first Easter was definitely a day to remember. This year’s Easter can also be another Easter to remember by taking the time to reflect upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ and recalling some of the powerful events that the women and Jesus’ other friends may have recalled in their experience with Jesus.
In times of trouble, we sometimes forget the promises God has made to us—Some of you have had troubles this past year. Some of you are in the middle of struggles now in your life. If you haven’t or are not in trouble you will have some problems in life. Even if you are a believer, a follower of Jesus, like the women at the tomb we forget his words and let darkness, death, and crucifixion dominate your outlook. What are some memories that could touch you today and give you hope—to remind you that we serve a powerful, risen Lord? I want to invite you to Touch and Remember so that this Easter will be the best ever for you.
Touch and Remember first of all:
CHRIST BEING NAILED TO THE CROSS: (Luke 23:32-33)
Two others, both criminals, were taken along with him for execution.
When they got to the place called Skull Hill, they crucified him, along with the criminals, one on his right, the other on his left.
Max Lucado expresses the experience in a vivid manner: "God on a cross. The creator of the universe is being executed. Spit and blood are caked to his cheeks, and his lips are cracked and swollen. Thorns rip his scalp. His lungs scream with pain. His legs knot with cramps. Taut nerves threaten to snap as pain twanges here morbid melody. Yet death is not ready. And there is no one to save him, for he is sacrificing himself. Far worse than the breaking of his body is the shredding of his heart. His own countrymen clamored for his death. His own disciple planted the kiss of betrayal. His own friends ran for cover. And now his own father is beginning to turn his back on him, leaving him alone."
In the Roman Empire, when a man was Crucified, His hands were first nailed to the crossbeam.
As Jesus was crucified:
The hands that touched a leper and healed him were now fastened to a rough wooden beam.
The hands that mixed clay/spit to give a blind man sight were now restrained on Calvary’s tree.
The hands that divided the bread/fish to feed thousands were now stapled to a criminal’s cross.
Jesus’ greatest work wasn’t the work He did in His carpenter shop.
His greatest work wasn’t even when He performed great miracles of healing.
His greatest work was accomplished in just a few hours on Calvary when He died for our sins.
We know now that Jesus could have come down from the cross.
The nails driven into His hands and feet by the Roman soldiers couldn’t hold Him on the cross, but that day He chose the nails.
The question is what will you do with the cross? What will you do with the hammer and nails? Will you run to the cross and allow God to cleanse you and make you whole? For that’s the essence of the cross. Through all the pain, the cross is still our promise, the eternal lifeline for our spirits.
(pg 59 The Cross by Max Lucado c1998 Multnomah Publishers, Inc.)
Touch and remember.
Secondly, touch and remember
2. THE GUARD WITH THE EAR SLICING (Luke 22:49-51)
When the other disciples saw what was about to happen, they exclaimed, “Lord, should we fight? We brought the swords!” And one of them slashed at the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear.
But Jesus said, “Don’t resist anymore.” And he touched the place where the man’s ear had been and healed him. (NLT)
Jesus had told the disciples to watch and pray, but they did not heed his counsel. Thus, when trouble came, they were unprepared. What did they do? Peter, thinking that he could save Jesus by force, woke up from his sleep, took a sword and cut off the ear of a servant. Later he denied Christ three times. Later that day, all the disciples scattered when Jesus was crucified. Why did they do these things? They had failed to heed Jesus’ repeated command: “Watch and pray, lest you come into temptation.”
But what impresses me most about this story is that Jesus touched and healed the injured ear of someone who was enemy—someone he knew was coming to take him off to kill him. That’s powerful to me—Jesus could practice what he preached—Love your enemies. That’s comforting to me too. Because how many times have I been an enemy to God. God is the God of second chance—time after time. He gave Peter another chance after that impulsive behavior of slicing off the guards’ ear. And again after Peter deserted him. And when I’m as much as enemy of Jesus as they guard was—when I kill Jesus with what I say and do—often by the way I treat others—he gives me second, and a third and a hundred chances. What love!
Are you watching and praying, so that you avoid temptation?
Touch and remember.
Next, Touch and Remember
3. The LAST SUPPER (Luke 22:19-20)
Taking bread, he blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, given for you. Eat it in my memory.”
He did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant written in my blood, blood poured out for you.”
The power of the Lord’s Supper isn’t just in the eating and drinking or following Jesus’ command. What did Jesus say during that meal? This is my body and blood which is GIVEN FOR YOU FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. He said to DO THIS IN TO REMEMBER ME. He told us to do this so that we would remember our sins have been forgiven. It’s that promise of forgiveness that gives us life. That’s where the power in our lives comes from - the good news of forgiveness in Jesus Christ. When God involves our faith and strengthens our faith through the promise of forgiveness in Christ.
Do you ever find yourself losing the battles of life? Are you having a hard time controlling your temper? Do you having difficulty dealing with your spouse? Or children? When you feel like you are losing the spiritual battle, or not doing as good as you think you could, do you ever say to yourself, “I could really use the Lord Supper?” How often do you instead say, “I could really use a drink. I could really use a vacation. I just need some quiet time.” How often do you go shopping to try and make yourself feel better – by yourself something new. Put on a new dress or a new shirt, and that will get you by for another week. And then, after our vacation or our drink, or our quiet time, we try to convince ourselves that we are completely refreshed and ready to attack life again. Our Lord’s Supper is the wine without the blood, the bread without the body.
But when you attend the meal Jesus has prepared for us—how powerful it is! We can literally touch his body and blood through the symbols he left for us—the bread and the wine. I’ve seen people moved in so many ways. Some of you shed tears when, some of you smile and laugh—and all kinds of expressions in between when you touch the bread and cup and remember that Jesus is present with you right now in this meal. The Last Supper Jesus had with his friends can be lived over and over.
We don’t need to be afraid of the power of the meal. Instead, we can respect that power, trust in that power and use it. The power of the Lord’s Supper can benefit us greatly. It has the power of God’s Word - to connect us to Jesus, strengthen our faith in him, and fight the forces of evil and despair in our lives.
When was the last time you said, “I could really use the Lord’s Supper?”
Touch and remember.
Then I invite you to touch and remember
4. THE HEALING OF THE LEPER (Luke 5:12-13)
One day in one of the villages there was a man covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus he fell down before him in prayer and said, “If you want to, you can cleanse me.”
Jesus put out his hand, touched him, and said, “I want to. Be clean.” Then and there his skin was smooth, the leprosy gone.
Have you ever seen it? Leprosy in its advanced stages is not a pretty sight. Nodules in a leper’s skin swell & ulcerate. And from those ulcers come a foul-smelling odor. Nerve deterioration often results in loss of fingers & toes, even ears & noses. All of the hair falls off around the eyes, leaving the leper with a perpetual stare. Various parts of the body can swell so much that the leper looks malformed.
Now, knowing the love & compassion of Jesus, I can easily understand Him healing this man of his leprosy. But why did Jesus reach out & touch him? I mean, all Jesus had to do was say the word, & the man would have been healed. He had that power! Jesus didn’t have to touch him. But He deliberately reached out & touched the leper!
WHY? I think it was because Jesus was giving him a gift he would never forget. There is something very special about human touch that communicates friendship & concern, & even love. No one else would even come close to a leper. So when Jesus touched him, that must have been a very emotional & moving moment the leper would remember forever
Everyone here today is invited to join the leper at Jesus’ feet and pray, "If you will, you can make me clean."
Have you experienced the Master’s touch? Do you recognize your need for healing? Allow Jesus to touch your life today.
Touch and remember.
And touch—remember:
5. HEALING OF THE BLIND MAN (Mark 8:22-25)
They arrived at Bethsaida. Some people brought a sightless man and begged Jesus to give him a healing touch. Taking him by the hand, he led him out of the village. He put spit in the man’s eyes, laid hands on him, and asked, “Do you see anything?”
He looked up. “I see men. They look like walking trees.” So Jesus laid hands on his eyes again. The man looked hard and realized that he had recovered perfect sight, saw everything in bright, twenty-twenty focus. Jesus sent him straight home, telling him, “Don’t enter the village.”
The irony here is that a blind person recognizes who Jesus really is, whereas those with eyes fail to see. The Pharisees, despite their religious knowledge could not see the miracle before their very eyes. They were, to use a modern analogy, like those driving a car, who because of a blind spot cannot not see the back left corner or back right corner. Their vision is obscured and although they are looking in the right direction they simply cannot see.
Not only does Jesus make the man eyes, but he also creates in the man’s brain the necessary apparatus to see. As neurologists will tell us, this man is the recipient of a double miracle. Not only did Jesus fix his optic condition, but he also installs in the man’s brain the mental ability which allowed the man to make sense of the information coming through his eyes
Although we might not realize it too often, the ability to see is one part physical and another part mental. For this reason blind people who undergo surgery do not automatically act like seeing persons. They still have to mentally learn how to interpret the data coming through their eyes.
(Show video clip AT FIRST SIGHT: (DVD__CHAPTER 24: 1:45-4:24)
Are you blind to the miracle God is performing in the midst of your life?
TOUCH AND REMEMBER.
Then remember
6. JESUS WALKING ON THE WATER (Matthew 14:29-32)
He said, “Come ahead.” Jumping out of the boat, Peter walked on the water to Jesus. But when he looked down at the waves churning beneath his feet, he lost his nerve and started to sink. He cried, “Master, save me!” Jesus didn’t hesitate. He reached down and grabbed his hand. Then he said, “Faint-heart, what got into you?” The two of them climbed into the boat, and the wind died down.
There’s a book titled If You Want to Walk on Water You’ve got Get Out of the Boat. Well at least Peter tried. Jesus recognized that Peter did not quite trust him. Jesus knew that Peter did not quite trust him because Peter was afraid of the waves. If Peter had faith in Jesus, then Peter would have kept his eyes on Jesus. Now here’s what I want you to notice: Even though Peter took his eyes off Jesus, Jesus never took his eyes off Peter. And, when Peter began to sink and drown, Jesus immediately grabbed Peter’s hand and pull him into the safety of the boat. Some time or another, we are going to take our eyes off of Jesus—we are going to go through a crisis of faith that causes us to take our eyes off Jesus, but Jesus will not take his eyes off us! If Jesus calls us to join him, Jesus will not let the wind and waves of crisis get the better of us! Jesus is quick to save us even if we have a lapse in our faith in him!
Here is where we start to see ourselves in this story. There we are at Peter’s side as he starts to sink. It is ironic that the man whose nickname was the rock, sinks like a stone. He stays up for a moment, like a stone skipping across a lake; but in a moment of panic, he starts to drown. That’s how it often is with our faith too. In the midst of the storm we see Jesus. He gives us hope. He lifts our spirits. We feel better for a moment, but the next day or sometimes only a hour later, we feel ourselves drowning again.
We don’t exactly walk on water, we bobble our way through it. We are up and down. But always before us stands the Christ, not safely on a mountain top but in the very heart of the storm. And his words are always the same: "I am here, don’t be afraid."
Can you walk on water? Would you like to? Do you feel like you are sinking this morning? Or can you feel the amazing power of the Christ reaching out to you in the midst of the storm? Don’t be afraid. Jesus really is with us. And when we keep our eyes fixed upon him, amazing things start to happen and no power on earth can ever destroy us.
You can trust this without question: Jesus will never take his eyes off you even if you take your eyes off him. So, when are you going to climb over the side of the boat and join Jesus?
TOUCH AND REMEMBER
Then touch and remember
7. THE BABY JESUS (Luke 2:7)
She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the village inn. (NLT)
A man was traveling and came to a hotel and asked for a room for the night. The manager told him that they were fully booked and there were no rooms available.
The man said, "Now be honest with me. If the President of the United States walked through that door just now and requested a room, would you have a place for Him to stay?" The manager replied, "Well, if the President needed a room, we’d find one for him." The traveler said, "That’s great. I know for a fact that he’s not coming, so I’ll take his room."
If Mary and Joseph had been more influential, perhaps there would have been a room for them, too. But they were just common people, peasants, carpenters, laboring folks – and they had no place to stay. But because of the tenacity of Joseph, and perhaps the compassion of the innkeeper, they were offered a stable, a place where animals feed, and there they found shelter for the night.
Can you perceive what God has done? Can you weigh all the evidence and realize how much God loves you,and how much of His love is communicated through the birth of a baby in Bethlehem? "Behold, a Savior has been born, and He is Christ, the Lord.“
TOUCH AND REMEMBER.
Then return to those memories again of
8. THE CROSS (Luke 23:46)
Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Having said this, he breathed his last. (NRSV)
Have you ever noticed the dramatic coincidence that Jesus’ physical life on this earth began and ended in the same way—with an effort on the part of people to shut him out? When his life began, there was no room for him in the inn. As soon as Herod was told by the wise men that a new king had been born, he began a search for the child to destroy him. At the other end of his life, people tried to shut him out by nailing him to a cross. Neither one of these efforts to get rid of him was successful. When there was no room in the inn, he was born in a manger just the same. When they nailed him to a cross, they only improved his ability to draw all people unto himself.
The cross shows us the very magnitude of God’s love for us, a love without limits.
One of our great church historians, Stephen Neal, put it this way, "History shows us again and again that when everything seems to be darkest God has in the most unexpected way caused new light to shine in the darkness." This is what God did for us in the darkness of Calvary. God caused a new light to shine on Easter morning in the resurrection.
Now, what will the memories of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection mean to you?
I want to share with you a story from one of our charter members on his memory of how he came to believe in this resurrected Lord. He shared this story with me recently and I was so touched by it. I asked him to share it with you this Easter and he agreed to do so by writing it out and allowing me to read it to you. These memories have given him hope in recent days as he has dealt with physical problems:
Some people can remember things from the early childhood back to the age of 7 years old, but there are only a few things I can remember before I started school. I am now past 75 years old and there is one thing I will never forget. When I was 4 or 5 years old,d a good neighbor moved from his house to take a job out of state. Dad was renting at the time. Our neighbor offered to let us move into his house, rent free, to take care of his property while he was away. He took some of his furniture with him and left the rest in one room of the house, and gave my mother a key to the room.
In the room was an organ that my mother loved to play and sing hymns. So she took me there with her. I can remember the coffee table with a very large Bible with colored pictures of Jesus from the time he was a baby until he was a grown man. My mother would read from it and tell me about Jesus. I felt such a reverence (and still do) for that room, Jesus, my mother, the organ, and the hymns she sang. So I learned about Jesus from my mother. What joyful times we had together. In that room I believed in Jesus and have believed ever since then.
TOUCH AND REMEMBER
If you’re a believer like Mervin, THIS IS WHY you REJOICE THIS DAY. THIS IS WHY you can REJOICE EVERY EASTER AND EVERY SINGLE DAY FOR THE REST OF your life! There can be no doubt, that the very first Easter is one to remember!
A father took his young son to a carnival one time for his birthday. His son picked six boys to go with him so he bought a roll of tickets. Whenever they came to a ride, he’d pull off seven tickets and give one to each of the boys. He said they got to the Ferris Wheel and he was pulling off one for each kid and there was an eighth little kid there with his hand out. "Who are you?" The boy said, "I’m Johnny. I’m your son’s new friend. And he said that you would give me a ticket." Did he give him one? Absolutely.
If you get nothing else today—get this--God wants you to be his Son’s new friend. GET IT!
John 17:3 "This is the way to have eternal life. By knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ the one He sent to earth."
I want to invite you today to make the resurrection promises real and meaningful in your life today. Make the resurrection alive just as Jesus is indeed alive. Make it more than a memory—be a believer just as Mervin and some others around the world today have believed and made the hope of the resurrection a reality in their lives.
I want to lead a prayer now as I invite you to bow your heads and close your eyes.
Prayer:
Some of you are maybe not sure of your future. Today I’d invite you to pray something like this in your heart, "Jesus Christ, I’m putting my total trust in You and I want to follow You. Thank You for loving me and dying for me. Help me to understand it more."
Others of you, maybe you’ve drifted away from Christ. Jesus one time said, “And when I am lifted up on the cross, I will draw everyone to myself.” Would you say, "Jesus Christ, I have been drawn to you by the memory of your life death, and resurrection. I’m coming home today. I want to get it in gear again and quit playing Mickey Mouse and put first things first in my life."
Some of you have not found a church home. Bethany would love to be your spiritual family. We welcome you here. This is not a place for perfect people—but a place for imperfect people who are forgiven. The purpose of our church is two fold: to teach people how to live and to prepare people for when they die. We’d love to have you here.
Some are barely hanging on and you’ve been discouraged, depressed, despondent. The pressure and stress has been building up this past week and month. You feel overwhelmed. I think God brought you here this Easter so He could say to you, "Give it all to Me. Let go and let Me work in your life." Would you say, "Jesus Christ, I want to give You these problems I’m facing. And I want to give You my life -- the good, the bad, the ugly. Fill me with Your hope and Your presence and power." In Jesus’ name. Amen.
You know, there’s nothing I’d rather do on this Easter Sunday than to have a personal conversation with each of you about your memories of your life’s spiritual journey. I wish I had time to sit down today and have coffee and a snack and you tell me what’s going on your life. I’d love to do that every Easter. I love Easter and all the promises of hope it represents. But since I’m not going to have time to talk with each of you today, I’d like you to do me a favor. On the perforated response tab on today’s program you’ll find a line that says “ANNUAL EASTER SPIRITUAL SURVEY.” This is the 3rd year I’ve done this. I’d like you to check one of the choices there to help me see where you are in your journey of life.
If you had already committed your life to Christ and been a believer, check A. If you’re believing in Jesus for the first time today, check B. If you are making a commitment today I have some free materials I want to share with you that I think will help you grow in your spiritual life. If you’d say, “Don, I have made a decision yet to be a believer in Christ, but I’m considering it”, would you check C. If you don’t think you ever intend to commit your life to Christ, I’d appreciate your honesty if you’d check D. If you’d complete that survey—fill in your name—if you’re comfortable with it. If you don’t want to give your name that’s fine. But for each first time guest here today who gives your name I have a free New Testament I want you to pick up in the lobby.(or mail to you). Tear off that perforated tab after you complete it and drop it in the offering plate.
