Make Easter More than Just a Holiday
Matthew 28:1-10
Easter Sunday, April 11, 2004
Introduction
Well, here we are ¡V Easter. The sun is shining, most of the time, the birds are singing, the buds are trying to bust out on the trees, and the days are getting longer.
We celebrate the resurrection of the Lord, Jesus Christ with singing, and a word from the Bible.
These are good things, and I¡¦m grateful to God for them. But I¡¦ve never been satisfied with the status quo, particularly when it comes to Easter.
But I would like us to avoid what happened at another church last week. Let me read this news story, which is very true.
Easter Bunny Whipped by Pa. Church Group
Thursday, April 08, 2004
GLASSPORT, Pa. ¡X A church trying to teach about the crucifixion of Jesus performed an Easter show with actors whipping the Easter bunny and breaking eggs, upsetting several parents and young children.
People who attended Saturday’s performance at Glassport’s memorial stadium quoted performers as saying, "There is no Easter bunny," and described the show as being a demonstration of how Jesus was crucified.
Melissa Salzmann, who brought her 4-year-old son J.T., said the program was inappropriate for young children.
"He was crying and asking me why the bunny was being whipped," Salzmann said.
Patty Bickerton, the youth minister at Glassport Assembly of God (search), said the performance wasn’t meant to be offensive. Bickerton portrayed the Easter rabbit and said she tried to act with a tone of irreverence.
"The program was for all ages, not just the kids. We wanted to convey that Easter is not just about the Easter bunny, it is about Jesus Christ," Bickerton said.
Performers broke eggs meant for an Easter egg hunt and also portrayed a drunken man and a self-mutilating woman, said Jennifer Norelli-Burke, another parent who saw the show in Glassport, a community about 10 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
"It was very disturbing," Norelli-Burke said. "I could not believe what I saw. It wasn’t anything I was expecting." (FOXNews.com)
Wow, huh?
I can see trying to make a point, but that seems just a little off the scale, in my opinion.
While I want us to celebrate, I also want us to think about how we can take what the resurrection makes available to us, and make it part of our lives.
I doing that, I would ask that you open your Bibles to Matthew 28:1-10. If you¡¦re using the Bibles in the seats, this can be found on page 706 ¡V
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
5 The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: `He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you."
8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."
Today, in hoping to get us beyond the status quo, I want to give you three instructions for making Easter more than just another holiday, but rather a life-changing event. And guys, I know how much you hate instructions, but really ¡V this is actually worth checking out, okay? First¡K
1. Know the facts.
There are three main facts associated with Easter, and we must know them and acknowledge them if we want to fully appreciate what Easter is all about. The first fact we need to know is that¡K
„h He lived.
You know, Jesus has been called everything from phony, to God, and everything in between. But one thing everyone agrees on is that He existed on earth.
He lived and breathed here on the earth, just as you and I do now. And His life was the turning point of earth¡¦s history. H.G. Wells agreed when he wrote this:
"I am an historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history." (Contributed by: Jim Kane ¡V SermonCentral.com)
And while many will disagree with His claims to be God, and will disagree with His claims to be the only way to heaven, no one disagrees with the historical fact of His existence on earth as a man.
The second fact we need to know is that¡K
„h He died.
Jesus didn¡¦t just hang out on the cross to look good. He didn¡¦t just hang on the cross until He passed out. He didn¡¦t just hang on the cross until the soldiers felt sorry for Him, then they took Him down.
The fact of the matter is that He died. There is no question among the eyewitnesses there, and throughout all of Scripture.
Unfortunately, first-hand eye-witness testimony is not good enough for some.
There¡¦s a story I heard about two people discussing the resurrection story.
The one person said, ¡§Well, my pastor said that the resurrection didn¡¦t really happen because Jesus didn¡¦t really die. He just kinda passed out and then came out of the tomb on the third day.¡¨
The second person replied, ¡§That¡¦s interesting. Let me make a suggestion to your pastor. Let him be arrested late one evening and tried at an illegal all-night trial in which he is beaten.
Then arrange for the civil authorities to flog him with a cat-o-nine tails 40 times. After that, let them nail him to a cross for 6 hours, finished by shoving a spear into his side for good measure.
And lastly, let him be put in an air-tight tomb for three days, and see how HE turns out!¡¨ (source unknown)
Folks, I¡¦ve mentioned this before, but let me say again. Jesus died on that cross. The Romans were professional executioners. In fact, the Bible even says that they went to make sure He was dead when someone asked for the body.
Why is this important? Because without the death, you don¡¦t have the next fact we need to know, and that is that¡K
„h He rose.
Let me just focus on two things here:
First, it is incredibly significant that all the founders of the other religions are in graves somewhere in the world.
Yet no one can point to the grave of Christ. There is some thought that maybe they have found the tomb in which He was buried, but it¡¦s empty!
Because the author of our faith didn¡¦t stay dead. He rose!
The second thing is this: with the question of His dying settled, the fact that He appeared to more than 500 people in the 40 days after His resurrection is insurmountable.
Over 500 people saw Him alive after He died, and many of them gave their lives for that fact.
He rose! And that is the foundation of our faith and hope. Without Jesus rising from the dead, the crucifixion has no significance other than the martyrdom of a really nice religious man. He rose.
You may have heard the story of a Sunday School teacher who had just finished telling her third graders about how Jesus was crucified and placed in a tomb with a great stone sealing the opening.
Wanting to share the excitement of the resurrection, she asked: "And what do you think were Jesus¡¦ first words when He came bursting out of that tomb alive?" A hand shot up into the air from the rear of the classroom. Attached to it was the arm of a little girl. Leaping out of her chair she shouted out excitedly "I know, I know!" "Good" said the teacher, "Tell us, what were Jesus first words." And Extending her arms high into the air she said: "TA-DA!" (Contributed by: Ken Kersten ¡V SermonCentral.com)
Now that¡¦s enthusiasm, I¡¦d say. He rose, and He was victorious over death and the grave.
Three facts ¡V Jesus lived, He died, and He rose. The first thing you need to do in order to make Easter more than just a holiday is to know the facts.
The second piece of instruction you need is to¡K
2. Believe what He says.
6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.
Jesus told them a number of times that He would be turned over to men who would kill Him, then rise from the grave three days later.
He was true to His word.
He was true to His Word not just about the Resurrection, but about everything He spoke about. That means that He was right about all that stuff we see in the Bible.
You know, stuff like loving your enemy, praying for those who persecute you, forgiving one another, keeping not just your hands, but your eyes to yourself.
He was right about loving your neighbor as yourself and not just talking about it.
And He was also right about two very crucial things that you absolutely need to pay attention to if you wish to spend eternity in heaven.
The first thing He said was that everyone needed to be born again. We need to become children of God.
And we don¡¦t become children of God by going to church, giving to charity, or even reading the Bible and praying. We become a child of God by accepting what Jesus did for us on the cross, paying the penalty for our sins, so that we wouldn¡¦t have to pay for them in hell.
Understand something folks, this is something that is consciously done, not unconsciously done. And I¡¦ll explain that in detail in just a few minutes, so hang onto that.
Jesus also said that He was the only way to God. How many ways is ¡§only?¡¨ One!
Jesus said there is only one way to God, and He is it. You church won¡¦t get you to heaven. Mohammed won¡¦t get you to heaven. Buddha won¡¦t get you to heaven. Your psychic won¡¦t get you to heaven. Hey by the way, if psychics are so great, how come none of them win the lottery? And the spirit medium who thinks he communicates with dead people won¡¦t get you to heaven.
Only Jesus can get you to heaven. When you die, God is basically going to ask one question: what did you do with Jesus?
Did you believe Him and live for Him as I commanded you, or did you think that you didn¡¦t need Him because you thought you knew better than He did or better than I did?
This leads me right to the third instruction for making Easter more than just a holiday, and that is to¡K
3. Live for Him.
He died for you, now He lives for you, so you, if you want to have a life that is geared toward more than just existing, need to live for Him.
In doing that, you need to do two things primarily. First¡K
„h Get eternity squared away.
In other words, know where you¡¦re headed when you die. Because the truth of the matter is, you will die someday, unless the Lord comes back first.
When you get your eternal destiny squared away, it¡¦s a lot easier to get your earthly life squared up.
Why? Because you can look at things from an eternal perspective, not just an earthly one.
When you have eternity squared away, you see work from a new perspective, that it can actually be an act of worship during the week, because we don¡¦t work for ourselves or our boss, we work for God.
When you have eternity squared away, your relationships take on new meaning, and you¡¦re more likely to make sure they¡¦re okay.
And when you have eternity squared away, even your play time takes on new meaning, because you understand that God created us, in part, to enjoy the life He¡¦s given us.
You know, I have never been able to figure out people who think Christians should not have fun, or enjoy themselves.
I think that¡¦s a load of hooey, personally. Christians should be the most joyous folks around. Why? Because we have eternity squared away, and it helps us see life as God meant it to be, and it helps us with the next thing we need to do to live for Him, and that is to¡K
„h Live with purpose and hope.
Just as Jesus laid down His life for you, Jesus asks us to die to ourselves and live for Him.
That¡¦s easy to say, but not always easy to do. But the first step, after trusting in the risen Christ for your salvation, is to become a person who lives life on purpose, not by accident or default.
We¡¦ve just spent the last seven weeks looking at the five purposes God made every human being.
Remember what they were? Worship, which is loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength; Fellowship, which is loving other members of the family of God; Discipleship, which is becoming like Christ; then we meet the needs of the family of God through the church in ministry, and lastly, we reach out to those still outside the family of God through the spreading of the good news, which we call evangelism.
Don¡¦t bother trying to forget these five purposes, because not only are they going to be hanging on the wall from now on, but you can count on the fact that they will be mentioned and discussed a LOT, as we become a purpose driven church filled with purpose driven people.
I said a few weeks ago that when you have a purpose, everything else generally falls in place, because you can evaluate everything based on these five Scriptural purposes for your life.
Folks, the drumbeat of my life and ministry here for the last 15 months or so is that we are not to live life by default, but rather by decision.
A purpose-filled life, a purpose driven life can only be lived by decision. It won¡¦t happen by default. If it did, we wouldn¡¦t need to read books like The Purpose Driven Life or have spiritual growth campaigns like the one we are finishing up.
We need help ¡V we need reminders that life is to be lived on purpose. And when you abandon your agenda to live by God¡¦s agenda, that¡¦s a life of purpose.
But listen ¡V a life of purpose begins with a four-letter word that I¡¦m guessing won¡¦t offend anyone here today, but be ready, just in case: HOPE.
Hope is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15 that if Christ were not raised from the dead, that no one is raised, and we will decay in our graves because sin has not been taken care of.
And if that¡¦s the case, then we have no hope, and Paul goes so far as to say that if we don¡¦t have the hope we talk about in Christ, then we are above all men, most to be pitied.
What can we hope for because of the resurrection?
First, we have hope for eternity ¡V a home in heaven, as I¡¦ve mentioned before.
Second, we have hope for today and tomorrow. If you are a child of God who has trusted in Christ for your salvation, then not only do you have a home in heaven, you have forgiveness of sins now and for tomorrow.
And then you have the hope that comes with going through your day knowing that God is present and active in your life, giving you strength to go through your day and helping you live that purpose-filled life.
You know, Jesus wants us to have a wonderful, full, and abundant life. But it¡¦s a life built on and filled with hope. If hope does not characterize your life, then chances are you¡¦re not experiencing the awesome life God wants for you, and that Jesus came to bring you.
Invitation
Well, let¡¦s bring this home, shall we?
In order to make Easter more than just another holiday, another day off from work, or whatever, we need to follow three instructions:
We need to know the facts, believe what Jesus says, and live a life filled with purpose and hope.
But how does all that happen?
Well, the first step is to make sure you¡¦re a child of God, that you belong to His family. That only happens when you place your faith in Christ, trusting that He took care of your sins on the cross so you can be forgiven and go to heaven.
After that, you need to make time for God by reading His Word, the Bible, and talking with Him in prayer.
And the third step is to surrender. Surrender your hopes and dreams, your agenda for your life and family, your selfishness and self-centered.
Surrender your plans to the One who knows what¡¦s best for you in the first place because He created you, and He provided for your eternal life in heaven.
Are you ready to make those steps today? Maybe you¡¦ve made the first one, the second step, and you need to make the third step.
Where ever you are in your life today, you can make that next step as we get ready to leave, okay?
I¡¦m going to pray a three-part prayer. First, if you need to get started by taking step one, making sure you¡¦re a member of the family of God, I¡¦ll be praying for you, and you can pray along with me.
Second, maybe you¡¦ve taken that first step, but you¡¦ve never decided to take the time necessary to spend with God reading the Bible and praying. As with the first bunch, you can pray along with me.
And lastly, for those who need to let God take control, those who need to finally surrender and let God take charge of every area of their life, I¡¦ll be praying for you.
And when I¡¦m done, I want you to keep your heads bowed and eyes closed for another moment or two, okay?
Let¡¦s pray.
