Matthew Eyerman
April 11, 2004
Easter
I. Introduction
Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus!
Steal away, steal away home, I ain’t got long to stay here.
1. when the slaves working in the fields heard this song
2. sure it was about Jesus and church
3. but it had another meaning
4. it was time to run to freedom
5. it was time to break out of prison
II. bridge
1. all of us are in prison or will be in prison someday
2. listen to this because if you get it wrong you will be lost for the next 10 min
3. 1 out of 4 Black men are caught up in the justice system
4. good news this that 3 out of 4 are not
5. but I am not talking about legal status only
6. not preaching this because Blacks know more or less about the justice system
7. making a spiritual point here
8. all of us are in prison or will be in prison someday
9. one day all of us will look like this
III. prison of peer pressure
1. let me introduce you to some prisons
2. prison of peer pressure
a. so called friends tell you that if you want to be with them
b. you have to look or think or act a certain way
3. sometimes we think that is just for teens
4. does not apply to older folk
5. really
6. those with jobs, at the next staff meeting ask to start the meeting with a prayer
7. find out how fast peer pressure works
a. we don’t do that here
b. that is unacceptable in the work place
8. story
a. giving ashes on Ash Wednesday
b. called a friend of mine to see if she wanted Ashes
c. had to meet me outside
d. boss did not want any religion on the job
IV. prison of race
1. alright let’s get right to it
2. Black people ought to act like ….
3. White people ought to act like …
4. here we are in a Black Catholic Church
5. except we have Whites, Black, Asian, Hispanic
a. members
b. some of us have all that in our DNA
6. someone else tells us what our race means
7. put us in race prison
V. other prisons
1. captive to a clock and a calendar:
a. that is Timelock prison
b. or perhaps Work-all-the-time prison
2. still hanging on to old hurts? That is Wounded Heart Prison
a. I can’t believe he did me like that
b. I can’t believe that she does not love me
3. afraid to go out after dark? That is Fear Prison
a. how many locks do you have on your door
b. know someone with 6 locks on the front door
c. with 6 different keys
4. or is it Angerville State Penitary
5. or is it Addictions Jail
6. or is it Gossip County Lock Up
7. or is it Debtors Prison
a. living paycheck to paycheck
b. have to go to work even if you are sick because can’t miss even a day
c. pay a little on this bill, pay a little on that bill
d. then buy some more shoes or clothes or cds
7. or is it the Sacred Penitentiary of Religion
a. we have never that before in this church
b. the rules tell us that we must ..
8. or is it the Lost Love Prison
a. my one true love
b. when I was XX years old
c. gone and still thinking about it
VI. summary
1. the prisons are bursting
2. some of us are in prison for a while
3. some of us are doing life
a. class X felonies
b. no parole
4. only a few got legal status
5. but all of us in prison
VII. prison break
Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus!
Steal away, steal away home, I ain’t got long to stay here.
1. today, this morning
2. not just
a. April 11th
b. Easter Sunday
3. this is Prison Break Sunday
4. sound the alarm
5. we are escaping
6. who better to lead us than the one who breaks out of prison again and again
7. who better to lead us than Jesus
VIII. peer pressure break out
1. early in His life the disciples tried to put Jesus in prison
2. the prison of peer pressure
3. on the mountain of transfiguration
a. having seen Jesus transfigured
b. Peter told Jesus: I want to build a booth for you
c. in other words
d. I want you to be who I think you should be
e. I want to contain you here
4. what did Jesus do
5. broke out of that prison and walked down the mountain
IX. peer pressure break out
1. and when someone tells you
a. who you should be
b. how you should act
2. tell them
3. I already broke out of that prison
4. only one I have to answer to is Jesus
5. my get out of jail free card is Luke 10:27
a. love God
b. love neighbor as myself
6. we are out of prison
X. evil on Holy Thursday
1. on Holy Thursday, evil arrested Jesus
2. had to go through all kinds of changes to convict Him
a. bribe a traitor
b. find false witnesses
c. convene a “special session” of the court
d. you know like ones in the Old South
e. Judge came and brought the hanging rope
3. Jesus had to have the best legal mind at the time
a. could have out Johnnie Cochraned Johnnie Cochran
b. these charges of false teaching do not fit
c. you must acquit
4. when the courts did not work, tried to beat a confession out of Him
5. tens of thousand of angels stood ready to fight for Jesus
a. this is the same God who wiped out Sodom and Gommorah
b. the same God who wiped out the world in the flood
c. a corrupt court would have been no work
6. but the Lord said
a. I am not going to stoop to their level
b. and gave His life for them and for us
7. broke out of prison of giving violence for violence
XI. evil on Holy Thursday ---- us
1. when the forces of evil assault you
2. whenever the armies of hate attacks you
3. whenever you are
a. lied on and talked about
b. wrongly convicted
4. tell the devil you can put me in prison
5. brush your shoulders off
6. I have a get out of jail free card: Mt 5:11-12
“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
XII. tomb
1. the final attempt to put Jesus in prison was to kill Him
2. they put His body in a tomb in which no one had ever been buried
a. He was by Himself
b. solitary confinement
3. then they rolled a stone across the tomb
a. not just any stone
b. but Matthew tells us a great stone
4. they
a. put a lojack and the club on the tomb
b. called west coast customs and put Xibit’s voice on the alarm
c. step away from the tomb
d. called ADT for a home security system
5. evil finally thought they had Jesus in prison
XIII. Easter
1. on this great getting up morning
2. Jesus pulled the ultimate prison escape
3. even death could not hold him prison
4. leaves behind His clothes just to make the point
a. this was His cell
b. but it is not anymore
c. robbers did not come and steal the body
d. what robber would leave behind the valuable clothes
e. and when Lazarus walked out of the tomb
f. the folk had to untie him
g. still bound by death
h. when Jesus walked out of the tomb
i. not tied by death
5. Jesus breaks out of prison
XIV. our Easter --- #1
1. this is our Easter
2. the day of our prison escape
3. I don’t care what prison you are in
4. I have one message for you
5. our Baptism is our sure and certain hope
a. whatever prison we find ourselves in
b. whatever jail we are in
c. for however long
d. this prison is not the last word about our lives
6. Jesus can lead us
a. out the barred window
b. through the prison yard
c. over the prison wall
d. through the barbed wire
e. into the sweet air of freedom
7. He knows the route
8. in fact He is the route
9. what Jesus has done for Himself
10. what Jesus has done for others, He can do for you
XV. our Easter ---- #2
1. this is our prison break
2. I am not interested in
a. what you did to get into prison
b. what you went through
c. why you did it
3. the church is not interested
a. in the details of your past
b. all the painful details
4. we are only concerned about one thing
5. this is prison break Sunday
6. an opportunity
a. for us to know Jesus and know
b. for us to run to freedom
7. freed from whatever jails others put us in
8. freed from whatever prisons we put ourselves in
9. nothing and nobody could hold Jesus down
10. nothing and nobody can hold us down
XVI. Conclusion
Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus!
Steal away, steal away home, I ain’t got long to stay here.
1. Jesus is calling
2. run this way
3. get out of jail free
4. and be free
