EASTER – March 23, 2008

SCRIPTURES – Ex. 15:1-18; Acts 10:34-43; Col. 3:1-4; Matt. 28:1-10

What a glorious day this is, this Easter day. Today we rejoice and celebrate what God has done: “I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously!” Today we celebrate, for Christ has won the victory for us: “The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation!”

Easter is about what God has done – down here on earth, among us and for us. He has triumphed gloriously! Could Moses and the people of Israel take credit for defeating their enemies, the mighty Egyptian army with its horses and chariots, by drowning them in the Red Sea? Only if they could take credit for parting its waters so that they could pass through it on dry ground, and then bringing those waters back down upon the Egyptians! No, the people of Israel were helpless before their enemies; God saved them by His mighty arm alone. And, the women who went in sorrow to Christ’s tomb: could they take credit for opening it and bringing Jesus forth alive? Just as they were helpless to prevent His crucifixion, so they were helpless before His tomb. Jesus is the One who triumphed over His foes by His resurrection! Those faithful women could not take credit for Easter; nor can we. We were not even alive then!

Still, we celebrate. We gather and celebrate in all kinds of ways: with egg hunts; festive meals; new clothing; family gatherings; and, most important of all, by gathering here in God’s house. This is the greatest celebration of all, for this is God’s celebration, His work! This is the gathering of the living Jesus and His living ones. Jesus comes to us here, proclaiming and giving to us His resurrection and life. Rejoice and celebrate! I hope that you believe this, for if you do not, then you are like the soldiers who were guarding Jesus’ tomb. When the angel came down and rolled back the stone, when heaven invaded earth and Christ’s life vanquished death, they trembled and became like dead men. They are ignored by the mighty angel, and Jesus does not come and greet them. I pray that none of you are dead like them.

We need to rejoice and celebrate; we need to claim Christ’s victory for ourselves and immerse ourselves in it! For, we live in a world filled with people who set their hearts and minds on things below and bring death and sorrow upon us.

This is a greatly sad time here in Norwalk. Early in the morning on Good Friday Norwalk Police Officer Matt Morelli was killed after he stepped out of his patrol car to check out a suspicious situation. Great sadness now fills the hearts of our police, along with much anger. There is also fear. “What will confront me as I step out of the car?” the officers wonder. We must uphold them with our prayers.

None of the officers who were in lineup with Officer Morelli at the beginning of that night thought that death was so close. After all, it was 26 years ago that the last Norwalk Police officer died in the line of duty. Open your eyes to the dangers of this world that confront us. How many people have died over the last 26 years on our highways?

Jesus died and rose to crush our enemies! Yet, we are powerless before evil, it seems, as the people of Israel were powerless before the Egyptian army. Only God is strong! This is true. But, this does not mean that are free to sit back and do nothing. We look to God. “The Lord is your strength and your song, and he has become your salvation!” The Son of God died for you, taking away your sins, and then rose and is alive forevermore! Don’t sit back, then, as if you are dead and helpless! You are not. In Christ you are the people of the living God! Did the people of Israel who were facing certain death under the chariot wheels of Pharaoh’s mighty army, and then who saw God intervene by dividing the waters of the Red Sea before them, respond by standing there, clapping lightly, and saying, “Well, would you look at that? Isn’t that something!” They got up off their butts and crossed through the Sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and a wall of water on their left, as God commanded them to do! When their enemies were destroyed as God brought the waters back together upon them, did they just sit there? No! They rejoiced and sang praises to God!

We can’t just sit here, clapping lightly and saying, “Wow! Thanks, Jesus”, and then going home to life as usual, not to rest out butts in these pews again until Christmas comes. We cannot live as if nothing has changed. Would your life be any different if you did not believe Jesus that died and rose for you? It cannot be life as usual for we who celebrate Christ’s resurrection from the dead. Such a powerless, dead faith will certainly be rejected by God.  We must rejoice and be glad! We must glorify Him by proclaiming what Christ has done! We must “set our minds on things that are above, not on earthly things.” We must make our lives a song of celebration to God! If you will not do this, you will surely die in your sin and be crushed under God’s anger.

For, we have so much to celebrate! God has crushed our enemies for us by the death and resurrection of His Son, and He gives us to share in Christ’s victory. Look at what our Lord Jesus has done for us, the enemies He has defeated for us:

1.    He has defeated our sins.

“Set your hearts and minds on things above,” Scripture says. Yet we fill our hearts and minds with earthly things – the favor of people, the desire for more money and the things it can buy. How greatly we disappoint the God who has called us out of this darkness and into His marvelous light.

When Jesus rose from the dead, however, there was not one word of rebuke on His lips. He eagerly comes to the women and makes Himself known to them. He wants to take away their sadness and fill them with joy! “Do not be afraid,” He says to them. “Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” “My brothers!” He calls the men who ran away from Him after His arrest! He has set aside their sin and remem-bers it no more. He has set aside your sin, also! Jesus is your brother! In Him you are children of God.

2.    He has defeated our death.

Although, death is a serpent that still bites. Its poison stings us all. Should we be surprised at this? if Christ Himself, the Son of the living God, had to die when our sin was laid to His account, how could we ever think it should be different for us who are sinful by nature? “Your life is hidden with Christ in God,” Scripture says. The life we have in Christ remains hidden under sickness, injury, disease, and death. But, by our Baptism we are with Christ in God. When Jesus bodily rose from the dead, then, He not only broke its hold on Him; He broke its hold on us! “When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

3.    He has crushed Satan under His feet for you.

The devil is the one you should fear above all. He is more powerful than any invading army, and he brings a death that is worse that what any criminal with a gun can bring. His desire is to bring us with him into hell, where there is no loving God, no goodness, no mercy, no joy, no celebration, but only endless pain and sorrow.

But, the Lord is “my strength… my salvation,” we sing. If the devil wants to deal with you, he must first deal with Jesus, for “your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Satan is a serpent whose head has been crushed by Jesus. He cannot overcome you. Eternal life and the eternal blessing of God in heaven are yours in Christ.

So, get off your butts and rejoice on this glorious Easter day! Rejoice in the Lord always! “Sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously! The Lord is our strength and our song, and he has become our salvation.”