This is my sermon from Easter Sunday, April 1, 2018 at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Emma, Missouri. You can also watch it here.
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
Pay close attention to
the details of the story I’m about to tell you.
It
was Thursday, April 1, 1999 and my brother Paul and I were playing whiffle ball
in the front yard with our friend Jon. We were well into our game when a man
pulled quickly into our driveway in an old brown car. He hopped out and said in
a deep Southern drawl, “Hey, ya’ll seen any of them their eeeemuuus? It’s a
really big bird about yeah high” he said making a motion at about eye level to
indicate the height of an emu.
We
were not surprised by this. There were people in our area who were raising emus
for their eggs, meat, and oil. We drove past one farm which had emus quite
often.
“No,”
we replied, “We have not seen any emus.” The man hopped back into the car and
drove off just as quickly as he came.
We
thought nothing of it and went back to our game. Several innings passed when we
saw it. It was out in the wheat field across the road, walking back and forth.
It was an emu—the very one the man in the old brown car had inquired about not
more than a few minutes ago. Now free from the farm it was enjoying its
emancipation by running across the green wheat fields of Southern Illinois.
Outrageous
laughter broke out because we remembered that it was April Fools Day and no one
would believe us! The emu passed into the next field and we went inside, still
laughing at the spectacle.
Dad,
whose name is Tim, was the first one we told. “Dad, Dad, Dad! There was an emu
in the field across the road.”
“Hahaha
guys, April Fools.”
“No
Dad, we’re serious! There was an emu in the field.” Our laughing probably
didn’t help convince him that what we were saying was true.
“Good
one guys.” He replied. Dad would not be a true believer.
Mom
was next. “Mom, Mom, Mom. There was an emu in the field across the road.” She
at least believed us, sort of.
That
was Thursday. Sunday morning, we were vindicated in Sunday School when we heard
the story of a boy from town, another Tim, who saw the same emu and attempted
to ride it. He was not successful.
We
aren’t sure what exactly happened to the emu. Most likely it was apprehended
and return to the farm where it lived out its days.
Now,
why do I tell you this story? First, it’s April Fools day and it fits. That
story, true though it is, is just a story. It’s a nice story and the kids like
it. But no one’s life changed that day we saw the emu. Whether you believe the
emu story is true or not doesn’t really matter.
There
are many people in world today who treat the story of Easter like the Emu story
or an April Fool’s Day joke. It’s a nice story and the kids like it. But their
lives are not changed. Whether they believe Jesus rose from the dead or not
doesn’t really matter to them.
Let’s
look at what Paul tells us here in 1 Corinthians 15 and see why this does
matter. We might just touch on some connections with the emu story.
The
first reason it matters is because it actually happened. This isn’t a fairy
tale. In the emu story there are a couple details keep you from thinking this
as well. I started by telling you the date, April 1, 1999. I referred to a
specific place.
You
can say the same thing for Jesus’ resurrection. This is not “long ago in a land
far, far away”. In the Easter accounts we have some of the same details to
ground it historically. The Gospel writers place the story of Easter in a real
place at a real time. They all mention that Jesus died during the Passover
celebration which was a fixed holiday each year. We know Tiberius was Caesar,
Pontius Pilate was governor, and Caiaphas was the high priest. We know more
about all of these people from outside the Bible than we do from within it.
We
know where this happened. It was a garden outside the city of Jerusalem in the
land of Israel. You can find it on a map and visit there if you want.
Even
the minor characters lend credibility to the story. In the emu story, there
were also two different characters who share the name Tim: my dad and the boy
who tried to ride the emu. You also have two women named Mary who went to see
Jesus’ tomb. The point is this, if you’re making up a story, why would you give
two characters the same name? The best explanation for having two Tim’s or two
Mary’s is that there actually two people with that name there.
I’m
telling you the emu story as an eyewitness. This is also one of the most
important reasons we can be confident of Jesus’ resurrection. John, for
example, recounts things that only an eyewitness would know. He talks about
racing Peter to the tomb and seeing the grave cloths folded up neatly in the
empty tomb.
By
the way that’s a really interesting detail. It sounds like after Jesus rose
from the dead, He took the grave cloths off and folded them up neatly and put
them in two piles. Jesus doesn’t leave the tomb a mess. God is a God of order,
not of chaos. By rising from the dead, He is ending the chaos death brings to
the world.
There
were more witnesses. The women who went to the tomb saw Jesus soon after they
left. Paul tells us here about a whole bunch of people who saw Jesus alive.
Peter saw Him, the disciples saw Him, more than five hundred people saw Jesus
at one time. Paul wrote 1 Corinthians about 21 or 22 years after Easter. If you
doubted the truth of the resurrection, you could go talk any of the hundreds of
people who were still alive at that time who had seen Jesus after His
resurrection.
Many of these people were
willing to—and did—die for the truth of what they had seen. People don’t die or
a lie. I don’t think I would die for the emu story, but people have been, and
still are, willing to die for the truth of Jesus’ resurrection.
But
last of all, Paul saw Jesus. Seeing Jesus completely changed him. Paul first
wanted to be famous for persecuting the church. He even went to Damascus to
hunt down Christians and arrest them. But God had other plans for Paul. He
knocked him off his horse, blinded him, and left him there for three days.
God
sent a Christian named Ananias to Paul to restore his sight and baptize him.
From then on Paul boldly proclaimed Jesus as the promised Messiah and Savior of
the world. He traveled to the ends of the earth to bring the good news that
Jesus was risen from the dead to everyone. He says he worked harder than anyone
else because he knew that he was not worthy.
Since
Paul keeps bringing up his past, it seems that it still haunted him even though
he knew God’s grace. In 1 Timothy 1:15 Paul calls himself “chief of sinners”.
Of all the sinners in the world, Paul knew he was the worst. But by God’s
grace, he was forgiven! God’s grace was not in vain. The forgiveness of sins truly
made a difference in every part of his life.
Paul
knew that if God could love Him, then God can certainly love you. If Jesus
could forgive Peter who denied Him, the soldiers who nailed Him to the cross, a
thief who mocked Him on the cross, and Paul who went after His dear children,
then He is certainly able to forgive you. Of all things on Easter Day, God is
reminding us that even though our sins are like scarlet, they will be white as
snow.
God’s
grace is bigger than anything this world has. There is no sin that is bigger.
There is no one who is too far gone that God can’t change. There is no one who
is too dead. God can make us alive. That’s what He did for Paul and that is
what He has done for you. Jesus’ resurrection is important because it changes
your life just like it changed Paul’s life. Don’t let God’s grace be in vain toward
you.
You
stand in the Gospel. That means you stand forgiven, loved, and accepted by God.
If God says those things about you, it must be true, and nothing can change it!
You’ve been baptized into Christ and received the promise of a resurrection
like His. You are coming today to Christ’s table to receive His body and blood
for the forgiveness of your sins. Jesus did this for you so that you would have
life just as He has life.
You
can walk away from my emu story and say, “well that was interesting” and never
think of it again. You can’t do that with Jesus’ resurrection. Either it is the
most important and precious event ever, or it means nothing. Jesus will not let
you go halfway on this. If Christ is not risen from the dead, then nothing else
matters. But if Christ is risen from the dead, then nothing else matters!
Dear
friends, Christ is indeed risen from the dead. Not only did He raise himself,
but He is coming back for you to take you to be with Him forever. Easter is
just the beginning. Jesus is just the first. You are going to follow with Him. Jesus
is risen and that’s no joke. Amen.
