Easter Sunday 2020 by Rev. Gabrielle Martone at Pearl River United Methodist Church on Sunday 12 April 2020
Jump to
Scripture of the Day
Sermon
John 20:1-18 NRSV
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
Acts 10:34-43 NRSV
Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
If you joined us on Facebook live this morning, you will have heard me talk about how this Easter is probably the closest thing that any of us living today have experienced, that is like the very first Easter. Because you see, when the disciples fled from Jesus in the garden as he was arrested, they ran to the upper room and they locked themselves inside and they did not come out. And they were afraid. Many of us are home locked inside of our houses, afraid, afraid of the should'ves, afraid of the what ifs. Afraid to even do something as basic as going to the grocery store or visiting our families.
Many of us are overcome with this fear all the time. So I think we understand this movement of Holy week a little bit better than we ever have before. We understand fear and grief. We really understand what it's like to be afraid of the things we cannot control. We fear for our lives every time we walk out of the house. Every time our loved ones, who are essential workers, leave the house. We are rift with fear. Our leaders are afraid, our friends are afraid. Everyone and everything is living in a world where we are afraid. And this is so much like what the disciples and all who follow Jesus were experiencing on that first Easter. And so the message and the power of the Easter narrative rings even more true for you and I today. This is what happens in the Easter narrative. Mary Magdalene leaves her house and goes to prepare Jesus' body and when she arrives at the tomb, the stone that protected Jesus' body is rolled away and she is overcome again with fear. And then Jesus speaks her name and Jesus is alive and everything that is wrong about the world is put right again.
Everything that is topsy turvy and all over the place is righted. All of a sudden our world stops being about death and starts being about life. The world is put right side up again. The message of Easter is this. The things of this world may feel like they have the final say. The things of this world may feel as though they control you in every moment, but Easter tells us, God is the one who writes all things. God is the one who reminds us that this world is not the end and there is more to this story than you or I could ever imagine and there is a gift in that. There is a gift in knowing that Jesus Christ has conquered death and we are all raised to life again. Our resurrection is in Jesus Christ because the tomb was empty. We live forever.
There is a gift in knowing that even in the darkest of times, even in the moments when it feels like there is no [inaudible 00:04:21] coming out of this, even in the moments where it feels like every time you turn around there is worse and worse news, Jesus breathes life and says, "I am alive. I am alive and I hold the keys to the life that comes after. If you believe in me, you will have eternal life." There is a beauty and a gift and a joy in that.
My friends, we live in a difficult and unknown time. We live in the middle of a global pandemic. We live in a moment in which we do not know what will come tomorrow, and yet Jesus Christ says to us today and every day that I am alive. I have conquered death. I have righted the world again. I have brought you to a place in which you remain alive. There is nothing in this life or in the next that will ever separate us from the love of Jesus Christ. That Jesus offers us life in the midst of chaos, offers us life in the midst of darkness, offers us life in the midst of death. Jesus Christ is alive.
If you read the Good Friday narrative, it says, that as Jesus Christ breathed his last, the curtain in the temple was torn from top to bottom, in two. And the symbolization in that, is that in Jesus Christ's death, the separation between where God dwells and the rest of the world is broken. And that is in Jesus Christ, that God goes from being that thing, that being that is beyond us, and becomes the spirit that is within and all around us. It is because of Good Friday and Jesus' death and resurrection that you and I have no fear. That you and I believe that no matter what befalls us in this world, what comes next is even more incredible, even more amazing, even more important than what we are facing right now. But whatever it is that we are facing in this moment, whatever darkness we are staring down, whatever chaos we are living in, we know that Jesus Christ is alive. And because Jesus Christ is alive and the veil has been torn and God is with us.
We know that nothing can stop us and God will see us through. And now this is not a promise that you will never face affliction, that you will not be touched by COVID, that somehow this will be a miraculous healing and nothing bad will ever happen to you again because Jesus Christ is alive. No, what Easter story tells us is that even when we face the worst things in our lives, even when we face death, [inaudible 00:07:28] execution, even when we are failed by all of the things going on in our lives, still Jesus Christ is with us and offers something more. So that when we are facing darkness and we are standing in chaos, we are not alone. The light continues to shine next to us, within us, and all around us. We know that because Jesus Christ gave his life up for us on the cross and was resurrected on the third day, we live forevermore.
It is the fact that we celebrate at every funeral. Every time we celebrate someone's earthly life, the promises that we continue to remind ourselves is that Jesus Christ has overcome death. Death does not have the final word. Death will not control us. We are not afraid of that thing at the end of our lives because we know that our Savior lives. That the veil has been torn in two. God is with us. Easter. Easter lets us know and believe and trust that there is more to this world. That what happens in this lifetime does not define us for eternity. That there is something better when we leave here.
Look, this is a time where every day I wake up and multiple times a day I lose the ability to have words. And I spend more time in prayer than I've ever spent before. And there are moments, I will confess, in which I sit and I cry because this is all so much. But then I am reminded in running water and the blooming of the season and in the breeze that passes through and in the Word, that this is not the end. I am reminded every time I wash my hands, of my baptism. I am reminded every time I sit on the balcony and look out over the town, that Jesus Christ is in control. I am reminded as the wind blows past my face, that the Spirit resides in and within me. And that even in the darkest of times, hope is found by remembering where the light is. Jesus Christ is alive. Jesus Christ is alive. Jesus Christ is alive. And so are we.
We are alive in mind and body and spirit. We are alive in knowing that this world is not the end. So what we do in this lifetime matters because we have to make the best of it. So we look for the light. We look for the Easter egg hunts that are going on through town. We look for the heroes, who serve us on the front lines. EMTs, mail carriers, grocery store workers, nurses, doctors, lab technicians, every person who every day puts their lives on the line, to serve us. We look for the good. We donate a couple of extra dollars to the communities that are trying to [inaudible 00:11:48] people on the front lines.
We write cards to our friends and our neighbors and our loved ones. We figure out new technology, to be present in the moment. And we look for the good, because Jesus Christ is alive. I asked you all last week if Jesus mattered. Since Jesus rode into Jerusalem and the question that was being asked was, who is this man? And I said, who is Jesus to you? So what does it matter in your everyday life that Jesus Christ has been resurrected, that the tomb is empty. That all of the stuff from Holy Thursday and Good Friday are null in Jesus Christ's resurrection. What does it matter today? What will it matter tomorrow and what will it matter in six weeks? Is your life different because you believe in the power of the resurrection? Is your life different because you believe that Jesus Christ is alive? That you believe that because the veil was torn in two, that God is with us?
Does it matter? Because I will tell you that knowing that Jesus Christ is alive, changes everything for me. Yes, I am still afraid. Yes, I am still anxious. Yes, I am still worried, but I know who holds the ending of this story. And I know that no matter what darkness or chaos I face, no matter what darkness or chaos you face, that Jesus Christ is alive, that Jesus Christ has conquered death, that we are raised to new life. That you and I are more than we ever could have imagined we could be, because Jesus is alive today, tomorrow, and every day. Amen.
Explore services in this series
