Early Morning Meditation

April 20, 2019 Year C 1 Corinthians 15:19-26 Easter Sunday – Sunrise Service Early Morning Meditation 1 Corinthians 15:19-26 Common English Bible (CEB) 19 If we have a hope in Christ only in this life, then we deserve to be pitied more than anyone else. 20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead. He’s the first crop of the harvest[a] of those who have died. 21 Since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead came through one too. 22 In the same way that everyone dies in Adam, so also everyone will be given life in Christ. 23 Each event will happen in the right order: Christ, the first crop of the harvest,[b] then those who belong to Christ at his coming, 24 and then the end, when Christ hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he brings every form of rule, every authority and power to an end. 25 It is necessary for him to rule until he puts all enemies under his feet.[c] 26 Death is the last enemy to be brought to an end, Footnotes: a. 1 Corinthians 15:20 Or firstfruits b. 1 Corinthians 15:23 Or firstfruits c. 1 Corinthians 15:25 Ps 110:1 Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible As we sit here this morning, I just want us to take this moment in time inside of our souls. What does this day mean for us? How does it change us or change our circumstances. We don’t have to do anything, or expect anything, but to feel the grace in our lives. And to be grateful that we are alive in this moment. Expecting Death In many ways, we are like those first disciples, so it seems to me. We are like the women coming to the grave that day. They had heard the promise of Jesus that on the third day, the Son of Man would be raised from the dead by the Powers of God. They had heard his promise to the thief on the cross, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” They had heard Jesus teach, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me will never die.” Nevertheless, on that morning when they came to the grave, they came expecting death, did they not? When they came that morning to the grave, in spite of all of Jesus’ promises, they came expecting death. And I am suspicious that you and I are like those women. Even though we have heard the promises of God. Yes, we have heard the promises over and over again e.g. on the third day I will rise; today you will be with me in paradise; I am the resurrection and the life. We have heard these promises but we come to our graves, and like the women on that first Sunday morning, we are expecting death. For deep down in everyone’s soul is a pessimism that believes that this is all there is. They put you in a box; they put you in that grave; and in time the box and the vault will decay, and your body will decay like all the others. Why do we have this inner feeling, this inner pessimism? Sigmund Freud calls it the “death instinct.” Common to all human beings and all animals, and human beings are part of the animal kingdom, we have this instinct. Deep down inside is this fear that this is all there is. And so we come to the graves of life, the graves of our mothers and fathers, and grandmas and grandpas; we come to the deathbeds of life, and we finally come to our own deathbed and we quietly pray: “I believe, help my unbelief.” And we die. We sleep. And then…then…we awake and say…”Hooooly cow!!! It is so incredibly beautiful!!! Stunned. Breathless. And we are astonished and astounded, amazed and awestruck, dazzled and dumbfounded the beauty that God has prepared for you and me. The Apostle Paul was right when he said,“No eye can see, no ear can hear, no mind can imagine the good and wonderful things that God has prepared for us.” Edward F. Markquart, Astonished and Astounded Ready for the Trip? A minister was preaching and during the course of his sermon asked, "Who wants to go to heaven?" Everyone held up their hands except one young boy. "Son, don't you want to go to heaven when you die?" "Yes sir, when I die, but I thought you was gettin' up a load to go now." That is probably the attitude of most of us. Most Christians DO figure that when we die we go to heaven to be with the Lord, even if we are not ready to make the trip tomorrow. David E. Leininger, Collected Sermons, ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc. We are so prone to think that what is going on in our life right now is all that there is. Perhaps that is why Paul says that if our hope in Christ right now is all that we have, then we are a people are to be pitied. Our faith has to be in the resurrection and the resurrection alone. But Paul encourages us not to just focus on the resurrection of Jesus, but on our resurrection also. Christ opened many doors for us. I chose this message from Corinthians, instead of the gospel because this is the first and earliest witness to the resurrection. Paul wrote Corinthians 50 years after Christ was resurrected. The earliest gospel was not written until 74 AD. Luke would not have know Jesus, he was a second generation Christian. Paul did not meet Jesus personally, but he did know the other disciples. He did have a good idea of what Jesus was trying to do. And it was not Jesus life that inspired him, it was not even his death. It was his resurrection. Romans 10:9 tells us that if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is our Lord and we believe in our hearts that Jesus was raised then we will be saved. Once again the resurrection is the source of our faith. And the source of our salvation. On Good Friday, we become aware that Jesus dies for our sins, but today we focus not on why he died – but why it was so important for him to come back to life – so that we too could overcome our need to die, and choose life. It has been said that there are 4 great facts to remember about the resurrection. Truth is stronger than a lie, good is stronger than evil, love is stronger than hate, and finally that life is always stronger than death. If Jesus had died never to rise again, it would have proved that death could take the loveliest and best life that ever lived and finally break it. During the second world war a certain city church in London was all set out for harvest thanksgiving. In the centre of the gifts was a sheaf of corn. The service was never held, for, on the Saturday night, a savage air raid laid the church in ruins. The months passed and the spring came, and someone noticed that, on the bomb site where the church had stood, there were shoots of green. The summer came and the shoots flourished and in the autumn there was a flourishing patch of corn growing amidst the rubble. Not even the bombs and the destruction could kill the life of the corn and its seeds. The Resurrection is the final proof that life is stronger than death. In spite of our deepest, darkest tendency toward death – life always wins. The Power of Belief in a World of Lost Hope Eric Butterworth tells about a young soldier who lost his legs in battle. Something died within this young man when he found he would never walk again. He lay in his hospital bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. He refused to talk to anyone who tried to help him. He refused to cooperate with doctors or nurses who wanted to help him to adjust. One day another inmate of the hospital strolled in and sat down on a chair near the bed. He drew a harmonica from his pocket and began to play softly. The patient looked at him for a second, then back to the ceiling. That was all for that day. Next day the player came again. For several days he continued to come and to play quietly. One day he said, "Does my playing annoy you?" The patient said, "No, I guess I like it." They talked a little more each day. One day the harmonica player was in a jovial mood. He played a sprightly tune and began to do a tap dance. The soldier looked on but was apparently unimpressed. "Hey, why don't you smile once and let the world know you're alive!" the dancer said with a friendly smile. But the legless soldier said, "I might as well be dead as in the fix I'm in." "Okay," answered his happy friend, "so you're dead. But you're not as dead as a fellow who was crucified two thousand years ago, and He came out of it all right." "Oh, it's easy for you to preach," replied the patient, "but if you were in my fix, you'd sing a different tune." With this the dancer stood up and said, "I know a two-thousand-year-old resurrection is pretty far in the dim past. So maybe an up-to-date example will help you to believe it can be done." With that he pulled up his trouser legs and the young man in the bed looked and saw two artificial limbs. The tap-dancing fellow with the harmonica was not simply a Pollyanna. He once lay where that young soldier now lay. He himself had known the power of a resurrection. He had learned to live life abundantly--even without his legs. Needless to say, the young soldier's own resurrection began that moment. Easter isn't just about dying. It's about the power of belief in a world of lost hope. It is about knowing that no situation is beyond God's redeeming power. King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com So let me ask you, how many people do you know who are breathing and walking, and talking and going through the motions of life, and yet in spirit they are dead, because they have no hope. They don’t know what to do next. That is why Paul reminds us that belief in the resurrection is the whole key to our faith. If Jesus conquered death then so can we. He did live just to die, he died so in order to have life life. I want us to watch this short video of what is possible Because of Christ resurrection. Finally let me ask – What needs a resurrection? What stones need to be rolled away? What needs to be brought out of the dark caves of this world, brought out into the light? Where is new life needing to be encouraged, unearthed, resurrected? On this Easter Sunday, on this day when we tell the ancient story of death not having the final word, what word do we need to hear? What needs a resurrection? Additional illustrations…… More Hope than We Can Handle Earlier this week, an old couple received a phone call from their son who lives far away. The son said he was sorry, but he wouldn’t be able to come for a visit over the holidays after all. "The grandkids say hello." They assured him that they understood, but when they hung up the phone they didn’t dare look at each other. Earlier this week, a woman was called into her supervisor’s office to hear that times are hard for the company and they had to let her go. "So sorry." She cleaned out her desk, packed away her hopes for getting ahead, and wondered what she would tell her kids. Earlier this week, someone received terrible news from a physician. Someone else heard the words, "I don't love you anymore." Earlier this week, someone’s hope was crucified. And the darkness is overwhelming. No one is ever ready to encounter Easter until he or she has spent time in the dark place where hope cannot be seen. Easter is the last thing we are expecting. And that is why it terrifies us. This day is not about bunnies, springtime and girls in cute new dresses. It’s about more hope than we can handle. Craig Barnes, Savior at Large, article in The Christian Century, March 13-20, 2002 p. 16. Yes, There Is Hope In the early part of World War II, a Navy submarine was stuck on the bottom of the harbor in New York City. It seemed that all was lost. There was no electricity and the oxygen was quickly running out. In one last attempt to rescue the sailors from the steel coffin, the U.S. Navy sent a ship equipped with Navy divers to the spot on the surface, directly above the wounded submarine. A Navy diver went over the side of the ship to the dangerous depths in one last rescue attempt. The trapped sailors heard the metal boots of the diver land on the exterior surface, and they moved to where they thought the rescuer would be. In the darkness they tapped in Morse code, "Is there any hope?" The diver on the outside, recognizing the message, signaled by tapping on the exterior of the sub, "Yes, there is hope." This is the picture of our dilemma as we worship this glad Easter Day. Humankind is trapped in a dreadful situation. All around we are running low on hope, and we look for a word from beyond offering it to us. This world in which we live is plagued with war and famine, mounting debt and continual destruction. The more we try to rescue ourselves the more we seem to fall behind. We wonder: Is there any hope? Bill Self, Is There Any Hope? God Cannot Die Martin Luther once spent three days in a black depression over something that had gone wrong. On the third day his wife came downstairs dressed in mourning clothes. "Who's dead?" he asked her. "God," she replied. Luther rebuked her, saying, "What do you mean, God is dead? God cannot die." "Well," she replied, "the way you've been acting I was sure He had!" Many of us have been caught in that trap. This is also what had happened to Mary. Ray C. Stedman, The Incredible Hope Birth into a New World In his book, Teaching Your Children about God, Rabbi David Wolpe, a professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, recalls an ancient Jewish parable about twin unborn children lying together in the womb. One believes that there is a world beyond the womb "where people walk upright, where there are mountains and oceans, a sky filled with stars." The other unborn twin can barely contain his contempt for such foolish ideas. Suddenly the "believer" of the twins is forced through the birth canal leaving behind the only way of life he has known. The remaining unborn twin is saddened, convinced that a great catastrophe has befallen his companion. Outside the womb, however, the parents are rejoicing. For what the remaining brother, left behind, has just witnessed is not death but birth. This, Wolpe reminds us, is a classic view of the life beyond the grave--a birth into a world that we on Earth can only try to imagine. The Easter message is that we have an older brother who HAS traveled beyond the tomb, down the birth canal of eternity and has returned to assure us that God is love, and that there is a place prepared for any who will accept the Good News. Whether our name is Marie or Mary or Peter or even Judas, Christ came into the world to save sinners. Won't you accept his offer of a new life today? King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com