Sunrise Service Sermon by Karen Hruz
It had been the worst two and a half days of their lives. First the Master had brought them to the Garden of Gethsemane just outside of Jerusalem to pray, but instead they fell asleep, after all it was late. Perhaps if they had been awake and watchful they would have noticed the torches of the crowd coming to arrest Jesus and they could have warned and saved him. However, He already seemed to be expecting the soldiers. And who would have imagined that one of their own, Judas, would betray Him with a kiss. The eleven all felt betrayed, they felt scared and angry inside, Peter even took his sword out and struck the high priest’s servant cutting his ear off. Jesus rebuked him and after a very short scuffle, every single disciple fled. In a sense they all betrayed Jesus that day. None had the courage to stay and walk the road with Him, even though they had just sworn to Jesus they would never abandon Him even to the point of death. I wonder, would I have been able to walk that road with Jesus?
Peter managed to muster up enough courage to follow the crowd at a distance to the courtyard of Caiaphas’, (Kyfass) the chief priest’s, house where all the religious leaders had gathered. Peter saw it all. He saw them falsely accuse Jesus of many things, spit on Him, slapped Him, that is, until someone in the crowd recognized him as being one of Jesus’ disciples, and confronted him, he denied it. Simon Peter, the Rock, the one who walked on water with Jesus, denied knowing Him three times before the rooster crowed. Didn’t Jesus once say, (Matt. 10:32) “Whoever acknowledges Me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father. But whoever disowns Me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven”?
The religious leaders weren’t satisfied with insulting Jesus, they wanted Him dead, out of the way, and that was their plan all along. So they took Him to the Roman Governor Pilate who had Him beaten, flogged, placed a crown of thorns on His head, and then with the chant of the crowd, “crucify Him, crucify Him,” they sentenced Him to death by crucifixion. They nailed Him to a tree, a cross, outside of the city, a spectacle for all of Jerusalem to watch, yet only one disciple made it to the cross that day, John . Where do you suppose the other ten were? Jesus died that Friday afternoon, and along with Him their hopes and expectations. Then He was buried in tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea and sealed with a stone.
How do you suppose Peter and the disciples felt during those long two and a half days? Worthless, ashamed, failures? They had abandoned Jesus, they were afraid. They locked themselves in a room in Jerusalem. Peter knew the punishment for his denial of Jesus. He did not deserve to be part of God’s kingdom.
The truth is at some point all of us have denied or abandoned Jesus, perhaps with our words, our thoughts, or our actions. As the Bible says “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way (Is. 53:6).” In other words we have chosen to follow our own path rather than following Jesus, doing what He wants us to do. When we follow our own path we are denying Him. As a result of our selfish choices we may get what we want out of life, a great career, money, possessions, toys, lifestyle, but anytime the focus is on ourselves there is always a cost. Perhaps not at first, but eventually relationships suffer (spouse, kids, parents, siblings, friends), sometimes our health suffers, many times there is empty feeling inside, because we have climbed the ladder of life only to realize the ladder was against the wrong wall. Perhaps like Peter we come to a point where we, too, feel worthless, ashamed, disappointed, a failure, and believe there is no hope for us. We deserve to be disowned by Jesus. Or perhaps the emptiness of our own lifestyle causes us to wonder in our hearts if this is all there is to life?
Did Peter and the disciples go the rest of their life like this? Feeling like failures? No, if we continue with the rest of the story (like Paul Harvey used to say) in the book of Acts we notice the disciples aren’t the same people at all anymore. Instead of being frozen with fear, guilt, sorrow, disappointment, they had become bold, fearless, driven, men with purpose. What had changed? They had encountered the Risen Christ.
On that Sunday morning the women went to the tomb and discovered it was empty. In their excitement they rushed back to tell the disciples and the Risen Jesus appeared right before them. Their lives were changed. They went and told the disciples. Peter and John rushed to the tomb and saw that it was empty. Peter wondered to himself what had happened. John’s gospel tells us that later that day; Jesus suddenly appeared to all the disciples, except Thomas, in a locked room. Once they encountered the Risen Jesus and were filled with the Holy Spirit, their lives were never the same. They were new people, transformed, because they were forgiven of their past by the sacrifice of Jesus, and given a new future, new life. If you remember nothing else this morning remember this, people who encounter the Risen Christ are never the same. We become a new person, a new creation.
Years later it was Peter, the same disciple who had denied Jesus three times, who would write these words to Christian believers. (Peter 1:3) Praise be to the God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy He has given us new birth and a living hope through the resurrection of His son, Jesus Christ from the dead. In fact that’s what we are doing here this Easter Sunday morning, we are praising God, worshipping him because He brings new birth and living hope to us.
Two things the resurrection of Jesus means for us: new birth and living hope. New birth or new life is a gift, just like our first birth into this world was a gift, we didn’t earn it, we didn’t work for it, and God offered it to us free. The new life God offers us is free. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus He offers to forgive us and gives us a fresh start. I think of new birth as being something like this. Our circumstances haven’t necessary changed around us, the people haven’t changed around us, but God does a work within us and all the sudden we see everything with new eyes. What I am saying is life is richer, fuller, and more abundant. It is as though God has peeled away our failures and replaced them with forgiveness. He has peeled away our sorrow and replaced it with joy. He gives us new life.
Many of you know I have a new grandson born in fact, less than 7 months ago. Just like parents and their children, grand parenting is the same. With each additional grandchild, you become aware of a love you didn’t even know existed within you. That is like the new life we have in Christ. We suddenly become aware of a love and a new life that we didn’t even know was possible.
Jesus’ resurrection also means we have living hope. Hope is a powerful motivator. It keeps us going even when life throws curveballs at us. When we give up hope, we tend to give up altogether. But the resurrection of Jesus Christ brings hope that no matter what happens here on earth, no matter what people do to us, or what circumstances occur in this world, we have the promise of an eternal life that can never be taken away from us, it doesn’t perish, spoil, or fade. Our hope is not just wishful or positive thinking? People hope in things all sorts of things. Some hope they will win the lottery and that will make their life better. Personally, I hope to win the NCAA basketball champion’s family’s basketball pool. I have never won and would like to beat my daughters and sons-in-law. We all hope in something. The difference is for Christian believers that we have a living hope because Jesus is alive. Our hope is based on the solid evidence of Jesus’ resurrection. The Apostle Paul tells us that over 500 people witnessed the resurrected Christ, including the disciples, and himself, and it changed their lives.
How do we even know there is life after death? We are all going to die one day. How do we know that when you die that’s not it, poof you’re gone forever? The resurrection of Jesus is the proof. He died and rose from the grave to prove He had gained victory over sin and death. Therefore we have the hope that heaven is a real place and Jesus has gone ahead to prepare a room just for us. (John 14:2) Jesus said,” In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you may also be where I am.” That is our hope. Jesus has gone ahead and will come back for us so that we might be where He is. When we believe Jesus’ words, no one can take that away from us.
The ending to my message is very simple question, as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus on this Easter Sunday morning, are you experiencing the new birth and the living hope He came to give you?
Jesus, you have overcome death
And conquered every fear I could imagine
Help me to live each day remembering that You are alive
That You are bigger than anything or any situation
And that Your power is real
Jesus, you’re my hero and I’m walking with you.
Amen
May the loving power of God,
which raised Jesus to new life,
strengthen you in hope,
enrich you with his love,
and fill you with joy in the faith.
His has Risen! Amen.
Mark 16: 1-8
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Jesus and James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go; tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’” Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were excitedly afraid.