The Message of Easter

April 11, 2004

The Rev. Dr. Anthony J. Godlefski, Pastor

Montgomery United Methodist Church

John 20: 1-18

The Resurrection

¹Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. ²She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, "They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and I don't know where they have put him!"
³Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see. ⁴The other disciple outran Peter and got there first. ⁵He stooped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn't go in. ⁶Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷while the cloth that had covered Jesus' head was folded up and lying to the side. ⁸Then the other disciple also went in, and he saw and believed-- ⁹for until then they hadn't realized that the Scriptures said he would rise from the dead. ¹⁰Then they went home.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

¹¹Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. ¹²She saw two white-robed angels sitting at the head and foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. ¹³"Why are you crying?" the angels asked her.
"Because they have taken away my Lord," she replied, "and I don't know where they have put him."
¹⁴She glanced over her shoulder and saw someone standing behind her. It was Jesus, but she didn't recognize him. ¹⁵"Why are you crying?" Jesus asked her. "Who are you looking for?"
She thought he was the gardener. "Sir," she said, "if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him."
¹⁶"Mary!" Jesus said.
She turned toward him and exclaimed, "Teacher!"
¹⁷"Don't cling to me," Jesus said, "for I haven't yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them that I am ascending to my Father and your Father, my God and your God."
¹⁸Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, "I have seen the Lord!" Then she gave them his message.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, good morning! Happy Easter! I'd like to ask you a question this morning. Let's say you were in a shopping mall, right about this time of year, and you're doing some shopping, walking along. Suddenly you realize that you are in front of an interviewer, and the crew puts a microphone on you. The camera is on you. You think, "I want to get away!"

The first question is intriguing. The interviewer says, "Are you a Christian?"

"Why yes, I am."

The second question is "Do you believe in Easter?"

"Well yes, I do."

The third question is, "In ten seconds or less, can you tell me what Easter is about and what it means to you?"

Let's freeze the camera there for a second. What would you say? What would I say? It's a big question, isn't it? I tell you, when I started trying to answer that question in my mind, I was not too sure what to say. But I have a thought for you, a thought to share with you and for you to take home with you, should anyone, adult or child, friend or family, ask you "What does Easter mean to you, plain and simple?" I have a thought I'd like to share with you as an answer to that question.

The answer, friend, is simply this: Christ is alive, for you and for me. Christ is alive, for you and for me. That's it. I'm sure that was under ten seconds. It's really only three words. Christ is alive. Friend, what I want you to take with you today is simply that Easter is not a past tense thing. Easter is an historic event. Yes, I believe in the literal resurrection with all my heart. No question about it. Christ has been raised from the dead by the power of God. How did it happen? I don't know. I'm not smart enough to know exactly. God did it. But is it really all that much of a stretch, my quantum physicist friends? Is it all that much of a stretch, those of you who study string theory? Anybody every heard of string theory? It's an extremely elaborate theory that speculates other dimensions. And we look at scientific theories like that and accept them. That's science. Is it that much of a stretch to think that God, who created the heavens and earth and your beautiful faces and all that you see outside, could take the body of the extraordinary Jesus Christ and transform it into a resurrection body? A body that had the aspects of other dimensions to it, that had solidity, yet could pass through doors? Is it that much of a stretch?

Well, it takes faith. It takes faith on our part. I'm not asking you to understand it. I'm asking you to be faithful to it. The resurrection happened as it said, or people would not have given their lives for it. People don't give their lives for theories. People don't give their lives for what somebody else speculated. People give their lives for and to that which they have experienced, and people experienced the resurrected Christ.

But that's to say that Christ has risen. I'm asking you not to leave it there. Don't leave Easter to be 2000 years ago. Let your Easter statement be "Christ is alive, for you and for me." Easter, friends, is present tense. That's why you're here, 2000 years later, celebrating the extraordinary day, the remarkable miracle, the amazing promise of life. Christ is alive.

It's sort of like tuning into a radio station. The waves are all around us. But when you tune in to a station, you can hear it, and you become part of it. It's like that with the risen Jesus Christ. His spirit, invisible, is all around us. And when you tune in, when you catch on, you become a Christian. You become captivated by this remarkable One. Easter is present tense. Christ is risen.

Look what happened in the Gospel. Mary Magdalene – oh, I thank God for Mary Magdalene – went running to the tomb that first Easter day. She was completely broken. Her Lord had been taken away. All that she had hoped for was smashed. Her very identity, and the One who called her blessed, was dead and gone. She ran to the tomb ahead of the others hoping to give this last gesture of love, the anointing of the white, lifeless clay that was His body. And when she got there, to add insult to injury, the tomb was open and the body was gone. She was convinced that someone had stolen it. She went back and told the others, "I've gone to the tomb and it was empty, and they've taken the Lord away!" She ran back, crazed with grief, and she sat at the tomb, sobbing and weeping.

And then she heard a caring voice. "Why are you weeping?"

"They've taken away the body of my Lord and I don't know where they've laid Him. Gardener, if you have taken Him, tell me where He is, and I will find Him myself and take Him back."

And then she heard one more thing. "Mary."

It was unmistakable! It was the voice of Jesus. Mary turned to Him with the heart that could only belong to someone who'd had everything taken away and then given back. She embraced Him and said, "Rabbi. My teacher."

And Jesus said, "You don't have to hold onto me. I'm not going anywhere. Go and tell my disciples that I'm alive."

And she did, with fear and great joy. She told the disciples, "He is alive. He is alive."

Friend, take this with you: if anyone asks you what the resurrection means and what Easter is about, just tell them those three words – okay, make it eight -- Jesus is alive, for you and for me. Say it out loud: Jesus is alive, for you and for me.

It is so. It is so, because God loves you. I do, too. Happy and blessed Easter everyone. Amen.