This sermon was preached on Saturday, April 4, 2015 for the Great Vigil of Easter. The texts for this sermon are found here.
Everyone loves a good comeback story. When, at the last minute, just when all hope seems lost, our hero overcomes the villain, the underdog surges ahead, the ball soars through the net as the buzzer sounds.
We heard several stories tonight celebrating moments of the salvation story just like that, when God stepped in at the last moment to deliver his people. We heard how the animals clambered onto the ark as the rains began to fall. We heard how Abraham’s knife was stayed by an angel right as he was about to bring it down on his son. And we heard how the waters of the Red Sea crashed in over the pursuing Egyptian chariots just as the last of Israelite refugees scrambled safely onto the shore of the other side.
The story of Easter is part of that story. It is the same story and it is also a different story. This time all was lost. Despite the mockery of the soldiers and the priests, neither God nor Elijah swept in on Good Friday to save Jesus on the cross. Jesus did die.
Two weeks ago, Maggie was explaining the holy mystery of Easter and Lent to one of our Godly Play classes. One of the boys in our circle jumped up and launched into an exuberant description of how, if he had a time machine, he would go back and rescue Jesus from the Roman soldiers, complete with a detailed catalogue of all the modern-day weapons he would use to do so. The thing is I knew what he meant. We all want the good guys to win.
Jesus’s resurrection, the Easter miracle, is about more than escaping death at the last minute. It is greater than winning in the end. It is about losing, and through that loss, changing the meaning of loss for each one of us forever. Jesus’s new covenant ensures that God’s relationship to his people, to all people, is permanently altered. It’s no longer about plucking the righteous out of disaster’s way and smiting the rest. It’s no longer about ensuring his favorite people win. Jesus’s sacrifice changes the game itself. For whoever has died, Paul writes, is freed from sin. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. It is through dying that we gain eternal life. It is through losing that we win.
The next time you’re at a funeral at Grace, make sure to flip over the bulletin and read the back where it explains that every funeral is an Easter celebration. But I believe that you don’t even have to do that. All you have to do is listen. Hear how love shines through stronger, every time.
Christ has risen. Death is dead. Defeat is defeated. Loss loses. And love wins! Alleluia!
Amen.
Everyone loves a good comeback story. When, at the last minute, just when all hope seems lost, our hero overcomes the villain, the underdog surges ahead, the ball soars through the net as the buzzer sounds.
We heard several stories tonight celebrating moments of the salvation story just like that, when God stepped in at the last moment to deliver his people. We heard how the animals clambered onto the ark as the rains began to fall. We heard how Abraham’s knife was stayed by an angel right as he was about to bring it down on his son. And we heard how the waters of the Red Sea crashed in over the pursuing Egyptian chariots just as the last of Israelite refugees scrambled safely onto the shore of the other side.
The story of Easter is part of that story. It is the same story and it is also a different story. This time all was lost. Despite the mockery of the soldiers and the priests, neither God nor Elijah swept in on Good Friday to save Jesus on the cross. Jesus did die.
Two weeks ago, Maggie was explaining the holy mystery of Easter and Lent to one of our Godly Play classes. One of the boys in our circle jumped up and launched into an exuberant description of how, if he had a time machine, he would go back and rescue Jesus from the Roman soldiers, complete with a detailed catalogue of all the modern-day weapons he would use to do so. The thing is I knew what he meant. We all want the good guys to win.
Jesus’s resurrection, the Easter miracle, is about more than escaping death at the last minute. It is greater than winning in the end. It is about losing, and through that loss, changing the meaning of loss for each one of us forever. Jesus’s new covenant ensures that God’s relationship to his people, to all people, is permanently altered. It’s no longer about plucking the righteous out of disaster’s way and smiting the rest. It’s no longer about ensuring his favorite people win. Jesus’s sacrifice changes the game itself. For whoever has died, Paul writes, is freed from sin. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. It is through dying that we gain eternal life. It is through losing that we win.
The next time you’re at a funeral at Grace, make sure to flip over the bulletin and read the back where it explains that every funeral is an Easter celebration. But I believe that you don’t even have to do that. All you have to do is listen. Hear how love shines through stronger, every time.
Christ has risen. Death is dead. Defeat is defeated. Loss loses. And love wins! Alleluia!
Amen.
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