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Celebrating the freeing, supportive presence of God.  So your experience of God may become your experience of life.  It is wonderful what God can do!

March 27th, 2005

EASTER SUNDAY

MEANING OF THE CROSS:

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

RED SMITH, FAMOUS SPORTSWRITER, RELATED THE FOLLOWING INCIDENT ABOUT NOVELIST AND FILM WRITER, LAURENCE STALLINGS. THOUGH NOT A SPORTSWRITER, STALLINGS TOOK AN ASSIGNMENT TO COVER A FOOTBALL GAME BETWEEN THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA AND THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS.

THE YEAR WAS 1925. HALFBACK RED GRANGE WAS DAZZLING. ON A MUDDY FIELD, WHERE EVERYONE ELSE WAS SLIPPING AND FALLING, GRANGE BROKE LOOSE FOR THREE TOUCHDOWNS AND SET UP ANOTHER.
EXPERIENCED SPORTSWRITERS IN THE PRESS BOX FURIOUSLY POUNDED AWAY AT THEIR TYPEWRITERS. NOT STALLINGS. IN A TIZZY, HE PACED UP AND DOWN THE PRESS BOX, HANDS CLASPED TO HIS HEAD. "I CAN'T," HE WAILED. "I CAN'T WRITE IT! IT'S TOO BIG."

THAT'S THE WAY MANY OF US PREACHERS FEEL ON EASTER DAY. HOW CAN WE PREACH ABOUT IT? IT'S TOO BIG! EVEN THE MOST GIFTED OF PREACHERS CANNOT DO JUSTICE TO THIS CENTRAL EARTH-SHATTERING EVENT THAT HAS CHANGED THE COURSE OF ALL HISTORY. IT'S TOO BIG.

I CAN'T SAY EVERYTHING THAT NEEDS TO BE SAID. WE'D BE HERE ALL DAY - ALL WEEK. DON'T WORRY. I'M NOT GOING TO DO THAT.

WHAT I AM GOING TO DO IS SHARE WITH YOU, IN A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME, THREE THINGS THAT THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST MEANS?

FIRST, RESURRECTION MEANS THAT CHRIST IS FREE TO INTERCEDE ON YOUR BEHALF.

SECOND, IT MEANS THAT CHRIST IS AVAILABLE TO GUIDE YOU.

AND THIRD, THE RESURRECTION MEANS THAT CHRIST HAS OPENED THE DOOR OF ETERNAL LIFE FOR YOU.

FIRST, THEN, CHRIST IS FREE TO INTERCEDE ON YOUR BEHALF.

I CAME ACROSS A VERSE FROM THE BIBLE AWHILE BACK. YOU KNOW YOU READ SOMETHING FROM THE BIBLE OR HAVE HEARD OR KNOW A STORY FROM THE BIBLE AND IT MAY NOT MEAN TOO MUCH. BUT THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN YOU SEE OR HEAR SOMETHING ABOUT THAT VERSE THAT YOU HADN'T REALIZED BEFORE?

THAT'S HOW IT WAS WITH THIS VERSE FOR ME. IT IS FROM ROMANS, CHAPTER 8. IN FACT, IF YOU ARE EVER FEELING DISCOURAGED, THERE IS HARDLY A BETTER CHAPTER TO READ FROM THE BIBLE THAN ROMANS, CHAPTER 8. BUT LETS LOOK AT VERSE 34. ACTUALLY MAY WE NOTE A COUPLE OF VERSES BEFORE THAT VERSE TO HELP US FRAME THE MEANING OF VERSE 34.

"WHAT THEN ARE WE TO SAY ABOUT THESE THINGS? IF GOD IS FOR US, WHO IS AGAINST US? HE WHO DID NOT WITHHOLD HIS OWN SON, BUT GAVE HIM UP FOR ALL OF US, WILL HE NOT WITH HIM ALSO GIVE US EVERYTHING ELSE? IT IS CHRIST JESUS, WHO DIED, YES, WHO WAS RAISED, (AND HERE IS THE PART OF THE VERSE TO WHICH I WOULD LIKE TO REFER), WHO IS AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, WHO INDEED INTERCEDES FOR US."

"WHO IS AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, WHO INDEED INTERCEDES FOR US." WOW!

THE MEANING OF THE RESURRECTION IS THAT CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD, IS NOW FREE TO INTERCEDE FOR YOU AND ME.  AND IN WHAT WAY DOES HE INTERCEDE FOR YOU? FOR ONE, HE IS FREE TO INTERCEDE FOR YOU AND I WHEN WE ASK FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF OUR SINS.

FOR EVEN WHEN WE ASK FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF OUR SINS, IT CANNOT BE ACCOMPLISHED ON OUR ASKING BECAUSE WE HAVE SINNED. YET, IT CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED BECAUSE OF WHAT CHRIST DID AS THE SON OF GOD WHO WAS WITHOUT SIN YET OFFERED UP HIS LIFE FOR YOUR SINS AND MINE.

SO, THE RESURRECTION MEANS THAT YOU CAN EXPERIENCE THE FORGIVENESS OF YOUR SINS WHICH IN TURN GIVES US THE OPPORTUNITY TO WALK IN WHAT HAS BEEN CALLED, "THE NEWNESS OF LIFE."  IN OTHER WORDS, THE RESURRECTION MEANS THAT CHRIST IS NOW AVAILABLE TO YOU TO HELP TO MAKE A FRESH START, AS OFTEN AS YOU NEED THAT.


SECOND, THE RESURRECTION MEANS THAT CHRIST IS AVAILABLE TO GUIDE YOU.

IT HAS BEEN A VERY MEANING OPPORTUNITY THIS PAST WEEK TO EXPERIENCE NOT ONLY WITH OUR CHURCH BUT WITH OTHER CHURCHES THE SEDER MEAL AND THE MAUNDY THURSDAY SERVICE ON THURSDAY.


AND, IT WAS ON THAT FIRST MAUNDY THURSDAY IN THE UPPER ROOM THAT JESUS SAID AMONG OTHER THINGS TO HIS DISCIPLES AND SAYS TO YOU AND I EVEN THIS MORNING, "I HAVE SAID THESE THINGS TO YOU WHILE I AM STILL WITH YOU. BUT THE COUNSELOR, THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHOM THE FATHER WILL SEND IN MY NAME, WILL TEACH YOU EVERYTHING, AND REMIND YOU OF ALL THAT I HAVE SAID TO YOU." (JOHN 14:25)

I HAVE ENJOYED READING THOSE WHO HAVE WRITTEN EITHER WITH THEIR NAMES OR ANONYMOUSLY THEIR SPIRITUAL STORIES.  AND PART OF ONE ILLUSTRATES CHRIST SPEAKING THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT TO HELP GUIDE.

PAM WALLUM WRITES "WE ALL HAVE BOOKMARKS IN OUR MEMORY THAT HELP US TO REMEMBER CERTAIN EVENTS IN OUR LIVES. A MAJOR BOOKMARK IN MY LIFE WAS THE FIRST TIME I WAS TRULY TOUCHED BY JESUS. IT WAS 9 YEARS AGO AT THE FUNERAL OF MY FIRST HUSBAND. WHEN I FELT LIKE MY HEART WAS ABOUT TO ACTUALLY BREAK IN TWO, I HEARD JESUS SAY TO ME, "FEAR NOT, FOR I AM WITH YOU". I HAD NEVER FELT HIS PRESENCE LIKE THAT BEFORE AND IT GAVE ME SUCH A SENSE OF COMFORT THAT I KNEW I HAD TO INVESTIGATE AND FIND OUT MORE ABOUT HIM."

OR, NANCY WILSON, IN HER SPIRITUAL STORY WRITES ABOUT HER SOFTBALL ACCIDENT WITH HER EYE. "CHRIST THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT, IS SOMEONE WHO CAN TURN TO EVERYDAY, ANY MOMENT, TO HELP YOU FIND THE DIRECTION YOU NEED IN ANY SITUATION.  CHRIST IS AVAILABLE TO GUIDE YOU."

THIRD, THE RESURRECTION MEANS THAT CHRIST HAS OPENED THE DOOR OF ETERNAL LIFE FOR YOU.

ON FRIDAY, GOOD FRIDAY, WE WORSHIPED AS A CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY TOGETHER. AND WE REMEMBERED CHRIST'S WORDS ON THE CROSS TO THE SECOND THIEF, WHO ASKED TO BE REMEMBERED IN HIS KINGDOM, "TODAY YOU WILL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE."  WE RECALL ONE OF CHRIST'S WORDS CALLED "I AM'S," I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE, WHOEVER BELIEVES IN ME WILL NOT DIE BUT WILL HAVE ETERNAL LIFE."  AND HE SAID THOSE WORDS JUST BEFORE HE RAISED LAZARUS FROM THE DEAD.

YET, PERHAPS EVEN BETTER YET, AS WONDERFUL AS THE PROMISE IS OF ETERNAL LIFE IN THE FUTURE, WE CAN EXPERIENCE IT NOW TOO.

THERE WAS A YOUNG WOMAN LIVING IN WASHINGTON, D.C. DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR.

HER HUSBAND, WHO HAD BEEN STATIONED AT A NEARBY ARMY BASE, WAS KILLED A YEAR EARLIER DURING A TRAINING EXERCISE - THEY HAD BEEN MARRIED JUST FOUR MONTHS. DURING THAT WHOLE YEAR, THIS YOUNG WIDOW FELT MORE DEAD THAN ALIVE. SHE MERELY WENT THROUGH THE MOTIONS OF LIVING. HER FAMILY AND FRIENDS WERE WORRIED ABOUT HER AND WONDERED IF SHE WOULD EVER "SNAP OUT OF IT."

EASTER SUNDAY CAME ALONG AND A FRIEND ASKED THE YOUNG WIDOW TO GO TO CHURCH WITH HER. IT HAPPENED THAT THEY WENT TO HEAR THE LEGENDARY PETER MARSHALL, WHO PREACHED IN AN HISTORIC PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH WHICH STILL STANDS IN DOWNTOWN WASHINGTON, A FEW BLOCKS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE.

THAT MORNING, PETER MARSHALL SPOKE OF MARY COMING TO THE TOMB AND HOW HER TEARS TURNED TO JOY. HE DESCRIBED THE SOUND OF A WIND RUSTLING THROUGH THE TOMB AS IF THE BREATH OF GOD WERE BLOWING BY. HE DESCRIBED THE SIGHT OF JESUS RISING UP FROM THAT COLD, STONE SLAB, SWAYING A BIT ON WOUNDED FEET AND THEN WALKING OUT INTO THE GARDEN. HE DESCRIBED THE SMELL, "THE WHIFF OF STRANGE SCENTS WHICH MUST HAVE DRIFTED BACK TO THE MAN FROM THAT TOMB, [THE SMELL] OF LINEN AND BANDAGES, SPICES AND MYRRH, CLOSE AIR AND BLOOD ...(PETER MARSHALL, THE FIRST EASTER). BY THE TIME PETER MARSHALL FINISHED THAT SERMON, THE PEOPLE IN THAT CHURCH FELT AS IF THEY HAD BEEN THERE IN THE GARDEN TO WITNESS THE FIRST EASTER THEMSELVES!

WHEN THE SERVICE WAS OVER, THE YOUNG WIDOW PRACTICALLY WALKED ON AIR AS SHE LEFT THE CHURCH AND HER FRIEND COULDN'T BELIEVE THE CHANGE WHICH HAD COME OVER HER. "WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU IN THERE?" SHE ASKED. "THE WEIGHT HAS FINALLY BEEN LIFTED," THE YOUNG WOMAN REPLIED; "NOW I CAN GO ON LIVING AGAIN."

UNDERSTANDING THE MEANING OF THE RESURRECTION CAN NOT ONLY GIVE US HOPE FOR HE FUTURE BUT CAN HELP US IN OUR PRESENT AS WELL.


SO, THE MEANING OF THE RESURRECTION? ONE, CHRIST IS FREE TO INTERCEDE ON YOUR BEHALF.

SECOND IT CHRIST THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT IS AVAILABLE TO GUIDE YOU EVERYDAY.

AND THIRD, THE RESURRECTION MEANS THAT CHRIST HAS OPENED THE DOOR OF ETERNAL LIFE FOR YOU THAT CAN GIVE YOU HOPE FOR THE FUTURE AND NOW TOO.

SO, YOUR INVITATION FROM GOD AND CHRIST TO YOU TODAY? IT IS THREE FOLD.

ONE, WHEN YOU NEED, I INVITE YOU TO ASK CHRIST TO INTERCEDE ON YOUR BEHALF FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF YOUR SINS OR OTHER CONCERNS THAT YOU MAY HAVE.
TWO, I INVITE YOU TO ASK FOR CHRIST'S GUIDANCE THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT TO HELP YOU MAKE THE RIGHT DECISIONS FOR YOUR LIFE. THERE IS NO ONE BETTER TO HELP YOU MAKE THE BEST DECISIONS.

AND, KNOW THAT IN CHRIST YOU CAN GO FROM LIFE TO LIFE. THERE IS NO GREATER POWER ON EARTH OR IN HEAVEN AND THE POWER AND LOVE ARE AVAILABLE TO YOU NOW AND FOREVER.

A COUPLE OF SUNDAYS AGO, I MADE REFERENCE TO THE PROMISE JARS (DISPLAY) THAT SUE MILHOLLEN HAD PREPARED. THEY ARE A JARS FILLED WITH PROMISES OF GOD.


AFTER THEY WORSHIP A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO, NANCY MEISSEL ASKED ME ABOUT THEM. SHE SAID SHE WANTED TO PICK OUT A PROMISE OF GOD FOR HER FOR THE WEEK. I SHOWED HER ONE OF THE JARS WHICH WAS IN MY OFFICE. AND FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS, NANCY HAS BEEN PICKING OUT ONE OF GOD'S PROMISES FOR HER.

WHILE NANCY COULD NOT BE HERE THIS SUNDAY, THE PROMISE JAR, AND NANCY'S INTEREST REMIND ME OF A FINAL THOUGHT ABOUT THE MEANING OF THE RESURRECTION. THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST REMINDS US THAT GOD'S PROMISES COME TRUE. GOD HAS THE POWER AND LOVE FOR THEM TO COME TRUE.


SO FOR THOSE WHO WISH, AS I PASS AROUND A PROMISE JAR THROUGH OUR CONGREGATION DURING OUR LAST HYMN, YOU ARE WELCOME TO PICK OUT ONE OF GOD'S PROMISES OR THOUGHTS FOR YOU.

AFTER THE PROMISE JARS HAVE BEEN PASSED AROUND THE CONGREGATION, PLEASE PUT THEM ON THE TABLE IN THE BACK OF OUR SANCTUARY IN CASE WE MISSED SOMEONE WHO WOULD LIKE ONE.

YET, WHETHER YOU PICK OUT A PROMISE FROM THE PROMISE JAR OR NOT, THINK ABOUT THE MEANING OF THE RESURRECTION THIS WAY - GOD IS MAKING A WONDERFUL PROMISE COME TRUE IN YOUR LIFE.

 

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