“Leave You Death Cloths Behind!!…”

April 16, 2017

Stetson Memorial UMC

Resurrection Sunday!

Psalm 113

John 20:1-18 NLT

Acts 10:34-48 MSG

Isaiah 25:6-9 NLT

“Leave You Death Cloths Behind!!…”

The Lord be with you, and also with you…let us pray…(Prayer of illumination….)

Please stand as you are able from the reading of the Gospel according to John, chapter 10, verses 1-8…

It was a morning like no other. Mary trembled as she made her way to the tomb of her teach and friend. “How could all of this had happened” she thought. “How could they have called for Barabbas instead of Jesus?” She continued on her way to the place she never thought she would have to go…at least not this early in Jesus’ life. All of the sudden the earth shook with a violent convulsion. It knocked her to the ground. She got up wondering what could have caused such a ruckus.

She began to think about the events of the past 3 days and how she stood with Jesus’ mother by the cross as her world was torn apart by the last breath of her teacher. “How could have the others ran away and leave Him to be alone…let alone Peter’s actions?” Then she remembered the stone in front of the tomb. “How am I going to be able to give Jesus a proper burial? I can’t move the stone away myself. But I must try. It is the least I could to for the one who saved me from the demons inside.”

As she neared the tomb she couldn’t believe what she saw. The stone had rolled been rolled away. Then she thought “Oh no…His body!” She ran to the tomb and it was as she had feared. Jesus body was missing. Everything else was there…the death cloths and the cloth that wrapped His head. But the body…it was missing… What was she to do…where on earth could they have taken Him…?

Good morning! Happy Resurrection morning! We have come to the end of our Lenten journey and now here we stand at the empty tomb. This is the foundation of our belief. Without resurrection morning, there is no faith…without resurrection morning, there is no forgiveness of sins…without resurrection morning, there is no victory over sin and death…without resurrection morning, Jesus’ life didn’t matter. This is probably my favorite day in the Christian calendar as well as Pentecost Sunday…but don’t let me get started on that…

When I think about the empty tomb I just want to shout from the mountain tops…Christ has Risen…Christ has Risen indeed! I love this day because it is the day that humanity was given the chance to come out of their tomb, remove their death cloths and come into the glorious light of our God in and through the Light of the world, our RISEN, Lord Jesus Christ

In Isaiah 25:6-9…the prophet Isaiah talks about the day that God will remove the gloom and gloom of death and bring joy and hope. The gloom of death hung over all of humanity and there was no end in sight. But God, in His infinite love, could not leave humanity in the pit it was and is in. He alone brings salvation in and through the frailty of His Son. We now are invited to the banquet with the best of everything we can think of… Death no longer has a grip upon us and we are set free in and through the empty tomb. If we choose to come out and leave behind our death clothes…

When I think about the John scripture from this morning, what stood out for me are these facts:

1.  Jesus death clothes were left in the tomb…

2.  Reminded me of Lazareth being raised…

3.  It represents victory over sin and death…

4.  People are like Mary…not know where He is…

5.  Jesus calls our name as He did Mary’s (she was blinded by the world and what she saw that was temporal)

6.  We are to go and give the message to those who are waiting…as Mary did…

In Acts Peter…the Rock…proclaims the resurrection…read Acts 10:34-48. What can we see from Peter’s reaction that is also for us today?

·        He proclaimed Christ’s ministry of healing and peacemaking (36-39)

·        Proclaimed that God raised Christ from the dead (39-40)

·        Proclaimed that they ate and drank with the Risen Christ (41)

·        Proclaimed Christ is the judge of the living and the dead but there is forgiveness in and through His name…

Resurrection Sunday is not just the end of the Lenten journey but only the beginning of the story, the beginning of the new life…the beginning of a new age. Christ went to the cross not just to save you and me but to save all of humanity and there is so many who need the hope and forgiveness of the cross I just can’t imagine Jesus wanting us to keep it for ourselves. God wants all of humanity to be saved and we are here to share the good news so that it is. That’s part of mine and your mission here…part of the purpose of why we were created…to love, to share, to be Christ for the world. But how can we bring the Good News if we are still in the tomb wearing our death shroud?

Resurrection people. It is resurrection morn and we are now given a new life. We have come from the ashes of Wednesday and have come up from those same ashes as a phoenix into the glorious light of the Son. We are being called from our tombs to a new and redeemed life. We are given the robe of righteousness for the death cloths sin had us wrapped in. The question is…will you come out?

Amen…