Easter Day 2009
Easter is the greatest festival in the Church calendar – some may prefer Christmas, some perhaps harvest or even Pentecost, but without the celebration of Easter there would be no Christian faith and no hope…
We live in a sometimes frighteningly politically correct society – only this week I was reading that in Florida an atheist created a case against the upcoming Easter and Pentecost holidays. He hired a lawyer to bring a discrimination case against Christians and Jews and the observance of their Holy days. The argument was that it was unfair that atheists had no such recognised days. The case was brought before a judge. After listening to the passionate presentation by the lawyer, the Judge suddenly shouted, ‘Case dismissed !’
The lawyer immediately stood up protesting against the ruling saying, ‘Your honour, how can you possibly dismiss the case ? The Christians have Christmas and Easter and other days – the Jews have Kippur and Hanukkah, yet my client and all other atheists have no such holidays.’
The Judge leaned forward in his chair and said, ‘But you do ! You and your client are woefully ignorant’. The lawyer was a little surprised at this and said, ‘Your Honour, we are unaware of any special observance or holiday for atheists’. The Judge replied, ‘Well my calendar says April 1st is April Fools Day. Psalm 14 states, “The fool says in his heart, there is no God”, and thus it is the opinion of the court, that if your client says there is no God, then he is a fool – therefore April 1st is his day. Court is adjourned.’
In Holy Week we think of the foolishness of the cross in the eyes of those who are perishing. We think of the people who believed that Jesus had been defeated, and today we celebrate the greatest of all victories – the victory over death, and the triumph of life ! And we celebrate the fact that the cross can now be a symbol, not of brutality and death, but of the incredible love of Jesus, who died to save us all…
We, who are gathered here today, in line with millions of other people in Churches all over the world, hopefully recognise that fact, but Easter must also offer us a reminder that there are still a lot of people who don’t know the message is for them.
This week I had an e mail from Amazon. If you buy things from them, which I occasionally have, or if you look at things on their website, a record is kept and they draw up a kind of profile enabling them to send offers of things which they think might be attractive. However this week the e mail I received from them included garden tools, household tools and rather bizarrely, gemset jewellery, and I wasn’t even sure what that was ! Those who know me will know that this e mail was really not the best bit of targeting Amazon have ever done !
Certain things appeal to certain people – it is a fact of life. There are very few things which will appeal to everybody, but the Easter message really should, and that is why we, gathered here today, must take out our faith from Church, and live it.
Through this last Holy week we’ve thought of different aspects of the final week before the crucifixion, and in every one of them, we see the example of Jesus, an example of love and service, and a life that shouted of peace and reconciliation, with God and with other people.
One of the more modern symbols of Easter is of course the Easter Egg, and what a wonderful symbol it is for those of us who like chocolate – it, of course, comes about as a symbol of the new life that Jesus offers as we trust in him. But how many people really know that ? And how many people know what that new life is really about ?
We live in a Good Friday sort of world a lot of the time – a world where violence, suffering, greed, and death reign with stubborn sovereignty, but the reign is only apparent. Jesus has already conquered all of those things. Jesus has already offered an alternative to that world. He has offered a world of peace, a world of hope and equality for all, a world where every person is loved, a world where every person is concerned for the other.
This is the Easter world, and this is the message that through our thoughts, our words and our actions, we must be revealing.
It is great to celebrate Easter – and in so doing it is great to share a faith which is radical and transforming, and which is more personal than any other ideal or faith anywhere. It is about a relationship with Jesus, and with any relationship there will be ups and downs, and it will take time and effort to get closer, but there will no more meaningful relationship, there will be no relationship that shapes our lives as much as that one. Jesus who died is risen again, and he asks us to live his risen life on earth today.
Are we ready to give that time, are we ready to offer that commitment to the Saviour who has already committed everything to us.
Someone once said ‘Hope is born in not knowing where you are going but in knowing who is leading the way.’ We are invited to follow the one who leads the way…
A little while ago someone sent me some funny wordings that have been found on headstones in graveyards – one of them read, ‘Here lies John Yeast – apologies for not rising’ ! Today we celebrate a risen and living Saviour, a risen and living Saviour who is with us today and every day, and who wants us to celebrate that fact into eternity. AMEN
We live in a sometimes frighteningly politically correct society – only this week I was reading that in Florida an atheist created a case against the upcoming Easter and Pentecost holidays. He hired a lawyer to bring a discrimination case against Christians and Jews and the observance of their Holy days. The argument was that it was unfair that atheists had no such recognised days. The case was brought before a judge. After listening to the passionate presentation by the lawyer, the Judge suddenly shouted, ‘Case dismissed !’
The lawyer immediately stood up protesting against the ruling saying, ‘Your honour, how can you possibly dismiss the case ? The Christians have Christmas and Easter and other days – the Jews have Kippur and Hanukkah, yet my client and all other atheists have no such holidays.’
The Judge leaned forward in his chair and said, ‘But you do ! You and your client are woefully ignorant’. The lawyer was a little surprised at this and said, ‘Your Honour, we are unaware of any special observance or holiday for atheists’. The Judge replied, ‘Well my calendar says April 1st is April Fools Day. Psalm 14 states, “The fool says in his heart, there is no God”, and thus it is the opinion of the court, that if your client says there is no God, then he is a fool – therefore April 1st is his day. Court is adjourned.’
In Holy Week we think of the foolishness of the cross in the eyes of those who are perishing. We think of the people who believed that Jesus had been defeated, and today we celebrate the greatest of all victories – the victory over death, and the triumph of life ! And we celebrate the fact that the cross can now be a symbol, not of brutality and death, but of the incredible love of Jesus, who died to save us all…
We, who are gathered here today, in line with millions of other people in Churches all over the world, hopefully recognise that fact, but Easter must also offer us a reminder that there are still a lot of people who don’t know the message is for them.
This week I had an e mail from Amazon. If you buy things from them, which I occasionally have, or if you look at things on their website, a record is kept and they draw up a kind of profile enabling them to send offers of things which they think might be attractive. However this week the e mail I received from them included garden tools, household tools and rather bizarrely, gemset jewellery, and I wasn’t even sure what that was ! Those who know me will know that this e mail was really not the best bit of targeting Amazon have ever done !
Certain things appeal to certain people – it is a fact of life. There are very few things which will appeal to everybody, but the Easter message really should, and that is why we, gathered here today, must take out our faith from Church, and live it.
Through this last Holy week we’ve thought of different aspects of the final week before the crucifixion, and in every one of them, we see the example of Jesus, an example of love and service, and a life that shouted of peace and reconciliation, with God and with other people.
One of the more modern symbols of Easter is of course the Easter Egg, and what a wonderful symbol it is for those of us who like chocolate – it, of course, comes about as a symbol of the new life that Jesus offers as we trust in him. But how many people really know that ? And how many people know what that new life is really about ?
We live in a Good Friday sort of world a lot of the time – a world where violence, suffering, greed, and death reign with stubborn sovereignty, but the reign is only apparent. Jesus has already conquered all of those things. Jesus has already offered an alternative to that world. He has offered a world of peace, a world of hope and equality for all, a world where every person is loved, a world where every person is concerned for the other.
This is the Easter world, and this is the message that through our thoughts, our words and our actions, we must be revealing.
It is great to celebrate Easter – and in so doing it is great to share a faith which is radical and transforming, and which is more personal than any other ideal or faith anywhere. It is about a relationship with Jesus, and with any relationship there will be ups and downs, and it will take time and effort to get closer, but there will no more meaningful relationship, there will be no relationship that shapes our lives as much as that one. Jesus who died is risen again, and he asks us to live his risen life on earth today.
Are we ready to give that time, are we ready to offer that commitment to the Saviour who has already committed everything to us.
Someone once said ‘Hope is born in not knowing where you are going but in knowing who is leading the way.’ We are invited to follow the one who leads the way…
A little while ago someone sent me some funny wordings that have been found on headstones in graveyards – one of them read, ‘Here lies John Yeast – apologies for not rising’ ! Today we celebrate a risen and living Saviour, a risen and living Saviour who is with us today and every day, and who wants us to celebrate that fact into eternity. AMEN
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