The End Is Just The Beginning...

April 5, 2015

Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church

Easter Sunday

Matthew 28:1-10 MSG

John 20:1, 11-16 AMP

The End Is Just The Beginning

          A reading from the Gospel of John…chapter 20 verses 1 and 11-16. Listen for he word of God for you and me the people of God

Prayer for God’s word to be heard through me or in spite of me…

(Sponge Bob’s best day ever)

How many of you have ever had such good news that you just couldn’t contain it? I know I have. It seems as if I would explode if I didn’t share the news with someone…be it something about myself or someone else…I just can’t help but spread the news! How about if you had a great idea that would solve so many issues? It might be an easier way to do something or an idea that would help humanity…the possibilities are endless. There is no telling where we might have good news for some one. The only boundary that it may have is our own imagination. We might right now have some good news that needs to be shared. What’s stopping you?

          We have come to the end of our Lenten journey. We have heard the seven last words, or statements, of Christ. We also visited the Upper Room and shared a meal and were given a new command from Christ…the command to love others not as we love ourselves but as Jesus loved and still loves us. We even sat at the foot of the cross and stood with those who stood by when Christ was put to death for all of humanity’s sake. But here…today…we celebrate Christ’s victory over death and joyfully…with enthusiasm…with all of our heart… can say “CHRIST IS RISEN”…YES HE IS RISEN INDEED!

          But is that the end of the story? Are we to just say our thank you’s and good bye’s to the Cross of Calvary? Or, is there something more? My answer is NO! This is not the end 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.

          There are so many in the world who feel that they have nothing but death ahead of them in life…they don’t know that there is victory over death in Christ and this victory is and will be ours through and by faith. We will all face death at some point in time…we will all experience the death of a loved one at some point on our journey of life and faith…we may even experience death to old things in our lives…death to things that just don’t “work for us anymore.” But, death is not the end…it is a beginning of another chapter in our lives that’s called eternity…death can make new things spring forth in our lives and the lives of others…

          We heard this morning from the Gospel of John about the women who went to the tomb and found it empty. They were shocked and amazed by the angels message to them. And then…and then…they saw Christ on their way to tell the disciples the Good News. Jesus had brought forth new life with His resurrection.  In order to spring forth with a new life that would make His people glad and rejoice in His salvation the old life of a shroud being cast over His people…the sheet spread over the nations…needed to be removed. Death needed to be swallowed up forever…now we are not talking about the physical death but the death to the spirit that was present because of sin. Death, O death, where is thy sting?

          This promise was accomplished through the death and RESURRECTION of Christ that we heard about in the Gospel of Mark I read this morning. Victory over sin and death…victory in Jesus! Even though Jesus had told the disciples He would be back…He would rise again after His death, they still didn’t understand until it was accomplished on the first Easter Sunday morn. Death, O death, where is thy sting?

          And the best news ever was when Jesus was actually seen…in public none the less…by others. These “sightings”; did nothing but only confirm Jesus’ victory over sin and death. They say that seeing is believing and did they ever see. Death, O death, where is thy sting?

          Today, Easter Sunday, is not the end of the story. We have the best news ever to share. There are those out there who haven’t heard the good news and it is our commission to share this news with all who will hear. Are there people in your lives or mine that need a little bit of good news? Are there those around us that are suffering with the penalty of sin that need to be freed from their oppressor? Are there people in our live that are frozen in fear because of their uncertainty of their future of the future of their loved ones? Share the good news…shout it from the roof tops…give others a hope for the future. CHRIST IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN INDEED! Christ has conquered death for you and for me…for all of humanity! Alleluia He is Risen! He is Risen indeed!

Amen!