Sermons

Dear people of God – Jesus Christ is risen, he is risen indeed! This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it! Who will roll away the stone? I. Don’t let fear and doubt rob you of Easter joy II. Live and tell the message that Christ is risen INTRODUCTION What lasting meaning is Easter going to have for you? In other words, after you leave here this morning, what lasting use are you going to make of your Easter 2003 celebration? If all we do is come here and sing the hymns and alleluias and hear the Easter story and then go home and keep living our lives like before we came here this morning, then we have emptied Easter of its real meaning and purpose. Now why would I make such a bold statement like that on Easter Sunday morning to a church filled with people wanting to hear the joyous message of the resurrection of Christ? Because if that is what we do, we fall into the same trap the women did on that first Easter morning. Listen again to the last verse of our Gospel lesson which we heard just a few moments ago: “Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.” We need to set the scene to understand everything. The angel had just told the women “He is risen” and they let that go right past them like nothing ever happened. The question of the women earlier in our text sums it all up very well – “Who will roll away the stone?” On this Easter morning, let’s ponder that question “Who will roll away the stone?” and use it as our theme. As we do so, we will see that it tells us 1) Don’t let fear and doubt rob you of Easter joy and 2) Live and tell the message that Christ is risen I. Don’t let fear and doubt rob you of Easter joy The whole premise and purpose which the women went to the tomb tells us their mind set. Writing by inspiration, Mark tells us that the women “bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body”. Even though Jesus had told them for several year now that he was going to rise from the dead, the women had not grabbed on to that by faith. They had heard him say that he must die and in love they fully intended to come and anoint his dead body. As they were talking and chatting on the way to the tomb, they suddenly realized that they had a bigger problem – there was a large stone, 5’-6’ in diameter in a crevice in front of the tomb. How were several women going to get it out of there. Suddenly fear and doubt filled their minds in greater measure. Not only were they firmly holding on to their belief that Jesus was dead, now they had a stone to worry about. Even when they got to the tomb, saw the stone rolled away, heard the angel tell them “he is not here, he is risen”, they still left there bewildered, terrified and bothered. It may not literally be a stone of 5’-6’ diameter that needs to be rolled away, but don’t we often similarly let fear and doubt rob us of Easter joy? Our Lord gives us promises that he will be with us, he tells us that because he has risen from the dead, he rules over all thing and still we let fear and doubt creep in? “Who’s going to pay the bills when the checkbook balance is so low?” “Who is going to fix my marriage”? “Who’s going to take care of my family problems?” “What is going to happen now that grandma is dying of cancer?” These are ways that we, like the women, let fear and doubt rob us of Easter joy. II. Live and tell the message that Christ is risen But the answers of the Easter angel to the women give us something else to consider. There is another alternative to letting fear and doubt take away out Easter joy. The angel knows exactly what the women are doing there and dispels their fears and doubts with one statement “He has risen!”. This is interesting considering that the women didn’t say anything to the angel and yet he knows what they are thinking and what they need to hear. But notice what the angel does. He barely acknowledges their fears. He doesn’t give much credence to them. Instead he points them to the empty tomb. He emphasizes the fact that Christ is indeed risen. He has done what he said. He defeated the devil and paid for sin on Good Friday afternoon. He has now conquered death. There is nothing they need be afraid of or doubt or worry about. It is still to the empty tomb where God’s Word points us on this Easter morning. When health, family, job or financial concerns would lead us to fear and doubt and thus rob us of our Easter joy – God’s Word points us to the empty tomb and says “look there – he defeated everything!” But if we come here this morning and have our fears and doubts removed. If we leave here with the message and the music of Easter ringing in our hearts and ears. If that is all that we do, we have still missed part of the Easter angel’s message. Notice what else the angel tells the women – “See the place where they laid him. But go, tell”. The angel turns the women into messengers. And specifically, the angels turns the women into messengers for the disciples and Peter. With that Easter message reinvigorated in our hearts and minds. With it still resounding in our ears, God also tells us that it is to be on our lips as well. I don’t think any of us have to think too hard or look too far to find some who is either not a Christian at all or has fallen away from the faith. We don’t have to look too far to find someone around us who has lost a loved one and is having a hard time trying to go on with life. Someone around us who is struggling with all that is going on in their life right now or is struggling with a particular problem caused by sin. The Easter angel says to us “Go, tell!”. Take that message of hope, comfort and strength which you have again heard this morning and share it with people who so desperately need it. CONCLUSION So who will roll away the stone? The stone has already been rolled away. No matter what it is we face in our lives, the stone has been rolled away – therefore don’t let fear and doubt rob you of Easter joy – not today nor the rest of your life as you live and tell the message that Christ is risen. Amen!