A United Methodist Pastor's Theological Reflections

"But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory (nikos) through our Lord Jesus Christ." - I Corinthians 15:57


Monday, April 9, 2012

Mount Pleasant Community Easter Sunrise Service Message


Delivered by Joe Clark, member of First UMC, Lancaster on Mount Pleasant,  Lancaster, Ohio
“The Greatest Love Story; Ever"
Good morning and Happy Easter!
Will you please pray with me:  We know where two or more of us meet in your name, Lord, that You are there also.  May the meditations of my heart and the words of my mouth be acceptable unto You., Lord. Amen.
When I think of the great love stories in history, these few come to mind: Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”;
Abigail and John Adams; you may not know this fact about our second President, John Adams.  When he was Ambassador to France, he wrote a love letter to his wife, Abigail every day.
Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning; you may remember her poem to her husband; “How Do I love Thee?  Let me count the ways. 
                             I love thee to the depth and breath and height
                             My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
                             For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
                             I love thee to the level of every day’s
                             Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
                             I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
                             I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
                             I love thee with the passion put to use
                             In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s
                             faith.
                             I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
                             With my lost saints, I love thee with the breath,
                             Smiles, tears, of all my life!  and, if God
                             choose,
                             I shall but love thee better after death.
These love stories, as lasting and beautiful as they are, are pale compared to the Greatest Love Story Ever Told.  It started with the birth and life of Jesus Christ and the climax began with what we call Holy Week; Good Friday and Easter.  I would like to share with you my thoughts and my faith as it relates to this Greatest and most dynamic of ALL Love Stories.  It is the story that changed the world, and can change each of us if we accept God’s grace. 
To talk about the wonderful story of Easter, the greatest celebration in history would not be complete or as meaningful without briefly considering the prior happenings of Holy Week, especially Good Friday.
Good Friday wasn’t a good Friday for Jesus and His Disciples.  The same week that Jesus joyfully and triumphantly entering the City of Jerusalem, He was arrested, tried, convicted, tortured, scoffed at, crucified and buried.  Certainly WE wouldn’t call that a good week, that’s for sure.  After Jesus was arrested, His closet and best friends wouldn’t acknowledge Him.  None of them came to HIs defense or to support Him.  One of Jesus’ favorite disciples, Simon-Peter even went so far as to deny he knew Jesus; not once, but three times during the next few hours after Jesus was arrested.  Just as devastating, was the fact that one of His own disciples betrayed Him.  Needless to say again, this was not a good day for Jesus.  It is extremely difficult to imagine the injustice and the betrayal Jesus had to suffer, especially, to this kind and loving person who truly loved everyone, especially the social outcasts of His society, the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the lepers and all the other forgotten people. 
It goes without saying, without the Good Friday experience, the crucifixion and Jesus’ resurrection, the following Sunday is just another day on the church calendar.       
Let’s go back to the first Good Friday.  I’m sure the Disciples were scared to death after Jesus was crucified.  The Disciples were best friends of Jesus; Jesus was also their leader, teacher and their Messiah, and to most of the Jewish people Jesus was expected to be the king who would end the Roman oppression; but now He was dead and buried.  What an incredible turn of events!  Most likely the Disciples were consumed with the fear that they would be hunted down, tortured and crucified as well being close friends of and devout followers of Jesus.
The Disciples obviously didn’t understand about the resurrection or  forgot what Jesus had told them about His death and eternal life.  Their leader is dead, there is no future for them.  That’s probably why the Disciples denied they knew Jesus and went into hiding.   I’m sure we would have done the same thing as well.  
Thank God we have been blessed with knowing . . ., as Paul Harvey would say, THE REST OF THE STORY.
Good Friday marks the beginning of the greatest love story ever.  And we are the benefactors of its truth.  On the third day after the crucification of Jesus, He rose from the dead and eventually ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God, the Father.  Because of Jesus’ resurrection, He took with him ALL the sins of the world, past, present and future; including mine and yours to be forgiven and forgotten, and the guarantee of life eternal in paradise.  Wow!  Can you believe it? 
Because of Jesus’ resurrection and His intercession with His and our Heavenly Father, we can experience an unimaginable peace and euphoric joy forever.  It is a paradise where God’s love is such that we are not capable of defining or imagining in our best of dreams.  In the Gospel of Luke, Chap. 23: Verse 42-43; one of the condemned who was being crucified with Jesus said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  And Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Also, it is God’s statement of truth to us in the Gospel of John Chap. 3, verse 16.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.”  Let me quote the Gospel of John again, . . .”For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.”  And in the Book of Romans, Chap. 5, Verse 8, the Apostle Paul said, “. . . God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.”
As hard as we try, we are not capable of loving God like God loves us  because we are imperfect beings.  We are not capable of that kind of love.  Think about it.  Is your love for God great enough or so perfect that you would be able to give-up one of your children, let alone your ONLY begotten son or daughter as a sacrifice for the sins of the world?  I love God very much, but I also know my love for God is not such that I could give even one of my sons as a sacrifice for the sins of the world.  That’s what God did for us.
Should I or we be feeling ashamed of ourselves at this point?  NO!  I believe God does not expect us to sacrifice any one of our children to prove to God of our love for or our obedience to Him.  In the book of Genesis, Chap. 22, Verses 1-12, God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac on a makeshift altar.  At the last minute as Abraham was about to stab Isaac on the altar as a sacrifice, God withdrew his command.  It was God’s test of Abraham’s obedience to Him.  And for Abraham’s obedience to God, the angel of the Lord said to him, “. . . by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves, . . . .”
So, . . . what is God’s hope and expectation of us in return for His gift of unconditional love and grace?  The answer is found when Jesus states God’s two greatest commandments 3 of the 4 Gospels.  In the Gospel of Matthew, Chap., 22:  Verse 37, Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
And a second is like it:  “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments hang ALL the law and the prophets.” 
It is OUR HEARTS that God wants.  It is the kind of love WE ARE capable of as imperfect beings; great love no doubt, but not the perfect, unimaginable and unconditional love God has for us. 
In the Gospel of John, Chap. 15:  Verses 9-11, Jesus said, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.  If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.  I have said these things to you SO THAT MY JOY MAY BE IN YOU, AND THAT YOUR JOY MAY BE COMPLETE . . . .”
Because of the resurrection of Jesus, we can not only enjoy God’s incredible love, but there is another incredible gift of love from God.
It is HOPE!  The Hope that, we as sinful beings with all our warts, diseases, disabilities, shame and even death, can overcome all these and more.  We can become perfect beings and reside in a perfect place with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and our Heavenly Father.  That’s not all; we will be with all our family from all time as well as all our friends.  It will be heavenly where the environment will be a life of peace and joy forever and ever.  And all the people said, Praise the Lord. 
You might say at this point, how do we know, and I say to you because the Bible tells me so.  In 1st Corinthians, Chap. 15:  Verses 57 and 58;  1st Corinthians, Chap. 15:  Verses 57 and 58.  The Apostle Paul said this truth, . . . thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. . . .Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”
Even today, after 2000 years, you and I can participate in the greatest love story ever.  Jesus said in His prayer to the Disciples, “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  This love story is on-going and it will never end.  As far as God is concerned, every person in the story is the main character.  All we have to do is accept God’s grace and God will show us the way, the truth and the life through the life and teachings of His Son Jesus Christ.  I can’t say it too much; God loves you and me unconditionally. 
Go forth this day and celebrate God’s love and the truth of God’s forgiveness, and joy, and peace, and the hope of eternal life; and share this truth with everyone you meet.  This is no dress rehearsal! 
The forgiveness of our sins and eternal life through the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ is God’s Easter gift to all of us.
Let us pray:  Our heavenly Father,  give us the faith and the strength of conviction to love you with all our hearts, and with all our souls and with all our minds and with all our strength and to love our neighbors at least as much as we love ourselves.  Give us strength and stamina to be your hands, your feet and your voice.  In Christ name and for his sake we pray.  Amen.
Scripture References:
John 3:16, Matt. 22:37-40, Luke 10:27, Matt. 26:39, Gen. 22:1-12, Mark 12:30-1, John 15 9-12, Matt. 6:9 and Romans, 5:8; 1st Corinthians, 15: 57-58.
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