your arms surround me in the lake

i am joined w/ you forever

A sermon on the breathtaking Easter Scripture

Everything has been leading to this. 

And no, I don’t just mean those Holy Week services only church rats attend. Although, THIS is what those services have been leading to. 

But, no. I am talking about so much more. Nothing less than absolutely everything has been leading to this. 

And neither do I even mean the story of Jesus! Although, this is what his story has been invariably careening toward since the very beginning of time immemorial itself! And neither am I talking about the corpus of Scripture, for that matter! Although, this is what the entire Bible has been building toward, too. 

But, no. I am talking about so much more. Nothing less than absolutely everything has been leading to this. Capital “E" everything.

But don’t go and start thinking I mean everything in some generalized sense, either. I’m not. I’m talking about the actually real stuff that comprises the sum and substance of your day-to-day existence, including this one! 

This is what all of history has been leading to. And I’m not talking about history in the abstract, either! No. I’m talking about the actual warp and woof of the passing of time. 

Everything has been leading to this. And yes, I’m referring to this present moment. And yes, I’m speaking of your presence here. Truly, nothing less than absolutely everything has been leading to this.

The past and the future collide in this eternal present. THIS moment is the hinge of history. Everything turns upon this juncture. 

And now, YOU’VE been caught in the middle of it. YOUR history AND your FUTURE, too, have all been swept up into the orbit of this everlasting instant! The Lord, in all the power thereof, has moved heaven and earth to get YOU here today, right now.

…I know! That’s not what you were planning on. Was it?!?

No, in all likelihood, you thought this day was like any other day. A special occasion, perhaps. BUT nothing any more special than all those other special occasions that preceded it. And all the other ones that will, as they tend to do, follow it, too.

But no. Something greater is afoot. Something holier is astir. And something oh so much more thrilling is underway. Underway, right now! underway right underneath your very nose!

Now, I have no doubt you were anticipating a little excitement. Probably, just enough to inoculate yourself against the real deal. But you didn’t intend for anything so, well, consequential. Did you?

Well, sorry! I’ve got to tell you, God has bigger plans for YOU today. YOU’VE just stumbled into the swirling vortex of history. YOU’RE now entangled within the very lynchpin of reality!

…This is how Easter happens, by the way. Just ask Mary Magdalen and other Mary. They knew they were making a special trip that morning they went to the tomb. However, they had no idea whatsoever that they were actually taking the most consequential excursion of their entire lives!

The women went to the tomb in a profound act of piety. They knew Jesus deserved better than that old rugged cross. So they went to the tomb to pay their respects. 

And in the reckoning of the old age, never has a greater act taken place. With the breaking of that Easter dawn, though, the sun had set once and for all on that bygone era. Now, their devotion was altogether unnecessary!

As the women arrived at the tomb that morning, the earth itself shook under their feet. And as unsettling as that was, it couldn’t compare with what the angel made of lightning was about to do! Descending from the heavens, and bringing the kingdom thereof in tow, the angel marched up to that stone that would seal the tomb and just knocked it aside!

Then, the heavenly messenger fashioned a makeshift recliner out of that rock. Casting a sidelong glance at the guards, now scared lifeless, the angel sat down and told the women not to be afraid. Gesturing over their shoulder, the angel told the women to take a peek in the tomb. 

Peering in, the women saw, as you know, that the tomb was vacant! As it should happen, the really momentous event had already taken place! With that now empty sepulcher, everything was forever incontrovertibly different!

With that open tomb, evil’s defeat was forever sealed! Thereafter, the prison of the dead would now serve as the mansion for eternal life! And no longer would anything in all creation hinder Christ in the slight ever again!

Christ had busted out! The crucified one was on the loose! Or, as we sang earlier, Christ is alive!

…Unbeknownst to those women, the time had run out on all those former acts of piety! Christ didn’t need their devotion anymore! In fact, the opposite was now the case! That Easter morn, Christ determined to give them the fullness of his passion! 

And so has Christ determined for you.

Piety might have brought the women to the tomb that first Easter. However, it was Christ’s work that made the occasion truly life-altering! And that, too, is no different for you!

I don’t know what it was that brought you HERE today. LIKE the women, it may have been piety. Or maybe it was your significant other. Or maybe it was your folks who dragged you here this morning. Or maybe it was just habit. I don’t know.

REGARDLESS, like the women, Christ has taken whatever it is that got you here and used it to pull you INTO the whirlwind of his resurrection! Whether you knew it or not, when you left the house this morning, you took your first fateful steps into the moment all your life has been leading to! 

Christ is just an all-purpose savior like that!

Everything has been leading to this. And while this may be what Christ’s life and death were invariably careening toward, he now stands and hands that triumph over to you! Nothing can ever be the same for you ever again. Christ has stepped immovably into your path!

And he stands there, not to judge you. And neither does he stand there to tell you to shape up, either. No, instead, Christ steps into your path to cast out your fear and give you a purpose, too! And he does all this by the power of his Easter passion!

The piety that matters today is all Christ’s! For it’s by the power of his faithfulness that you no longer have anything to fear! It’s on account of Christ’s fidelity that your, mine, and all your loved ones’ tombs will stand empty on that great Last Day! And what’s more, it’s by his passion that you are free to discover yours, too! 

Just like Easter morn sheds new light and Good Friday, so this Easter dawn sheds new light on your past! There’s no sin hiding in your closet, Christ is afraid to take on! What’s more, by his happy exchange, Christ takes those sins upon himself and in turn clothes you with his Easter righteousness!

And that’s not all, either! Now there is also a new perspective on your future, too! No longer does what’s ahead depend upon your past or your resolve to bring about a better day! For Christ comes to RAISE you from the dead, and bring you salvation all on his own power, his own holiness, and his own life eternal! 

You NO longer need to decide to be pious, for your Lord has given you everything, and eternity, too! You are given something that elicits your love, makes you devout, and even creates faith for you, too!

…And I know! You weren’t planning on that, either. Were you?!? Who could?!? 

It sounds good, you consent. You’re just not ready for all that yet. Maybe you still have some wild oats to sow. Maybe you’re like Saint Augustine, who prayed, “Lord, make me chaste. But not yet.” 

Or maybe you have some guilt about your past. Well, that just make you like St. Paul! St. Paul, who heard the Lord’s summons while he was still persecuting the church! Either way, in all likelihood, as far as you can tell, the time isn’t right for all this.

Well, you ought to know, this, too, is how Easter happens! That’s what after the sabbath means! After the sabbath means that Easter didn’t happen on time. No, it came too late. And yet, somehow, it also arrived altogether too early, too! 

Easter didn’t come when anyone expected. Easter came too late. It came after it was time to get back to business as usual.

Whatever else the women were thinking that first Easter, they knew that trip to the tomb would be their last. At the cross, all their hopes for a story of glory unto glory were forever laid to rest. 

Walking to the tomb that morning, both women were no doubt desperately trying to come to grips with the ugly truth. Namely, that Christ was forever dead and buried in the tomb.

However, BEFORE the women could reconcile themselves to that fact, the earth itself began to rattle under their feet! What’s more, BEFORE they could start to figure out how to get on with the rest of their lives, that angel clothed in illumination itself interrupted!

And the angel didn’t cut in to give the women an updated schedule, either! No, the angel arrived to tell the women it was too late to make plans. While the rest of the world was sleeping, the fateful moment came and went! A whole new era commenced in the meanwhile!

Everything that had come before AND all that would follow had been irreparably repaired! It was now utterly too late and totally too early, too! Now, the past had been indelibly knit together in the one pierced upon the cross! Now the future was to be forever held in the wounded hands of the one who was nailed to the tree!

…And so is it for you! Which, by the way, is what I’ve been saying this whole time! 

Too late. Too early. It’s all the same to Christ! And for him, the wrong time is just right! 

If you’re not ready today, that just means you’re finally prepared for Christ’s work which always comes as a surprise! Or if you’re worried it’s too late for you, you can rest assured you now stand on the right side of Christ’s resurrection that always clocks in on the wrong side of the deadline!

You’ve wandered into the pole of history this morning! Your future is out of your control! And the past is out of your hands, too! But, and here’s the not-so-secret secret, that’s the fun! That’s the freedom of Easter!

Christ didn’t clear the tomb for himself. No, he did it for you! Christ is risen to crack your heart, soul, and mind as wide open as his tomb! Christ is risen to fill your past, present, and future FULL of the promise of his EMPTY tomb!

You no longer have to manage your life! Now, for once, you can start to really live it! You can finally enjoy your existence for the gift it’s been all along!

You are no longer left to your own devices! For God, in Christ, has definitely interrupted all of that for you THIS morning! Now, you get to step out there into that great adventure of faith! The great adventure of faith you were always intended to have! 

Your death and life, in that order, are bursting with the holiness that lit the stars in their course and turns the earth in its orbit, too! It’s all yours! All yours right now.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, everything has been leading to this. Or, to borrow the words of Christ — and that’s why he uttered them, by the way, so your pastor could crib them for this Easter Sermon. And here they are, “Do not be afraid!” 

Do not be afraid. Go! Go and tell Christ’s sisters and brothers to get on with their lives! Get on with their lives because they can rest assured they will see Christ THERE in the midst of them! 

And so will you. Everything has been leading to this. Go. Go and tell. The confession that raises the dead and sets the captive free is all yours! You have nothing to fear! 

So I guess the only question is, what are you waiting for?!? Christ isn’t.

Jesus Christ is Risen Today! That’s not just the name of our hymn. It’s a fact! And it’s the most significant one of your NEW existence! Your new life that begins today! Today; the day of Christ’s resurrection!

Jesus Christ is Risen Today; ELW 365