Sidney UMC - Easter Sunday - 04/04/21 - Sermon - “New Life, New Hope, New Light, New Love!" ("The Journey to New Hope and New Life" Series: Part 7 of 7)

Sunday 04/04/21 - Sidney UMC 

Sermon Title:       “New Life, New Hope, New Light, New Love!”

       ("The Journey to New Hope and New Life"- Series: Part 7 of 7)

Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24                                         

New Testament Scripture: Acts 10:34-43 

Gospel Lesson: John 20:1-18

          He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia! Happy Easter everyone!

          So, for over a year now, as we all know, we have been living through this Global COVID-19 Pandemic. It is hard to believe that this has gone on for months, as what started as a strange and scary time, is now how we are living each and every day. We are wearing masks, taking temps, social distancing, going up and down grocery aisles, in one direction only, etc. Over these many months, we have all lost a lot, we have all suffered, some have lost jobs and loved ones, and we have all struggled with the realities of this pandemic. In addition, we have our own struggles, our own challenges, and other things in our lives that we have and continue to struggle with.

          As of Good Friday, we ended the 40-day season of Lent. The 40-day season of Lent was created by the early Christian Church, to be modeled after Jesus’ 40-days and 40-nights of trial and temptation by Satan in the wilderness. During his 40-days and 40-nights, Jesus was tried, tempted, fasted, and suffered. The season of Lent, therefore, is a call for us to be reflective, to look inward, to give up, to give away, and to draw closer to Christ. The season of Lent is a season to sacrifice and lessen our desires and to focus more on God.

For the past 6-weeks I have been preaching a sermon series called “The Journey to New Hope and New Life”. This sermons series during the season of Lent, culminating this morning on Easter Sunday, focused on how Jesus struggled for 40-days in the wilderness. In the same way, many of us have struggled for months during this pandemic. This pandemic has been a time of trial, and we have suffered and lost so much. Yet, many are being vaccinated, and many of us can see the light at the end of the tunnel of this pandemic. Like Jesus’ 40-days and 40-nights of trial and temptation coming to end, so will this pandemic.

In coming to the end of this pandemic, we must change and re-group so that we can prepared to enter and join our “new normal”. We must be ready for resurrection, as we are resurrection people. Jesus left the wilderness and rejoined the world, and soon we must as well.

During this time of pandemic, we have still been able to live out our Christian faith, the love that we bear for each other, knowing that eternity with Jesus will come one day. We also know that Jesus triumphantly and yet humbly came into Jerusalem this past Sunday on Palm Sunday. We had palms, we shouted hosanna! Already, those same palms that were green and fresh on Palm Sunday this past Sunday, have already started to dry and to wither.

This past Thursday night, we gathered to tell the story of the Last Supper. We discussed the final Passover Seder meal between Jesus and his disciples. We talked about how Jesus instituted Holy Communion on this night, or the Lord’s Supper. We talked about how Jesus washed the feet of his disciples, and how he gave them the commandment, or the Maundy, to love each other.

Two days ago, on Good Friday, we gathered to tell the story of Jesus’ arrest, trial, torture, and crucifixion. By sundown on Friday night, Jesus was entombed in tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. Of all of Jesus’s original 12-disciples, only John was at the crucifixion, as the others scattered. I can imagine how hopeless it must have felt when Jesus died, and the disciples did not know what would happen next.

In this “Journey to New Hope and New Life” maybe we can relate to this darkness.? This loss, and not knowing what is coming next. These months of pandemic have been hard, and sometimes they seemed like that they would never end. The good news though, is this morning the tomb of Jesus our Lord is empty. Jesus is not there, for he has risen. He has risen, indeed! Alleluia!

As Christians, by our nature, we are a people of “New Life, New Hope, New Light, and New Love!” As Christians we are a people that believe resurrection is coming. It might be hard to see it, it might be hard to understand it, and it certainly it can be hard to know when it is coming. Yet, as Christians we are resurrection people, and we believe in what is possible through Jesus Christ. This is why we know today that the tomb of Jesus Christ is empty, and this is why on this day that we know that this awful pandemic will come to an end.

Today on this Easter Sunday, we can declare that through the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have “New Life, New Hope, New Light, and New Love”. Jesus is risen, he is alive. The dark waiting period from Good Friday to know is over, and we now have renewed purpose, hope, and new life. Like the resurrection of this Easter morning the darkness and pain of this pandemic will end, and we will have a resurrected world. We are already hearing and seeing the sings of new life all around us. All around us we hear birds, we see flowers growing, and have had some rather good weather many days lately.

Today Jesus rises from the dead, and soon, very soon, we will be resurrected to our “New Normal,” as the darkness of this pandemic comes to an end.

In our gospel account from John 20:1-18 for this morning once again, we hear of the resurrection of Jesus. The disciples were skeptical about it, and they did not know what it would look like. Likewise, some of us are skeptical about the end of our pandemic, yet it will end, and new life will begin, as it is already happening all around us.

In our Book of Acts reading for this morning, the Apostle Peter give us the gospel. He speaks of the life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Peter explains that through the resurrected Christ we are offered new life, and new life abundantly.

In looking again at our gospel of John reading for this morning once again, let us look at the text one more time. Beginning in John 20 it says:

“20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. ² So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” ³ Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. ⁴ The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first”

(Jn. 20:1-4, NRSV).

          Imagine for a moment, if early tomorrow morning, a woman in your family ran to your house and knocked on your door. When you open your door, she is on cloud 9, and she is thrilled. You say to her, it is really early, and what are you so excited about? She then says, I just found out that the Global COVID-19 Pandemic is over! All of it is over. No more masks, no more virus, and life is back to normal! 

          If this actually happened tomorrow, and if you got the knock on the door early in the morning, and you received this message, would you believe it? Would you actually believe that this long and extended time of trial and struggle actually has just ended? You mean Jesus is alive, or you mean that the body has been taken? This pandemic is over, or it just seems over? Imagine the excitement that we would have knowing that this pandemic is over? Imagine the excitement we would have knowing that when Jesus died for our sins of Good Friday that it was for keeps, as he was risen to new life this morning. This would mean that Jesus was exactly who he said he was, and that he is indeed the true and risen lord of life.

          So, John and Peter run to Jesus’ tomb on this morning nearly two-thousand years ago, and the gospel then says:

^“5 He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷ and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. ⁸ Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; ⁹ for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. ¹⁰ Then the disciples returned to their homes”         (Jn. 20:5-10, NRSV).

          It is noticeably clear that John and Peter see that burial tomb of Jesus Christ is empty. Further we are told of the linen wrappings there that were on Jesus’ body. Specifically, we are told that the linen wrappings that were on Jesus’ body were laying where his body was laying. Yet, the cloth that was placed on Jesus’ head was not with the linen wrappings that were on Jesus’ body, instead the cloth that was Jesus’ head was rolled up in a place by itself.

          It is remarkably interesting that when John and Peter enter Jesus’ empty tomb that we hear that the linen wrappings that covered Jesus’ body were laying on the surface Jesus’ body was place on, but that the cloth that was on Jesus’ head was rolled up and place in a place by itself. Why would John give such special attention to the where the body coverings were, and were the head covering was? Further, why would John mention that head covering was rolled or folded up?

          Before jumping into that, our gospel of John reading for this morning ends saying:

¹¹ But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; ¹² and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. ¹³ They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” ¹⁴ When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵ Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” ¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). ¹⁷ Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” ¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her” (Jn. 20:11-20, NRSV).

 

          Jesus us indeed and resurrected. He is the risen Lord. He is risen, indeed. Alleluia! Again, why Jesus’ face covering in a place by itself, and why was it rolled up or folded neatly. Let me tell you a story about this in closing. Here is the story:

“Do you know anything about the following Hebrew tradition?”

“John 20:7 tells us that the napkin that was placed over the face of Jesus was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes. The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded, and was placed at the head of that stony coffin. Is that significant? Absolutely!”

“In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day. The folded napkin had to do with the master and servant, and every Jewish boy knew this tradition”.

“When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it. The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table until the master was finished. If the master was done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and toss it onto the table. The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days, the wadded napkin meant, “I’m done.” But if the master got up from the table, folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table because the servant knew that the folded napkin meant, “I’m not finished yet.” The folded napkin meant, “I’m coming back!” He (the master, Jesus) is coming back! Hallelujah!” (https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/3878/). 

“New Life, New Hope, New Light, and New Love” has come this morning through the empty tomb of Jesus Christ. We are offered new life, we can be spiritually resurrected, and we can know that Jesus is with us. Further, we know the mater, Jesus, is coming back.

Today Christ is alive, and he is alive in us. “New Life, New Hope, New Light, and New Love” is breaking in, and like Jesus rising from the dead, so this pandemic of death will end, and new life is coming. A “new normal” is coming, and Jesus is alive. With this, again I say, “He is Risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! Happy Easter, and amen.