Matt. 28:1-10
STORY: “There’s a story of a little boy who
was not happy about going to church on Easter Sunday. His shoes were too tight,
his tie pinched his neck, and the weather was way too nice to be cooped up
inside a church…. As he sulked in the back seat of the car, his parents heard
him mutter; “I don’t know why we have to go to church on Easter anyway, they keep
telling the same old story and it always comes out the same in the end.”
Prayer:
-
Mike is
a recovering alcoholic and would often go into the worship space to pray and
ask God to forgive him. He once told me that he wonders if God could ever
forgive him.
-
Joann
struggled at believing she was worth anything as a person… she was abused by
her father as a child and as I listened to her she contemplates suicide. She
wonders how God could love someone like her.
-
Chuck
has a degenerative eye disease and has become blind. He struggles to find
self-worth. He says, “How can I live and work when I can’t even see? One day he
ran into another person and fell. The other person noticing he was blind yelled
at him saying, “you’re a worthless ________ and you shouldn’t be out by
your-self.
-
A woman
is angry that her young husband dies and leaves her alone. She is angry with
doctors for not doing more and accused them of making mistakes. She asks God
why he let this happen. God why would you do this to me? Why do you hate me?
-
Paul is
a convicted felon… he’s in prison serving 20 years for aggravated assault,
criminal sexual assault, home invasion to name a few of the charges. He wants
to change his life, but anger issues always seem to get him in trouble. He
often ends up in segregated confinement. He has discovered God, but often
struggles to please God, but keeps making the same mistakes. He often yells out
to God… why can’t I stop doing these things? God why can’t you help me? God
can’t forgive me!
-
Peter
was standing by a fire pit and people were coming up to him asking if he
belonged this guy named Jesus. Peter denied it over and over. Peter believed he
didn’t deserve forgiveness because what he did was unforgivable.
In all these stories
we hear of struggle and doubt. Peter, Thomas… in fact all of Jesus’ friends
struggled with the resurrection… struggled with forgiveness. We struggle with
how God dispenses his forgiveness and grace. All of us have had regrettable
experiences… all of us are broken and yet in our life stories, there are
stories of hope… you see… it’s really not about us or them… But about Jesus’
love for us.
In all of these
stories these people experienced God’s love and forgiveness and with God’s help
are walking a path of redemption and resurrection. It doesn’t mean everything
has been made better… Joann & Mike still struggle… Paul still is in prison.
Yet… God is present with them and with us.
You see… It’s what
Jesus did on Friday that TAKES the unforgiveable and MAKES it forgivable. On
Friday forgiveness came and today Easter Sunday we celebrate that Grace and Love
are possible…. Forgiveness is possible.
Today is Easter and “You Are Loved”
I saw the movie
“Heaven is Real” the other day. I won’t give too much away in the event you
haven’t seen it. The movie is about a 4 year old boy who gets an opportunity to
experience heaven. As the movie goes the boy is in surgery for a burst appendix
and is not doing well. He doesn’t die… so it’s not a near death experience, but
he gets to see heaven and Jesus and some others. He tells his dad… a pastor…
about this experience. And the dad struggles to understand as do others who
learn about the little boy’s experience. In the end… what I got from the story
was… Heaven is real… God is real… but, more to the point, the story is about
love & grace through the struggles of the characters.
In our Easter story
today the same is true for the struggles of Jesus’ friends. Again it’s a story
of Love & Grace. In the resurrection of Jesus… God has come and love is
made possible. Today is Easter and love is present. It’s found here in the
bread & wine… in the warm embrace of a friend… in the comforting words of
encouragement. It’s Easter and you are loved in an inconceivable, irrevocable,
and uncanny way by a God who created you so that you might love. It’s Easter
and we are infected with the possibility of love… we are capable of love… we have
the capacity to love… and a pervasive desire to love and be loved. It might not
be at the forefront of our psyche… It may not appear to be a driving force in
our lives… But I’m here to tell you… IT IS THERE!!! Love and Forgiveness and
Grace is there! And it’s available!! It’s Easter and you are forgiven and made
to love… and my friends… whether or not you believe it… You are good at it!
This
is the message today… Easter Sunday… It’s Easter and you are loved and you are
forgiven because Today is the Day that GRACE Came.
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