Easter Sunrise Service - The Unmundaneness of the Empty Tomb - Revamped

  We’re here this morning, in the midsts of uncertain times. Wars, and rumors of wars, both in the military sense, and the economic sense swirl around us. Increase in prices at the grocery store and at the gas pump, reek havoc on our normal routines.

We all expected another recent time of uncertainly. Covid wrecked our normal routines in ways that we are still feeling today. I once heard a commentator say about Covid, “We will never go back to the way things were. This virus, is a 9/11 moment, where the world will forever be changed.” And it’s true. We are a different society, our world feels different.

But the reality is, throughout history we have seen that humanity always returns to a mundane existence even after great change. Remember the slogan after 9/11, “We will never forget?” We have. But life goes on living, and we adjust to what now becomes common place, to the new normal.

This same return to a mundane existence was with the women as they approached the tomb of Jesus that first Resurrection Sunday. One week prior, there were shouts of “Hosanna” in the streets. A new king was bringing an everlasting kingdom to the world. The Jews would finally be freed after centuries of being trampled underfoot. 

But four days later, the Romans put an end to that hope. Jesus, the one who was celebrated as this new Jewish king, was killed in the most vicious and isolating way possible. Crucified as a thief and mocked in his kingship.

Now, as the women approached Jesus’ tomb, the mundane of Roman oppression, the mundane of lost hope, the mundane of waiting for another Messiah, hung on their hearts. We might think, “No, they were waiting for his resurrection.” But that’s not the case. We’re told in Luke 24:1 that, “they went to the tomb with the spices they had prepared.”

Those spices, were to finish the burial ceremony of Jesus, that was so rushed just three days prior. The mundane reality of death and loss, hung heavy on them. Mundane, not that death is something we talk about flippantly, but mundane in the fact that it is the only constant of this life. 

The glorious change that they expected to happen when Jesus was made king, gave way as the women were making their way to the tomb. The mundane reality that they had come to except their beloved Jesus to radically change, lay dead before them in the tomb.

But as they approached the tomb, the mundane began to break yet again. The stone was already rolled away. The Roman guards seem to be gone. The tomb was empty, Jesus’ body was no where to be found. And then, two magnificently robed beings stood by them. The very presences of these two, sent the women into fear, and they fell down at the beings’ mercy.

Yet again, as one of the dazzling men spoke, the mundane shattered because of Jesus. “5 Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again (Luke 24:5-7).’ ”

The words shattered the women’s mundane world. Death had not won this day. Jesus, who was crucified, had indeed risen from the dead and now walked among the living. The words of Jesus, as spoken by these magnificent men, roared in their ears, and they returned to the other disciples. 

But these disciples were lost in their own mundaneness. Their hope, as was the women’s, shattered and the world around them returned to it’s regular paces. Even when the women entered the other disciples’ presence, the mundane was more real, than the experience that the women had. In fact, the disciples looked upon the women and their talk of Jesus raised from the dead, as ramblings, as wishful words of hysteric women.

All but two. Peter the one who had betrayed Jesus, by denying him three times, and John, who understood the love that Jesus had for him, but was powerless when Jesus was taken to the cross.

These two men ran out of the room towards the tomb. John arrived at the tomb first, but he stood outside as Peter entered in. There in the tomb was the burial cloth of Jesus neatly folded, but no body. Peter and John were amazed (Luke 24:12 & John 20:3-8). Could the mundane truly be broken? Could Jesus truly have been raised?

Later, Jesus would gather his disciples together and send them out to carry his gospel to the world. 

We are gathered today, because the mundane was broken almost 2,000 years ago. It’s really easy for us to look around with an expectation of the mundane. Even in this time of social turmoil, we desire the mundane. Where we can just back to our regular schedule. Back to doing things like we’ve always done them.

But Jesus calls us out of the mundane. Jesus calls us away from the things that are ever present in our view. Things like worry, distrust, anger, fear, self-focus. These things lead to the most mundane act that happens in this world, death. A tragic and horrendous occurrence that rocks our world, but then life goes on. Every generation before us, has gone on to the grave, and even when we’re confronted with the rattling of our mundane world with the reality of death, we still just accept it. We still continue in our mundaneness.

Yet, God calls us away from that acceptance. God calls us into the breaking of the mundane world, and into his life. A life that throws off the sins of this world. The focus on self, the worry that calls to us, the anger we hold towards others. God calls us to experience the resurrection daily in our lives. 

And we can only begin this journey, by accepting Jesus’ as our Savior. His death and resurrection are not a passing blip on human history. The world did not just keep moving forward as it always had. Kingdoms and nations were radically changed by this event. Jesus stands in the course of time, as the crux of everything. There is nothing in this world that hasn’t been touched by the work of Jesus. 

He calls us out of the mundane and into the work he has for us. The work of God that tells us that there is more to this world than the mundane. More to experiencing the creation, than we could ever imagine. More to loving others than we have ever done. More to ourselves that we could ever realize, because we are called to a relationship with our Creator. But it all begins at the empty tomb, because at the empty tomb the mundane is shattered. The one common event for every person, death, is broken and every day after it, the mundane can never truly be the same. Because Jesus is risen!

So where are we right now? Are we trapped in the mundane of life? Are we trapped in worry, anger, uncertainty, fear? Jesus has come to break through the mundane of these trappings, but we must come to the empty tomb. We must come to a realization of why there was a crucifixion, that we are sinners. We desire ourselves over others. We desire our life over God’s. And we follow what makes us happy, rather than God’s will. This is why Jesus had to die, because we have created a gulf between ourselves and God, that we cannot cross. But God can, Jesus came to us to build a bridge through the cross back to God. Back to the life that we were created to live. And the exit point of that bridge is the empty tomb. The empty tomb which leads to new life in God, where worry, fear, selfishness, and even death has no power over us. And the mundane things of this life, are renewed in the light of God’s work around us.

All we have to do is accept that the tomb was empty. A few years back, I took time and gave all the reasons why the tomb wasn’t empty on that first Resurrection Sunday. But all of them fell short. The tomb was historically empty, looking at the evidence, no one can deny that. So now we must make a choice, do I accept that Jesus is risen, or do I not? Do I accept the mundaneness of this life, and my ultimate destiny of everlasting death, or do I accept that Jesus shattered the mundane and that I can live a life that breaks every facet of the mundane?

The empty tomb lays bear before us, even now, calling us to make a choice that has eternal ramifications. We must deal with it. I have accepted that Jesus left that tomb. I accept this because of historical evidence, of philosophical evidence, and personal evidence. And each of us must ask ourselves what happened then?

If the tomb wasn’t empty and Jesus isn’t risen, then the mundane of this life will continue until the earth passes away into cosmic dust, as a mundane event that has no reason behind it. 

But if the tomb was empty because Jesus is indeed raised, then there will be a day, when Jesus returns and calls us to account of what our choice was with his empty tomb.

To the Christians here today, are you living in the reality that the empty tomb shattered the mundane. That you are called to share the gospel with those around you, before it’s to late for them? That no virus, or war, or anything else holds fear over you? Let today spur you onto praying for people to receive the gospel and to share it with them in the coming weeks. Stand firm in your trust in Jesus, and let it show to the world around you, that your Jesus broke the mundane of this world.

To the one who isn’t following Jesus, I want to call you to repentance. That means that you come to an understanding that you are, what God calls, a sinner. That means that you have fallen short from God’s perfection that you were created to uphold. You’re not alone, I am there with you. Each of us has fallen short of God’s perfection, because we go after our own wants rather than God’s. And by doing so, our lives reflect the destruction it brings. Even if one lie, or one angry thought passes from us, we have put ourselves away from God’s perfection. But that’s why Jesus had to come and die for us. God himself comes and dies for us, to bridge the gulf between God’s perfection and our sinfulness. Jesus took all our sin on himself, even though he didn’t deserve it, just so we could have the opportunity to come back to God. And this is that opportunity, and all we have to do is bow our heads and say something like this, “God I’m a sinner, and I am undeserving of the gift Jesus offers me through the cross. Jesus I accept the empty tomb, that you are risen. Come and save me, and guide me as I follow you the rest of the days of my life.”

If you prayed that prayer, then the mundane has shattered in your life. I would love to pray for you to be used by God as he created you to be used. To work with him to shatter other people’s mundane lives. Let us all look back at the empty and no longer live this life as if it’s simply mundane, but in the reality that God truly changed the world and there is no going back. Amen.

The March to The Resurrection Sermon Series - Week 4: One Hope - Revamped

  I don’t know if you did this growing up, but when I was in third grade, about nine years old, we lived in a small mountain community called Fiddletown. The house was on five acres of mountain slopes, was a two story, with two bedrooms, two bath, and a loft. My room was the loft. The kitchen was directly underneath me, and late at night I would make my way down the stairs for a bite to eat, or a drink of water. 

My parents’ room was on the second story with me, and I had to pass it by as I made my way down the stairs. In my mind I always thought, if I turn on the light, then they’ll know I’m awake. So, I worked really hard making my way down the stairs without the use of lights. And when your house is out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by trees that are taller than the building, its pitch black. 

Navigating down the stairs in complete darkness, remembering which steps made creeks and which ones didn’t was a skill that I developed over time. In fact, during the day, I would close my eyes and make my way down the stairs so that I could practice with the lights on. 

But every so often, I’d miss a step and go tumbling down the stairs. Luckily I never got seriously injured, and was never caught. But ever since then, I don’t tend to turn on lights if I don't’ have to. In our church building, in the pitch black of night, I make my way through the hallways and sanctuary, without ever turning on lights. People that walk with me, tend to turn on the flashlight on their phones, but for me, I’ve practiced not seeing so often, that I’ve become accustomed to walking through places that I know, as if I were blind.

It’s this idea of being okay with walking around as if we were blind, that brings us to our final week in our March towards the Resurrection Series. In this final week, we’re going to be jumping ahead in the book of Luke to the 24th chapter, where we’re going to be starting in verse 13. And as we open up to Luke 24:13, let’s bring this series into full focus by looking back on the last four weeks.

In these last several weeks, we’ve been focusing on interactions Jesus had as he made his way to Jerusalem. In the first week we saw parents trying to get their children to Jesus for a blessing. But the disciples were keeping the children and parents away, because they weren’t as important as other people. A person who was important enough, by their standards, to meet with Jesus, was a rich young man with a lot of respect in his town. But Jesus, rebuked the disciples for keeping the children from him, and through Jesus’ teachings, it was the rich young man that left without receiving a blessing from Jesus. We walked away from the first week with the understanding that God is calling us to seek his way humbly, that others may be blessed as we are.

The next interaction Jesus had, was with two men. The first was a blind beggar who sought a physical healing from Jesus. Jesus healed the man, and the crowd who saw it rejoiced at God’s work. The second man, was seeking to simply understand who Jesus was, but when he met Jesus, he realized his sin and gave up the wealth that he had spent his life trying to accumulate. This man received salvation that day, but the crowd had grumbled that Jesus would even interact with such a man. It was here that we understood, that God is calling us to not allow our personal biases to keep us from rejoicing at his work.

Finally, last week, we looked at three sequential events: The triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, Jesus weeping over the city, and Jesus clearing out the temple. These three sequential events showed us what needs to happen in our own lives. We tend to want physical victories, just like the people as they heard Jesus’ coming to Jerusalem and thought he came to overthrow the Roman government. But Jesus wept over them, because they were missing what really needed to happen. Jesus had come to clear out sin from us, so that we may have a spiritual rebirth. And we walked away from last week with the understanding that God is calling all people to be cleansed of their sin, because at his return, there will be no more opportunities to enter his kingdom.

  This brings us, as we jump from chapter 19 to chapter 24 of the Gospel of Luke, to the resurrection. The very event we have been marching towards. And just like we’ve done in the weeks prior to today, we are going to look at one more interaction that Jesus after he was crucified and raised in a new glorified body. Let’s start reading in Luke chapter 24, in verse 13.

13 That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. 22 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, 23 and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” 

Now, I love this. Jesus is raised and one of the first things he does is find some disciples walking along, and kind of messes with them. “What are you discussing?” Jesus asks. “What things?” He asks, continuing playing dumb. As if he has no clue and needs to be told everything. But let’s notice somethings about this whole situation. 

First, these two disciples were walking away from Jerusalem. Why? We know that they had heard that Jesus rose from the dead. Why not hang around and see for themselves? Why leave when something amazing could be happening?

Could it be because they had lost hope? In verses 20 and 21 they reply to Jesus’ questions with, “… our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.”

It sounds like they had, past-tense, hoped that Jesus was the king, but when he was crucified they lost that hope. Even when people came and told them he had risen, they still were without hope. Couple this with the fact that they had left Jerusalem, it sounds like they were no longer confident that Jesus was what they had hoped he was, even with the possibly of his resurrection.

Now in verse 16, we get an interesting sentence. It says, “ But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.”

Now, I have read other people’s interpretation of this verse, and most people think that God is keeping them from seeing that it’s Jesus. But I don’t think that’s the case. From what we have just talked about, how they have lost their hope of Jesus becoming king, I think it’s their hopelessness that is keeping them from recognizing Jesus, and not God.

I mean listen to what Jesus tells them, starting in verse 25, “25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”

Jesus gets on them for their loss of hope, and he points out how they have not believed what God had spoken through the prophets. It’s because of their own hopelessness that they are unable to recognize Jesus standing before them. But it doesn’t end there. Let’s pick it back up in verse 28.

28 So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, 29 but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” 33 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Did you catch that? It wasn’t until Jesus shared a meal with them, blessing it like he always did, that they woke up to this man sitting with them, who was indeed the risen Jesus! Notice what they say in verse 32, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”

I think this is something that we really need to recognize. As Jesus opened up the Scriptures to these two disciples, the hope rekindled inside of them, but they still did not recognize him. It’s almost as if they were wanting to recognize Jesus, but were fighting the thought of it. They allowed their loss of hope to be greater, than the Jesus in front of them.

It’s almost as if they were so used to being blind in hopelessness since Jesus’ crucifixion, that when they had an opportunity to see clearly, they couldn’t. Even when Jesus spoke hope to them through the Scriptures, they still couldn’t let go of their blindness, of their hopelessness.

Yet, at the moment they sat down for dinner with Jesus, the breaking of bread, the blinders came off. They were able to see and everything changed. They had spent the better part of the day walking away from Jerusalem, away from hope. They had reached their destination as the Sun set. But at the realization that Jesus was indeed resurrected, they left in the dark to return to Jerusalem, and back to their hope in Jesus.

And this is what God is calling us today, a return to hope. A return to him. With everything going on in our world, God is hope in troubled times. He is the only solid footing in times of great strife. God is the constant when everything is shifting around us and we don’t know what the next day will bring. 

God is calling all of us back to hope, and that hope can only be experienced through the risen Jesus. Who, even now, stands with us waiting for us to recognize him in our midst. We must dive into his word, the Bible. We must take time and enter communion with him, which we are going to do today. We must seek to recognize what he’s doing right now, and not allow the hopelessness of the world to send us away from the God of hope.

Today, if you do not know the hope that is in Jesus, I want to invite you into a personal relationship with him right now. And that personal hope-filled relationship starts with being honest. You and I are not perfect. We fail at a lot of things. One of the greatest failures we have done is to think we can do life on our own. God never made us to be like that. To stumble around in the dark, becoming accustomed to it. No, he created us to live our lives in tandem with him. Everyday at every moment, drawing our strength from him.

But we have gone our own way, indulging in what the Bible calls sin. Giving into anger, lying, gossip, breaking down others, sexual sin, and so much more. But this is the hope found in Jesus, God doesn’t leave us where we’re at, but provides a way to break loose from that sin which leads to hopelessness and death. Instead of a dead end in this life, he opens the path to a new destination that ends with his hope and life. 

And all we have to do is go before God, and admit we sin, recognizing Jesus’ death on the cross on our behalf, and accepting him as our Lord and Savior. If you hear the voice of God today and desire to move from hopelessness of this world, to the hope that is only found in Jesus, then repeat this prayer after me, “Jesus, I have sinned, and because of that I am hopeless, but you say you have given me hope through the cross and through your empty tomb. I accept that gift of hope, please be my Savior and my Lord that I may trust and follow you all the days of my life. Amen.”

My challenge for this week is write down those things you have which draw you to hopelessness, and bring them to the communion table. We’re goin to do something different today with communion. Instead of passing the bread and cup, we are goin to walk to the table, taking the piece of paper that contains those hopeless things, cast them before the cross and embrace the hope that is through Jesus. 

The bread represents his body, broken for the hopeless of sin, that we might not be broken for our own sin. The cup represents the blood of Jesus, which covers us in his forgiveness, and leviers us into his hope. 

Join me at the communion table, that we would be in relationship with Jesus, the only hope of the world. 

Let us celebrate today, that Jesus is alive, and is one day coming back, and that we may be found on our own road recognizing him as Savior. Amen.