And as I reflect upon those questions, survival and normal, I begin to ask myself, what DOES Easter mean? What difference does it make?

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1 What Difference Does It Make? A Sermon by David J. Droog April 12, 2009 Easter Sunday First Presbyterian Church, Rochester, MN I Peter 1:3-9 John 21:1-17 Friends, this morning is personal. That is, what I am going to share with you is some of my own struggle in seeking the significance of Easter. It is both a theological and a spiritual struggle. The question I have is the Sermon title: What Difference Does it Make? What difference does Easter Make? Often following Lent and Easter I am asked one of two questions: the first question is Did you survive Easter? I know what the person means. Lent is often a spiritually, physically and emotionally draining time for church staff. There are extra services. I put a lot of effort into Maundy Thursday. I m always glad when Easter comes. But they also mean, did I have a nice Easter and did things go well and did I have any major problems, and I usually respond that way. We had a very nice Easter. Things went well. Church was full, and so on. But the question causes me to ponder- did I survive Easter? And of course, I do. If I have not survived Easter I would be dead. Death being the opposite of survival. Another question I often get after Easter is are you back to normal? and my response to that question is I hope not! I hope I am not normal. I hope that Easter has had such an impact on me, that I will never be normal again, whatever normal means. And as I reflect upon those questions, survival and normal, I begin to ask myself, what DOES Easter mean? What difference does it make? I know the obvious answer. The obvious answer is that Jesus Christ died for our sins on that cross on Good Friday and God raised him up for us on Easter to give us Eternal life. His rising opened the gates of heaven so that every person who has ever lived has the chance, the opportunity to go to heaven to spend eternity with God. I know what Easter means! But that seems so simple, so easy. Not that it isn t significant or that it isn t powerful, or that we shouldn t be filled with tremendous gratitude to God for that one act alone. We should and we are. But that doesn t seem to be enough. It feels like there ought to be more to it than that. That it ought to mean something in addition to everlasting life. If it is just everlasting life then I m going to quit thinking about it and wait until I die.

2 Now let me back up a little bit. Easter was not to convince anybody of the resurrection. The Jews already believed in resurrection. The Pharisees believed in resurrection. Only the Sadducees didn t believe. Remember the discussion Jesus had with Mary and Martha when Lazarus died? Jesus asked Martha if she believed her brother would live again and she answered, Yes, God will raise him up in the resurrection in the last day; and Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. Easter was not to convince anybody that there was and is a resurrection. They already believed in a resurrection of the soul. So what difference does Easter make? Most of us do not need to be convinced that Jesus really did rise from the dead, we already believe that. We already believe that Jesus died for us and was raised for us. Paul wrote to the Romans, If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you shall be saved. (10.9) I d like to think that most of us sitting here believe that Jesus is the Son of God. I think we already have faith. Our faith does not need upbraiding at this point. Just by the fact that we are here in church tells me that we don t need convincing of the resurrection. We believe that Jesus is the Son of God, we believe that he died on that cross, we believe that God raised him up for us. We re convinced. Jesus did rise from the dead to give us eternal life. I don t question that! So, What difference does Easter make? As I have struggled with this question I have tried to think of my day to day life, right here, right now. What difference does Easter make? Easter does not mean that I am not going to die. I am going to die to this earth. Easter does not change that. It does mean that death is not the end. It means that I will have life beyond this life. It means that I do not have to be afraid of dying, but it does not mean that I am not going to die. I m not afraid of dying. I don t particularly want to die right now. I d like to see my daughter get married and maybe have some children of her own. I like living, but I m not afraid of dying. In fact I am kind of looking forward to the experience. It has to be the most fantastic travel experience anyone of us will ever make. So while Easter takes away the fear it doesn t stop the event. I m reminded of the story of the pastor preaching his Easter Sunday sermon and saying, every member of this church is going to die. There was a fellow down near the front who got this silly grin on his face and so the pastor said again, every member of this church is going to die. This time the fellows grin got bigger and went almost ear to ear. And so the pastor looked right at him and said, Didn t you hear me, I

3 said every member of this church is going to die. And the fellow responded, sure I heard you, but I m not a member of this church. Easter does not mean that I won t have a tough time while I am here on earth. I may still have cancer, I may still have a stroke or heart attack, I may still be unemployed or have any number of accidents or injuries. Easter does not change those things. We can look at war, or starvation or homelessness, or a failing economy. Easter doesn t change those things either. What difference does Easter make right here, right now to you and to me in our daily lives? The more I thought about the question, the more I searched the scripture for some clue. I read the gospel resurrection stories over and over again looking for something that says that this event is more than just the promise of eternal life; looking for something that would tell me what impact this event had on the day to day life of the followers of Jesus. I like this John passage because I think it begins to hint at what those changes are. This is not exhaustive, this passage is one that probably contains a sermon in every verse or two, but it gets us started. First of all, I like it because in verse 14 it says, this was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. And Luke suggests that Jesus had already appeared to Peter on a previous occasion, so it is possible that Peter has already seen Jesus 4 times since the resurrection. Peter knows that he is alive. Peter isn t questioning any longer whether or not Jesus has really been raised. He knows it, just like we know it. Even when Jesus appeared to them again on the beach there didn t seem to be a question of who this is verse 12 says, no one asked, who are you? they knew it was the Lord. But even with that knowledge what did Peter do? He went fishing. He went fishing! Understand that this was not recreational fishing. This was not, I have nothing better to do fishing. Fishing is what he did. This is how Peter made his living. He went back to work. He went to his job. He went back to providing for his family. Jesus was no longer around giving directions, telling him where to be and what to do, and Peter had responsibilities. He went back to work. Most of us go back to work a day or two after Easter. Peter s friends went with him because many of them were fishermen also. They went back to their jobs. I can t quite believe that was going back to normal in the sense that this was the humdrum chores of life, but rather this seems to be an anticipatory, what s going to happen next? kind of action. Good grief! Jesus has been raised from the dead. We ve seen him! What could possibly be next? It s as if going fishing was a

4 way to do something comfortable and known until they knew exactly what Jesus expected of them under these new circumstances. He s alive! What difference does it make? One difference that it makes is that Jesus appears unexpectedly. We don t when. We don t know where. We may not recognize him when he does appear. John says in verse 4, just as the day was breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Prior to Christ s death Jesus was with the disciples and with the people of his time and place. He was present in the flesh. But Easter means that he is now present with all people in all times and in all places. He is present with us even when we don t recognize him. He is sitting in this church. He is standing in this pulpit. He sits at our tables at home. He stands beside us in the hospital. He is here. Now. He is no longer someone who lived 2000 years ago revealing himself to a few, he lives now for us. Another possible difference, we find, not so much in this passage, but in Matthew and Luke. There we read that following the resurrection the women departed from the tomb with great JOY; and later the disciples disbelieved with JOY, and still later, the disciples returned to Jerusalem with great JOY. And earlier, in John, at the last supper, Jesus said to the disciples, [I have told you these things] so that my JOY may be in you, and that your JOY may be full. If the resurrection means anything to us, if it means anything to us as Christians, if there is really any difference at all, I think this is it! JOY! Our lives express incredible JOY! If you think of the word JOY as an acronym, that is each letter standing for something else, I like to think of JOY as this: J=Jesus O=Overcame death for Y=You. Jesus overcame death for you! and that is inexpressible JOY. And that JOY is lived out in our lives and our relationships. Every person should be able to figure out that we are Christians because our JOY is to be like a flashing neon sign on our foreheads. The apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth in his second letter and he said, We are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved, and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other the fragrance of life. Phillip Yancey writes about these words: To the unbeliever our faith has the strong smell of death about it. It intrudes with an unsettling reminder of mortality and of another world that sits in judgment on this one but believers gain a new set of olfactory receptors.

5 Beyond the stench of Good Friday believers can detect the startling fragrance of a new life. For this reason and this reason only, the Christian Faith is worth pursuing. Think about the smells of Spring. Lilacs and lilies and crocus and daffodils and tulips. There is nothing quite like the smell of newly turned earth in the field, the rich strong smell of dirt that suggests that Spring is here. That s life. As Christians there is to be so much JOY in our lives that we give off a smell of life to those around us. Yancey writes, a smell, any smell, is a mere hint of something more substantial. And that is why we can be to God the aroma of Christ. Because Easter and only because of Easter, his fragrance becomes ours. (I Was Just Wondering, p232f) What difference does Easter make? One author says it this way, Our acceptance of the resurrection gives us joyful and triumphant faith, confirmation of the Christian Way of life, and meaning and purpose for our daily actions. (Scriptographic, About Easter.) There is one more item in this passage that I believe we cannot overlook when we ask, What difference does it make? Now one has to be very careful here- I do not want to push us all the way to Pentecost, or even the Ascension. In both Matthew and Mark Jesus tells the disciples to go preach the gospel of repentance and forgiveness to all the world, but also tells them to go to Galilee to wait for the power on high. I believe that is an Ascension/ Pentecost directive. But at this point we still have 40 days to celebrate the JOY of the Risen Christ, we have 40 days to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, to think on what that means to us. But that doesn t mean to do nothing, to sit back in reflection. A few moments ago I said that going fishing for Peter, or going back to work for us, is an anticipatory activity. Peter was waiting to know, wanting to hear what was coming next. What would Jesus say to him? What does Jesus say to us? Jesus asks first Do you love me? and then he says, Feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep. These words are not just instructions; these words are the difference of Easter. Because of the resurrection we, as Christians, treat others differently. We treat them in the name of Jesus Christ. As a friend of mine said when I went to him and asked my question, what difference does Easter make? He said, The result of the resurrection is that now we live it! Now we live it! What does it mean to live as Easter People? One writer said it this way, The resurrection offers you God s help to change your life in order to respond to other s needs, and become caring and just. If we weren t Christians, if we didn t believe that the resurrection makes a difference in our lives we probably wouldn t care. We wouldn t

6 support the church or organizations that help and help and help others. Easter does make a difference in our lives. In I Corinthians 15 Paul says, if the resurrection isn t true, then we are to be the most pitied. If the resurrection isn t true then our faith means nothing. Why would anyone in their right mind give away their money, or their time, or their energy to anyone else if it weren t for the resurrection? Why would anyone put themselves through what Paul did, stoning and whipping, and imprisonment, if the resurrection wasn t true? Even Paul, I wouldn t have done it if the resurrection wasn t true! We give of ourselves because the resurrection makes a difference. I think this poem by Brittni Ingvaldson expresses it well: The Gift of my Hands If I could give the world a gift it would be my hands. My hands can help people in wheel chairs. My hands can help to hold and love a tiny baby. My hands can help to pick up litter on streets and in ditches. My hands can help to build houses for the homeless. My hands can play instruments for the world to hear music. My hands can talk to people in sign language. My hands can write letters for people to read. My hands can help plant a garden to grow food. My hands can hold a friend s hand to show friendship. What Difference does Easter Make? We live life with the great expectation that Jesus may appear to us at any time in any place. We live life with JOY and in JOY because Jesus Overcame Death For You! We live life so that others know it, through our words, our actions, our lives. We are the difference that Easter makes, so that our JOY overflows to all those around us. Jesus Christ is Risen and that is inexpressible JOY! Amen.