The Foolishness of Easter Luke 24: 1-11; I Corinthians 1:18-25; 4:10 Tim and Joan are dedicated Christians. They have given their lives to the church and, more importantly, to Jesus Christ. That s why it breaks their heart that their son, who was raised in the church, wants nothing to do with the church. Or religion. Or faith. Or God. Which may have something to do with the fact that his wife is an atheist. Raised by her parents as such. And when the two families get together, as they often do, their son s in-laws make sure that they do their best to mock Tim and Joan s faith, to question their loyalty to God, and to, oh so tactfully, suggest that they are fools for believing in all that God-Jesus-Bible stuff. And you know, there are probably a few people (maybe more than a few) driving by our church this morning, looking at the cars in the parking lot, and thinking to themselves: What a bunch of fools for believing all that stuff. Well, today is April Fool s Day, the first time Easter has fallen on April First since 1956, and since Paul did pronounce the fact that he was a fool for Christ, let s talk about our foolish faith. Jack came back from serving in the army in Europe during World War Two. It was during a skirmish that he and a couple of his buddies were separated from their unit and the chain of command. They wandered for a day or two, not sure if they were in Allied territory or enemy territory. They did get back to their unit, but Jack was never the same. He spent much of his adult life in veteran s hospitals, suffering from what used to be called battle fatigue. We would call it PTSD today Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Don t you think that was what the disciples of Jesus were suffering from for excruciatingly long hours after Jesus crucifixion? All that they had counted on had disappeared. For a while, they had run away from each other it was safer not to be together. And they were certainly not connected to the chain of command- He was in a garden tomb. But now, well, they were in the Upper Room, afraid of every sound. The doors locked tightly. Gazing out the window just to be certain that no Roman soldier was after them. Behind enemy lines for sure! Fear had a grip on them. And it was never going to let go. So they thought. Ever been gripped by fear? Oh, perhaps you ve never suffered from PTSD (and while some professionals say that only members of the military can suffer from it, most will tell you that PTSD can happen to anyone after a stressful situation). But is there anyone of us who has never had a sleepless night, tossing and turning over some problem - medical, financial, relationship-wise, and finding no solution? Which only increases the fear quotient. And the morning light doesn t make it any better.
Fear. Well, as the disciples were trapped in their own fear, their own version of PTSD, into the Upper Room came Jesus not through the door it was still locked. He just appeared but in flesh and blood, as He had been the last time the disciples had seen Him in Gethsemane. Except with the scars that proved He had been on that cross. That Golgotha had not been a hallucination. Alive. Free of the tomb. Releasing them from the fear that had bound them. If He was free, why not them? Showing them that they did not have to be toss and turn all night waiting for the light that would never come. It was there shining forever. Showing us, too. For the empty tomb means that we don t have to be afraid, unless we choose to. And who would choose to? Remember the words of John in his first letter? Perfect love casts out all fear. And there is no love more perfect than God s love. So let me hypothetically ask those who think we are fools for believing in all that God-Jesus- Bible stuff : What do you do with your fears? Where do you take them? How do you escape the sleepless nights, the daily PTSD s that invade your serenity and security? Maybe we are fools for Christ, but the foolishness of God is greater than the wisdom of the world. And the empty tomb is the perfect place to bury all our fears. We are victors, not victims. If you are familiar with Greek mythology, you might knew the story of Sisyphus, the King of Corinth. He was a self-aggrandizing, devious, and deceptive man. And he was carried off into the underworld to be punished by Hades, the Greek god of the underworld. His punishment? He was to roll a large boulder up a steep hill and then push it over the top where it would crash down on the other side. Then he would be free to return to his old way of life. The only thing was once Sisyphus got it almost to the top, he lost his grip on it and the boulder rolled back down to where it had started. And he started all over again. And this happened again and again and again. It was Sisyphus eternal punishment and perhaps he started to have regrets for the way he had lived. Hopefully, anyway. Wasn t that how the disciples of Jesus were feeling? Remember back in the Upper Room at the Last Supper when Jesus declared that one of them would betray Him? And every one of them asked: Is it, I Lord? Telling moment, wasn t it? Every one of them could have taken Judas role from him. And we do know that they did betray Him; perhaps not in the same way Judas did. But where were they when the mob was calling for Him to be crucified? Where were they when the crowds mocked Him as He carried His Cross through the streets of Jerusalem?? Where were they when He hung on the Cross? And of course, there was Peter, the bold, brazen, brash disciple full of bravado, denying Jesus three times. Regrets? Shame? Guilt? Plenty of it. And no matter how hard they were going to push their own boulder up the hill, it would always roll right back down.
How many regrets do you have? How often have you joined Sisyphus in the endless task of trying to get them up and over the summit and down into a valley where they will never be seen again? And yet, when Jesus appeared to His disciples in the Upper Room on Easter night, He did not berate them. Castigate them. Blast them for their actions. As John tells it, He just said: Peace be with you. And an interesting thought comes in Mark s Easter story. When the women who went to the tomb saw the angel sitting where Jesus body had been lying, he told them: Go and tell the disciples, AND PETER, that Jesus is risen. AND PETER. The denier. The one who had plenty of regrets. The one, as Luke tells the story, who had his own personal audience with the Risen Christ before any of the others. Receiving forgiveness. And his regrets were washed away. As were those of the other ten. As ours can be. Too often, we join Sisyphus in his interminable and futile attempt to rise above all that brought him down. When we don t have to. Unless we choose to. As Paul said in Romans: There is therefore now no condemnation in Christ Jesus. Because Jesus defeated not just physical death, but the death that attacks our souls and tried to steal our peace of mind. So let me ask hypothetically all those driving by who think we are wasting our time here: What do you do with your regrets? How do you wash away your shame? What happens to your guilt when it becomes a burden too great to bear? Maybe we are fools for Christ, but the foolishness of God is greater that the wisdom of the world. And the empty tomb is the perfect place to bury all of our regrets. We are conquerors, not the conquered. Bobby was born to a drug-addicted mother, who, not long after he was born, died of a drug overdose on the streets of Camden. His father, who was also addicted, wanted no parts of him. He was raised for a few years by his paternal grandmother, who had not even raised her own son. And she just had no idea about what to do with a boy who suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome. Eventually he was adopted by an aunt and uncle who have done all they can to help him have the life he deserves. And who love him despite his issues. The problem is that Bobby doesn t think he deserves love he feels abandoned by a mother who never bonded with him and a father who, even some years later, has no interest in him. In Bobby s eyes, he doesn t matter. He is a broken soul, a throwaway kid, someone who has no one who loves him the way he defines it. He just can t accept the fact that he deserves the love of the family who adopted him. A heart-rending story if there ever was one. So let s go back to that Upper Room on the afternoon of the first Easter. As the disciples sat there, broken. Beaten. Battered. The one they had followed, trusted, put all their faith in, was gone. Jesus had abandoned them. Maybe even God had abandoned them. Where was He when Jesus was arrested? Where was He when Jesus was nailed to a Cross? Why had He been silent these last two days? Did He stop caring about them?
The God of love wasn t handing out too much love to them! But then again, maybe they didn t deserve His love. How often had they misunderstood Jesus? How often had their selfish motives (Hey when Jesus was the king, they would be His privy council!) gotten in the way of what Jesus had been trying to teach them? And while they wondered where God had been these last forty-eight hours, had they been anything but a bunch of cowards, hiding in a corner, eyes gazing at the floor? A bunch of broken souls, unable to deserve God s love, or anyone s love, ever again. Maybe you don t feel as abandoned as Bobby does. Or as the disciples did. But we all know the feeling of brokenness. We all know the way life, and the people in it, leaves us battered and bruised. Maybe even God has left us behind and doesn t love us anymore. But we can give it all up. If we choose to. Cast all your cares upon Jesus, it says in I Peter 5:7, because He cares for you! And Peter ought to know! As Jesus body was restored for all He went through, so are our souls. So I d like to hypothetically ask all those folks who wonder why we are bothering to talk about someone who couldn t possibly have risen from the dead - because it just isn t rational what do you do when you feel broken? Where do you go when your soul aches? Who do you turn to when the lights go out and you are walking in the darkness? Maybe we are fools for Christ, but the foolishness of God is greater than the wisdom of the world. And the empty tomb is the perfect place to leave behind all of our brokenness. We are the triumphant ones, not the ones triumphed over. So let the world call us fools. Let the world look at us as if we checked our brains at the door when we walked in. Let the world think we are wasting our time. For you see, in response, we get to say April Fools to the world. Because we know where our fears are. We know where our regrets are. We know where our brokenness is. Jesus tomb isn t empty at all. It s filled with anything that keeps us from being what He is this day: ALIVE! Not just existing. Not just being. ALIVE!
Worship April 1, 2018 Call: Litany Assurance: Litany Children s Message: Jelly Bean Prayer word ALIVE Prayer: Loving God, we gather this morning with great joy, for we know that in You we have been released from the fears that try to defeat us. We gather this morning with great gratitude, for we know that we have been freed from the regrets and shames that try to bring us down. And we gather this morning with great celebration, for we know that we have been lifted up from our brokenness that can never triumph over us. And we gather in great thanksgiving for we know that all of these things are possible because You brought our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, forth from the tomb. We shout out today: He is Risen! And because He is, so may we be. Needs, etc. LORD S PRAYER