The Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to Luke.

On the first day of the week, at early dawn, the women who had come with Jesus from Galilee came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared.

They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them.

The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.”

Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles.

But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened. (Luke 24:1-12)

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How would you describe an item of worship?

It would be something you sacrificed for. It would be something you gazed at adoringly. It would be something you couldn’t help talking about to friends and family alike. It would be something that came first, before all other things in your life. 

We could be talking about some  television program, couldn’t we? Or a great and costly work of art.

Or we could be talking about participation in a sport, children’s hockey, for example, would fit the bill. It involves  sacrifice – watch it, – talk about it, get up at insanely early hours to get rink time,  yeah,  that sounds like kid’s hockey to me. You want your kid to win, don’t you?

Think about the commitment of time, money, effort, and if you are involved in such an activity, consider how that compares with your commitment to your God. Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to build up guilt here, television, sports, cultural events, hobbies, and so on are part of what makes life interesting.

I am merely making asking for a comparison of the levels of of commitment so you will know if you have kept things in perspective.

In the book of Genesis, we read a story that might involve loss of perspective by a man named Abraham. 

The story is about  Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac, to God. Really!

That willingness sounds crazy to us today. How could anyone want to  kill his only son because he thinks he has heard God’s voice asking him to do so? We would probably label him as a schizophrenic. But the story isn’t really about Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac, it’s about the depth of his commitment to God. It is about how far he will go in trusting God.

God has already told Abraham that his descendants will be without number. His only son is Isaac. If he is to kill his son, then how can he have descendants?

God’s not going to go against His word.

When Isaac, going along with his father, to a place of sacrifice,  asks his father, “Where’s the animal, father?” Abraham says calmly, ” God will provide the lamb for a burnt offering my son.”

The mindset is that Abraham  will go along with whatever God says,   because he has a trust in God  – that ultimately, he  trusts Him according to His word.

Abraham might say, “I will go along with whatever God does, says or sends my way, because He has promised to be with me, to deliver me, to look after me, even when facing death.  I know I can trust him.

” I can offer him my most valuable possession, my son, and I know He will not fail me. Even so, when I read the story of Abraham I think, `what a demanding God.’

God doesn’t seem to make the same sort of demands today, now does He?

Come to church on Sunday, and the stuff that goes along with that. It’s not too demanding, is it?

Television is more demanding, isn’t it? Especially if you get caught up in an interesting series.

However in a former church I was fortunate to serve, the tradition was that a vigil was held the night following the  Maundy Thursday worship, when someone would be present in church throughout the night until Good Friday morning  dawned.

People  put their names forward without any fuss, and came throughout the night to participate in the vigil. That was quite demanding, I thought..

In church, we make many requests of people to help, for example,  someone who is in need of food, to help clean up the church, to  visit someone who is sick or lonely, to help teach children in Sunday School, to  assist in various fund- raising events…..and so on,  and we have a wonderful response.

And needs are met. But not every church can do that.

I used to drive up to church in Georgetown on a Sunday morning, and I would drive past a little church which was right next to a golf course. At eight thirty on a Sunday morning, there would be three or four cars in the church parking lot, and about fifty in the golf course lot.

It seemed to me that the answer to the so-called decline of the   church might be spelled out right there.

The things of the world are more demanding of our time, money and effort, and we often respond more readily to those demands than to demands of faith.

Worldly things have a greater attraction sometimes, than  faith. And I think it’s because for some of us, when we have come to church we may not found a Christ that is alive to us.

For some reason, we read, and hear about the Israelites and their leaders and their exploits, dating back some four thousand years. We read about a man who lived and ministered to people some two thousand years ago. And for some of us, it’s as dead as the rest of history!!!

It’s more alive out there, in the world.   The daytime soaps are more real for some people than Jesus.

Do we come to church to find a dead Jesus?

The women followers of Jesus looked for a dead man. That’s why they went to the tomb.

Jesus had died.  The soldiers had made sure of that. The man who offered his tomb was sure of that. The religious leaders put guards around the tomb to ensure that no-one could steal the body of a dead man.

So it was logical to look in the tomb for a dead Jesus. But the two men standing there –  we are told they are in dazzling robes and we assume they are angels – ask them,” Why do you seek the living among the dead?”

Living?

They thought he was dead!

Someone explored what would have happened if Jesus had not been crucified but had lived to a ripe old age. They thought that he would have gone on preaching, and would have been remembered for some of the things he said and did, but there would have been no Christianity.

The religious leaders had Jesus killed to halt his influence, but they had to stand back and watch as the infant church – Christianity –  grew and prospered against all adversity.

The church didn’t grow because it’s founder had died but because He lived.

The Egyptians worshipped dead Pharaohs. Does anyone worship them today?

The Romans worshipped dead emperors. Does anyone worship them today?

Almost a hundred years ago, a screen idol by the name of Rudolph Valentino died. He had been ‘ worshipped ” by thousands of women. Hundreds of women besieged the funeral home where his body lay. It was said that some women committed suicide.

Does anyone remember him today?

The church prospered because of a living Christ.

Strangely enough, however the disciples doubted that Jesus was alive at first. Even when he came to them in the upper room. Even when he walked with two of them on the road to Emmaus.

But the truth gradually dawned.

He was alive! He ate and drank with them, completed teaching them, and commissioned them in the work they were to do in the world. And somehow, those ignorant unschooled disciples became great evangelists. Somehow, timid men who had run away from Jesus’ side when he was arrested, faced authorities with great courage and some later gave their own lives in His name.

Somehow, in the name of Jesus, and empowered by His Spirit, a force of love was unleashed in the world  which has lasted to this day.

The worship of a dead God, the remembrance of a dead messiah, could never have accomplished what has been accomplished in his name.

Jesus Christ rose again, two thousand years ago tonight, and his Spirit lives today.

But where do we find that living Christ?

He is to be found in the Eucharist…. if we approach the altar with an open heart.

He is to be found in the prayers… if we bring our concerns for ourselves and others to Him.  

He is to be found in our songs of praise…… if indeed we desire to praise Him. 

But mostly.. He is to be found in our daily lives.

One of the wonderful things about the story of Abraham, is how he related to God on a daily basis. He  took it for granted that God was interested in what he did. He talked to Him. …..listened for Him.

Abraham knew God as a living, dynamic, interested and concerned God.

For Abraham, God was a living entity.  No doubt about that. And Jesus can be as much a part of our lives as God was of Abraham’s life.

Listen to what he said, ” “I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me. “

“Lord,” we might ask,” I would love to do that for you. I would feed you, visit you, clothe you, but how can I?” 

You couldn’t do that if he were dead, could you? But he lives. And he lives in the most unexpected places.

“When you did this to the least of my brothers or sisters, you did it to me,” he says.

When you visited old Mrs. So and So, at the nursing home, you visited me.

When you gave that down and out man a dollar for a coffee, you gave it to me.

When you brought food to someone too sick to make their own, you brought it to me.

And somehow, when you do that, when you treat people as though Christ were in them, you make a great discovery….you find that Christ is in you. 

Christ is in you!

Didn’t He say,” Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”

Living with you, and me, as long as we live.

As we worship the living God.

Praise His name and Hallelujah.