I Corinthians 15:20 * April 12, 2009 * Easter Sunrise * Pastor Pagels

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.

The text that will serve as the basis for our meditation on this Easter morning is a single verse recorded in I Corinthians 15, the great resurrection chapter of the Bible. The apostle Paul writes: “Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (20).

A couple weeks ago I came up with what I thought would be a good idea for my Easter sunrise sermon today. I thought about it whenever I wasn’t focused on something else, when I was driving, when I was running, and soon my original idea began to take shape.

About a week ago I settled on a text and came up with a theme, and I was just about ready to put some of my thoughts down on paper…until I went into the office on Monday. When I sat down at my computer to check my email, everything changed. All of my thinking, all of my brainstorming, all of my planning, all of it went out the window as soon as I read a certain message in my inbox.

It wasn’t one of those forwarded “chicken soup for the soul” kind of stories that you that you may or may not have time to read. It wasn’t a story that involves people you don’t know and events that may or may not have happened. This particular email was about people I do know. This email was sent to me by someone I know quite well, one of our Sunday School teachers to be exact, and instead of trying to summarize what she wrote I will let her tell her story in her own words:

Hi Pastor, (she wrote to me this past Monday morning)

This happened in the three and four year-old Sunday School class yesterday and I just thought I should share it with you because it is too wonderful not to. Here it goes:

You know that the mom of one of the students in my class just had a baby. He's very excited about being a big brother. Well yesterday we were talking about Holy Week and Easter and he loves to jump in on the class and share things. He said "and then Jesus rose again and that's why we get to go to Heaven. Because he's our Savior."

Another little boy then asked what the word Savior meant. I explained that it is a person who saves you and that Jesus saved us from our sins because we can't and that He did it for us. And since he did, we get to go to heaven someday.

Later in the class when we were going to pray, I always ask if anyone had anything that we should especially pray for. I got my usual answers of "I have a cough" and whatnot. Then the first boy said, "Yes, can we please pray for my baby brother?" I said sure. Then the other little boy (the one who wanted to know what “savior” meant) asked if we could pray for his baby brother too.

I didn't think he had a baby brother and thought that this was one of those times when something happens to one little kid and then all of a sudden, the whole class chimes in. So I carefully asked, "What would you like us to pray about with your brother?" And he replied "I want to thank Jesus for taking him to heaven. My baby brother stopped breathing."  

Well, so did I! I was so shocked and so was the other teacher and one of the dads who stayed to help, but then the first boy chimed in with this: "It's okay, you get to see him again in Heaven someday. That's what Easter is all about."

The other boy was happy with this answer and it snapped the whole class back into action. Then they all wanted to know if they will get to see that little baby in heaven too. WOW! The Easter message from one preschooler to another.

What a touching story! What a heart-warming story! But you know what? It’s not just a story. The Sunday School teacher shared it with me and I am sharing it with you because it’s a true story. Just like the Easter story. Everything that little boy said to his friend is true because the events of Easter Sunday are true.

When the women came to the tomb to anoint their Lord’s dead body, their eyes didn’t deceive them. The early morning shadows didn’t fool them. The stone had been rolled away. The tomb was empty because the angel’s declaration: “He is not here; he has risen” (Matthew 28:6) was true.

When the Roman soldiers reported what had happened on their watch, they weren’t trying to cover up their own incompetence. They were not guilty of allowing Jesus’ followers to come and steal his body during the night. The soldiers were shaking with fear, not because they feared punishment but because they had seen an angel. And everything they reported to their superiors was true.

When Mary Magdalene lingered near the empty tomb of Jesus, she wasn’t delusional. She wasn’t dealing with her grief by pretending that the gardener was her Savior. It was Jesus. She knew it. She knew it because he knew her name. And every detail of that amazing exchange was true.

When the two disciples raced back from Emmaus to find the others in Jerusalem, they weren’t telling their friends a tall tale. The Lord had walked with them on the road. He explained the Scriptures to them. He broke bread with them. And then he disappeared from their sight. And as unbelievable as their story was every bit of it was true.

When Jesus visited Martha after her brother died, he told her: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25,26). Even though the death of his friend Lazarus brought him to tears, Jesus was not at a loss for words. Jesus didn’t say those words to make Martha feel a little better. He meant what he said. He fulfilled what he said. Because Jesus rose from the dead, his promise is 100% true.

When Paul sat down to compose a letter to the Christians living in Corinth (the letter we call I Corinthians), the congregation was wrestling with all kinds of problems, problems like factions and divisions, sexual sins, questions about marriage and worship. All of those problems were serious, but perhaps most troubling issue had to do with Easter.

Some people were claiming that there is no resurrection of the dead. That wasn’t a minor point of doctrine. The resurrection isn’t a teaching about which Christians can agree to disagree. That’s why Paul devoted a whole chapter to it (I Corinthians 15). That’s why Paul was so emphatic about it.

That’s why he said: “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ hasn’t been raised either. And if Christ hasn’t been raised, our preaching is useless. If Christ has not been raised, our faith is meaningless. If Jesus’ body is still in the tomb we might as well close up our churches and go home.”

But about twenty verses into that chapter Paul’s language changed. He stopped talking hypothetically and started speaking factually. With Spirit-inspired confidence he proclaimed: “Christ has indeed been raised from the dead (I Corinthians 15:20). There is no debate. There is no doubt. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it. Jesus is alive. And if I may borrow the words of a very young, yet very mature member of St. John’s, that’s what Easter is all about.

We have gathered here this morning to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. Our enemies have been defeated. Our sins have been forgiven. Our Redeemer lives. And because he does we can look forward to a resurrection of our own.

We long for that day, the day when we will join the saints who have gone before us. We can’t wait for that day, the day when we will be reunited with our loved ones who have died in faith and are waiting for us in heaven, like our grandparents and our parents and our children and our little brothers.

How can I say that? Why do we believe that? Because it’s true. Because Christ has risen! He has risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.