Sermon "A Present Power"
Rev. Lonnie Richardson
Sunday, April 12, 1998
John 20:1-18
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A Present Power
Like the rest of the world, I have seen the movie
"Titanic." I was convinced that I knew the ending. We
all know the ending. Titanic hits an iceberg and sinks, and over
1500 people die in the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean. It is a
Good Friday story, a tale from a watery crypt. But I came to
realize the "Titanic" phenomena would not have happened
if the movie had really been a Good Friday story. The reason
people go again and again to see "Titanic" is that, in
fact, it is an Easter story.
Rose is a lost girl, but Jack saves her. Though he dies, he saves
her. She promises that she will live a faithful life, no matter
what happens no matter how hopeless life becomes, she promises to
never let go of Jack and his love. And in the end, Jack is there
for her. In the end they are together.
That is the story of Easter. Jesus comes and saves. He touches us
with his love and offers life in abundance. An invitation directs
us through Good Friday and toward Easter. In response, we put our
faith in him, knowing that God never lets go of us. We promise,
in a Christian covenant, never to let go of God. And in the end
we know that we are together with God.
At the same time there are Good Fridays. There always will be.
Easter doesn't mean that we will not be hurt, that life will be
easy, that bad things won't happen. Rose must live her life, and
so must we. But because we have Easter, we can live our lives not
in quiet desperation and anguish, but with the confidence that we
are with God, that love will never end, even in death.
While we recite that on Easter morning, many of us continue to
live in a tomb. Or we have allied ourselves with a Jack Kevorkian
orientation and resolved there is no hope and participate in our
own demise. We fail to live as fully as we could and have buried
ourselves alive.
The Easter question for us is, is there anyone dead who wants to
come alive? Does anyone wish to climb out of their grave? You
say: "You're not talking to me. I'm alive. A grave doesn't
have me yet. Look here, I'm breathing, feeling, listening. I'm
alive." Don't be too sure about that. For instance: Does
anyone find himself in a tomb of surrender to your worst? Anyone
wrapped in grave clothes of self-defeat, degrading habits, and a
haunting guilt? Anyone buried under resentments, jealousy, fears
or despair? Anyone smothered under the dirt of cynicism or
selfishness? Are there any dead who want a resurrection?
Jesus Christ looked at people with souls pressed down under the
burden of days made heavy with emptiness, and he said: "I am
come to provide purpose that will command your best and set your
life to music." "I am come," he said, "that
they might have life and have it more abundantly." In
Easter, we come alive to a present power.
On one hand, Easter celebrates a prior fact. It tells of what
happened 2000 years ago. It is imperative to know that the cross
could not conquer Jesus Christ, nor the grave contain him, that
the worst of ignorance and evil could not defeat him, that by the
power of God he arose victorious over shame and death. That he
strode forth from the tomb.
Easter celebrates a prior fact. It also celebrates a present
power. It is a witness to what can happen in the here and now. It
tells of the power by which the Lord can bring us from the tomb
of error and evil, the resurrection which he can work in our
hearts. Jesus rescues us, as we see in him a God who loves us,
loves enough to suffer the worst for our best. Only love great
enough to go to a cross can end our rebellion against God and
against ourselves. Only such love can break through our defenses
and release us into the obedience that is true freedom.
"I came to seek and to save the lost," our Savior said.
And he commissioned us to do the same. But we face a large
obstacle: fear. While people drown in the treacherous waters
around us, we are tempted to stay dry and make certain no one
rocks the boat. Yet the boat is not ours, and "our"
safety came at the expense of the one who overcame fear with love
and grace.
When the Titanic sank it was referred to as an act of God. Fifty
years later, at memorial services for the victims, the tragedy
was still called an act of God. Simultaneously, a British
committee appointed to investigate the tragedy revealed (50 years
later) that the British government naval authorities had ruled
the Titanic could sail on its maiden voyage with only 16
lifeboats (sufficient only to handle the ship's crew) instead of
a minimum of 48 that had been recommended as a minimum for safety
to accommodate the passengers and the crew. If there had been
only 48 lifeboats, there would have been no need to blame God!
God has provided your lifeboat in the message of Easter. Come on
board! Amen.
