Mark 16:1–8

Easter Day: The Resurrection of Our Lord

¹1 , When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. ²And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. ³And they were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?" ⁴And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back- it was very large. ⁵And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. ⁶And he said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. ⁷But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you." ⁸And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

P: Alleuia! Christ is risen!

C: He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

The Apostle Paul says: "I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures," I Corinthians 15:3

What's most important? How would you describe what's of "first importance" in life?

I'd say that anything that important would be the foundation for life. It's the core, heart, basis, and center of who we are and what we do. Something of first importance has us coming back again and again because we can't live without it. It gives us hope for the future. It provides a reason to live. What's of first importance in your life?

The apostle Paul answers that question for us. Most important is Jesus. Jesus died, was buried, and rose again. Nothing else comes close! Certainly, family, work, citizenship are also important. But of first importance is Jesus, particularly his resurrection from the dead. "For to me to live is Christ," he says. "In Him we live and move and have our being."

Jesus is the foundation for life. He is the basis of what we do and who we are. Easter is the heart and core of what the Church believes. For two thousand years, the message that has been handed down and proclaimed is "Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!"

Why do we keep coming back week after week? What holds the Church together? Jesus does. Not a building. Not a pastor. Not money. But Jesus, alive and active among us, is what brings us back. We can't live without him.

Of course, all our hopes are tied up in him. When you stand in front of a casket and reach out to touch the lifeless body of someone you dearly loved, your hope is to be together again. To see and touch each other in eternal life. Because Jesus himself died and conquered death, we, too, will live again, eternally, with those who have died in Jesus.

Jesus gives us purpose in life, a reason to live. Life is not just one day after another without any good reason for getting up each morning. No, each day we greet with, "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" (Ps 118:24). Each day with our resurrected Jesus we become more and more alive.

Jesus is of first importance. His resurrection from the dead is the most important event in all history. Nothing else compares. He makes family, work, citizenship, and the rest of our lives important, significant, alive, purposeful. Yet none is as important as Jesus himself. Jesus Christ, dead on the cross and risen from the dead now and forever, is of first importance. Remember those calendars with red-letter days as special days? I'd make one with Easter as a gold-letter day—the most special day of all, of first importance.

Except once you walk out of the Easter service, once the trumpets and choirs and festive service are over, that gold-letter quality seems to fade. Life takes over and pushes Jesus out of that first importance spot. Too many days we barely think about him, let alone have him as most important. What happens to our Easter celebration? What happens that makes it seem of so little importance?

Our culture, the world we live in, doesn't help much here. Every year we seem to get some book, movie, or magazine article that tears down what we believe. One year we had The Da Vinci Code movie, and Jesus was said to be married. He was supposed to have died and that was it, while Mary Magdalene was the real leader in the Church. Then we have some television program that claims they found Jesus' family tomb, and Jesus' bones would have turned to dust in some old box. Newsweek and Time usually have long articles on whether Jesus rose from the dead. What the Church has proclaimed for two thousand years gets attacked, challenged, or just plain ignored each year. His resurrection is turned into something of little importance.

As for coming back again and again, those who do come back week after week aren't always focused on Jesus. I heard of one congregation where the members spent more time arguing about how hot or cold the church was than talking about Jesus. Arguments, money troubles, love for a building or a particular hymnal become so important that those who do come back week after week are too often pay more attention to the business of the congregation than to worship. They are treating Jesus as of little importance.

And those hopes we have in Jesus for eternal life—doubt and grief are never far away. On any day, drive down the street and stop at a funeral home. Get out of the car and walk in. You'll see families in tears and bodies in caskets. You'll see it's just another day of hurt and sorrow. You'll see nothing changes when it comes to death and the grave. That stark reality can bring the doubts hidden deep within to the surface, and Jesus seems of so little importance when the tears and the ache inside are so real.

But most days are nothing special. Most days are just another day to live. Perhaps we're so busy that we don't have much time for Jesus. Perhaps we're struggling with family troubles, financial problems, or some addiction. Perhaps the days bring nothing new, just the same old, same old stuff. So little purpose for life. So little importance for Jesus.

Is the day after Easter, or the week after we celebrated Jesus' resurrection, a gold-letter day? a red-letter day? Or is it more just another day, and Jesus seems of so little importance? If it is, how do we get back to Jesus of first importance?

A missionary once told about showing a movie about Jesus to a tribe he was working with. It was the first time they had heard of Jesus. The people were caught up in the movie, so much so that when Jesus, whom they had seen heal the sick and be adored by children, was beaten by jeering soldiers, they began to shout and demand the outrage stop. The missionary had to stop the film and tell them there was more to the story. Soon after restarting the movie, he had to stop it again, when Jesus was on the cross, and tell them there was more. The people were weeping and wailing loudly at Jesus' death.

Once again, the movie was started. This time, though, the scene was the resurrection. Pandemonium broke out. A party erupted. The noise was deafening jubilation. People were dancing and slapping each other on the back. Christ is risen indeed! It was as if they were eyewitnesses of Jesus' resurrection for the first time.

The apostle Paul says the resurrection is of first importance, and then lists those who were eyewitnesses of Jesus' resurrection the first time. Peter, the apostles, five hundred people at one time, James, and then Paul. No question about it, for these eyewitnesses, Jesus' resurrection was of first importance. The day they saw Jesus was a gold-letter day. And every day lived in the power and presence of Jesus was a day of purpose and hope, a day to stand on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ, a day to come back again and again to the heart and core of who they had become and what they would do with their lives.

But what about us? We can't see the risen Lord with our own eyes. No first-time excitement for us. Most of us have been through Easter many, many times. How does Jesus become of first importance when tomorrow or Thursday seems like just another day?

We do what Paul did. And Peter, the disciples, and the five hundred who saw Jesus. They lived ten, twenty, thirty years or more after Jesus appeared to them. They didn't live just on the memory of Jesus appearing to them, but by coming back again and again to speak and listen to what was of first importance, to meet the risen Jesus in a new and special way, and to encourage one another.

You know, no one pays much attention these days to The Da Vinci Code movie or an old television special on the supposed family tomb. Newsweek and Time will be thrown out. But the Church will do what it has always done. We will stand together and say the creeds. We will say over and over again that what is most important is "I believe . . . in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. . . . The third day He rose again from the dead" (Apostles' Creed). We will baptize children in the name of this risen Jesus. We will proclaim Jesus in our sermons. We will celebrate his resurrection every Sunday, because Sunday is the day he rose from the dead.

But even more, we come back again and again because here we meet Jesus, risen from the dead in a most special way. In Leonardo da Vinci's famous mural The Last Supper, Jesus and the disciples are all on one side. That way, everyone on the other side of the table would be joining in the meal, seated across from Jesus. When you come up and place that little wafer in your hand, when you sip that tiny bit of wine, you are in the presence and the power of Jesus, alive and working in our lives, reaching down to the very heart and core of who we are and what we do.

Yes, come back again to worship, because here we celebrate what's most important. Mark it in gold on the calendar. The day we worship is the day we come back again to be with each other, to encourage one another, with what is of first importance.

But not just here at church. If tomorrow or Thursday seems like just another day, think about an egg carton. Yes, an egg carton. I've seen one that looks like an ordinary egg carton on the outside, but when you open it up, it says, "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Whether you're at work or school or with your family or in the car or wherever is so important that day, it's not just another day. It's another day with Jesus. It's another day he has made. What a day it becomes when Jesus is of first importance. Yes,

Jesus, the Resurrected Lord, Is of First Importance—

with Him Every Day Is a Gold-Letter Day!

P: Alleuia! Christ is risen!

C: He is risen indeed! Alleluia!