easter sermon

Happy Easter to everyone!  Gabe and I are home again and our Easter is winding down.  It's been a lovely day, here is the run-down:

The Gathering (www.thegatheringcommunity.org) this morning at 9:30.  Gabe taught and I felt like it was one of his best talks.  There was a good number of people there today.  A few people brought some relatives for the first time.  

At about 11:45 we left for the Springs (Colorado Springs for you non-Coloradans :).  Vickie made a fantastic meal of lamb, mashed potatoes, green beans, salad, and garlic bread (my fave).  And then of course, a tasty dessert.  Thanks again, Vickie!

Janae had decorated eggs and I was surprised that Ken had hidden them for us.  So J, G and I were each given a basket and the hunt began!  I haven't hunted for eggs in I don't know HOW long, but it was embarrassingly fun.  Janae won, finding 8.  I came in second with 5.  Gabe found 4 and then stole one of mine.  There was one egg missing.  It was still hidden in some forgotten spot when we left.

Lots of basketball was watched.  I got a nap in.

Now we're home and preparing to watch a few episodes of Arrested Development.  This could be our new addiction.  

Today at church Gabe paralleled Old Testament sacrifice to the sacrifice of Jesus.  During Passover, Jews sacrificed a lamb without blemish,  without breaking any bones. They used hyssop branches to "paint" the blood of the sacrificed lamb on the top and on either side of their doorway.  Some scholars have pointed out the image this creates.  Picture a doorway. Blood on either side, as well as the top.  Now picture the blood dripping from the top to the floor.  A cross connects these four spots, foreshadowing what was to come? This was done to signify to God to "pass over" them, honoring their sacrifice for forgiveness.  All of these details were specified to them by God. During this time, forgiveness went hand in hand with blood, with sacrifice.  

Hundreds of years later, when Jesus was arrested and put on the cross, an unblemished, perfect man (the Son of God, therefore equal to God), his blood was shed.  As he was dying on the cross, he was thirsty and given a vinegar wine.  He was given this drink with a soaked cloth on the end of a hyssop branch, raised to his mouth.  

Criminals died on the cross from suffocation.  This would occur when the criminals could no longer raise themselves up to breath, or when their legs were broken by the soldiers in order to speed up the process.  This was typical, yet Jesus' legs were not broken.  None of his bones were broken. His blood was shed, but his bones remained unbroken. 

None of these details, these parallels that would have been very obvious to the people of that time, would not have mattered were it not for what happened three days later.  Christ's tomb was found empty. Jesus was raised from the dead. Because of this, God's grace falls on us.  His forgiveness is ours.  We don't have to shed the blood of sacrificed animals (amen for that).  The final sacrifice was made for us.  

I don't want to sound preachy, but this is Easter, and I'm not forcing anyone to read this.  I know there may be people reading this with different beliefs. However, on this Easter Sunday, I would challenge people to think deeply about what they believe, be it in Christ, some other God, or no God.   There is a verse in Romans (1:20) that says:

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

I believe that this search for truth is more important than any other search.  We search for love, we search for wealth, we search for prestige, we search for solutions, we search for comfort.  How often are we searching for God?  How often are we searching for deeper meaning in life?  When I read that verse, I see that God is revealed all around me.  His creation (nature, relationships, emotions, forgiveness...) is always surrounding me.  I don't recognize this nearly enough.  This creation, this existence surrounds us all.  We are without excuse for recognizing this, evidence is all around.  What we can do with this evidence is our search.  We are not expected to have all the answers, but I believe we are expected to search for answers.  To ask questions and expect answers.

Friends and family still reading this (and those that may not be), I am so grateful to have you in my life.  I don't say that nearly enough.  God answers so many of my questions through you, whether you realize it, or not.  He reveals to me deep meaning about love, forgiveness, compassion and patience through my relationships with all of you.  

If you've not talked to God, or thought about Him for that matter, in awhile, I hope that you would.  Talking to and/or thinking about God can't hurt anyone. I believe there is a big God who loves us each more than we can fathom.  I believe there is a big God who made each of us and has placed us in the lives we are living.  I believe in a God who showed his love for us through the at-first-glance disturbing act of dying a bloody death at the hands of Roman soldiers 2000 years ago.  I believe this act was meant to save us from death.  These are radical things, I think, as I type them out.  But I trust them.  I trust that when I fail, when I get angry with my life, my loved-ones, my God, that He is big enough to forgive me, big enough to love me, and big enough to change me--and then some.  

Gabe keeps looking at me, wondering if we'll ever watch Arrested Development.  So I'll close this Easter Sunday by saying something that means life or death to me: He is risen indeed.