The Power of Easter

 

Text: Romans 5:12-19 The Message

Focus: atonement

Function: to help people see the theology of atonement

^12-14You know the story of how Adam landed us in the dilemma we’re in—first sin, then death, and no one exempt from either sin or death. That sin disturbed relations with God in everything and everyone, but the extent of the disturbance was not clear until God spelled it out in detail to Moses. So death, this huge abyss separating us from God, dominated the landscape from Adam to Moses. Even those who didn’t sin precisely as Adam did by disobeying a specific command of God still had to experience this termination of life, this separation from God. But Adam, who got us into this, also points ahead to the One who will get us out of it.

^15-17Yet the rescuing gift is not exactly parallel to the death-dealing sin. If one man’s sin put crowds of people at the dead-end abyss of separation from God, just think what God’s gift poured through one man, Jesus Christ, will do! There’s no comparison between that death-dealing sin and this generous, life-giving gift. The verdict on that one sin was the death sentence; the verdict on the many sins that followed was this wonderful life sentence. If death got the upper hand through one man’s wrongdoing, can you imagine the breathtaking recovery life makes, absolute life, in those who grasp with both hands this wildly extravagant life-gift, this grand setting-everything-right, that the one man Jesus Christ provides?

^18-19Here it is in a nutshell: Just as one person did it wrong and got us in all this trouble with sin and death, another person did it right and got us out of it. But more than just getting us out of trouble, he got us into life! One man said no to God and put many people in the wrong; one man said yes to God and put many in the right.

Good morning. Today is the first Sunday of Lent. Lent is a time where we might set aside our physical desires in one from or another in order to focus on the meaning, or the power of Easter.

(point to cross on shirt) Somehow, I lost the crucifix I used to wear and I have replaced it with this cross from the Kairos Ministry to prisoners. It reminds me of the suffering they experience on the inside, most of them are incarcerated because of mental illness and they could be cured.

But a crucifix used to cause some concern among my Protestant brothers and sisters. Someone once asked me if I “had no hope” since I still had Jesus on the cross.

On Easter we celebrate the resurrection from the dead and the fact that death, and the fear of death, no longer has dominion over our psyches and our spiritual condition.

And, I think the debate between whether or not we wear a crucifix or an empty cross is us merely being tribal and trying to prove that we have the better faith. The fact is, God is Lord of both camps.

And I choose to wear the crucifix to remind myself of the suffering of Christ, for us, including me.

Right at the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry, He went into the desert and fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. At the end of that time, Satan appeared to Him and tempted Him when Satan thought He was vulnerable because He was weak.

But God gives us power through the Spirit and God promises to sustain us in the midst of temptation.

So, many practice Lent as our their own form of a 40 day fast by giving up something for the season.

We are all familiar with the story of Easter. Jesus the innocent one, who proclaimed a message of universal love and equality, was killed for preaching His message. And beyond that, according to prophecy, Jesus performed the work of salvation for us. Theology teaches us that through His death, Jesus atoned for our sins and reconciled us to God

In simple terms: Jesus was unjustly murdered by the State but God had deeper plans to save us all.

Jesus died on Friday afternoon. The third day after that, Sunday, Jesus rose from the dead.

Practicing Lent and taking time to remember this, although we already know it, helps us to be transformed by the power of Easter

I used a big word. Atonement. My theology professor did a play on words and told us that the atonement was our moment of “at one-ment” with God. We are reconciled to God.

The book of Romans does a good job of explaining Paul’s version of the atonement.

I don’t know if I can make it any simpler that what our text for today says, but I can shorten it a little bit.

Adam sinned and the penalty for his sin was death. And since then, we too die.

And Jesus saved us. It happened one of two ways: 1 Perhaps it means that God covered our sins through Jesus or 2 Jesus proclaimed that God was covering our sins in the new Kingdom.

So, because of Adam we have death and because of Jesus we have abundant life.

The hope, though, is in the resurrection.

In the resurrection, I believe we will be reconciled with those we have loved here on earth.

In the resurrection, we will have perfect bodies that will never wear out, similar to those of the angels. I wonder. Will we be able to fly?

In the resurrection, that is where we will gain our reward for living for God here on earth.

And that is worth focusing on. Jesus went to the cross to prove to us that we can trust God with even our very lives. And because of the resurrection, even when something unthinkable happened to Jesus, He rose from the dead.

He showed us how to live, loving, forgiving, accepting, and not retaliating for the harms done to Him.

So, the practice of Lent is here to keep on reminding us that Jesus suffered on our behalf to redeem us.

It is important for us to remember what God has done. Both before we were born when Jesus was on the cross, and what God has done in our lives since God sent the Spirit into us.

I would love to stop the sermon right here and ask people what they experience to bring them closer to God and let the Holy Spirit use you to share the joy and hope of your own faith in order to encourage others and to be encouraged by the hope and faith of others.

However, I am afraid of uncomfortable silences and I personally hate being put on the spot. I like to be warned in advance so that I can say what I wish I would have said.

And anyway, you are going to get a chance to share part of your own story next week.

It is important to me to hear from all of you because we have held the belief that the Spirit of God reveals to us the scripture in community.

So, let us understand what Paul is saying here about the power of Easter. Because God rose Jesus from the dead, we do not have to be afraid of death and the penalty of sin anymore.

Jesus died to save the world entire. That is an hopeful message. It is important for us to consider the problem with shame. When I think that God died and rose again for me to cover my sins, God left the throne of heaven to become a man and show us how to live. They abused Him and ultimately murdered Him because He contradicted society and told them it is no longer okay to harden your hearts against others. The crucified the Lord of Glory to silence Him.

When we remember these things; when we bring them to mind as we do every year for Lent and Easter, Jesus is no longer silenced. We too, give Him a voice by the way that we refuse to hold on to hatred and bitterness and let love forgive those who have harmed us.

The power of Easter is the Resurrection. It gives us the hope to live for Jesus here on earth instead of selfish lives.