The Bungee Cord 4-18-22
Hello,
Christ is risen! Alleluia!
He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
That is how I started my sermon yesterday, then I said, “Amen,” and sat down. The organ kicked in with intro to the hymn that was to be sung after the sermon. I invited the people to rise, and then just before the singing was to start, I started waving my hands and shouting, “No! No! No!” and I stopped the singing and the organ. I walked back up to the pulpit and I said, “That is, of course what this day is all about. And maybe that’s enough said…but for those of you who were looking forward to a 45 minute sermon this morning, I figured that I shouldn’t disappoint you!”
And then I preached my sermon, which if you are interested in posted on St. James Lutheran Church, Ligonier YouTube page…..and it not 45 minutes long!
Truth is that the acclamation of Jesus’ resurrection, and the echo of that acclamation from the mouths of the people is the heart and soul of Easter. Not Easter only, but of the Christian faith. It is the acclamation that we daily wake to, that we work to, that we play to, that we eat to, that we sleep to….and when the day comes….that we die to. It is God’s answer to “remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.” It is the key that unlocks all the prisons in which we find ourselves: the prison of sin, the prison of failure, the prison of grief, the prison of despair, and that is just to name a few of life’s prisons.
Christ is risen! Alleluia!
He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
When I drive around, I listen to the Sports Talk station out of Pittsburgh. Apparently, they had some air-time space to fill, so they asked the question of one another, “What is the best holiday?” The host immediately piped in, “Christmas, or Hanukah, because that is when you get all the presents. The other agreed, and so they went on to trying to name the second best holiday. One said Thanksgiving because you get to eat a lot. The other said Halloween, because you get to do stuff, like egging cars. As they went forward with their ratings, one of the hosts put Easter several steps down the list, and the other host didn’t even list Easter at all.
As I listened and heard the rankings measured by what you get, or get to do on holidays, I wondered how Easter was not at the top of the list? After all, on Easter you get eternal life and you get to live forever. Because of Easter, every moment of life is filled with eternity, and eternity is filled with life.
To have other holidays out rank Easter must mean that the word isn’t out about what you get at Easter. So, let me shout it out,
“Christ is risen! Alleluia!
He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!”
Have a great week!
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
No comments:
Post a Comment