What Did You Expect? Festival of Easter, A Sunday, April 24, 2011 Zion Lutheran Church, Beecher, IL Sermon Text Matthew 28:1-10 Reading from the Book of Acts Acts 10-:34-43 Epistle Reading Colossians 3:1-4 Gospel Reading Matthew 28:1-10 Alleluia! Christ is risen! [He is risen, indeed!] Alleluia! In the name of Jesus Christ True God and True Man... the Lord of Lords... the King of Kings... He who died and rose from the dead your Savior! [Amen!] Dear friends in Christ Jesus, What did you expect? A junior high student blows off studying for a math test. Two days later, tears well up in the boys eyes as he scans each page of his test which is now dripping with red ink and topped off with a big F in the upper right corner of the first page! Later, the teacher asks the boy if hed studied. The boy replies honestly: Not at all. To that, the incredulous teacher asks: What did you expect? Did you really think that youd get an A? A lady has a job that pays very well, but it demands that she be at work each day 15 minutes before the rest of the staff. However, daily, she gets to work 10 minutes after everyone else has arrived. After a few weeks of this, the boss calls her into the office and terminates her employment. The lady is angry. She says that she cant understand why she was fired. Her boss replies: What did you expect? How could we keep you in that job, when you constantly failed us? Every couple of years I wake up in the middle of the night and dream that Im visiting my parents farm. I walk into one of the equipment storage buildings, open the door, and there, to my utter amazement, I see the pride and joy of my youth my 69 Chevelle! Its sitting there in immaculate condition chrome wheels gleaming and its 8 track tape player playing the music of my youth! And then I wake up and realize it was that same disappointing dream again! The next day I tell my wife of my dream. And with a subtle roll of her eyes, she looks at me and says: What did you expect? Youve told me the story of that dumb car ever since Ive known you. You traded it off years ago. Its gone and it will never be yours again! Its true, isnt it? So often in our lives we hold out hope for the impossible even in the face of facts that tell us to have no hope. As we heard ü the boy hoped for an A; but he didnt study; ü the woman expected to keep her job, even in spite of a horrible work record; ü and I, 36 years after I traded it, expect to find the finest car that I ever owned still available to me, and not long gone! Such ideas as these are irrational and illogical. The possibility of them becoming a reality is simply not there. But, dear Christians, today we gather as Gods holy people to rejoice that the irrational and illogical has become a reality! First, the Lord Jesus Christ, out of His eternal love for you, entered this fallen, sin-infested world to be your Savior. That, in and of itself, is striking! For who of us, if we were the almighty Lord of the Universe, would leave the peace, joy, and bliss of heaven to come into this world of sin and death in order to save it? Who of us would send our own beloved Son to redeem the likes of us, who cheat, steal, and backtalk who rationalize and justify sin in every form of thought, word, and action? Who of us would do that, and more so, who in their right mind would think that God would do that for us? After all, were the ones who ignore Him. Were the ones who all so often stomp on His call for holy living, and make ourselves to be our own god. But, as you hopefully heard on the four worship opportunities on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, God in Christ did the unexpected! God came into this world driven by His love to pay the ransom price to redeem sinners even the worst of sinners every sinner from the clutches of Satan and his eternal dwelling place of hell! My wife tells me, after I bore her with my silly dream: Its gone and it will never be yours again! Likewise, weve traded off not a 69 Chevelle; rather, following in the footsteps of our parents, Adam and Eve we traded our place in heaven in a futile effort to be like God actually to be God and it all went for naught! When we come to grips with that fact whether its here and now or sometime later perhaps even on our deathbed Satan will tell you that Its gone. Your chance to live with God in heaven is gone and it will never be yours again! But, that sets up the second thing that begs for our attention today! Besides the fact of the Son of God coming into this fallen world to save it besides that is the stunning discovery that the women made early that first Easter morning. As they approached the grave, they discovered the stone that was to keep Jesus in His grave was rolled away! An angel sat upon it and answered the question that just had to be brewing within the women. The angel explained: Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. (Mt. 28:5b-6, ESV) The women heard the news and then they saw the evidence Jesus was no longer dead, but alive! Before this, the women had no hope either for Jesus or for themselves. But now, because of the empty tomb their sorrow was turned to joy. Jesus resurrection proved that everything that Hed taught was true. Jesus resurrection proved that the Father in heaven accepted Jesus suffering and death in the place of every person who would ever live. We said earlier that all so often in our lives we hold out hope for the impossible even in the face of facts that tell us to have no hope. But now, we do have hope for the most important thing that can ever come up in our lives our eternal destiny to dwell with God forever in heaven in perfect peace, joy, and bliss! This is all because of the fact of Jesus being dead is no longer true! Because Hes now risen from the dead its a possibility no make that its now a reality that God sees you as one of His very own forgiven through the blood of His Son who died and rose for you. Your sins are forgiven every last one of them through Jesus. To receive that forgiveness, continue to live in repentance and faith in Him. Where you have failed, ask God for forgiveness and you have it by His grace and in His love. So, what is it, that I hope that you get out of this sermon and take with you as you leave this holy house? Some might leave here wondering if the lady who got fired was a real person or not. Others might wonder what color my 69 Chevelle was. Well, to get those things out of the way, here you go: To the first question: No. And to the second: Metallic Forest Green, with black interior, and white bucket seats. Now, with that behind us, heres what I hope that you ponder and consider as you make your way home: Through faith in Christ Jesus no matter whats in your past no matter what sin can be charged against you in Christ its forgiven and forgotten in Christ you can approach heavens gates. And with that, on the Last Day, when you stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ, He will ask you: What do you expect from Me? you will confidently answer: Dearest Lord Jesus, On my own, my sin would forever keep me apart from You. But I am fully confident that the irrational and illogical; that is, for me to dwell with You in heaven, has now become a reality through Your death and glorious resurrection. And so, dear Lord, by Your grace, I answer your question. I expect what I thought never to be possible I expect to dwell with You and all the saints in glory everlasting! Dear Christians this is Easter! Alleluia! Christ is Risen! [He is risen, indeed!] Alleluia!
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