Return to Sermon Page

May 4, 2003; The Third Sunday of Easter, Year B
    The Rev. Harold "Skip" Comer, Rector

The Rev. John Andrew opened his sermon on the occasion of the death of Michael Ramsey, the 100th Archbishop of Canterbury, with this illustration.  “When the King in Alice in Wonderland was asked where to begin, the King said, gravely: ‘Begin at the beginning . . . and go on till you come to the end, then stop.’   Begin at the beginning.”

 “For a Christian the beginning is not where you might think it is.  It is not the birth of Christ.  It is not the teachings of Christ.  It is not the Cross of Christ.  It is the Resurrection of Christ.  Listen: ‘The Resurrection is a true starting place for the study of the making and the meaning of the New Testament.”[1]

As I read the scripture lessons for this morning I was drawn to these words.  Can it be that we are tempted to believe that the resurrection is the climax of the Gospel – the Good News of God in Jesus Christ?  As John said in his first letter, “We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes…”[2]  For the disciples, the resurrection was not the final chapter, but the beginning of the Good News that was to be spread over all the earth.  The events and message of our readings this morning is that the resurrection is the beginning of everything.

It is the resurrection that brings us together this morning, just as it brought those first Christians together almost two thousand years ago.  The resurrection is the source our preaching, worship, and belief.  The resurrection is the uniqueness of the Christian faith.

During the Easter season we bask in the glory of the resurrection like a sunbather soaking up the rays of the sun.  These are joyous times because the Good News of God in Jesus Christ is shinning down upon us.

But do we know what the Good News is?  We often use those words – The Good News – but what do they mean?  If we begin with Luke’s post-resurrection account we can get a pretty good idea.  First and foremost is the presence of the resurrected Lord to the disciples.  Second is the statement that he is the fulfillment of the scriptures.   And third is the forgiveness of sins.

In all of the accounts of the resurrection, the focus is not on how it happened.  The focus is on the Jesus and the power of God to resurrect him from the dead.  Indeed, a part of the mystery which surrounds the resurrection of Jesus is not knowing exactly what happened or how it happened.  While we may wonder how it was done, that is not important.  What is important is the it was done in Jesus Christ.

The appearances by Jesus after the resurrection were not to all people, but to those who by faith in the Living God and their experience of Jesus, were prepared to believe in it.  Even though they were caught off balance and stunned by what happened – by their knowledge of Jesus and their faith in him – they were the only ones prepared to recognize and receive him.

This is still true today.  For those who respond in faith to the Living God and spend time with Jesus through prayer and the reading of scripture are lead to the resurrection experience, a beginning which gives us hope and leads us in our belief, worship, and witness.

Each time we come to the altar rail to receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, it is not a dead Christ that we are receiving, but a Christ who is alive and present.

This is one of the ways that Christ comes to us – in the breaking of bread.  Another way that Christ comes to us, or is revealed to us is in scripture.  In Luke it says, “he opened their minds to understand the scriptures…”[3]  What Jesus did with the disciples on this occasion, and others, was Bible Study.  Too many Christians today are satisfied with what little they know about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.  We are all in need of having Jesus open our minds to reveal the deepest truths of this thing we call the Bible.

There is the story of a boy who came home from school one day and his mother asked him, “Johnny, did you learn everything today?”  “No,” Johnny replied as he shrugged his shoulders.  “I have to go back again tomorrow.”  Our tomorrows are endless in our pursuit of knowing God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.  And where do we begin?  With the Bible.

Jesus told his disciples to preach repentance and forgiveness.  In the reading from the First Letter of John, the author spends quite a bit of time talking about sin.  It can be a rather depressing passage, with its focus upon our inability to refrain from committing sin.   It can leave us with a sense of hopelessness.   But the John concludes his discourse stating that we are not left alone in our attempts to deal with our sins.  While our goal as Christians is to live a life free of sin, we have the assurance that when we fall short, Jesus will be our advocate and cleanse or redeem us.   At least for me, because I know that I do commit sins, this is Good News, because it gives me a new beginning.

Jesus did not die to prove something.  He died to say something.  And he rose from the dead to say something more.  He died to tell us in as graphic a way as possible that dying to what was – is the only way to give birth to what can be.  He died to tell us that the message of love and forgiveness that he carried was more important than trying to save his own life.  And he rose to show us that even death is not the end, that God can and will win.[4]

The resurrection is the beginning – our beginning in a new life of the Good News, the new possibilities, that await us in Jesus Christ.  We are the writers of and participants in the continuing chapters of the resurrection.   The end has yet to come.

Return to Sermon Page