Easter Epilogues

And if you don't have a Bible, maybe you can look on with your neighbor there, or just listen. I'll be reading portions of the scripture as I go through the message today, rather than just one specific text. While you're turning here, I thought I'd mention, if you didn't get this Sunday's paper yet, it's probably because your son isn't a paper boy. But there's an interesting article on the front page with a picture of half a dozen or so church leaders. And you've got to read that article. And I just wanted to let you know, though it doesn't say so on there, we're part of this. We're part of this effort to bring together churches of all, a broad scattering of emphases and so, to unite this city for Jesus Christ. So it's an interesting story you ought to read. I just wanted to let you know it's happening, things you don't see or hear around here, but it's happening because of your prayers. And I'm excited about that. Alright, are you in John chapter 20? We'll be referring there in just a moment. But as I'm sure you might imagine, there's a lot of pressure on a pastor to roll out his best sermon on Easter Sunday, right? I mean, look at the topic. Could you have better material than the resurrection of Jesus? I mean, it's the best there is, right? And in addition, it's the day when all the church makes an extra effort to be here and we bring our families and friends. I mean, the crowds would say, hey, this should be your best shot. You know, plus the fact you want people to like you. I mean, you know, if the message bombs, they walk out and you hear one guy saying, you know, I knew it was boring. I never want to go. You don't want that kind of stuff to happen on Easter. But let me just say to you one thing I feel strongly about today. If you hear one word or one phrase from Jesus, you can forget about this sermon. In fact, you probably will. I don't even remember what I said last Easter. I had to look it up in my notes. How can I expect you to remember? I mean, it doesn't matter to me. What I want you to hear today is one word from Jesus. I want you to hear his voice this morning. And I hope you're awake enough that if he did speak to you, you could hear him. Now, one thing I've noticed about us as people is that we tend to remember things that come in short phrases. I mean, just little concise statements that stick with you over time. For example, anyone here remember a phrase, I have a dream? Of course. Takes you back to August of 1963 and Martin Luther King. And that whole thing stood for something else. Or how about this? The eagle has landed. Remember that phrase, 1969? Kids are already asleep, they don't remember that. How about just do it, kids? Does that make any sense? That's the more contemporary. There are phrases out there that just stick with us and they represent something to us. They mean something far more than just the phrases. Well, on this Resurrection Sunday, I wonder what Jesus might say if he were to suddenly walk through that wall right back there. No, let's make it this one right here. Be more dramatic, all right? If he walked right through this wall and appeared here, first of all, I have to tell you, I don't believe it'd be a very long sermon. I think he'd have a few short words to say and more than that, I think every one of us would be tuned in. We'd be listening, wouldn't we? We'd want to hear what he had to say to us. Well, I don't know if he'll do that today. He might. But I can tell you something, we have an insight from the Scriptures as to what he might say if he did, because he already did do it once, or several times, in fact. And that's what we're going to see here in John chapter 20. Let's look and see some short little phrases that Jesus spoke when he appeared before a gathering of disciples and followers, just like some of us here today. The first thing I hear him saying, what he might say if he were up here in this podium today, is what he said to Mary as she showed up at his tomb. And she was beginning to weep because it appeared that Jesus was gone. Look at verse 15. Jesus says, number one, why are you crying? Woman, why are you crying? My own conviction is that if Jesus were to walk on this place today, there'd be lots of tears, wouldn't there? There'd be tears of people who would say, you know, he is real, and I've doubted him all along. There'd be people who would begin to weep because they realized that much of their life had been wasted. There'd be people who'd be weeping because there'd be such pain that they'd want to have healed by Jesus. And tears would begin to flow. Tears of pain, tears of sorrow, tears of joy in some cases. Now, I have to tell you, tears are pretty commonplace around here anyhow. I mean, we could probably make up a portion of our budget if we just sold Kleenex before some, you know, just bring some of our kids up here any Sunday morning, and out they come. There weren't a few people that had some tears when they heard this testimony today. I mean, it doesn't take a lot. I've seen people with tears because there's someone sitting in their seat. One man around here is nicknamed Father Fawcett. I mean, he cried when the farm was opened here recently. But, you know, there's lots of legitimate reasons for tears too. I had a conversation with a man just about two months ago now, pretty husky man in his probably mid-fifties. He came up after his service, and he was just kind of misting up and choking a little bit. And I said, well, can I pray with you? What is it? He said, I've just realized today that I've spent 53 years of my life on the wrong road. And I've been going so fast that I didn't realize I was heading in the wrong direction. And I've wasted it. And I don't know what to do about it. And I had a chance, an opportunity to pray with him and to assure him that the Lord would use the balance of his life if he was willing to trust Him with it. He said, I have used people and loved things all of my life and ignored God along the way. Now I realize I should have been loving people and using things and listening to God. Listen folks, there are tears, and it's okay. But Jesus walks in and He says to us, why are you crying? Whatever has come into your life this morning that maybe is stabbing your soul the same way that Mary's soul was hurting because she thought that Jesus was gone. Whatever it might be for you, be assured today that Jesus can speak one word and He'll take care of it. And in Mary's case, do you know what the one word was that Jesus spoke that changed everything? Listen. He said her name. Mary. Look at it in your Bible. Verse 16, one word, Jesus said to her, Mary. What would happen if Jesus spoke your name today, friend? I hope you'd hear Him. Let me say that no matter what might be bringing tears to your heart today, whatever pain or loneliness or disappointment or unworthiness or hopelessness, and I know that it's true. Every single person here has some measure of that. Every one of us. If you hear Jesus say your name, it'll be enough. I've often felt this. Do you agree? If I know that God is with me, I can go through anything. And there's something about our God, this wonderful, majestic God who's so terribly personal. Isaiah 43, verse 1 says, For I have redeemed you, I have called you by name. Child, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I'll be with you. And when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. And when you walk through the fire, you will not be burned. No matter how long you've known Him. Some of you have known Him for years. Maybe today, if Jesus were to walk in this place, He'd speak your name. Listen to Him. Let's listen. The second thing you may hear Him say today is the simple phrase, Peace be with you. Now, I want you to know I love the disciples because they remind me of me and of many of you. These were great guys. First of all, they desert Jesus in His moment of greatest need. See you later, can't handle this. Then they scatter all around and just kind of disappear from the scene. And now we find them in John 20, Huddled in fear, the Philippians translation says, Huddled in fear behind closed doors. I mean, these were powerful guys, right? These were real chargers. I mean, men of steel. They're desperate men. I mean, that's what they are. Look what it says, verse 19. On the evening of the first day of the week when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came. I mean, desperate men will do just about anything, won't they? I mean, they'll try the craziest things just to protect themselves. It reminds me, I read this story this week. The Russians were desperate when the Germans were about to invade their nation. The tanks were about to roll on into the Soviet Union. I read this story. They invented what was called the dog mine. Ever hear about that? The plan was to train dogs to associate food with the underside of tanks. Then they would strap, I guess they were mutts, you know, purebred people. And they'd strap a bomb on the back of the dog and train it to run under a tank. Well, it would save, I know, the animal lovers are about to cry. But anyhow, they did this. Unfortunately, the dogs associated the food solely with Russian tanks. The plan was begun the first day of the Russian involvement in World War II and abandoned the second day. The dogs with bombs in their backs forced an entire Soviet division to retreat. You know, desperate people. They'll do anything to try to get by. Just made me think that. I thought it was a funny story. But throughout Jesus' ministry, the same kind of thing. People doing weird things because of fear. Fear. Fear. Has fear ever made you do something really unexplainable? There's some real fears here today. There's fears of financial hardship that perhaps are about to destroy your family, you think. There's fears of relational breakdown. Some of you are, much like Bob and Darlene, feeling pretty alienated and separated. You're wondering, am I going to make it? There's fear of rejection. Some of you are afraid you're not going to get in the college you wanted to go to or the job you want to have. There's fear of circumstances that maybe someone will find you out. Fear. And fear paralyzes us, doesn't it? Fear can cause us to absolutely break down and become immobile. We won't do anything because we're afraid that perhaps, just perhaps, this is it for us. And sometimes these fears are very unfounded. True. Sometimes they're not even close to being true. This is sort of an embarrassing story, but very true. Years and years ago, I had first moved to Pittsburgh. And I don't know if it was the stress of youth ministry or what it was. But I remember that I developed this real nagging kind of pain up in my head. Back up in here. It went on for several days and it would wake me up at night with pain. And, man, I just kept trying to feel it. Now, maybe something's really going wrong up here. People had been saying that was probably true. And I ended up having to see a doctor. I had people in my youth ministry were praying for me. That, man, maybe Jay's going to come to an early end. I went to the doctor. He did an EEG, you know, and examined me and all that stuff. And he said, Well, son. He said, What's happened there is that you had this little irritation. And you've rubbed it so much that it's so raw that it's now sending these pain signals down through your head. I felt so stupid, but I also felt very relieved. And you know what had happened? I'd spent probably four or five days thinking the worst. Now, have any of you ever done that? I know you have because you've asked me to pray for it. And it wasn't anything at all. Fear will do that to you. But fears can be powerful, too. They can be very, very real. And I want us to hear Jesus say to us in the midst of our fears today, Peace be unto you. Peace be with you. As soon as Jesus spoke that word, look what the Bible says. The disciples then were overjoyed, verse 20, when they saw Him. Get a grip on your thoughts this morning, dear one. Don't let your mind run wild with the worst case scenarios. Don't imagine that the end is near just because there's something that you can't control right now. Listen, sometimes those situations are exactly what you need to develop faith. And you need to hear Jesus say to you today, this Easter Sunday morning, Peace be with you. Jay, you say, well, you know, what I'm afraid of, it's not really dying. I'm afraid of living. I'm afraid of everything that's coming upon my life right now. I can't sort it all out. And I want you to hear Jesus. He's saying in the world you're going to have tribulation. You're going to have things that produce fear. But peace be unto you. Say it with me. I have overcome. Everyone say it. I have overcome the world. I've overcome it. Rest in me. And you can be liberated from the fear that could choke the life out of you. Maybe you just needed to hear that one phrase today. Peace be unto you. Peace be unto you. Now, the third phrase is spoken to one of these disciples. It's just like a few of us here today. Jesus says, look at it in verse 27, Stop doubting and believe. You know, doubt has almost become a virtue. I mean, it seems to me that only in America, only in this country, is doubt sort of elevated as a positive character trait for people. Well, you know, I'm just an independent thinker. I mean, I don't follow the crowd. I don't buy into all this stuff that people believe because they need a crutch of religion. I mean, you may be thinking to yourself today, I'm more rational than these people around here. More educated, you think, or whatever. I need more evidence. I've had people say to me, I'd believe it if someone showed me the proof. These independent thinker types, I mean, they kind of get to you. It's almost like they're looking for something just to make them different than everyone else. You know what? Sometimes you can be so different that you'll really miss the truth. And if the truth were spoken, you wouldn't believe it because you preferred just to be different. I heard another cute little story about kids in the Sunday school. A little boy by the name of Danny came running out and said, Hey, Dad, we just heard a great story in Sunday school. Dad said, Yeah, well, what was it? He said, Well, when the Israelites got out of Egypt, Pharaoh was chasing them with his army. So the Jews ran as fast as they could until they got to the Red Sea. And then the Egyptian army, well, it began to get closer and closer and closer. Well, then Moses got on his walkie-talkie and told the Israeli Air Force to bomb the Egyptians. While that was happening, the Israeli Navy built a pontoon bridge so the people could cross over the Red Sea. And they made it, Dad. Well, now the dad was really kind of shocked. He said, Is that what they're teaching you in that Sunday school? He said, Well, no, not exactly. But if I told you the way it really was, you'd never believe it, Dad. It's almost that way, isn't it? I mean, we'd rather hear stories than hear the truth. You see the disciples, they had men in their company just like some of you. They had some who believed because they saw him. They had some who believed because others told them. And they had a few, and one in particular, who just didn't believe it. He was the hard case. Are you the hard case today? I want you to know. God loves a challenge. Jesus walked up to him and he said, Thomas, touch me. Go ahead, Thomas, touch me. Put your finger in the palms of my hands. Put your finger down on my foot. Touch the holes. Put your hand up in the place in my side where the spear went in. Touch me, Thomas. And in doing that, do you know what I believe happened? I believe that Jesus said to all humanity, He said, Listen, go ahead. Investigate. Pursue me and see. Put me to the test. I'm not going to shrink back. The problem with so many people is they won't seek him. They simply dismiss him without really investigating him or his claims. And I have to say it's probably true today that there's a number of you who came on this Easter Sunday, and you know that you're out in the perimeter of faith. You're out there just kind of watching, content to go along. Maybe having fashioned your own sort of religion, people say to me, Well, you know, I have my way, you have your way kind of thing. Their religion has a little bit of faith and a little bit of good works and a little bit of honesty and a little bit of morality and a little bit of scripture. But it's not biblical faith. And it's time today that you stop doubting and believe. You say, Well, how do you know yours is any different or any better than mine? Well, dear ones, I had a conversation not too long ago with a person we call an agnostic. You know what an agnostic is? It comes from two Greek words, the agnostic or knowledge, and ah, which is the alpha derivative, which means against knowledge. That's what it means, against the knowledge of. And these are people that say, Well, you know, I'm not sure I believe. And I had a conversation with one. He said, Well, look, it's clear that we don't agree. You have your way, I have my way. Why don't we just be friends? So I said, Well, we can be friends to be sure. But realize there is an issue here of eternity at stake. I mean, when this is all over, I said, one of us is going to be right and one of us is going to be wrong. And the consequences are not just, you know, a bad day at the office or a headache or a lost investment. The consequences are eternal destiny, separation from God, torment versus a life of fellowship with Him. This is a big thing. Dear ones, if you're doubting today, hear the words of Jesus. Stop doubting. Do your investigation. And I want to say, make a commitment this Easter Sunday to come weekly and hear the word of God and come to terms with it. We have a class that we're calling our Alpha Class. It's just starting now that you can get into, which investigates the claims of Scripture. You can find lots of ways to look. But once you start looking, be honest enough to make a decision, to come to grips with it. And maybe you'll find, just maybe you'll find that there's something here that you've been putting off for many, many years. It would be like the man who said to me last Wednesday night, he was sitting right back here and he said, I came to church because my former wife was coming. And I just wanted to try to get close to her again. And along the way, Jesus overtook me. And now I'm saying to Him, My Lord and my God. The fourth and final phrase that you may hear Jesus say today is simply this. It's in John 21, if you want to turn the page over. He says, down in verse 17, Do you love me? Do you love me? This should be the number one question that every believer here this morning answers. Do you love me? And if you're like me, what's your automatic response? What? Of course I love you. Peter said that too, didn't he? Of course I love you, Lord. You know I love you. But then you know what you'd hear Jesus say? Two other little words. He'd say, well? Show me. He was from Missouri, you know? Show me. Show me. Demonstrate that you love me. Into the heartbreak parts of our city and be there. Be there for people. Feed people and clothe them and shelter them. Don't always ask the question, Well, what am I going to get out of it? But Lord, we argue the need's so great and I don't even know where to begin and even this church is too big. Peter said all those things and Jesus said simply in verse 19, Follow me, Peter. I'll show you where to go. I'll show you ways that you can do what you say is true. You can love me. You know, we're starting a ministry we're calling The Care Force. It's going to be an exciting opportunity for many of us to find our gifts and to plug in and finally get off the dead center of our faith and begin to act on it. And if you want to know more about it, this Wednesday night the service is dedicated to that. How The Care Force can help you employ your spiritual gifts and your willingness to follow the Lord. But you know what most of us are going to say? I've had this happen. Unfortunately, here's what they'll say. Because I've said it myself. Just when we're about to take a step of obedience, you'll do what Peter said. Look at verse 20. Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved. And Peter saw him and said, These are our four favorite words. What about him, Lord? What about him? What about Bruce? What's he going to do? What's Bill going to do, Lord? What's John going to do? It doesn't say this, but I can picture Jesus taking Peter by the lapels of his robe and saying, Peter, don't you get it? What he does and what she does, that's between them and me. But what you do is what really matters to me. I'll take care of them. You take care of you. And we're far too inclined. Listen. We're far too inclined to say, Well, what about leadership in the church? What are they doing? What about this person? What about that person? Instead of saying, Lord, what about me? I want to do what you want me to do. Feed my lambs. Feed my lambs, Jesus says. Feed my lambs. For what it's worth, dear ones, if Jesus walked in here today, I have a sense He'd say that to a lot of us. Do you love me? Do you love me? Well, I don't know why you came today. I don't know what you needed to hear Jesus say. Let's put all four of those up, please, Nancy. Maybe you needed to hear Him say today, Why are you crying? I'm with you. Maybe you needed to hear Him say, Peace be with you. I'll be there in the midst of your difficulty. I've overcome the world. You don't need to have fear. Maybe you came today and you needed to hear Him say, Stop doubting. Stop doubting. And believe. Maybe you needed to hear Him say today, Do you love me? I believe every one of us needed to hear Him say it. Let's stand, shall we?