Good Friday

Transcripts are computer-generated and may not be 100% accurate.

Debbie: Well, good morning everybody and happy Easter. Alleluia, Christ has risen. It is so good to be together as we celebrate the risen Christ this morning. I'm Debbie Manning, I'm one of the pastors on staff and this is a big day in the life of the church. It can feel like a big day if you're the one preaching on Easter Sunday. But what I've come to realize in the last few years is I have preached on this Sunday is that it ain't about me.

And there is nothing I can bring to the story that makes it any more miraculous and amazing, inspiring than it already is. And think about this though, that every year for over 2,000 years, we come together and we tell this story year after year, it's the same story over and over and over again. And I think we always know, right, the ending before we even begin to tell the story. And I think it's good news for us because what it means is the Easter story is trustworthy. The Easter story is important. It's an important part of God's story, it's an important part of our story.

And no matter who you are or what your story is, where you are in your story, whether that is in this place of celebrating, being joy-filled, anticipating, maybe you're in that place where you're waiting and you're uncertain and you're a little bit anxious, feeling overwhelmed about life. Maybe you're in that place of grief and loss. Maybe a little bit of hopelessness or even powerlessness. I think we can all relate to that with what's been going on in our country and our world right now. But no matter what your story, this story matters. This story is important because in this story, death doesn't have the final word. It's love that has the final word. And there is a new day and a new way and renewed life and hope and there's a rising.

And for me, it's a reminder that there is something bigger than us, something beyond us. And this year more than ever, I think we need this story. Sadly, I was looking back on what I preached on last year and I said the same darn thing. I need it more this year than I did ever. But I will tell you, we are not the same people, we are not the same city, we are not the same country or world as we were a year ago. It feels different. Our lives, our city, our country, our world has changed. There's grief and division and exhaustion, uncertainty. There's things in our lives that feel broken, stuck, sealed shut. And we need this story. Jesus was betrayed, arrested. He was denied, beaten, mocked. He was crucified and laid in a tomb and they sealed the big stone and they put it in front of that tomb and they put a guard in front of that.

And here's where Matthew picks up the story in 28:1-10:

After the Sabbath, at the first day of the week, was dawning Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake. For an angel of the Lord descending from heaven came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning. His clothes white as snow. For fear of him, the guard shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid. "For I know that you are looking "for the Jesus who was crucified. "He's not here for he has been raised," he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell the disciples he's been raised from the dead and indeed he's going ahead of you to the Galilee and there you will see him. This is my message for you. So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and they ran to tell the disciples and suddenly Jesus met them. And he said, "Greetings." And they came to him, took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers and sisters to go to Galilee. There they will see me."

Pretty simple message. I'm gonna say what I said a couple weeks ago when I was preaching. Simple but maybe not easy. Don't be afraid. He's not here for he has been raised. So the women, they leave with this fear and great joy both at the same time and they run. And on the way they meet Jesus himself and he says to them, "Do not be afraid. "Go and tell."

I love that Matthew doesn't clean this up at all. The women are afraid and they're joyful at the same time because that's real life, isn't it? Don't we all know how that feels to hold both at the same time, the fear and the joy? The fear and the joy in starting something new? The fear and the joy of falling in love or waiting for a new baby or the fear when life falls apart and you're anticipating longing for joy. And here at the tomb it is the fear and joy that become the very thing that send the women running.

Because fear alone doesn't send you running. It's the joy that has them run to tell this story. And the resurrection we all know it's far from the end of the story. It's surprising and amazing. It's this moment in God's story. And I think part of the mystery in the center of it all is not that the stone was rolled back so that Jesus could get out. It's that the stone was rolled back so that the women could see in. So that they could see that the resurrection was already happening. That before they understood it, before they knew how to respond to it, before they could believe it, the resurrection was already happening. It was already underway. And it's true for you and me today.

Because right now there's something shifting. There's a new life beginning. There's a rising up. God is at work behind stones that we thought could never be moved. And haven't we all been witnesses, experienced, even partaken in this rising up as we have stood on street corners with whistles and showed up at rallies and prayer vigils and grocery shopping, delivered groceries and driven to people and written notes to people and prayed. There's been a rising up.

Because Easter is far more than something that just happened to Jesus. It has to be something that is happening inside of us. Because what good is it if the stone is rolled away from his tomb, but not from ours? What good is it as if the tomb is empty, but we're stuck inside of ours? What good is it if he has risen, but we have not? Easter means that life has changed, not ended. It means that no ending is ever final. It means that how things are today are not the way that they are necessarily gonna be tomorrow. It means that whatever you've done or not done, whatever has happened to you or not happened to you will not be the final word. It will not be the thing that defines you. And I think that's worth an hallelujah. Christ has risen because that is the final word on your life and guess what else? It's the first word on your life. Christ has risen.

Well, you know, I had a moment this past week when this Easter message all came together for me. It was this past Tuesday night, I was at the Target Center at a concert. And yes, I got to hear the boss and he was rocking the Target Center. And I will say side note, the guy is 76 years old, got a good 10 years on me, three straight hours. And this guy rocked the stadium. He paused literally for a couple of three minute breaks to remind us how truth and morality and being a good neighbor and prayer and showing up and standing up and speaking out, he paused to speak that message, but for the rest of the three hours, he sung that message. And while he stood up there jumping up and down, I'm thinking, wow, my feet hurt and I'm just standing. It was amazing.

But when Bruce Springsteen started singing, "My City in Ruins," that's when, as we say in the pastor biz, I had a holy moment. Now that song is actually something that became famous after 9-11, even though he had written it the year before as his own hometown was in decline. The lyrics in the song paint this haunting picture. Listen to this, empty streets, church doors, wide open, but the congregation's gone, boarded up windows, my brothers on their knees, my soul is lost, my city is in ruins. And as I stood there listening, it didn't feel like just a song about a place, it felt like a song about us, our city, our country, our lives, those places in the world and in our communities and in our own hearts that feel like they're in ruins right now. In this song, it shifts what feels like into a prayer, a song that has the power of a hymn. And I'd love it if you guys would just sit back, close your eyes if you want and just take a listen.

[Bruce Springsteen’s My City of Ruins]

I stood there listening and I leaned over to my brother-in-law John and his partner Brian and I just went that's my Easter message because here's the thing: Easter is not just that he's risen. Easter is also rise up. The angel says he's not here. Jesus says don't be afraid. And they both say the same thing. Go. Go tell. Go live. Go forward. Because the resurrection isn't something we just believe in. The resurrection is something that we step into.

And here's what really struck me. Over and over again, what do we claim? We are a community practicing the ways of Jesus. And here's what I say to you today. We are a community practicing the ways of the risen Christ. And the call on our lives, the commitment we make then, is to rise up. So let me ask this. Where in your life does it feel like it's in ruins? What feels sealed up or shut down or buried? What needs repairing in your relationships, in your city, in your country, in this world? Those are the questions of the resurrection. And their responses with our hearts and with our hands, we will rise up.

So today on this Easter Sunday we gather. We might dress up a little bit and we sing and we worship. But I want us to remember that Easter is so much bigger than something we celebrate, but it's something that we practice and that we lean into. We live out day by day, step by step. And think about it. For Jesus, the resurrection was a three-day event. For you and me, not so much. It's a lifetime. But here's the good news.

Whether we feel it or not, whether we believe it or not, whether we're ready or not, it is still Easter. He is still risen and that changes everything. So one more time let me tell you the story again. Do not be afraid. Because he is not here, he's been raised, and he's already ahead of you on the road to Galilee. And he's invited us all to rise up. And in the words of the boss, "Come on, rise up. Hallelujah, Christ has risen. Amen."