Do You Believe In Easter?

Father Jim Fosdick

St. Mary of the Snows Anglican Church

Easter 2007

In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

What a thrill it is to be a preacher on Easter morning! It’s better than being Irish on St. Patrick’s Day or a child on Christmas morning or Tiger Woods at the Master’s. The great New Testament scholar C.H. Dodd said, "The resurrection is the epicenter of belief. It is not a belief that grew up within the church. It is the belief around which the church itself grew up."  Billy Graham has said, "If I were an enemy of Christianity, I would aim right at the resurrection, because that’s the heart of Christianity."

Why is Easter so big? What makes the resurrection of Jesus so significant? First, it announced victory over sin and death. Someone has been to the other side of death and returned to tell us that there is a way through it. Jesus arose from the grave and assured his followers that they would also. I’m not going to end up in a cemetery somewhere. I will see my grandparents again. I’ve already decided what I want on my gravestone. “He’s not here. He is risen.” God willing I will be. When Jesus arose, he blazed a path into eternity for us.

The second reason resurrection is so important is that it was God’s confirmation of Jesus’ saving activity on the cross. Easter morning was God’s stamp of approval on Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross. Now I know that when I reach the doors to eternity, my sin record will be sealed and stamped "Paid in full at Calvary".

The third reason resurrection is so important is that it gives us a preview of how world history is going to end. The winner was revealed on Easter morning. When the curtain of world history falls, no ideology, no weapons system, no economic system will reign supreme. Jesus alone will be revealed high and lifted up. Then "every knee shall bow…and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord."

Let’s look at what Luke has to say about Easter morning. Jesus died at about 3:00 PM on a Friday afternoon. He was buried hurriedly because the Jewish Sabbath began at sundown. No burial or any kind of work was permitted on the Sabbath. In fact, the burial was so hurried that there was no time to anoint the body with spices as was the custom. The first opportunity to do that was the following Sunday morning. Anointing the dead was usually women’s work. Therefore, early on Sunday morning, certain women from Galilee who had supported Jesus’ ministry came to the tomb. Mary Magdalene was the leader. It is interesting that God allowed Mary Magdalene to be the first person on earth to tell the good news of Jesus’ resurrection. Women were considered little more than property in the first century. By the way, my New Testament professor Bishop Parsons pointed out that this is a powerful argument for the authenticity of the gospel record. In the first century, a woman’s testimony was usually unacceptable. So, if the resurrection story had been a made-up story by the early church, they would never have placed a woman as the star witness.

The four gospel accounts of the resurrection differ slightly concerning the details. But that should not concern us. Ask any reporter who covers criminal trials. If four witnesses offer identical testimony, the four are suspected of conspiracy or collusion. All four gospels agree on the one vitally important fact of Easter morning: the tomb was empty. Jesus’ dead body was literally, physically revived! The tomb of Confucius is occupied. The tomb of Buddha is occupied. The tomb of Mohammed is occupied. But the tomb of Jesus Christ is empty!

Our scriptural accounts of resurrection show us the four-step process by which the Easter good news continues to spread. I want you to ask yourself, "Where am I in the process? Am I at step one or perhaps step four.

Here is step one: SOMEONE TELLS US ABOUT JESUS.

I can’t remember how young I was when my mother or father first read me one of those Bible story books with all the pictures. I’m sure that’s where I first encountered the resurrection message. My grandparents read to me too. My grandmother Boswell sang my mother to sleep with hymns and did the same with me.  I also remember going to Vacation Bible School in Kent, Ohio and we not only read Bible stories, we cut out Bible figures and pasted them into scenes from the Bible.

Two angels first told Mary Magdalene the good news. "He is not here. He has risen!"  Then she in turn went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord.”. Who first told you the good news of resurrection? If that person is still alive, tell them on this Easter weekend how grateful you are.

The second step in spreading the Easter good news is this: WE INQUIRE FOR OURSELVES.

When Simon Peter heard the news from Mary Magdalene, he decided to go check it out for himself. He ran to the tomb. You might say, "Father Jim, dead people don’t usually come out of graves. It’s hard for a modern person trained in scientific methodologies to believe it. How can you be so sure it happened?"

Let me give you the three best evidences I know for the resurrection. I can’t remember where I first heard these, but my recollection is I read them in a Josh McDowell book. First, 11 out of 12 disciples died for their belief when a simple denial of the resurrection would have saved them. Sometimes people will die for their religious convictions if they sincerely believe they’re true, but people won’t die for religious beliefs that they know are false. Would all these men have died a martyr’s death for lies? Thousands of first century Christians suffered and died in agony rather than deny the truth of resurrection. They were willing to give up life on this earth for eternal life.

The second proof of resurrection is the change of the Sabbath Day to Sunday. For 1500 years the Jews had faithfully adhered to Sabbath observance from sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday. It was a biblical commandment, one of the top ten! Yet in a matter of a few weeks, at least 10,000 Jews had begun celebrating the Sabbath on Sunday, the day of resurrection. Something mighty powerful had to cause that change.

The third proof of resurrection is the birth of the church. At the time of Jesus’ crucifixion, the church consisted of a few hundred depressed, fearful, defeated people. Yet within five weeks after the crucifixion, some 10,000 Christians were boldly taking the message of Christ to the whole world. After only twenty years the Christian faith had reached Caesar’s palace in Rome. In just two hundred years the movement had overwhelmed the entire Roman Empire. Nothing short of a resurrection could have given such momentum to the movement.

Now let’s return to that four-step process by which the Easter good news spreads

The third step is this: JESUS FINDS US!

Jesus touches our life in some significant way, leaving his fingerprint on us. Then it’s no longer ancient history; it’s current events. If the Christ-Spirit is active and personal with us now, he must be alive. Jesus completely changed my life. I couldn’t have done it on my own and yet when I decided to follow Jesus as Lord my life turned 180 degrees and Jesus and I have been on a roll ever since. I myself am a witness to Jesus power to make new creations. By the way once I was saved I had to tell people. I’m still telling people. Resurrection became real for the early disciples when they saw the risen Christ. "Suddenly Jesus met them (the disciples). ‘Greetings,’ he said." At least one of the disciples, Thomas, had been extremely skeptical of the resurrection. Then Jesus met him face to face. "...he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; see my hands...Stop doubting and believe.’"

Jesus meets us in many ways at our points of need. Many people come to Christ at the lowest point in their lives when they have nowhere else to turn. I can’t tell you how many people have told me that this is how they came to Christ. Perhaps he becomes very real to us in a worship service or in a Cursillo weekend or in the hospital facing surgery. Sometimes he meets us in the middle of our grief over someone we desperately want to meet again in heaven. I read that it was like this for the great actress, Helen Hayes. Her nineteen-year-old daughter died of polio. She wondered how she would bear the loss. She said that her key to survival was the assurance God gave her of a life after death. She said, "I always feel, even when I’m tired or feeling my years, Ah, I’ll be seeing Mary again."

The fourth and final step in spreading the good news of resurrection is: WE TELL OTHERS!

Then the cycle is complete and the news of resurrection spreads exponentially by personal conversation, FAX, and now Internet. Jesus’ last command is our first order of business: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations." That’s Matthew 28:19. The Early Church did it well. Acts 5:42 tells us that "day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ."

Who is going to discover the risen Christ because of you? Bobby Bowden, the great football coach of Florida State University, is a Christian and at a prayer breakfast he told a story about a man in Kansas who said to his pastor, "I’m going to Oregon to work among the loggers for a year. They pay all your expenses and the pay is fantastic." The pastor said, "I’ve heard about those logging camps with all their drinking, carousing, and profanity. When they find out that you’re a Christian, they will harass you unmercifully." "Well," said the man, "I’m going anyway."

A year later the man was back in Kansas. His pastor welcomed him back. He asked, "How did you survive after those loggers found out that you’re a Christian?" The man said, "They never found out." What a shame! Do the people in your workplace know you’re a Christian? If not, why not? That’s part of your mission field. The most important thing you can say to another person is this: "I believe that Jesus Christ is alive because he has touched my life." Then you just tell the person how Jesus changed your life. God can anoint that simple testimony with life-changing power.

Let me tell you about one woman who had a special way of sharing her resurrection faith. Her story is told in a book by her physician, Dr. Will Phillips of San Antonio, Texas. Her name was Edith Burns. She was an elderly widow who loved Jesus. She would often sit down with someone and say, "Hello, my name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?" If they said yes, she would ask them what they believe about Easter. If they talked about Easter bunnies and colored eggs, she had a chance to share with them the real meaning of Easter. Countless people were led to Christ by Edith Burns, including Dr. Phillips’ head nurse.

One day Dr. Phillips called Edith into his office and said, "Edith, I’ve got bad news for you. Your tests have come back positive. You have an aggressive form of cancer, and you may not have long to live." Edith replied, "Why Dr. Phillips, you need not look so sad. I have had a full life. Now you are telling me that before long I’m going to see my Lord Jesus face to face. I will be reunited with my dear husband, my parents, and so many old friends."

After several months of chemotherapy, it was clear that the cancer was winning the battle for Edith’s life. She went into the hospital. Everybody who met her was attracted by her warmth and positive faith. And if she got half a chance she would say to anyone, "Hello, I’m Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?" She picked up a nickname in the hospital—"Easter Edith." But there was one person who was not attracted to Edith. Phyllis Cross was a mean, ornery nurse. She had been an Army nurse for twenty years. She had been married four times. Phyllis told her supervisor, "I don’t want to have anything to do with that religious nut, Edith Burns."

One day Phyllis had to go to Edith’s room to draw some blood. Edith said, "Phyllis, God loves you and I love you too, and I’ve been praying for you." Phyllis said, "Well, you can stop your praying for me. It won’t work and I’m not interested." Edith said, "I can’t stop praying for you. And I’ve asked God not to let me go home until you have come into his family." Phyllis replied, "Then you will never die because that will never happen." Then she walked out.

Edith and Phyllis saw each other regularly over the coming weeks. But Edith never asked her the question she posed to everybody else, "Do you believe in Easter?" Finally, Phyllis’ curiosity got the best of her. She said, "Edith, why have you never asked me if I believe in Easter?" Edith smiled and replied, "I asked God to cause you to ask me about the Easter question, and you just did." Phyllis was caught off guard. Her defenses dropped. Edith shared Christ with her. This tough old Army nurse invited Jesus into her heart as Savior and Lord. A few days later Phyllis walked into Edith’s room and said, "Hey Edith, today is Good Friday." "No," said Edith, "It’s Easter. In the life of a Christian, every day is resurrection day. Happy Easter, Phyllis."

Two days later, on Easter Sunday, Phyllis walked into Edith’s room and noticed a tranquil smile on her face but it was obvious that her soul had departed to be with the Lord. Phyllis placed her hands on Edith’s and said, "Happy Easter, dear." Then she assisted the family in making funeral arrangements. Several hours later Phyllis managed to get a few minutes off duty. She sat down in the break room to have a cup of coffee. One of the new student-nurses happened to be there. Phyllis said, "Hello, my name is Phyllis Cross. Do you believe in Easter?"

Do you believe in Easter? If you do, tell someone. Amen