Easter
March 31, 2002
Text: John 20:1-18
Title: “The Sequel”
CJM
I. Have you ever had a favorite movie
- one you really enjoyed
- watched over and over again
- and then been very excited when you heard the news
that they were making a sequel to your favorite movie
- only to be extremely disappointed when you saw it
- the sequel never seems to be as good as the original
The Academy Awards were last week
- and so several cable channels have recently been
showing various Oscar-winning movies
- the other day, I watched one of them – its called “The
Sting” – one of my favorites
- starred Robert Redford and Paul Newman
- story about how some con men swindle a NY gangster
- I like the movie
- It won several Academy Awards and so, you’d think that
If “The Sting” was good, then “The Sting II” ought to be even better, right?
Well, let me give you a clue
- they didn’t get Redford and Newman back
-
so they somehow decide upon Jackie Gleason and Mac Davis
-
Mac Davis?
Suffice it to say, the movie stunk
- there aren’t enough thumbs in this building to describe
bad it was
- PU
Sequels tend to be that way, “Rocky” was a highly acclaimed, award winning picture about a Philly boxer
- I liked it
- But by the time “Rocky V” rolled around, I was wishing that I had been knocked out
You want to know just how far society has plummeted? The other day I looked in the TV guide and saw a listing for “Police Academy 6”
- there’s 6 of these losers that I know of
- that’s how far we’ve fallen
- the first one was bad enough
- every consecutive sequel just gets worse
Sequels tend to be that way
- they just bet worse and worse
We like the originals
- remember when Coca-Cola tried a sequel
- the “new” Coke
- that went over like a lead balloon
- sales of Coke “Classic” went through the roof
- while the new Coke gathered dust on the grocer’s shelves
We like the originals
- sequels tend to be disappointing let-downs
We prefer the originals
II My neighbors consider me to be
somewhat of an original
- their latest evidence to prove this point is probably my Christmas lights
They’re still up – I’ve got the only house on my block with Christmas lights
- blue light we had in the shrubs this past Christmas
- still in the shrubs
- white light around the tree in the front yard
- still ‘round the same tree
- red and green lights along the roof
- still along the roof
I’ve been meaning to get to taking them down
- Jan busy
- Feb bad weather
- Mar something came up
- I’m considering April, but it’s baseball season now so
might have to wait
My wife “asked” me about it recently in her mild mannered way
- when are you going to get busy and take down those
ridiculous Christmas lights?!
I knew I needed a quick excuse
- I’m leaving them up for Easter
I think that somehow, she sensed that a long, drawn story was soon to follow; so she let it go for now
- but as I congratulated myself for buying a few extra
weeks, I wondered
- why don’t we have Easter lights?
- why don’t we sing Easter carols?
- why is Christmas more popular than Easter
III We can make a quick comparison
1st – the season
- this past year, they started playing Christmas songs on the radio in early November – stores put out Christmas stuff right before Halloween – skip Thanksgiving
- 8 weeks of Christmas season
- Easter candy and stuffed bunnies has only been on the
shelves for 2 or 3 weeks.
- Advantage - Christmas
2nd – the mascot – now the Easter bunny is cute, but let’s face it
- when it comes to holiday symbols, no body beats
Santa Claus
- right?
The bunny gets a little bit of exposure this time of year, but Santa has the whole North Pole thing, reindeer, sleigh, elves, etc.
- he’s in every mall and dept. store 2 months out of the year
- there’s about 100 songs about him, from sacred to rock to country
- you can even get one of those electric toy Santas that does the twist
Its no contest – the Easter Bunny vs. Santa
-Advantage - Christmas
No matter how you look at it
- the decorations you put in on and around your house
- or the cards you mail to your friends and relatives
- or the parties you have
- or the gifts you give
- or the songs you sing
- or the festive holiday clothes you wear
Even the greeting we share with one another
- everyone says Merry Christmas
- how many say “Merry Easter?:”
No matter how you cut it, the world likes Christmas better than Easter
- even we in the Church tend to have warmer, fuzzier
feelings about Christmas
- even though our “official” stance, as you find printed on
back of your bulletin, claims that Easter is the “most joyous and celebrative season of the new year”
Why is it, that both the world and many times even the Church,
seems to favor Christmas over Easter?
I have my theory
I think it’s partly because so many of us tend to view Easter as a sequel
- a sequel to Christmas
- Christmas came first
- Jesus birth came first
- older story
- Easter comes later -
We present Easter to the world just 3 months after Christmas
and many of those folks say “Jesus?” Didn’t we just hear
all about that Jesus guy back in December?
I’ve heard all this before – manger- birth – wise men
- let’s move on, OK
- let’s not rehash this whole thing just 3 months later
For crying out loud, we’ve still got fruit cake sitting around here
Easter? We just went over all this savior stuff
- just give me a fuzzy bunny and a few chocolate eggs
- and save all the Jesus still until the next December
- by then I might be able to stay awake through hearing it again
For so many people in the world and even a few in the Church
- Easter is just a sequel
- nothing new
- nothing original
- just a rehash of old religious stuff
Just a sequel
- and we prefer the original
V. But this is the one sequel that’s better than the original
- oh, the characters are mostly the same
- Jesus, Mary, and the crew
- and the setting hasn’t changed much
o Galilee
o Nazareth
o Jerusalem
- but oh, how the plot has twisted
did you hear what John’s gospel had to say?
- Jesus had been placed in the tomb
- the stone had been rolled away
- Mary Magdalene and Simon Peter wondering what happened to Jesus’ body
- Simon and other disciples had seen the linen wrappings,
and the text says they “believed,”
- but they didn’t understand what had happened
and then Mary, who had been seeping outside the tomb, peers inside and sees two angels, in white, sitting where Jesus’ body had been
Q: Why weep
A: they’ve taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him
Mary turns around and there stands Jesus
- alive
- but she isn’t expecting this
- she figures he’s the gardener, and asks him if he has moved Jesus’ body
It’s not until Jesus calls her by name – Mary!
That she recognizes him as the Lord
- she turns and in what must be the most emotion filled
moment of her life, cries out “Rabbouni!”
- teacher
Jesus has been resurrected from the dead
Jesus is alive
God’s promise is complete
God’s power has overcome death!
Let me tell you that was not in the original
You only get this in the sequel to Christmas
Only in the Easter story
Don’t get me wrong
- Christmas story is powerful – virgin birth - miraculous
- but birth – babies being born – happens every day
- resurrection of a crucified savior, on the other hand,
does not
- only in the sequel
the sequel to Christmas known as Easter
This sequel isn’t just a lame rehash of an old plot
- new twist
- new hope
- resurrection of the dead
This sequel reminds us of everything dying in our lives
- hopes
- dreams
- relationships
- can be resurrected to new life in Christ Jesus
And, it gives us a choice to make our own sequel
Your life story, Part II
- a sequel to our sinful, imperfect, disappointingly tragic
stories
- a sequel in which we have a chance for new hope
- a sequel where we have a chance to get it right
- a clean slate
- a fresh start
o courtesy of Jesus Christ
o courtesy of the resurrection
Only in the sequel to Christmas known as Easter
VI Christmas remains more popular, but this year, as the sun goes down, I’ll be turning on my Easter lights
- to celebrate Easter
You see, I liked the original, but I love the sequel
Don’t You?