From Sacrifice to Celebration
Shift: Easter’s celebration is at hand. Those standing by Jesus when everything seems to be falling apart will see Jesus in all his power and glory.
The little things do matter…
Shifts not only have a big impact in the crust of the earth, but also in every area of our lives. By making these small adjustments in the right places, we can set off a chain reaction – much like the earth’s seismic forces that result in an earthquake – but in this case small changes can make a BIG difference in the most important areas of our lives. 16:Shifts can take place almost anywhere: in the workplace, the school, the family, the church, the community, and in our spiritual and personal lives. In our last message, which focused on Good Friday, God disclosed to us the importance of Shift #6: The Shift from Top to Bottom.
SHIFT #7: From Sacrifice to Celebration
I guess it was inevitable. Growing up in northern California, I guess it was predestined that I would become a San Francisco Forty-Niner football fan—a faithful Forty-Niner fan. Even in the season when they won only three games, and even when they had a string of bad seasons. Even when the airplane flew over the stadium with the banner that said, "Thirty years of lousy football." What used to really annoy me was when friends who claimed to be Forty-Niner fans kept "crossing lines of allegiance" when they kept losing. Oh, then came the playoff Forty-Niners, and then the Forty-Niners that won the Super Bowl. The Forty-Niners then called the “dynasty of the eighties” with a string of five Super Bowls. Suddenly, there were gazillions of Forty-Niner fans everywhere, jumping up and down, celebrating the champions. But they could never know the joy of fans like me—fans who never lost hope, and who never stopped rooting for their team. Yes, the losing seasons are back once more, but I’ve never stopped rooting for my team!
It's true in sports; it's true in life. Celebration is sweetest for those who were loyal through all the sacrifice. Let’s note the shift from sacrifice to celebration on this Easter Sunday.
Let’s look at the perspective of sacrifice. On Good Friday night it appeared as if evil was the master of life. The holiest and most lovable One who had ever lived was dead and in his tomb, crucified by the order of a tyrant without either doubts or regrets. He who had raised the highest hopes among people had died by the most shameful means. A cross, two nails, a jeering mob of corrupted souls, and a quick thrust of a spear had ended it all. Those hours when his voice was stilled and his hands were quiet were the blackest through which the human race has ever lived. If Caesar could put an end to Jesus, then no one could ever dare aspire or hope again. Hope, in such a world, could be nothing better than a mockery. Christ was crucified and buried. Yes, it is called sacrifice.
Now, let’s see at the viewpoint of celebration. Then came Easter morning and the glorious word: 'He is Risen!' And evil's triumph was at an end. Since that hour when Mary in the garden first discovered the staggering fact of victory, those whose hearts were pure and whose labors were honest have never had reason to fear or despair if they believed in the Resurrection. Christ was crucified and buried, but he wouldn't stay dead. The tomb could not hold him—and because of him—the tomb cannot hold us either. Yes, it is called celebration.
Where the gospel according to Matthew ends, the Christian faith begins—in the resurrection of our Lord. The resurrection exhausts our capacity to imagine and it pushes our reasoning ability to the breaking point. But we don't have to explain the resurrection. Rather it explains us; it establishes who we are and why we are here today. Because Easter happened, because the resurrection happened, the church happened. The simplest meaning of Easter is that we are living in a world in which God still has the last word.
From Anguish to Alleluia
Like Mary Magdalene, taken directly from the glorious Easter story. Mary made the shift from sacrifice to celebration. Mary had been there at the cross, when all but one of Jesus' disciples had disappeared like scared rabbits. She had gone to the tomb for Jesus’ burial. And now, after having been, along with some friends, the first one at Jesus' tomb that early Sunday morning, she just can't leave. She has found the tomb empty and now sunk to even greater despair, believing that someone has now stolen her Master's body.
The story of Easter is so familiar that we sometimes fail to perceive some of the details of the account. These details provide for us a shift from sacrifice to celebration. It’s a detailed portrait from anguish to alleluia.
Let’s look at three of those details of the first Easter morning as found in the gospel account from Matthew 28:1-10…
1. Easter is Power
The Stone was rolled away—not to let Jesus out—but to let us in
1After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
We can say this because the idea that God rolled the stone away from the door to let Jesus escape is inconsistent with the resurrection appearances of Jesus recorded elsewhere in the scriptures. Appearances in which he suddenly appeared in the midst of the disciples, even when they were behind closed doors. Closed doors never kept Jesus in or out.
Matthew makes this clear in his account of the resurrection it was after Mary Magdalene and the other Mary had come to the tomb that "there was a great earthquake and an angel
of the Lord rolled away the stone and sat upon it." For centuries the curious have always wanted to look into the dark depths of death, but the tomb has been sealed with secrecy. The tomb has always mocked us. It has always stood as the "dead end" of all our efforts to peer beyond this life into the life to come.
A three-old girl was as anxious for Easter to come as she had been for Christmas to come. She announced to her Daddy, 'I can't wait for Easter!’ ‘Her Daddy asked her, 'Do you know what Easter means, honey?' She replied, 'Yes.' 'Well, what does Easter mean?' In her own sweet three-year-old way, with arms raised, a smile on her face, and at the top of her voice she said, 'Surprise!' What better word could sum up the meaning of Easter! Surprise, death! Surprise, sin! Surprise, grieving disciples! Surprise, modern culture! He's alive!’
It’s a surprise—for God in his power at Easter rolls the stone door of the tomb away for us so that we might penetrate the mystery of death. It makes of the tomb a tunnel—a tunnel into the heart of the eternal and shows us that the holy heart of God is love and life. God rolls the door of the tomb away not to let Jesus out—but to let us in—to allow us to see that Christ's promises are true.
2. Easter is Promise
The tomb is not completely empty—for the place is filled with the words of the angel
5 The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."
Matthew records that Christ's body is not there, but the place is filled with the words of the angel. The angel tells the two women on the first Easter morning to look inside the tomb saying to them “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.” If the women on that first Easter morning had looked into an empty and silent tomb, then our resurrection faith would be a belief based on human speculation, an assumption of the moment, an argument based on negative evidence. But no! Our faith is based on a word spoken to us by God. It is based on God's holy promise, spoken by Christ before he died, and upon God's holy assurance—spoken by the angel on the first Easter Sunday.
If Easter means anything to us in our modern culture, it means that timeless truth is eternal. We may nail it to the tree, wrap it up in grave clothes, and seal it in a tomb. But truth crushed to earth will rise again. Truth does not perish. It cannot be destroyed. It may be distorted. It has been silenced temporarily. It has been compelled to carry its cross to Calvary's brow, but with an inevitable certainty after every Black Friday of sacrifice dawns truth's Easter morn of celebration.
So it is always the third day! Wasn’t that the essence of the angel’s message at the empty tomb? The angel wanted the women to know that the anguish of Friday and the gloom of Saturday had passed. If God has defeated death, the third day is forever! This same promised word that echoed and re-echoed in that Easter tomb still fills the emptiness of our world today. "He is risen". The tomb has become a trumpet of truth promising the victory of life over death, and the continuation of Christ's presence and mission in this world—first in Galilee, and ultimately to the ends of the earth.
3. Easter is Purpose
Because of Easter we can turn our backs on the grave
8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."
Matthew tells us that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, having heard the angelic assurance, "He is risen", turned their backs on the grave and ran "with great joy" to tell the disciples. Joy is the key word here. Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the good news. We can bet she had seen the living Christ—as no one had ever seen him before. Who did Jesus choose as the first one to ever see him alive again? The one who had been loyal to him in many losing “seasons” when every reason to be loyal seemed gone—those are the people who see Jesus in ways his fair-weather fans will never see him. Those are the people who make the shift from sacrifice to celebration.
Christ was buried, but he wouldn't stay dead. The tomb could not hold him, and because of him, the tomb cannot hold us either. This indeed is what Jesus promised to us before he died, a promise that seemed at the time totally incredible, a matter, at best, of metaphor, and hyperbole, but which because of the first Easter morning, we now know to be a matter of fact and substance.
The stone was rolled away from the tomb, not to let Jesus out, but to let us in, to show us that death is not the end, but rather a new beginning. This new beginning gives us a purpose for living. It’s a beginning that proclaims the victory of life over death, and which allows us to turn our backs on the grave. We face our future with faith and hope, confident that all of God's promises will indeed bear fruit.
One trouble we face in our culture today is that too many people want to have Easter without Calvary—Celebration without Sacrifice. Philip Yancey, in his book The Jesus I Never Knew, writes about Easter being incomplete without the scars.
One detail in the Easter stories has always intrigued me: Why did Jesus keep the scars from his crucifixion? Presumably he could have had any resurrected body he wanted, and yet he chose one identifiable mainly by scars that could be seen and touched. Why? I believe the story of Easter would be incomplete without those scars on the hands, the feet, and the side of Jesus.
When human beings fantasize, we dream of pearly straight teeth and wrinkle-free skin and sexy ideal shapes. We dream of an unnatural state: the perfect body. But for Jesus, being confined in a skeleton and human skin was the unnatural state. The scars are, to him, an emblem of life on our planet, a permanent reminder of those days of confinement and suffering. I take hope in Jesus' scars. From the perspective of heaven, they represent the most horrible event that has ever happened in the history of the universe. Even that event, though, Easter turned into a memory. Because of Easter, I can hope that the tears we shed, the blows we receive, the emotional pain, the heartache over lost friends and loved ones, all these will become memories, like Jesus' scars. Scars never completely go away, but neither do they hurt any longer. We will have re-created bodies, a re-created heaven and earth. We will have a new start, an Easter start.
Maybe we're going through some losing seasons—times that could be a major test of our loyalty to Jesus. It's dark, plans have been shattered, it's tempting to desert because of a tragedy, a loss, or an awful hurt. Perhaps we don't understand why we have experienced a number of losing seasons. Many others maybe have deserted Jesus. God seems silent and things seem to being getting worse instead of better. Our hopes have just been sealed in a tomb.
This Easter is the moment of truth in our relationship with the Christ who gave his life for each of us. Jesus did not abandon us when it meant a cross. Now, will we abandon him? It's Mary Magdalene time—time to stand by Jesus, to stand firm in our commitment to the risen Christ—even when it feels like there's no reason to sacrifice. The wisdom of many a veteran of many a spiritual battle still rings true today—“Never doubt in the darkness what God has told you in the light."
Shift Suggestion: Take some time this week to reflect upon the celebration of Easter. In the view of some, the bodily resurrection of Christ is not an essential Christian belief. Do you agree or disagree? If the orthodox teaching about the Resurrection is denied, what implications does this have for how Jesus-followers are to think about the body in this life and beyond? What propositions does this belief have for how you live out the shift from sacrifice to celebration? Refer to 1 Corinthians 15:35-58 in responding.
Moving from sacrifice to celebration is one of the great disciplines that allow God to give us the power, promise, and purpose of a new beginning in our lives. Our series on 16:Shifts highlights the verse from John 3:16…
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
…God loves…God gave…We believe…We live.
Prayer: Father, I believe you love this world. You gave your one and only Son so I can live forever with you. Apart from you, I die. With you, I live. I choose life. I admit I need a Savior. I believe Jesus is my Savior. I choose to walk with Jesus and become a Worldchange.
Yes, perhaps it's a Good Friday sacrifice for us right now. But Easter has come and the celebration is at hand. Those who stand by Jesus in the losing seasons when everything seems to be falling apart are the ones who are going to see Jesus in all his power and all his glory. Celebration is sweetest for those who have tasted sacrifice—those who never leave him!
Listen to the words of Annie Johnson Flint…
Some of us stay at the cross,
some of us wait at the tomb,
Quickened and raised with Christ
yet lingering still in the gloom.
Some of us 'bide at the Passover feast
with Pentecost all unknown,
The triumphs of grace in the heavenly place
that our Lord has made His own.
If the Christ who died had stopped at the cross,
His work had been incomplete.
If the Christ who was buried had stayed in the tomb,
He had only known defeat,
But the way of the cross never stops at the cross
and the way of the tomb leads on
To victorious grace in the heavenly place
where the risen Lord has gone.
So we make the shift from sacrifice to celebration, and we proclaim with certainty…
Thine is the kingdom and the power, O Lord, and the glory forever. O, Thine is the kingdom and the power, O Lord, and we’ll give You all the praise! Hallelujah, Christ is Risen! Amen.
