Jesus is alive! Jesus is risen! We have a resurrection!

The Resurrection is loaded with power and meaning…. Just some of what it means:

It must mean something for you and for me. Just look how many of us are here today!

There was a time when I came to church regular as clockwork—once a year on Easter….

No matter what else there was in my life there was Easter. Church was part of my roots….

The Resurrection means something for the church. This is our high holy day….

It’s a day when everyone can feel good about coming to church…. For some it’s a day to show off new clothes…. I remember growing up it was a day when we got to wear that new pair of pants that had been bought just for this day, and a shirt that Mom had made….

The best thing about coming to church on Easter—there is always Good News preached….

The Resurrection means something to Christianity. The empty tomb and the raising of Jesus from the dead is good news! It is the authentication of all that Jesus said and did!

Notice that I did not say it authenticates all that the preacher says and does, nor what Christians say and do….

The Apostle Paul says that the resurrection is proof positive that Jesus has power over death and that our trust in him is not in vain—we shall live also!

The Resurrection of Jesus is God’s ultimate seal of approval!

And Christianity needs God’s seal of approval. We humans are religious beings, and there are many religions. Lots of people are seeking God in lots of different ways….

More than 90% of Americans believe in God…. With our freedom of religion, our country has become a melting pot of religions. Did you know that LA is the only city in the world where every sect of Buddhism is available?

There is a thirst for spiritual things in our country. As materialistic as we are in America, there comes a disillusionment/dissatisfaction with the material, and people are turning toward the spiritual.

When I was a young man I pursued popular religious thought based on classic western philosophy. I believed in a dual reality—Physical and Spiritual. I believed that the physical was bad and only spiritual was good….

Our religious quest as human beings is also a quest to make sense of our experience. We tend to embrace cultural icons with a religious fervor when they make sense of what we see.

In the late 70’s I was a follower of that icon of pop culture—Star Wars. I wasn’t quite as bad as the character, Eric, on TV’s That 70’s Show. But, the cosmic struggle of good and evil depicted in Star Wars made sense of the evil I saw in society and the world.

It’s not just Star Wars. Lord of the Rings, and even Harry Potter have the same theme. There is a “Force” and it has both good and evil associated with it. Innocent heroes are joined by faithful companions and they confront the evil. In the end they win a cosmic-scale conflict and evil is defeated….

Our religious quest as human beings is fueled by experience. We want to experience things that are of God, and we follow religions that promise that experience. Many pop religions, especially new age and panentheistic religions touch upon a part of the spiritual reality that God has ordained.

These religions understand explore different spiritual laws that God has put in place.

People experience a part of God, and people follow—because we want that experience…. Those who know how to tap into the spiritual side of reality are highly revered….

Lots of people are seeking God in lots of different ways. In the resurrection Christianity has God’s seal of approval and we need it. Because Christianity is so different in many ways ….

In Christianity there is a difference between the material and the physical, but instead of separating them they are joined together. The physical and the spiritual are not at odds with each other.

In the Good News we see that Jesus was at once God himself and also fully a human being….

In the resurrection we understand, and our eyes are opened to see the spiritual in the material. Eyes are opened to the image of God in each of us—in each of you—especially children….

In Christianity the virtuous hero does not battle the forces of evil with his band warriors, triumphing in a great conflict.

Rather, our virtuous hero surrenders to death, and his band of followers scatter in fear….

Yet in his death, the power of evil is ultimately and eternally defeated—a mystery….

In the resurrection we gain power to face our fears—even the fear of death….

In Christianity there is no need for manipulating God’s spiritual laws with crystals, potions, instruments, and incantations.

Rather, in the Good News we see Jesus unleashing spiritual power to heal and even to control nature. We see Jesus calming storms, walking on waves, healing disease, empowering his disciples and sending them out to do the same….

In the resurrection we are given the very Spirit of God himself—to dwell within us…!

As different as Christianity is from many of today’s popular religions we need God’s seal of approval. And we have the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. This is not to say that all the other religions are not true. Rather, it is God’s verification of the truth of Jesus….

Jesus is alive and that means that you are alive! The church is alive! Christianity is alive!

The resurrection is what makes Christianity relevant today!

We don’t follow a dead hero of faith from centuries past. We follow a living person/God who we have a personal relationship with right now.

Jesus is alive. Jesus is still calming storms, Jesus is still teaching, Jesus is still touching, Jesus is still healing, Jesus is still loving—through you and through me, through the Bible, and yes even through the church itself….

Because Jesus is alive, Christianity lives! This church lives! I live! You live!

Good News is preached on Easter! Be a part of it year round…!