The Sweetness of the Cross - Easter Sunday 600am sermon

Happy Easter! I am the preacher at our 600am service on Easter Sunday.

So, here's what I'm going to say.

I wanted to share with you some pictures of baking as well. The picture below is one of me kneading the Hot Cross Buns. Scroll down to see the finished product!

Easter Sunrise Service- 600 am 040812

“The Sweetness of the Cross”

Christ is Risen.

He is Risen INDEED, ALLELUIA!

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. ²So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him." ³Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. ⁴The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. ⁶Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷and the cloth that had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. ⁸Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; ⁹for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. ¹⁰Then the disciples returned to their homes.

¹¹But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; ¹²and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. ¹³They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." ¹⁴When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." ¹⁶Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher). ¹⁷Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" ¹⁸Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

It is so good to be with you this morning. I just love the fact that we got up early to wander around in the dark. It is such a holy moment when night peels away and dawn breaks into the realm of day. My hope and prayer is that when you leave here this morning you will join the saints of the ages, “I have seen the Lord!”

This early wakeup call is symbolic for what happens at times in our spiritual lives. For like Mary Magdalene we wander and wonder in the dark.

And then Jesus interrupts our grieving and confusion by calling us by name.

And what that means for you, for me, for all people is that no matter how broken life seems. No matter how dark or hopeless it seems. No matter how sad and heart broken you are. Jesus comes into our lives like sunshine. Clement of Alexandria said many years ago, “Christ has turned all of our sunsets into dawns.” So, endings are not the final word, but with each ending, there is a new, wonderful beginning.

Mary Magdalene was in the darkness. She couldn't see because her heart was broken, her dreams were shattered, her hope was lost. But, the good news is that Jesus came to her as she was wandering and wondering around in the dark.

15Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?"

In an interesting case of mistaken identity, she thinks Jesus is the "gardener." I've always thought that to be such a funny/interesting line, but maybe she is more accurate than she knows. For earlier in this gospel Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing," (John 15:5).

Despite the darkness, the cloudiness, the fog of grief that she is wrapped in, the LIGHT shines in the darkness, the LIGHT no darkness can overcome.

Jesus simply calls her by name, "Mary." And then she says, "Rabbouni," which means "my teacher." She then takes off and has perhaps the shortest Easter sermon on record, "I have seen the Lord." Five simple words of authentic testimony. "I HAVE SEEN THE LORD." She doesn't say, "I've thought about the Lord." But, "I've SEEN the Lord."

The LIGHT SHINES in the darkness; it makes us whole.

God bless you and let your light so shine before others that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven.

Some of you know that I am a baker. So, my practice on Holy Saturday is to make hot cross buns. As I was making them the obvious notion came to me of the "sweetness of the cross." So, here we are after the weariness, the loss, the pain and the suffering and death-to a new day, a new way, a new LIFE! The sweetness of the cross is balm for our heartbroken souls.

As the Psalmist sang so cheerfully in Psalm 34, "taste and see that the Lord is good!"

Christ is Risen. Christ is RISEN INDEED!

Alleluia,