| Sermon, April 11, 2004 |
| "A place to call home." |
| "This is the End" Luke 24: 1-2 Easter Sunday - Rev. Matthew M. Fry |
As we continue to experience The Word of The Lord together, Let us Pray. Risen Lord, the world and all that is in it is yours. We too are yours, and we ask that you be risen again in us. Live in us so that we might live for you. If these words are not Your Word, may they be forgotten and come to naught. But if they be Thy Word, may they adhere to our hearts, forever transforming us from glory into glory, into the creatures you would have us be, Thou who art our Rock and our Redeemer, Amen.
As we have come to Easter this year, we have come from many places. If you have been with us through the time of Lent, then you know that we as a church community have come to Easter directly after our 40 Days of Purpose campaign. We have been reading a daily devotional from the book by Rick Warren, titled A Purpose Driven Life, we have been meeting in small groups, and we have been memorizing scripture passages together. It has been a long and lovely journey, and last week we celebrated our 40 days of the journey.
Because the campaign directed the manner in which I prepared and delivered sermons from week to week, it has been a while since I have been in the practice of doing what I would consider a regular Matt Fry sermon. I mean, Norma and Katie read scripture just now, and that is the first time we have had the lay readers since February 8. By the way, I’ve missed them. I love the lay readers. Good to have them back. Anyway, since it has been a while, I’ve got sermon preparation and delivery build up, so I’m going to give you a sermon on all of history. Sound good to you? Well, I’m going to do it anyway. First, hear now The Word of The Lord as it comes to us in Luke. Listen. Read Luke 24.1-12. The grass withers, the flower falls, but the Word of The Lord endures forever...Thanks be to God.
We’ll get to Luke in just a minute, but first, as I promised, all of history. When God began to create, God created all sorts of things. Night & day, Light and Dark, animals, bugs, humans. And then that was the end of God’s creative work. But it wasn’t. Cause we affirm that God still creates. After all, my wife is due in October, how can I possibly say that God doesn’t still create? Rainbows, clear blue skies, the quiet sound of the waves hitting the beach in the morning, God still is active in creating. Okay, so that wasn’t the end. God promised Abraham and Sarah a son, and when they got him, that was the end, of that story. But it wasn’t. We all know that Abraham had to take Isaac up to the mountain to keep him. Jacob had 12 sons, from which came the 12 tribes of Israel, and had settled in the land. But Joseph is sold into slavery, so that is the end of Jacob’s most beloved son. But it isn’t. Because Joseph is reunited with his family, who have to leave the land to go to Egypt to avoid a famine. And God’s people stay in Egypt for 400 years as slaves, but that isn’t the end. And they get saved from Pharaoh, but that isn’t the end. And they wander in the desert for 40 years, but that isn’t the end, and they finally get into the land, and that isn’t the end.
No, the end comes when finally, when the time is right, Jesus is born. And Jesus lives an exemplary life, teaching humanity how to live in relation with God. Jesus teaches both in word and in deed, and finally gives himself in sacrifice for all of humankind. And even though the people of the time thought that, as far as Jesus’ life went, That was the End, we know the refrain. But it wasn’t. Just when the world thinks that this is the end, we see that it is not. Miraculously, three days later, Jesus is raised from the dead. Ultimate victory over death is won. Finally, at that point in history, and when we look at it, we come to a point where we can see that, This is the End. But its not. The disciples are sent forth on a mission, granted the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and share the word with the whole world. Two thousand years of history since show how the legacy and power of God, especially as known in Jesus Christ, will never fade or end.
Let’s talk about things that have come to an end. Our 40 Days of Purpose campaign, or the Purpose Driven Life Campaign, or the Purpose Driven Church campaign, whatever you like to call it, hit day 40 about 10 days ago, and we had celebration Sunday last week, and this morning’s covered dish breakfast helped conclude our celebration for our 40 day journey. So, when we talk about that journey, we can say again, this is the end. But its not. The things we learned, the momentum we gathered, the spirit we gained, all of that is not meant to be at an end. It is meant to be the beginning for our next amount of time, a time that does not necessarily have a pre-set number of days. But I do know this, God has brought us to where we are, and God intends to use where we are to get us to where God wants us to go. And then when we are there, God will use where we are then to take us to where God wants us to go next.
Often when people, when churches, or even just individuals, when we go through something that is intense, like our 40 Days of Purpose, it is common to have a letdown, once you’ve finished. I hope and pray that we don’t. While we have come to the end of our campaign, all of that is prologue for what God wants to do with us next.
So, let’s try again. Let’s talk about things that have come to an end. Death has come to an end. Things that end have come to an end. Certainly our bodies will come to an end, as will one day this world, but because God created the world, and because God created time, by definition God is outside of those creations, and is beyond them. God, by definition, cannot have an end as we know ends to be. {} You want to know how much love God has for you? God didn’t have to create you and me in an eternal manner. God could have created you and me and all humans just like the world, as something that will come to an end. But God made humans and the human spirit and soul, to outlast ends and to outlast death. God loves us enough to keep us around, forever. That’s pretty cool.
We all know I Corinthians 13, especially the 4th through the 7th verses. “Love is patient, Love is kind, Love is not envious or boastful or rude.” All the way to the first part of verse 8, “Love never ends.” The verses that follow are not as well known, though they are equally as powerful. Check out verses 8 – 10. “Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end.” The complete began to come, first off in the life of Jesus, again and with a little more in the death of Jesus, again and with a little more in the resurrection of Jesus. The complete is on its way. The end of the partial is assured. You and I, we are part of the complete. God has claimed us, and has said, “If you are worried about whatever end you are dealing with, realize this. With me, there is no end. And since you are mine, you will not know an end either.” You may say to yourself, or to a friend or loved one, or even to God, you may say This is the end. But it isn’t. Amen.
Let us pray. God of eternity, you have put an end to many things, including the power of death. We thank you for placing us in the realm of the eternal, instead of the finite. Enable us to live and love as those who realize that there will be no end to our lives, so that we might live more in you. In the name of your risen Son, Jesus Christ, Amen.
(1) This sermon owes credit to Ed Wegele, who in conversation was mentioning the idea of “This is the End” “But it’s not” in the context of a discussion he had at Columbia Theological Seminary. With his permission, I used that idea in this sermon.
As we have come to Easter this year, we have come from many places. If you have been with us through the time of Lent, then you know that we as a church community have come to Easter directly after our 40 Days of Purpose campaign. We have been reading a daily devotional from the book by Rick Warren, titled A Purpose Driven Life, we have been meeting in small groups, and we have been memorizing scripture passages together. It has been a long and lovely journey, and last week we celebrated our 40 days of the journey.
Because the campaign directed the manner in which I prepared and delivered sermons from week to week, it has been a while since I have been in the practice of doing what I would consider a regular Matt Fry sermon. I mean, Norma and Katie read scripture just now, and that is the first time we have had the lay readers since February 8. By the way, I’ve missed them. I love the lay readers. Good to have them back. Anyway, since it has been a while, I’ve got sermon preparation and delivery build up, so I’m going to give you a sermon on all of history. Sound good to you? Well, I’m going to do it anyway. First, hear now The Word of The Lord as it comes to us in Luke. Listen. Read Luke 24.1-12. The grass withers, the flower falls, but the Word of The Lord endures forever...Thanks be to God.
We’ll get to Luke in just a minute, but first, as I promised, all of history. When God began to create, God created all sorts of things. Night & day, Light and Dark, animals, bugs, humans. And then that was the end of God’s creative work. But it wasn’t. Cause we affirm that God still creates. After all, my wife is due in October, how can I possibly say that God doesn’t still create? Rainbows, clear blue skies, the quiet sound of the waves hitting the beach in the morning, God still is active in creating. Okay, so that wasn’t the end. God promised Abraham and Sarah a son, and when they got him, that was the end, of that story. But it wasn’t. We all know that Abraham had to take Isaac up to the mountain to keep him. Jacob had 12 sons, from which came the 12 tribes of Israel, and had settled in the land. But Joseph is sold into slavery, so that is the end of Jacob’s most beloved son. But it isn’t. Because Joseph is reunited with his family, who have to leave the land to go to Egypt to avoid a famine. And God’s people stay in Egypt for 400 years as slaves, but that isn’t the end. And they get saved from Pharaoh, but that isn’t the end. And they wander in the desert for 40 years, but that isn’t the end, and they finally get into the land, and that isn’t the end.
No, the end comes when finally, when the time is right, Jesus is born. And Jesus lives an exemplary life, teaching humanity how to live in relation with God. Jesus teaches both in word and in deed, and finally gives himself in sacrifice for all of humankind. And even though the people of the time thought that, as far as Jesus’ life went, That was the End, we know the refrain. But it wasn’t. Just when the world thinks that this is the end, we see that it is not. Miraculously, three days later, Jesus is raised from the dead. Ultimate victory over death is won. Finally, at that point in history, and when we look at it, we come to a point where we can see that, This is the End. But its not. The disciples are sent forth on a mission, granted the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and share the word with the whole world. Two thousand years of history since show how the legacy and power of God, especially as known in Jesus Christ, will never fade or end.
Let’s talk about things that have come to an end. Our 40 Days of Purpose campaign, or the Purpose Driven Life Campaign, or the Purpose Driven Church campaign, whatever you like to call it, hit day 40 about 10 days ago, and we had celebration Sunday last week, and this morning’s covered dish breakfast helped conclude our celebration for our 40 day journey. So, when we talk about that journey, we can say again, this is the end. But its not. The things we learned, the momentum we gathered, the spirit we gained, all of that is not meant to be at an end. It is meant to be the beginning for our next amount of time, a time that does not necessarily have a pre-set number of days. But I do know this, God has brought us to where we are, and God intends to use where we are to get us to where God wants us to go. And then when we are there, God will use where we are then to take us to where God wants us to go next.
Often when people, when churches, or even just individuals, when we go through something that is intense, like our 40 Days of Purpose, it is common to have a letdown, once you’ve finished. I hope and pray that we don’t. While we have come to the end of our campaign, all of that is prologue for what God wants to do with us next.
So, let’s try again. Let’s talk about things that have come to an end. Death has come to an end. Things that end have come to an end. Certainly our bodies will come to an end, as will one day this world, but because God created the world, and because God created time, by definition God is outside of those creations, and is beyond them. God, by definition, cannot have an end as we know ends to be. {} You want to know how much love God has for you? God didn’t have to create you and me in an eternal manner. God could have created you and me and all humans just like the world, as something that will come to an end. But God made humans and the human spirit and soul, to outlast ends and to outlast death. God loves us enough to keep us around, forever. That’s pretty cool.
We all know I Corinthians 13, especially the 4th through the 7th verses. “Love is patient, Love is kind, Love is not envious or boastful or rude.” All the way to the first part of verse 8, “Love never ends.” The verses that follow are not as well known, though they are equally as powerful. Check out verses 8 – 10. “Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end.” The complete began to come, first off in the life of Jesus, again and with a little more in the death of Jesus, again and with a little more in the resurrection of Jesus. The complete is on its way. The end of the partial is assured. You and I, we are part of the complete. God has claimed us, and has said, “If you are worried about whatever end you are dealing with, realize this. With me, there is no end. And since you are mine, you will not know an end either.” You may say to yourself, or to a friend or loved one, or even to God, you may say This is the end. But it isn’t. Amen.
Let us pray. God of eternity, you have put an end to many things, including the power of death. We thank you for placing us in the realm of the eternal, instead of the finite. Enable us to live and love as those who realize that there will be no end to our lives, so that we might live more in you. In the name of your risen Son, Jesus Christ, Amen.
(1) This sermon owes credit to Ed Wegele, who in conversation was mentioning the idea of “This is the End” “But it’s not” in the context of a discussion he had at Columbia Theological Seminary. With his permission, I used that idea in this sermon.
| IMPORTANT After reading the translation: Click on the [X] in the box in the upper right corner of the translation window. That will close it. You will then return to the English version. |
| Posted April 11, 2004 |
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