March 23, 2008
|
|
|
|
The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church Pr. Per Inge
Vik Introduction: The message about Jesus’ resurrection is so well witnessed that it takes a lot of skepticism to reject it! Still, no arguments are good enough for the one who wishes to live life without a living Savior. Humans tend to need to explain things away. But perhaps it might occur to some that we need a Savior to a much higher extent than we need explanations. I invite you to stand now, and before we read the Gospel, let us sing together the first verse of n# 191 v.1 Han er oppstanden (He is risen), halleluja. There is only one place in this world where the Risen One is not present. Do you know where that is? In his grave. That is the only place he is absent. I visited Jesus’ grave in Jerusalem at Easter 32 years ago. The enormous Church of the Holy Sepulcre is so huge that it contains both the site of the cross and also the grave, lying close by. But as all protestant Christians, I also visited the so called Gordon’s Calvary. It is hardly the authentic, historical site for Jesus’ death and grave. But when it comes to the environment, and vision wise the place leaves a feeling of what the grave might have looked like: A nicely hewn cave in limestone, and with an entrance where I could walk in. There I could see a shelf in the stone where a space to place a dead body was hewn. Over the entrance was the message the women at the tomb got from the angel He is not here. He is risen. So the grave is the only place on the globe that he has left. Where he was lying from Good Friday afternoon until early dawn on the first Easter day, there he is absent. Our text for today ended like this: So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. An empty tomb behind their back. It is a solid thing to have an empty tomb behind one’s back: The resurrection can support, like having the back on a chair. Where you now sit in the pew, you can lean back and feel the power of Christ’s resurrection, straight into your spine! Yes, it is a solid fact that if it weren’t for Jesus physically, not symbolically, but physically being raised on Easter Morning, there wouldn’t have been any place called Mindekirken. This beautiful church is above all an Easter Church, a Resurrection Church. That is one of the reasons why I have come to love this sanctuary so much! The big altar painting up here depicts exactly what we have heard in the Easter gospel today. And it is the first visual impression meeting anyone who enters this room. Without Easter morning, this church would not have existed! That is for sure. And not any other churches in the world either. Without Easter morning, Jesus from Nazareth would have been a failing teacher of wisdom. A liar that was not the one he claimed to be. But the empty tomb and the angel’s message to the women is the foundation for an emerging Christian church on earth. With an empty tomb behind them, the women went and told the good news. First to his disciples. Then they too came and saw it. And next they went out, making all nations disciples, baptizing and teaching them Three years ago I got to see with my own eyes the Christian church, growing also in the giant country China. There are crowds of Christians. Even fuller than here today, it was the Sunday I attended a church in Beijing. In that church alone, 500 new Christians are baptized every year. Did you read in the Communicator on page 7 ”100 Words from CSV”? There it is told that Easter is an especially great day for Christians in China. It is the big day of baptism in the church year, when all those being taught for a whole year, are welcomed as new members through baptism. This exciting adventure our congregation can participate in through our engagement with CSV. With an empty tomb behind them, Chinese Christians go out to witness to their peers. The rate of growth in China is 5 million new believers per year. It is sprouting and growing. The power of the resurrection is as powerful as the spring sun that soon will bring forth flowers, grass and then crops now in the time ahead of us. To this House of Resurrection we can come both in sorrow and in gladness. Every time you enter this holy place, you can know as sure as sitting down in the pew, and know that the pew holds you, that you can lean back without being afraid. As sure as you with the weight of your whole life, all your needs and concerns, with fear and joy, with gladness and awe, with pain and with smile you can lean towards resurrection. As a believer you are carried by the resurrection of Christ. It holds, both in life and death and afterwards. You are surrendered to the power of Easter. You have an empty tomb behind you. That is solid, to be able to use resurrection like the back of a chair. An American professor (Richard Hayes from Duke University) visited Norway just before Easter a couple of years ago. He encouraged Christians in Norway to practice the resurrection. That was a challenge we ought to take. Let me repeat some of the kinds of acts he mentioned, that can characterize the fellowship of people that believe in the resurrection. 1 To practice resurrection means to participate in creating peace. In a world destroyed by violence, the faith fellowship is to pray and fight for peace. He says that in this, the church has failed massively. Jesus followers are called to lay down the sword. We do not believe that military power can free us from death. We believe in God’s power to raise the dead Challenge # 2 is about the willingness to share. The Christian church is to be characterized by not making a division between the rich and the poor, but distribute the resources without private squandering. That we show generosity and invite those who are different from us, to our table. The last way to practice resurrection is not the least important, namely to take care of the day of rest. In modern Western society the days have become more equal, as they were in the pre Christian era. That is a sad thing. In Norway there has come a new word the latest years, tidsklemma, time squeeze. It is all the things that are needed to be done, so there is no time for silence and reflection. It was for this purpose God installed the day of rest, for prayer and reflection. The Jewish Sabbath also was a symbol of a people free from slavery in Egypt. Only a human who is free, can stop working! Think about that. Do we modern humans start to be slaves again, slaves under all our businesses? Easter Day is a gift God has given us. He renews his whole creation. Easter day is not a Sabbath, the 7th day. The resurrection happened the day after the Sabbath, on the 8th day. Easter morning is the start of a new creation. God did something completely new when he raised his Son. The first Christians at an early stage started to name the Sunday, the Day of the Lord. Then we are meant to rest from our works, so that God can do his work in us. Renew both our body and soul. We do not have one Easter day per year only, but 52. Every Sunday is given us to seek together and celebrate the resurrection. To cultivate our fellowship in Christ. The empty tomb is a solid support that we can lean against, and feel the power of Christ’s resurrection. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, who was, is and will remain one true God from eternity to eternity. (Congregation:) Amen |
The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church · 924 E. 21st St, Minneapolis, MN 55404-2952 · (612)874-0716 |