March 30, 2008 Second Sunday of Easter

Sermon Title: “The Gifts of Easter”

Series: None

Text: 1 Peter 1:3-9

Dr. Steve Jackson

NewSong Community Church

Delivered on March 30, 2008

 

“By his great mercy he as given us…”

1 Peter 1:3 NRSV

The Gifts of Easter

 

So here we are. How are you feeling today, exactly one week after Easter? Is the excitement of Easter still in you? Has it begun to fade? Or did you even have much Easter excitement to begin with?

 

If you didn’t feel much excitement you’re not alone, for many people Easter feels like an “also ran” holiday compared to say, Christmas. In our society, there are two great religious holidays each year—Christmas and Easter. For most, Christmas is the bigger and greater season of the year. It's the time when everyone gets together with family and friends. We sing and celebrate and eat, we laugh and exchange presents. Christmas caps off the whole year. But Easter, for many, is just another long weekend, a break in that dreary stretch between Christmas and summer vacation. It seems popular culture long ago relegated Easter to second-rate status when it comes to holidays.

 

Have you ever wondered why that is? Maybe it’s because the date for Easter moves around all the time, while reliable Christmas is always December 25th. Or maybe it’s because there aren’t many good Easter movies or songs. Think about it, there are tons of Christmas movies but the only Easter movie I can think of is the old Fred Astaire movie Easter Parade which, by the way, has no religious content whatsoever. And when it comes to songs, what Easter songs can compare with popular Christmas favorites like Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and Here Comes Santa Claus? The lone Easter song like that I recall is “Here Comes Peter Cottontail.” Remember?

 

Here comes Peter Cottontail
hoppin' down the bunny trail,

Hippity hoppity, Easter's on its way

Bringin' ev'ry girl and boy
 a basketful of Easter joy

Things to make your Easter bright and gay

 

The more I think about it, I believe the main reason Christmas gets all the publicity is because of all the gift-giving at Christmas. It’s true, children get baskets of goodies at Easter, but they constitute little more than a Christmas stocking’s worth. Where are the real gifts? You never hear about a kid getting a bicycle at Easter. Sure, adults sometimes get a few new clothes for Easter. But other than that, there aren’t many gifts exchanged at Easter time.  

 

If it is true that Christmas surpasses Easter in popularity mainly because of the gifts, I have some good news for you this morning. Today’s sermon is titled “The Gifts of Easter” and it’s all about some wonderful gifts we received at Easter. Perhaps you noticed it when I read the scripture. After words of praise to God, Peter goes on to remind his readers of several blessings they have received from Christ through the Easter event. By his death and resurrection the Lord has lavished gifts upon them and us and this passage highlights a few of those gifts. And that’s what we’re going to talk about today. I want to mention four of the “Gifts of Easter.”

 

A LIVING HOPE – Something for Now

The first gift is mentioned in verse three, a LIVING HOPE: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” This gift is something for now; for the present moment.

 

Think with me for a moment. Is there anything people need more than hope? Love perhaps, but hope is certainly a close second. We must have hope to survive.

 

A number of years ago researchers performed an experiment to see test the impact of having hope versus none. Two sets of laboratory rats were placed in separate tubs of water. The researchers left one set in the water and found that within an hour they had all drowned. The other rats were lifted out of the water periodically and then returned to it. The second set of rats ended up swimming for over 24 hours. Why? Well the scientists believe it wasn’t because they were given a rest, but instead was because they had hope! The scientists believe the animals began to realize if they could just stay afloat a little longer, someone would eventually reach down and rescue them. They had hope and that living hope helped them survive.

 

We all need hope. Just think about who wrote this passage. Surely no one felt the death of Jesus more keenly than Peter. He bragged that he would never leave or forsake Jesus and that he’d fight to the death for him. But then in the moment of truth he denied even knowing Jesus three times. All the disciples were left with the terrible feeling that they had abandoned Jesus when he needed them most, but Peter alone had the added the shame and disgrace of actually denying him. Peter needed hope after Jesus was crucified. And he needed a living hope, hope right then, not some kind of hope way off in the future, in the “by and by.”

 

I am sure there are some here this morning whose dreams have been crushed or remain unfulfilled. Maybe it’s something about you yourself, or perhaps it’s something for someone in your family. But now those dreams have collapsed. You don’t see any hope for the future. And so you come to church and you listen and you hear a preacher say, “Some day things will work out…. Hang in there….” But it’s gotten to the point where you’re not sure you can any more. You need hope for today, a living hope.

 

Hear the good news, through his resurrection Jesus Christ has brought those who believe in him a living hope – help, and hope, for today because Jesus is alive and here right now.

 

A GLORIOUS INHERITANCE – Something for Later

The second gift of Easter mentioned in the text is the gift of a GLORIOUS INHERITANCE. Look at verse 4, “…and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade – kept in heaven for you…” The gift of a living hope was a gift for the present, but this gift is something for later.

 

In literature there is a recurring story line. The plot involves someone, usually an orphan, cast abroad into a harsh world, parentless, penniless, and friendless. Through their darkest hours the characters are polished into glorious brilliance, and then, in the end the reader learns with characters like Heidi, Anne of Green Gables, Jane Eyre and others that though weeping may endure for a night, joy comes in the morning. There’s a glorious inheritance ahead! It’s the Cinderella story. Did you know there are over 1,500 known versions of the Cinderella story that have emerged from cultures around the world. One of the earliest versions comes from the China, and originated in the 9th century! Rivaled by her wicked step-sisters, rejected by her step-mother, and rewarded in the end, it’s Cinderella who eventually gets the handsome prince and lives happily ever after. Having been poor, she appreciates her inheritance and the joy and freedom it provides more than someone else who hasn’t been through what all she has.

 

We love these kinds of stories, don't we? What if it happened to you? Suppose you were an orphan who never knew a mother's love or a father's care. All your life you were without means, and without love. But then you receive word: You have a rich uncle! He’s been searching all over for you! He loves you and wants you to come live with him! Family and unbelievable riches are now yours in abundance. You are the heir!  You now have freedom from want, freedom from worry, and confidence in the love of another. That is similar to the glorious inheritance we have in Christ.

 

But our inheritance is so unbelievable and out-of-this world that it must be “kept in heaven” (1:4) for us. It’s held there in trust for us until we need it and it is ours only because Jesus died and rose again. It only becomes fully ours when we ourselves die. And that, too is good news because that means death doesn’t threaten our glorious inheritance; it guarantees it! In the words of the Apostle Paul, “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” …thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” 1 Cor. 15:54-57.  This is good news to those who, like Peter’s first readers, face danger and persecution. And it’s also good news to those who are facing things like an aggressive cancer, which may kill your earthly body, but is unable to touch the real you. It’s death that actually brings our inheritance into our possession. This is incredible good news, so incredible and unbelievable that I think we sometimes take it for granted.

 

I once heard a story told about a man who wanted to see Niagara Falls. He had heard how beautiful and magnificent the falls were so he set out on the long journey to see the falls for himself. When he arrived he was amazed by the incredible roar of the falls; in fact he’d begun hearing it from several miles away as he approached. He found an inn near the falls and as he checked in he said to the innkeeper, “I hope I’ll be able to sleep tonight in the midst of that unbelievable roar!” The innkeeper replied, “What roar?” To the man's amazement he discovered that the innkeeper didn’t even notice the sound of the falls; he’d been there so long he’d become accustomed to it. Christians are like that sometimes. We live in the shadow of God’s amazing inheritance for so long that we become oblivious to its existence. But talk to a new Christian and sense their excitement and wonder at the glorious inheritance we share. You’ll also see it’s contagious.

 

When that same traveler left Niagara Falls to go home he left late in the afternoon and only got a few miles away when he had to stop for the night. He went downstairs that night to eat his supper and he was talking to several locals who had come to the pub to eat. The traveler was very excited to tell them what he’d seen at the falls. He discovered to his dismay that even though the villagers he spoke to lived within earshot of the falls, none of them had ever taken the time to investigate the falls. They had heard the roar of the falls for their entire lives, but they’d never checked it out for themselves. Some people are like that with God and the glorious inheritance we are offered. They’ve heard about it for years, but they’ve never taken the opportunity to investigate God and salvation for themselves. Christianity, things of the faith, is nothing but white noise in their lives – they don’t notice it and they don’t care.

 

As believers, wouldn’t it be great if we never got used to the wonder of our glorious inheritance? Wouldn’t it be great if we woke up every day amazed at how wonderful it is that God loves us so much? And for those who don’t believe, wouldn’t it be great if someday they’d awaken and say, “Today is the day I’m going to go check out that noise.” No matter which of these two groups you’re in, this great inheritance we are offered by the resurrection of Jesus is one of the Gifts of Easter, brought to us by our risen Savior…hallelujah!

 

A SHIELD OF PROTECTION – Something to tide us over

The third gift of Easter God offers is a SHIELD OF PROTECTION. This comes from verse 5 which says that our living hope and glorious inheritance is being kept for those “who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” Peter says that God in his infinite wisdom has given us not only something for the present, a living hope, and something for the future, a glorious inheritance, but he’s also given us something to tide us over in between, a shield of protection, which gives us security.

 

I’ve noticed something during the war in Iraq and that’s how different the soldiers look in their uniforms. Have you noticed? Nowadays all the soldiers wear body armor – flak vests and knee pads and elbow pads and goggles. Have you noticed? Sometimes I think they look more like skateboarders or baseball catchers than they do soldiers. Did you know the military didn’t even use body armor until Viet-Nam? Think how many lives would have been saved in WWII and Korea and in all the wars before that if our soldiers had had this shield of protection upon their bodies. Mortality rates would have been much lower. You wonder why someone didn’t think of it before.

 

God did. According to this verse God has given us body armor of another kind – call it spiritual armor. Peter says that through faith in God, those of us who are born anew are preserved, we’re kept safe. And it’s a good thing, because as he points out in this passage between our reception of a living hope and our eventual inheritance we’re going to “suffer various trials” (v.6). There’s a long road ahead of us before we die and go to heaven. Will we be safe until that wonderful day? Peter says yes, God will keep us safe.

 

A PERFECTED FAITH – God’s Goal for us.

The fourth and final gift of Easter I’ll mention this morning is a PERFECTED FAITH. That’s what Peter is talking about in verses 6-9. It’s what the struggles in our faith, and the joys, and the journey itself are all about. A perfected faith is God’s goal for us.

 

What does a perfected faith look like? Peter tells us. It’s going to be refined by fire, and in the end it will bring glory and honor to God. Peter also says it involves walking by faith, not sight. “Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him…” (v. 8). And finally he reminds us that it results in “an indescribable and glorious joy” (v. 8)

 

You know, affluence, lack of stress and strain, and having everything come easy in life is a great blessing. Who among us wouldn’t like to go through life with a silver spoon in our mouth? Who among us wouldn’t like to never be sad, or cry, or face illness, or brokenness or pain? But here is a profound but simple truth from Scripture: It’s through our suffering and struggles that we grow into the people God created us to be.

 

As I’ve already alluded to, going way back, humans began inventing fairytales about a magic life in which people enjoyed an idyllic life, life without suffering. But in time we realized that it’s life’s struggles and suffering that leads to irritation, and irritation in turn that generates the urgent need to be relieved. And it’s that process that produces growth and beauty. That explains why an oyster will take an irritant, an ordinary grain of sand that gets in its shell, and coat it with layer after layer of smooth material, eventually resulting in a beautiful pearl. We need the irritant, the struggle.

 

I’m sure you’ve probably also heard the story a dozen times about a child walking through the woods who notices a butterfly struggling to free itself form its cocoon. The child feels sorry for the butterfly and its painful struggle and how long it was taking to get free. The child decides to help the butterfly by tearing open the cocoon. Then he watches, expecting the butterfly to spread its wings and fly away, but instead it died. The butterfly needed the struggle. It needed all the pain and intense work so that its life-giving juices would become distributed throughout its large, beautiful wings. Without the pain, there would be no beauty, no color, no character, and sadly, no life.

 

Romans 5.3-5 says: “We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

Romans was written by Paul, Here Peter is teaching a similar concept, that suffering is a tool God uses to accomplish his purposes in our lives. Again, it’s the Cinderella story; it’s the difficulties and struggles that make us stronger and then, when the bright days come, they are much brighter because of the dark days that now lay behind us.

 

So, you see, back to my original thought in this message, Easter shouldn’t be viewed as a second-rate holiday. Besides that fact that its Easter that gives Christmas its meaning (Christmas wouldn’t matter if Jesus hadn’t been raised from the dead). Easter matters for many more reasons. One of them is because of the wonderful gifts that God has given including a living hope, a glorious, inheritance, a shield of protection, and a perfected faith. These are worth more than gold, and even though some of us may be going through difficult times now, we know that God is with us every step of the way.

 

How about you? Have you grown so accustomed to the wonderful love of God and his promise of salvation that you no longer hear the roar like the innkeeper at Niagara Falls? Are you a nearby villager who has heard the noise for years, but never taken an afternoon to go and check it out? It’s not too late you know.

 

In 1968 an archaeologist discovered a 600-year-old seed necklace in an Indian grave. He planted one of the seeds and it sprouted and grew. Dormant for 600 years, the potential for life was still there. Maybe you’ve been a Christian for years, and have been spiritually dormant for most of that time. God has some gifts for you. God can bring new life to you. That’s what he did at Easter. That’s what Easter is all about. God wants to bring new life to you. Will you receive the life he offers? Let’s Pray.